Maduro, Nicolas

• Venezuelan Lawmakers Approve Sweeping Overhaul of Oil Sector - Bowing to Trump administration pressure, the new legislation improves conditions for foreign oil companies and opens the way to slash the taxes they pay.
• Rubio Says Venezuela Will Submit Monthly Budget to White House - Democrats sharply questioned the plan, including the role of Qatar in managing an account funded by the sale of Venezuelan oil.
• In Venezuela, Families Search for Relatives Who Are Detained and Missing - Even as dozens of political prisoners have been freed, at least 66 people taken by state authorities and never heard from again remain missing, relatives and rights groups say.
• A Tale of Two Meetings: Trump Chooses Oil Over Democracy - Two conversations this week confirmed that President Trump backs the remnants of Nicolás Maduro’s regime over the Venezuelan opposition seeking to hold elections.
• The Judge in the Maduro Case Is 92. All Eyes Will Be on His Stamina. - Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein was seen drifting in and out of sleep in court last year. The case of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, will test his endurance.
• Venezuela Strongman and Maduro Ally, Diosdado Cabello, Faces an Uneasy Transition - Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister, is accused by U.S. prosecutors of drug trafficking and is linked to repression at home, yet remains a powerful figure.
• Nobel Committee Takes Heat at Home as Machado Courts Trump in D.C. - The Venezuelan opposition leader’s attempts to share her award with the U.S. president have shaken some Norwegians’ faith in their signature soft-power tool.
• James Luckey-Lange Among Americans Freed in Venezuela - James Luckey-Lange, 28, was released this week with several other U.S. citizens from the country’s notorious prison system after going missing in December, his family said.
• An Emboldened Trump Makes Big Bets in Venezuela, Iran and Beyond - President Trump has left himself plenty of room for maximal intervention. But there are a host of potential wild cards, each with risks for the president.
• Trump’s Plans for Venezuelan Oil Run Headlong Into Reality - President Trump’s fixation on Venezuela’s oil raises the question of how much “energy dominance” is really worth nowadays.