Por Iván Pérez Sarmenti, CNN en Español

La intervención de Estados Unidos contra Venezuela y la captura de Nicolás Maduro trajo incertidumbre en la geopolítica mundial pero, hasta el momento, en términos económicos y sobre los precios globales del petróleo el efecto ha sido marginal, sostienen distintos analistas consultados por CNN. Sin embargo, el interrogante que se mantiene es qué impacto tendrá en la región el eventual aumento de la hoy depreciada producción petrolera venezolana, apalancada por Estados Unidos.

Más allá de Venezuela, “el resto de Latinoamérica tiene importancia relativa en el mundo: Brasil está produciendo unos 3 millones de barriles por día y, según el escenario de precios, puede llegar a producir hasta 4 millones de barriles por día a partir del desarrollo que está haciendo en el (reservorio) Presal (ubicado en el océano Atlántico, frente a la costa brasileña); Argentina está produciendo un promedio de 800 mil de barriles por día y, también dependiendo de la evolución de los precios, puede producir al final de la década 1.5 millones; Guyana es un desarrollo significativo y todo orientado a exportación, que superó los 900 mil barriles por día”, apunta Daniel Montamant, expresidente de la petrolera argentina YPF y exsecretario de Energía de Argentina.

“A nivel mundial se consumen en promedio unos 105 millones de barriles al día. Venezuela producía 3 millones de barriles por día cuando asumió Hugo Chavez (en 1999) y ahora está produciendo alrededor de 1 millón por día. Dependerá del éxito de la intervención americana en la recapitalización de la industria venezolana y el tiempo de recuperación de su producción, pero la producción de la región puede llegar a representar el 8 o 10 % de la oferta mundial”, explica Montamant. “Si le sumamos la producción de América del norte, EE.UU, Canadá y México, el conjunto representaría un 30 % de la oferta mundial. En un mundo de dominancia de la geopolítica, donde la seguridad energética está al tope de la agenda, esta masa crítica en un paradigma fósil todavía dominante otorga al continente una ventaja estratégica significativa”, agrega.

“Uno de los factores que impacta en la inflación norteamericana es el precio de la gasolina en Estados Unidos”, sostiene el analista de comercio internacional Ezequiel Vega. “Si Venezuela produce más petróleo y exporta a Estados Unidos los 30 o 50 millones de barriles de petróleo que Donald Trump prometió, lo que veríamos es un precio del barril de petróleo WTI cerca de los US$ 50 y del Brent más cerca de los US$ 55 dólares. Esto es positivo para Estados Unidos y para el consumidor norteamericano porque significaría una reducción de la inflación”, agrega.

Por otro lado, las acciones de las grandes petroleras, como Chevron y Conoco Phillips, “subieron más de un 12 % la semana pasada en el mercado”, apunta Vega . “El mercado se mueve por expectativas y ciertos inversores se inclinan por estas compañías norteamericanas, que pueden llegar a tener contratos a futuro en Venezuela. Pero todavía no hay nada concreto”, añade.

Sin embargo, y al menos por el momento, ese escenario parece lejano. El viernes, Trump intentó seducir a los principales ejecutivos petroleros con la promesa de una nueva y amplia campaña de exploración en Venezuela. Pero no consiguió ningún compromiso importante de las empresas.

“Es imposible invertir”, dijo el CEO de ExxonMobil, Darren

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — A new classified legal opinion produced by the Justice Department argues that President Donald Trump was not limited by domestic law when approving the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro because of his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief and that he is not constrained by international law when it comes to carrying out law enforcement operations overseas, according to sources who have read the memo.

The Office of Legal Counsel opinion, which is between 20-30 pages, was provided to lawmakers on Tuesday, the sources said. It builds on a 1989 legal opinion authored by William Barr, who was at the time the head of the OLC and later served as attorney general in Trump’s first term.

That memo argued that a president had “inherent constitutional authority” to order the FBI to take people into custody in foreign countries, even if it violated international law to do so. The new opinion takes that as a given, the sources said and stipulates that the only question at issue is whether Trump was constrained by any domestic laws — specifically, the Constitution and the War Powers Act — when he ordered the Maduro operation without congressional authorization.

The opinion assesses that Trump was not constrained by domestic law because he has an authority under Article II of the US constitution as commander-in-chief to deploy troops and commit forces to operations. It also argues that the scale, scope, and duration of the Maduro operation did not rise to the level of war in the constitutional sense and therefore did not require prior authorization by Congress, the sources said.

“President Trump is committed to enforcing United States law, and the successful rendition of Nicolas Maduro to the United States to answer for his lifetime of crimes was lawful,” a White House official told CNN when asked about the OLC memo. “This was an administration-wide effort to arrest the head of a major narco-trafficking foreign terrorist organization, who has long been a fugitive of American justice. The Department of Justice routinely executes federal arrest warrants abroad.”

Trump administration officials have argued that the attack was chiefly a law enforcement operation aimed at bringing Maduro and his wife to justice. Democratic lawmakers have argued, however, that removing the head of state of a country by military force does constitute an act of war.

Officials have also insisted that Maduro’s capture was not a regime change operation, since the Venezuelan government remains largely intact and is now led by his deputy Delcy Rodriguez, CNN has reported.

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By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department is escalating its standoff with judges in the Eastern District of Virginia with a new filing defending Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the prosecutors’ office whose work in the cases against James Comey and Letitia James has been nullified.

The filing accuses federal Judge David Novak in Richmond, a Trump appointee, of trying to “coerce the Executive Branch into conformity.”

Several Eastern District of Virginia judges in recent weeks have said they believe Halligan is no longer the US attorney leading the office. Novak and other judges in the district have suggested prosecutors who are still making filings under Halligan’s name as US attorney could lead to attorney discipline inquiries for failing to comply with court rulings, a classic avenue available to judges as they oversee cases in their courtrooms.

“Adding insult to error, (Novak) posits that the United States’ continued assertion of its legal position that Ms. Halligan properly serves as the United States Attorney amounts to a factual misrepresentation that could trigger attorney discipline. The Court’s thinly veiled threat to use attorney discipline to cudgel the Executive Branch into conforming its legal position in all criminal prosecutions to the views of a single district judge is a gross abuse of power and an affront to the separation of powers,” the Justice Department wrote on Tuesday.

District judges for weeks have been questioning why Halligan was still signing court papers, especially those that charged criminal defendants in the district. Novak’s inquiry became notable last week when he asked for full briefing from the Justice Department on its reasoning, leading to Tuesday’s filing.

The Justice Department is appealing the decision undercutting Halligan’s authority in the Comey and James cases.

A South Carolina-based judge in the Comey and James cases who had been specially brought in to the district last year decided Halligan wasn’t the legitimate US attorney because she hadn’t been Senate confirmed nor selected by the court.

The fallout of the decision has caused major turmoil within the prosecutors’ office, as judges

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - A Santa Maria man who was saved through a blood donation two years ago is returning the favor by donating blood himself as much as possible.

Cedric Beaty, a married father of five and Navy veteran, is sharing his story to help promote the importance of blood donation, as well as inspire others to participate in the upcoming 8th Annual News Channel 3-11-12 MLK Day of Service Blood Drive, which is held in partnership with Vitalant.

In 2023, Beaty endured life-threatening complications following what was suppose to be a routine colonoscopy.

Soon after the procedure, Beaty experienced severe bleeding that required an emergency trip to the hosptial.

"There was kind of like this empty look in my eyes, like, maybe like the like the lights are about to turn out or something like that," said Beaty. "I think I passed out, but before that I could hear somebody talking about getting some blood here because you're going to need it."

Beaty quickly underwent surgery and received an unknown amount of blood during the operation.

"I woke up and the guy who repaired everything for the colonoscopy, he said, you're lucky they got blood for you," said Beaty. "He told me, 'you know what happened?' Basically what happened is there were some large polyps in my colon, and (the doctor) was supposed to cauterize them to make sure that he didn't bleed, but he didn't cauterize them properly."

Two years later, Beaty is completely healed and spreading the message how important blood donation has meant to his life and why people should consider donating if they can.

"If it wasn't for the transfusion and getting that blood when I needed it, then I don't even know if I'd be here right now," said Beaty. "For me, that is my main motivation for giving blood because who knows who needs it?"

Beaty is now blood donor himself, something he said actually began when he was in the military.

"For me it's a remarkable feeling to give back, you know, what was so graciously and so unselfishly given to me to give back to somebody I'm probably not even going to meet in real life," said Beaty. "I've always thought that life was precious, but now I understand that this is one shot, your one shot to do the most good that you possibly can. I try to do everything to the best of my ability. I try to donate here when I can. It's my one shot to do what I possibly can for the good of others, not just for the good of my own self."  

The News Channel 3-11-12 MLK Day of Service Blood Drive will be held next week in an effort to help boost local supply levels.

The yearly event is held in partnership with Vitalant and is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo.

All of the donation sites will be held the the Elks Lodge in all three cities.

Vitalant points out that one donation of blood may save up to three lives, highlighting the impact donors have on the community.

"Just one donation, one whole blood donation can save up to three lives," said Beau Mercurio, Vitalant Account Manager. "It's fairly simple. It takes about 30 minutes, 40 minutes for the whole process to come in and donate, and you're