Crypto News: Venezuela’s showdown

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Historically, Venezuelans have been avid consumers of telenovelas, a type of glitzy Spanish-language soap opera the nation exported around the globe.

Now, Venezuela's own telenovela is reaching its climax, and the real-life stakes couldn't be higher.

President Nicolás Maduro is set to be inaugurated for a third term in Caracas today as the opposition plans further protests against what they — and most democratic nations — say was a sham election.

Edmundo González, the overwhelming winner of July's presidential election according to ballot tallies collected by the opposition, was forced to flee but has vowed to return today to be sworn in.

Maduro's officials have threatened to arrest him if he dares.

Nicolás Maduro speaks during a government rally in Caracas on Jan. 7. Photographer: Pedro Mattey/AFP

González's plan may seem far-fetched but he's built momentum on a diplomatic blitz including meetings with US President Joe Biden, Argentina's Javier Milei and Panama's José Raúl Mulino just in the last week.

Maduro has responded with a fresh wave of repression. The regime briefly detained the opposition's most popular leader, María Corina Machado, during her first appearance in months yesterday. González's son-in law was taken earlier this week, joining at least two dozen others detained so far this year.

Maduro's wrath has riled his ideological allies in Latin America, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who will skip the inauguration.

Ultimately, Biden's embrace of González could complicate matters for Donald Trump, who will need Maduro's cooperation to fulfill his promise of deporting undocumented immigrants.

Trump showed his hand yesterday, responding to Machado's detention by urging Maduro not to harm her and referred to González as "president-elect."

Yet while Marco Rubio, his pick for secretary of state, has long been a vocal Maduro critic, other Trump appointees argue that a hard line against Venezuela hasn't worked and that more engagement is needed.

This drama has some way to run yet.

María Corina Machado speaks during an anti-government protest in Caracas yesterday. Photographer: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images South America

Global Must Reads

Six months in office, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is struggling to maintain the confidence of financial markets as the UK becomes the focus of a global bond selloff. With her project to spur growth and stabilize public finances close to being in tatters, Reeves is in Beijing this weekend to deepen economic ties with China.

Trump said that his team is setting up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that it would take place after his Jan. 20 inauguration. Putin meanwhile said that he would be talking with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping by phone soon.

Vietnam's Communist Party is pursuing the biggest overhaul of the state since adopting pro-market reforms in the 1980s, targeting a roughly 20% reduction in the size of ministries, agencies and public workers. Vietnam's approach mirrors plans by Elon Musk and Argentina's Milei to slash the size of government.

Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam. Photographer: Nhac Nguyen/AFP

Argentines are growing more optimistic about the economy's prospects under Milei, according to LatAm Pulse, a survey conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News, the first time more respondents expressed a positive outlook than those expecting worse times ahead. Separately, disapproval of Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reached the highest level of his term in December on economic woes.

China's strained pension system, already in danger of running out of money in a decade, faces a new threat from young workers who don't make a $200 monthly contribution to the optional state plan. Their refusal to contribute deprives the program of badly needed funding just as payouts are poised to soar for an aging population.

Influencer Gao Pengcheng isn't paying in.
Photographer: Andrea Verdelli/Bloomberg

Investors welcomed the election of US-backed army commander Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's first president in more than two years.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's security chief resigned today, a week after leading a team that blocked an attempt to arrest the impeached president.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is trying to schedule a meeting with Trump in Florida ahead of his inauguration, sources say.

Nvidia slammed new US export restrictions on AI chips that are expected to be announced soon, saying they would do nothing to promote national security.

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Chart of the Day

As wildfires sweep Los Angeles, two major climate-science agencies concluded that Earth's warming exceeded 1.5C on an annual basis for the first time in 2024. The findings are the most potent evidence yet that countries are failing to meet a Paris Agreement goal of limiting global heating to that level as a decades-long average.

And Finally

Greenland's residents are intensifying their push for independence from Denmark just as the Arctic territory's geopolitical importance rises with its vast ice sheet melting. As has been made clear to Trump, Greenland is not for sale. But its new position gives it the ability to play the US and Denmark off against each other – a dynamic that might ultimately see it come out on top.

A statue of the Danish-Norwegian Lutheran missionary Hans Egede overlooks Nuuk, Greenland. Photographer: Emil Helms/AFP

Pop quiz (no cheating!). Which country's government accused a giant Chinese coast-guard vessel dubbed the "Monster" of maintaining an illegal presence in its exclusive economic zone? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net