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US Senate advances war powers resolution

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Asked if oversight would last a year, Trump says: 'I would

say

much longer'

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Venezuela releases political prisoners in gesture of peace

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Trump to host oil company bosses at White House on Friday

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on

Thursday to advance a resolution that would bar President Donald

Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela

without congressional authorization, even as Trump said U.S.

oversight of the troubled nation could last years.

The Senate voted 52 to 47 on a procedural measure to advance

the ‌war powers resolution, as a handful of Trump's fellow

Republicans voted with every Democrat in favor of moving ahead

toward a final vote on the matter.

Earlier, Trump told the New York Times in an interview published

on Thursday that the ​U.S. could oversee Venezuela and control

its oil revenue for years.

Trump also appeared to lift a threat of military action

against Venezuela's neighbor, Colombia. Trump invited Colombia's

leftist ‍leader, whom he had previously called a "sick man," to

visit Washington.

"Only time will tell" how long the United States will

oversee ⁠Venezuela, Trump said. When asked by the ⁠newspaper if it

would be three months, six months, a year or longer, Trump said:

"I would say much longer."

"We will rebuild it in a very profitable way," Trump said of

Venezuela, where he sent troops to seize ‌President Nicolas

Maduro in a night raid on Saturday.

Trump added that the U.S. was "getting along ​very well" with the

government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, a longstanding

Maduro loyalist who had served as the ousted leader's vice

president.

POLITICAL PRISONERS FREED

Meanwhile, Venezuela's top lawmaker, Jorge Rodriguez, said

on Thursday that a significant number of both foreign and

Venezuelan prisoners would be freed during the day.

The ⁠liberations, a repeated demand of the country's

political opposition, are a gesture of peace, ‍Rodriguez said,

adding the action ​was unilateral and not agreed upon with any

other party.

Top opposition leader Maria Corina Machado's movement, as

well as other opposition figures and human rights groups, have

demanded the release of political prisoners since the U.S.

capture of Maduro.

Local rights group Foro Penal estimates there are 863

political prisoners in the country, ‍including political figures,

human rights activists, protesters arrested after the disputed

2024 election, and journalists.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on

the planned prisoner release.

The Times reported Trump declined to answer questions about

why he had decided not to give power in Venezuela to the

opposition, which Washington had previously considered the

legitimate winner of the 2024 election.

The Senate measure faces a steep climb to become law. It

would need to be passed by the House of Representatives - which

is also controlled by Trump's Republicans. If both chambers pass

the resolution, each would need to secure a two-thirds majority

to override a likely Trump veto. But it marked a rare sign of

congressional Republican pushback ​against the Trump ‍White House.

"Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just

voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to

fight and defend the United States of America," Trump said in a

social media post.

COLOMBIA THREAT APPEARS TO DISSIPATE

The New York Times said its reporters were permitted to sit

in ​during a phone call between Trump and Colombia's President

Gustavo Petro, provided the contents of the call were off the

record.

In a post on social media, Trump said: "It was a great honor

to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, 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."

Petro described the call, his first with Trump, as cordial.

Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50

million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in

Venezuela under U.S. blockade.

Venezuela, with the world's biggest proven oil reserves, has

become impoverished in recent decades, with 8 million people

fleeing abroad in one of the world's biggest ​migration crises.

Washington and the Venezuelan opposition have long blamed

corruption, mismanagement and brutality by the ruling Socialist

Party. Maduro blamed the economic damage on U.S. sanctions.

Trump is scheduled to meet with the heads of major oil

companies at the White House on Friday to discuss ways of

raising Venezuela's oil production. Representatives from the top

three U.S. oil companies, Exxon Mobil ( XOM ), ConocoPhillips ( COP )

and Chevron ( CVX ), would be present, according to a

source familiar with the ‍planning.

The companies, all of which have experience in Venezuela,

have declined to comment.