mercredi 7 janvier 2026
La mégère climatique
Nord de la France, région de Picardie
9 heures 16, -2°C, 10°C à l'intérieur, 12°C pour l'instant avec les deux chauffages poêle et gaz d'appoint, dans la journée j'arrive à 17°C, avec le seul poêle je ne dépasse pas 14°C. Bon, j'ai un vieu poêle, les nouveaux sont plus performants et en plus le bois est humide, dehors, il neige à gros flocons. Autant je suis content que le vrai hiver soit là, autant, je le regrette pour ceux qui ont froid chez eux et qui ne sont pas comme moi célibataire, donc avec personne à protéger que ma personne. J'ai eu souvent froid dans ma vie, donc, je m'habille chaudement avec des couches successives de vêtements qui collent au corps, surtout pour dormir, toujours une écharpe en la circonstance une écharpe tube achetée chez decathlon et je dors même avec un bonnet comme dans l'ancien temps. Il fait 7°C dans ma chambre dans la journée. Un petit vent transforme les flocons en rafales, il va y avoir des congères sur les routes. A part ça, trump aux States est de fait un dictateur, il n'a pas demandé l'autorisation au congrès pour commettre son crime. Car ce qu'il a fait, l'enlèvement de maduro, le président d'un état indépendant est un crime, en tout cas un acte très grave qui aurait dû avoir l'approbation du congrès et ça aussi cela mérite d'engager la procédure de destitution de trump.
mardi 6 janvier 2026
Aipac donor on cusp of reaping billions from US abduction of Maduro
Paul Singer speaks onstage during The New York Times DealBook Conference at One World Trade Center on 11 December 2014 in New York City (Thos Robinson/Getty Images for New York Times/AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 6 January 2026 19:57 GMT | Last update: 1 hour 36 mins ago
A major donor to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) could reap billions of dollars from a reshuffle in Venezuela’s oil assets following the US's abduction of President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.
Maduro’s removal and a pliant government in Caracas could allow Singer to finalise a deal that would see his investment firm, Elliot Investment Management, gain control of a network of US-based oil refineries at a steeply discounted price.
Singer’s firm bid $6bn for refineries in Texas, Louisiana, and Illinois, which some analysts say could be worth $12bn. If Trump follows through on his pledge to revive Venezuela's oil industry, the country's heavy crude could start flowing back to the US in large numbers.
Elliot Investment Management is no stranger to the world of emerging market debt. It made billions of dollars in the aftermath of Argentina’s debt crisis. But it also has an inside track to the Trump White House.
Singer, 81, is a major donor to Aipac and the Republican Party.
Singer has emerged as one of the top donors supporting an effort to oust Congressman Thomas Massie from office. The Kentucky Republican has emerged as a sharp critic of US support for Israel and foreign intervention.
"According to Grok, Paul Singer, globalist Republican mega-donor who’s already spent $1,000,000 to defeat me in the next election, stands to make billions of dollars on his distressed CITGO investment, now that this administration has taken over Venezuela,” Massie wrote on X over the weekend.
In November, a US judge backed Elliot’s bid to buy Citgo, but the sale has not been finalised. Citgo is owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA.
Halliburton, hedge funds and Chevron: Big winners from Trump's vow to 'rule' Venezuela
Maduro’s government denounced the bid as fraudulent, and a US-government-appointed board tapped to oversee Venezuelan oil assets abroad also rejected it. The US Treasury Department still needs to approve the deal.
Debt and sanctions
PDVSA was a major player in the global energy industry decades ago, but suffered from underinvestment and mismanagement after Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998 and moved to nationalise the oil industry. Over the last decade, Venezuela’s oil sector was hollowed out by crushing US sanctions.
The proceeds from Citgo’s sale would go to some holders of PDVSA’s debt.
Venezuela is estimated to have around $150bn in debt, including debt belonging to PDVSA.
Caracas defaulted on its debt in 2017, and its bond prices collapsed in 2019 when the US sanctioned PDVSA’s oil sales. Roughly 20 percent of that debt is owed to China and Russia, which have supported Maduro’s government.
If Citgo’s sale is sealed, it would underscore how US investors, particularly hedge funds that purchased cheap Venezuelan debt, are making gains from the geopolitical earthquake in South America.
The death count from the US attack on Venezuela has risen to over 80, including civilians and members of security forces, according to an AP report on Tuesday.
US special forces abducted Venezuela's president from the capital, Caracas, early on Saturday, as American fighter jets bombed key military installations and bases across the country.
Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, said the US abduction of Maduro had "Zionist undertones".
Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's vice president, has been appointed by the Supreme Court to lead the country on an interim basis.