Diosdado Cabello, the Minister of Interior, Justice, and Peace in Venezuela, defended the energy agreements signed by the interim government with international companies on Wednesday. ^[1] Marco Rubio has abandoned his fight for democracy in Latin America and embraced Trumpism, now negotiating with Venezuela's regime and obstructing María Corina Machado's return to Venezuela. ^[2] On January 3, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was arrested and taken to a US federal prison, and the US State Department held $13 billion in oil revenue to prevent chavistas from stealing it. ^[3] Cabello asserted that the petroleum operations are being developed within the Venezuelan legal framework, respecting the Constitution, the laws, and the Hydrocarbons Law. ^[4] Diosdado Cabello stated that utilizing Venezuela's natural resources to generate wealth for the people constitutes true sovereignty, contrasting it with simply possessing the oil without using it. ^[5] Marco Rubio agreed to establish a negotiating table with Dinorah Figuera, who represents no one, to prolong Delcy Rodríguez's supposedly transitional mandate. ^[6] Venezuela's monthly inflation closed July at 19.9 percent, around 780 percent annualized, causing prices to rise and bank balances to evaporate. ^[7] The government considered the investment norms approved during the management of the Constituent National Assembly when finalizing the agreements. ^[8]