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By Mauricio Torres, Moriah Thomas, Michael Rios, CNN

(CNN) — Venezuelan lawmakers have approved a law change that will make it easier for foreign companies to take part in the country’s oil industry, in a move by Caracas to meet the demands of US President Donald Trump.

The reform, backed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, will open up the Venezuelan oil industry, at present largely controlled by state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and allow foreign companies to manage oilfields at their own risk and cost.

Since the US captured Rodríguez’s predecessor, President Nicolás Maduro, at the beginning of January it has repeatedly made clear it wants American companies to invest in Venezuela’s oil industry.

Venezuela has more proven oil reserves than any nation on the planet. The new law could help the country maximize its profits from them, Rodríguez said Thursday night.

“This law allows us to make a true historic qualitative leap to turn those oil reserves, the largest on the planet, into the greatest happiness a people can have, with the Venezuelan people as the rightful owners of that happiness,” she told a crowd at an event celebrating the move.

National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez, the brother of the acting president, echoed that sentiment.

“This instrument will boost the energy sector, promoting oil production in undeveloped fields and transforming it into well-being for the Venezuelan people,” he said on Telegram.

Venezuela’s legislature unanimously approved the reform Thursday afternoon in a second reading. It now must be signed by Rodríguez and published before coming into force.

Two sources told CNN earlier this month that the Trump administration is planning to use private military contractors to protect oil and energy assets in the country.

However, some oil executives have expressed discomfort with the idea of sending capital into Venezuela. The CEO of Exxon Mobil said at a White House meeting shortly after Maduro’s capture that the country is “uninvestible” in its current state.

Easing restrictions

The law was approved on the same day that the US Treasury eased some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry. It issued a general license authorizing US companies to carry out certain activities with the Venezuelan government related to the export, purchase, sale, storage, and transportation of the country’s oil, among other operations.

It marked the latest easing of restrictions by the Trump administration since the acting Venezuelan government signaled it would cooperate with the US and meet many of its demands.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he had informed Rodríguez that the US would be “opening up” the commercial airspace above Venezuela, even though it is not technically considered closed. It comes two months after Trump issued a broad directive on social media, warning airlines, pilots and criminal networks to avoid Venezuelan airspace.

“American citizens will be, very shortly, able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there, and be safe. It’s under very strong control,” Trump said Thursday at a meeting of his Cabinet.

Jorge Rodríguez credited Trump’s announcement to his sister’s diplomatic efforts.

“I believe it is very positive. I think it is a direct consequence of the peace diplomacy that has been carried out by the presidency,” he said.

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By Donald Judd, Kevin Liptak, Hira Humayun, CNN

(CNN) — US President Donald Trump claimed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to a week-long pause in attacks on major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, as the country grapples with plummeting winter temperatures.

Trump made the claim, which has not been confirmed by Russia, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday.

“I personally asked President (Vladimir) Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that,” Trump said during the meeting, citing the “extreme cold” Ukraine is facing.

Trump did not say when the conversation with Putin took place, but his comment comes as Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving large parts of the country facing power shortages and outages.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Trump and said a possible temporary halt in attacks during the extreme winter period could help protect Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, calling power supply “a foundation of life.”

“We value the efforts of our partners to help us protect lives. Thank you, President Trump,” Zelensky said in a post on X, adding that Ukraine expects the agreement to be implemented.

Zelensky confirmed that discussions about a temporary halt in attacks on energy infrastructure took place during trilateral meetings between US, Ukrainian and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi last week.

A person familiar with the discussions said American officials raised the idea of such a pause in fighting, though it wasn’t clear at the time whether Moscow would agree.

Russia has not publicly confirmed that is has accepted any proposed halt in attacks. Asked earlier on Thursday about a possible energy ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered no clarification, “No, I can’t comment on that yet.” CNN has reached out to the Kremlin for further comment.

Previous attempts at a temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine have all failed to hold. Ukraine accused Russia of violating a planned three-day ceasefire in May of last year, which Moscow announced it would hold for “humanitarian considerations.” While Russian state media said that the ceasefire went into effect, Ukraine’s military said attacks continued throughout the period. But the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its troops “ceased all hostilities” and accused Ukraine of continuing to strike. It said Russia would “mirror” Ukraine’s actions.

And earlier in the war, Ukrainian authorities had to put plans to evacuate civilians from Mariupol on hold, citing Russian violations of an agreed pause in March 2022.

Status of peace talks

In his post thanking Trump, Zelensky said such “de-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war.” And Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expressed similar optimism, saying on Thursday that the administration was “making a lot of progress” in negotiating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, adding that following the Abu Dhabi meeting he believes “the people of Ukraine are now hopeful and expectant that we’re going to deliver a peace deal sometime soon.”

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “territorial claim on Donetsk” is the key remaining issue in talks to end the war in Ukraine.

“It’s still a gap, but at least we’ve been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one, but nonetheless, it’s one that work is going on,” he to

Análisis de Aaron Blake, CNN

Incluso después de una conferencia de prensa la mañana de este jueves por parte del nuevo líder del Gobierno de Donald Trump en la ofensiva migratoria en Minneapolis, Tom Homan, todavía no está claro exactamente cuánto cambiará la misión tras la muerte de Alex Pretti.

Pero lo que sí es absolutamente claro es que el Gobierno teme el costo político del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) y de sus operaciones de control migratorio en este momento.

Una serie de nuevos acontecimientos —no solo en Minneapolis, sino también en Maine y Washington— lo demuestran.

Incluso cuando Homan da señales de que habrá un esfuerzo más suave, más enfocado y apegado a las normas, y menos agentes en Minneapolis, recibimos noticias de que Trump está retirando la operación en el otro estado donde ha iniciado un esfuerzo similar de control migratorio.

Mientras tanto, la Casa Blanca y los republicanos parecen estar preparándose para hacer concesiones legislativas significativas en materia de cumplimiento migratorio para evitar un cierre del Gobierno.

Aún queda mucho por desarrollarse. Pero desglosaremos dónde estamos.

La gran pregunta en este momento es qué sucede en el terreno en Minneapolis.

La conferencia de prensa de Homan de este jueves fue ligera en detalles, pero contundente en sugerencias de un nuevo rumbo.

Quizás la mayor noticia fue que Homan dijo que habría una “reducción”. No dijo cuán grande ni cuán pronto; en cambio, dijo que el plan aún se está elaborando. Pero sí dio a entender que sucedería al menos en cierta medida independientemente de las condiciones en el terreno.

“Sí, lo dije”, afirmó. “Reducir el número de personas aquí”.

“La reducción va a suceder, basándose en estos acuerdos”, añadió. “Pero la reducción puede ser aún mayor si la retórica de odio, los obstáculos y la interferencia cesan”.

Homan también enfatizó repetidamente que las operaciones serían “dirigidas” y se enfocarían en los riesgos para la seguridad y la seguridad nacional, lo cual sugiere que el Gobierno está menos interesado en redadas amplias y detener a personas al azar.

Por supuesto, el Gobierno ha insistido durante mucho tiempo en que sus acciones de cumplimiento están “dirigidas”. Pero Homan dijo que su enfoque sería diferente, señalando que el esfuerzo “se desvió” de ese enfoque dirigido “un poco”.

Homan hizo una serie de comentarios que parecían destinados a distanciarse de la actitud previa del Gobierno de no pedir disculpas y nunca dar marcha atrás.

“No quiero escuchar que todo lo que se ha hecho aquí ha sido perfecto”, dijo Homan en un momento. Añadió que los agentes que no actúen con profesionalismo “serán sancionados” y que la operación sería “más segura” y “en regla”.

Eso podría interpretarse como un reproche al destituido jefe de la operación en Minneapolis, Gregory Bovino, quien dijo la semana pasada que “todo lo que hacemos cada día es legal, ético, moral, bien fundamentado en la ley”. Incluso podría leerse como una corrección al asesor de la Casa Blanca, Stephen Miller, quien a principios de este mes afirmó que ICE tenía “un historial impecable de deportación de no ciudadanos”.

Por otro lado, Homan al menos trató de combatir la idea de que se trataba de una capitulación. Criticó repetidamente la retórica de los manifestantes —aunque reconociendo su derecho a protestar— y dijo que el Gobierno “no está renunciando” a su misión.

“Me quedaré hasta que el problema des