World
Venezuela teeters as guerrilla groups, cartels exploit Maduro power vacuum
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Venezuela is teetering on the edge after the U.S. capture and arrest of former President Nicolás Maduro, as armed militias, guerrilla groups and criminal networks threaten a path toward stability, according to reports.
As interim President Delcy Rodríguez assumes control, backed by President Trump’s administration, analysts have warned that the country is completely saturated with heavily armed groups capable of derailing any progress toward stability.
“All of the armed groups have the power to sabotage any type of transition just by the conditions of instability that they can create,” Andrei Serbin Pont, a military analyst and head of the Buenos Aires-based think tank Cries, told The Financial Times.
“There are parastate armed groups across the entirety of Venezuela’s territory,” he said.
MADURO ARREST SENDS ‘CLEAR MESSAGE’ TO DRUG CARTELS, ALLIES AND US RIVALS, RETIRED ADMIRAL SAYS
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who, according to the State Department, leads the Cartel de los Soles, beside members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images; Edward Romero)
Experts say Rodríguez must keep the regime’s two most powerful hardliners onside: Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
“The focus is now on Diosdado Cabello,” Venezuelan military strategist José García told Reuters, “because he is the most ideological, violent and unpredictable element of the Venezuelan regime.”
“Delcy has to walk a tightrope,” said Phil Gunson, a Crisis Group analyst in Caracas.
“They are not in a position to deliver any kind of deal with Trump unless they can get the approval of the people with the guns, who are basically Padrino and Cabello.”
Since Maduro’s removal, government-aligned militias known as “colectivos” have been deployed across Caracas and other cities to enforce order and suppress dissent.
“The future is uncertain, the colectivos have weapons, the Colombian guerrilla is already here in Venezuela, so we don’t know what’s going to happen, time will tell,” Oswaldo, a 69-year-old shop owner, told The Telegraph.
WAS TRUMP’S MADURO OPERATION ILLEGAL? WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW HAS TO SAY
Demonstrators critical of the government clash with the security forces of the state. After the last conflict-laden days, interim president Guaido, with the support of his supporters, wants to continue exerting pressure on head of state Maduro. (Rafael Hernandez/picture alliance/Getty Images)
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, armed motorcyclists and masked enforcers have erected checkpoints in the capital, searching civilians’ phones and vehicles for signs of opposition to the U.S. raid.
“That environment of instability plays into the hands of armed actors,” Serbin Pont added.
Outside the capital, guerrilla groups and organized crime syndicates are exploiting the power vacuum along Venezuela’s borders and in its resource-rich interior.
Guerrillas now operate along Venezuela’s 2,219-kilometer border with Colombia and control illegal mining near the Orinoco oil belt.
The National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian Marxist guerrilla group with thousands of fighters and designated a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, has operated in Venezuela as a paramilitary force.
FROM SANCTIONS TO SEIZURE: WHAT MADURO’S CAPTURE MEANS FOR VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY
Armed colectivos deploy across Venezuelan cities while guerrilla groups control borders following former President Nicolás Maduro’s capture. (Juancho Torres/Anadolu via Getty Image)
Elizabeth Dickson, Crisis Group’s deputy director for Latin America, said the ELN “in Venezuela … has essentially operated as a paramilitary force, aligned with the interests of the Maduro government up until now.”
Carlos Arturo Velandia, a former ELN commander, also told the Financial Times that if Venezuela’s power bloc fractures, the group would side with the most radical wing of Chavismo.
Colectivos also function as armed enforcers of political loyalty.
“We are the ones being called on to defend this revolutionary process radically, without hesitation — us colectivos are the fundamental tool to continue this fight,” said Luis Cortéz, commander of the Colectivo Catedral Combativa.
“We are always, and always will be, fighting and in the streets.”
Other armed actors include the Segunda Marquetalia, a splinter group of Colombia’s former FARC rebels. Both guerrilla groups work alongside local crime syndicates known as “sistemas,” which have ties to politicians.
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The Tren de Aragua cartel, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., has also expanded across Venezuela and into Colombia, Chile and the U.S.
As reported by Fox News Digital, an unsealed indictment alleges Maduro “participates in, perpetuates, and protects a culture of corruption” involving drug trafficking with groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, the ELN, FARC factions and Tren de Aragua, with most of the problematic groups named.
World
Naomi Watts to Star as Ballerina Margot Fonteyn in Romantic Drama ‘Margot & Rudi,’ With WestEnd Films Selling in Cannes
Naomi Watts is set to star in romantic drama “Margot & Rudi,” which tells the true story of ballet legends Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. The film, to be directed by “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” filmmaker Anthony Fabian, has been boarded by world sales agency WestEnd Films.
The story unfolds when Fonteyn, the greatest ballerina in the West, is 42 and sensing her career is over. Nureyev is 23, a rebellious Soviet defector — magnetic, explosive, unstoppable. Together, they ignite the stage and become icons of the Swinging Sixties. Fonteyn is reborn by Nureyev’s wild energy, but their bond is complicated by her marriage and his affair with another dancer. To preserve what they have, they will risk everything for one defining ballet—because the only place they can truly be together… is on stage.
Watts, who studied dance before becoming an actress, will star as Fonteyn. She broke through with her performance in “Mulholland Drive” and earned Academy Award nominations for her leading roles in “21 Grams” and “The Impossible.”
She next stars in “The Housewife,” as well as Cody Fern’s untitled debut feature film, with Sarah Paulson, Dianne Wiest and Odessa A’Zion.
On television, she received Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for her performance in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” and recently starred in “Love Story.”
Alexandr Trush, principal dancer with the Hamburg Ballet, will portray Nureyev. A Russian-speaking Ukrainian ballet star, he has headlined major productions including “Giselle” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
The film also stars Academy Award nominee Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” “Saltburn,” “Nuremberg”), Academy Award nominee Demián Bichir (“A Better Life,” “Land,” “The Hateful Eight”) and BAFTA nominee Harriet Walter (“Succession,” “The Crown,” “Sense and Sensibility”), with additional cast to be announced.
The screenplay is written by BAFTA nominee Olivia Hetreed (“Girl With a Pearl Earring,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”).
The creative team includes Academy Award nominee hair and makeup designer Karen Hartley Thomas (“Golda,” The Son,” “The Courier”), choreographer Arthur Pita (“Ex Machina,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Sunshine on Leith”), and BAFTA-winning costume designer Fotini Dimou (“The Children Act,” “King Lear”), with additional crew to be announced.
The film, which is set to shoot in October, is produced by Mike Goodridge for Good Chaos (“Triangle of Sadness,” “Ballad of a Small Player,” “Quo Vadis, Aida?”), Anthony Fabian for Elysian Films (“Skin,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”), Olivia Hetreed for Sympathetic Ink and Chris Coen (“Funny Games,” “The Childhood of a Leader,” “Shadow Dancer”). Executive producers are Thom Mount, Jeffrey Berg and Andy Paterson.
Fabian said: “Growing up in Mexico City, watching Margot and Rudi’s performances in the cinema sparked my passion for stories that blend music, theater and dance. The film explores the private joy and pain behind their public personas, capturing their unique chemistry. Ballet sequences from the duo’s most iconic roles and performances together drive the story, using movement and cinematic fantasy to reveal the truth behind a couple as famous in their day as The Beatles. Their love, defying barriers of culture, age, class and sexuality, is romantic, unconventional and thrilling — a love story like no other.”
Fabian’s previous film “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” was released worldwide by Focus Features/Universal International Pictures in 2022. It grossed over $30 million at the box office and received BAFTA, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.
Watts said: “Dance was my first love, and I’ve long dreamed of making a dance film. I feel deeply honored and excited to be playing Margot Fonteyn, one of the greatest dancers of all time. Her relationship with Rudolf Nureyev was extraordinary — both artistically and emotionally — and I’m thrilled to be exploring it with such sensitivity and imagination under the direction of Anthony Fabian.”
Maya Amsellem, managing director of WestEnd Films, said: “’Margot & Rudi’ is a sweeping and beautiful story about two iconic artists who redefine each other at a pivotal moment in their lives. Naomi Watts is set to deliver one of the most transformative performances of her career, combining emotional intensity with the physicality of dance. With Anthony Fabian’s visionary direction and the film’s bold, cinematic use of ballet, this will be a powerful big-screen experience we’re excited to bring to the international market.”
WestEnd will introduce the film to buyers at Cannes Film Festival.
Watts is repped by CAA, Untitled and HJTH. Fabian is repped by Jon Cassir at CAA and Olivia Gray at Independent Talent. He is managed by Ensemble Entertainment.
Ships reportedly attacked in Strait of Hormuz as blockade turns 28 vessels around
Daniel Turner, Power The Future founder and executive director, analyzes the US blockade against Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s strategy to outlast the US economically. He details the impact on oil and gas prices, arguing that markets need confidence to stabilize. Turner critiques current climate policies, stating they’ve made lives expensive and hurt the US economically and militarily.
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Iran reportedly opened fire upon three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre noted that a container ship was fired upon by an IRGC gunboat near Oman Wednesday, causing “heavy damage to the bridge.”
“No fires or environmental impact reported. All Crew reported safe,” the notice said.
Another UKMTO warning said “an outbound cargo ship” west of Iran reported “having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water.” The notice said the crew was safe and accounted for.
“There is no reported damage to the vessel,” it added.
IRAN FIRES ON 2 SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ AFTER TRUMP EXTENDS CEASEFIRE
Maps4Media processed and enhanced Sentinal-2 satellite imagery shows a broad view of the Strait of Hormuz between southern Iran and Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, including surrounding islands, coastal terrain, and turquoise shallow-water zones at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. (Photo enhanced and published by maps4media via Getty Images)
Iranian media said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was bringing two ships to Iran after seizing them in the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Associated Press.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) Command claimed in an X post that the two vessels, the MSC-FRANCESCA and EPAMINODES, “had endangered maritime security by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems.”
It said the vessels “were seized by the IRGC Navy and escorted to Iran’s coast,” according to a translation.
“Disruption of order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is our red line,” the command wrote.
It also claimed the MSC-FRANCESCA is “linked to the Zionist regime.”
IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD SIDELINES PRESIDENT AS MILITARY GRIP EXPANDS
Motorists ride past the Imam Sadiq (AS) mosque with a giant Iranian flag installed on its front at the Palestine Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian media also reported that the IRGC attacked a third ship, identified as the Euphoria, according to the AP.
The development comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that the United States was extending a ceasefire.
“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” the president wrote on Truth Social..
ISRAEL UNVEILS GAME-CHANGING ARTILLERY AGAINST IRAN-BACKED HEZBOLLAH AMID FRAGILE CEASEFIRE
President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media outside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 13, 2026. (Salwan Georges/Bloomberg)
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“I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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A court in Moldova sentenced oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc to 19 years in prison on Wednesday in a case linked to the disappearance of $1 billion (€850 million) from the country’s banking system.
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A former businessman, lawmaker and kingpin in the Democratic Party of Moldova, Plahotniuc fled Moldova in 2019, as he faced a series of corruption charges.
That included complicity in the scheme that led to money disappearing from Moldovan banks in 2014, which at the time was equivalent to around one-eighth of the country’s GDP.
He was extradited from Greece last year, after being arrested at Athens airport under an Interpol international alert.
A Chișinău judge announced the ruling on Wednesday.
The court also ordered the seizure of some $60 million (€51 million) from Plahotniuc’s accounts, said prosecutor Alexandru Cernei after the sentencing.
Plahotniuc, 60, was not present in court on Wednesday.
He had previously dismissed the charges, calling his trial “political” and “flawed from the outset.”
His lawyer Lucian Rogac said he would appeal the decision, deeming it “clearly illegal.”
“The entire process was conducted in a tremendous rush, with numerous violations of the defendant’s rights,” Rogac said.
After Plahotniuc’s return to the country, Moldovan prosecutors had demanded 25 years in jail, the maximum provided by law, in a case linked to the disappearance of money from three banks in 2014.
They accused Plahotniuc of forming and leading a criminal organisation, fraud and money laundering on a particularly large scale.
The influential businessman and politician was added to a US State Department sanctions list in 2022 for alleged corruption.
The charges included controlling the country’s law enforcement to target political and business rivals and meddling in Moldova’s elections.
He was added to a UK sanctions list in 2022 and barred from entering the country. His assets were frozen in Britain and its overseas territories.
Plahotniuc was accused of involvement in pro-Russian political campaigns and efforts to derail Moldova’s pro-EU course.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
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