Venezuela y la empresa española Repsol, junto con la italiana Eni, suscribieron este jueves un acuerdo que garantiza el suministro de gas en el país caribeño, además de abrir la puerta a la exportación y a la expansión de proyectos conjuntos en el área energética.

La jefa del régimen chavista, Delcy Rodríguez, destacó la continuidad de ambas compañías en el país durante periodos de inestabilidad y agradeció el compromiso mostrado al mantener sus operaciones en territorio venezolano.

“Me complace mucho que sea de la mano de dos empresas europeas que se quedaron en Venezuela, que creyeron en Venezuela y que no le dieron la espalda a nuestro pueblo”, expresó Rodríguez.

La firma se centró en el desarrollo conjunto del campo Cardón IV, uno de los mayores yacimientos de gas natural en América Latina, con una producción actual de 580 millones de pies cúbicos diarios, según datos proporcionados por la multinacional española.

El acuerdo también incorpora la gestión de la infraestructura existente y la posibilidad de incrementar la capacidad exportadora, tanto para abastecer el mercado local como para generar ingresos a través de ventas al exterior.

Por parte del régimen venezolano participaron la nueva ministra de Hidrocarburos, Paula Henao, y el presidente de PDVSA, Héctor Obregón.

Repsol estuvo representada por Gonzalo Antonio Carrillo Recalde y Francisco Gea Pascual de Riquelme, director general de Exploración y Producción.

El texto del convenio señala que Repsol “apuesta por ampliar sus inversiones y expandir sus fuerzas productivas con PDVSA en el plan estratégico 2026-2028”. Desde la petrolera española se confirmó la intención de restablecer y reforzar las operaciones diarias tras la obtención de licencias, además de invertir en la modernización de instalaciones y en la reactivación de equipos de producción.

Delcy Rodríguez subrayó que el acuerdo busca “garantizar el abastecimiento de gas” para el desarrollo nacional y el consumo doméstico, y que además permitirá retomar y ampliar las exportaciones.

El pacto se produce en un contexto de recuperación progresiva del sector energético venezolano, tras años de sanciones internacionales y restricciones operativas. En febrero, Repsol ya había anunciado su intención de reanudar operaciones, con el objetivo de sumar capacidad al sistema eléctrico nacional y aumentar la producción de gas.

En el ámbito petrolero, la empresa española comunicó su plan para triplicar la producción de crudo en Venezuela y alcanzar aproximadamente 135.000 barriles diarios.

La cúpula chavista ha intentado incentivar la llegada de inversión extranjera, como la reforma de la Ley de Hidrocarburos aprobada en enero por el Parlamento, que busca crear condiciones más favorables para los socios internacionales.

El acuerdo con Repsol y Eni se suma a una estrategia que apunta a convertir a Venezuela en una potencia exportadora de energía, tanto en petróleo como en gas, integrando a empresas internacionales en el desarrollo de proyectos clave.

En el escenario internacional, Venezuela cuenta con una de las mayores reservas de hidrocarburos del mundo, pero enfrenta desafíos relacionados con el deterioro de su infraestructura.

El acuerdo firmado este jueves es presentado por el chavismo como una muestra de la voluntad de consolidar alianzas estratégicas y avanzar hacia una mayor presencia en los mercados globales.

La ministra Paula Henao remarcó tras la firma que la meta es “posicionar a Venezuela como actor relevante en el suministro de gas en América Latina y el Caribe”.

(Con información de EFE y Reuters)

A handful of immigrants and advocacy organizations are asking the Trump Administration to extend its March 17 deadline to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) afforded to Somalis in the U.S., arguing that the Administration is changing the immigration designation purely along lines motivated by race.

The change in designation would force roughly 1,080 Somali TPS recipients to self-deport or turn themselves in to immigration enforcement, according to a Tuesday filing before a Massachusetts district court.

«President Trump has smeared the Somali community publicly, categorically, and repeatedly. He has called Somali people ‘garbage’ and ‘low IQ people.’ And he has said point blank: ‘I don’t want [Somali people] in our country,’» the challenge states, referring to remarks President Donald Trump made at a cabinet meeting last year.

«They reflect a desire to target and punish Somali nationals based on their race and national origin in violation of the U.S. Constitution,» the lawsuit continued.

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The suit is brought by African Communities Together and the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans and lists the Department of Homeland Security as a defendant.

Their challenge comes amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and his administration’s continued focus on Somali populations in states like Minnesota, where fraud activity has drawn national attention.

Trump has had an eye towards Somalia since his first term, when, in 2017, he included the country in a travel ban. That focus resurfaced in November 2025 amid news that a number of predominantly Somali-led fraud schemes had allegedly siphoned as much as $9 billion from Minnesota government assistance programs.

The news prompted Trump’s first move against Somali TPS.

«Minnesota is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as president of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota,» Trump wrote in a November post on Truth Social.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Somali illegal immigrant Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, convicted of fraud, and connected to several high-profile Minnesota politicians, including former Democratic vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz. (ICE)

Outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem made the designation switch official in January.

Asked about the TPS designation in the wake of Noem’s recent ouster from the agency earlier this month, a DHS spokesperson confirmed the plans remained unchanged.

«Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status. Allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. The Trump administration is putting Americans first,» an agency spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Under the Immigration Law of 1990, Aliens protected by TPS are allowed to work in the United States and are shielded from removal — as long as their country of origin is experiencing «temporary conditions» like war or natural disaster that would prevent their safe return. The attorney general may extend a country’s TPS status for 18 months at a time.

Somalia, having received TPS in 1991, has held a TPS designation for 35 years.

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Soldiers of the Somalia National Army (SNA) walk near the frontlines at Sabiid, one of the towns they have liberated from the Al-Qaeda-linked militants, Al-Shabaab, in Somalia’s lower-Shabelle region on Nov. 11, 2025. (Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images)

Tuesday’s filing argues dangerous conditions remain in place, citing terrorist activity from groups like al-Shabaab listed in Somalia’s latest TPS extension.

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«The 2024 redesignation noted that ‘Somalia continues to experience widespread insecurity due to armed conflict involving state and non-state actors,’ … subjecting civilians to human rights abuses including summary executions, indiscriminate and targeted killings, gender-based violence, child recruitment, disappearances and physical abuse,» plaintiffs argued.

DHS declined to comment on its on-the-ground assessments of Somalia’s local conditions.

Michael Allen, a Republican candidate for Colorado attorney general, said he was «shocked» by a Democratic proposal to legalize prostitution, warning it would «open the floodgates» to human trafficking in Colorado.

«It’s hard for me to even decipher why they’ve decided this is the time and place to introduce a radical bill like this,» Allen said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The bill, which sponsors said would «decriminalize adult commercial sexual activity,» was introduced last month by Democratic state Sens. Nick Hinrichsen and Lisa Cutter and Reps. Lorena García and Rebekah Stewart. 

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According to Allen, the bill would go far beyond Nevada’s law allowing prostitution and would make Colorado «the leader in the entire country on legalized prostitution.»

«I was shocked,» Allen admitted.

«It doesn’t make any sense to me. It would not solve any issue that is happening on the ground in Colorado. It would not help with our huge budget deficit. It will not help our crime deficit,» he said.

«It is, frankly, very appalling to me that we’ve got four members of the left-leaning Democrat legislature who thought it would be a good idea to just open the floodgates and let these criminal actors run free without any repercussions.»

The bill sponsors did not respond to requests for comment. 

A current Colorado district attorney, Allen is one of two Republicans running to flip one of the state’s top offices red. If successful, Allen would be the first Republican elected attorney general in over a decade.

Allen said, despite the state being dominated by Democrats, he believes that, after 10 years of «devastatingly bad criminal justice reform,» voters are ready for a Republican attorney general.

Though the bill appears to have stalled for now in the state legislature, Allen said it demonstrates how the Democratic Party is «not doing the right things on behalf of the people in this state.»

The only outcome he predicts will result should the prostitution bill ever pass is «continued depravity in the state of Colorado.»

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The Colorado state capitol in Denver (Michael Ciaglo)

«Prostitution is a natural outgrowth of human trafficking,» he said. «The links are undeniable.»

He explained that, in Colorado, «You’ve got two major corridors of travel that go through the state,» which, he said, «are major arteries for human trafficking, and we see that in the Denver metro area as a huge hub for human trafficking.»

Colorado is seeing record highs in human trafficking victims and is ranked among the states with the highest numbers of reports, according to data gathered by the Common Sense Institute. Further, according to the study, 79% of Colorado human trafficking crimes were for the purposes of commercial sex. The study also backs Allen’s claim that the trafficking is concentrated in the Denver area.

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Allen noted that the city of Denver is already a «huge hub» for human trafficking. (Chet Strange/AFP)

As attorney general, Allen vowed to work to finally turn the tables on the rampant human trafficking in Colorado.

«The attorney general’s office has the ability to use the statewide grand jury to investigate those crimes and then also prosecute those crimes and hold people accountable,» he said.

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He believes the upcoming midterm election in Colorado, including his race for attorney general, will be «pivotal.»

«We need to have a better, stronger and more effective posture from our Colorado Attorney General’s Office to combat criminal activity that is, frankly, affecting the entire state of Colorado,» he said.