Closing summary
It’s 1.45am in Caracas and 12.45am in Bogotá and New York City and we’re going to close this live coverage now. Here’s a recap of the day’s developments. Thanks for following along.
Donald Trump has said arrangements are being made for Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro to visit the White House following a call between the two leaders on Wednesday that Trump described in positive terms. It was their first talks since the US president on Sunday threatened the country with military action.
The call came as crowds gathered across Colombia in demonstrations “to defend national sovereignty” following Petro’s call for a “day of national mobilisation” against Trump’s threat. The threat came after Trump ordered the US capture of the president of neighbouring Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who was flown to the US to face drug and weapons charges.
American vice-president JD Vance reiterated the US would have complete control of Venezuela’s oil supplies, while Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez defended plans to open up her country’s oil market to Washington.
Rodríguez said America’s attack to remove Maduro put a “stain” on the countries’ relations but that it was “not unusual or irregular” to trade with the US, adding that Venezuela was “open to energy relations where all parties benefit”.
Trump’s administration has sought to assert its control over Venezuelan oil, seizing a pair of sanctioned tankers on Wednesday – one sailing under Russia’s flag – while announcing it would manage all sales of future crude production and oversee the sale of the country’s petroleum worldwide.
The seizure of the Marinera crude oil tanker ended a weeks-long chase across the Atlantic. “It was a fake Russian oil tanker,” JD Vance told Fox News. Earlier on Wednesday, the US coast guard also intercepted a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil, the Panama-flagged M Sophia.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform after his call with Petro that it was “great honour” to speak to the Colombian president, “who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had”. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future,” Trump said, adding that arrangements were being made for a meeting between them soon at the White House.
Trump also said on social media that Venezuela would use the proceeds from its oil deal with the US to buy American products, including farm commodities and medicine.
Venezuelan interior minister Diosdado Cabello said 100 people died in the US weekend raid.
With news agencies
Updated
“I’m a bit of an insomniac. So at almost 2am, I was awake, actually, and the first explosion, I swear I thought it was an earthquake.”
For Anna (not her real name), a journalist based in Caracas, it took some time for the realisation to dawn on her that the US had attacked Venezuela’s capital. “But then when the explosions continued in the following 20 minutes, one after the other, something deep down told me, you know, it’s the Americans.”
In this Guardian podcast published today, Anna describes to Helen Pidd the atmosphere on the streets of Caracas and the nervousness that many continue to feel about the regime.
And Tom Phillips, the Guardian’s South America correspondent, describes the apprehension and mixed feelings among Venezuelans crossing the border with Colombia.
He also outlines the mistrust and fragility within the new leadership, the disappointment of the opposition movement, and how considerations about the country’s vast oil reserves may have shaped Washington’s calculations.
The podcast can be heard here:
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