At Saturday's press conference, President Trump was quick to assert that the profits from the oil market would be sufficient to offset the cost of a military intervention in Venezuela and that American companies would clearly benefit. However, despite the rhetoric—and the seizure of ships carrying crude oil—a closer look at the facts reveals significant inconsistencies in the president's argument. First, the oil companies themselves quickly expressed their doubts. Modernizing facilities severely deteriorated by extracting heavy, dense, high-sulfur crude requires substantial investment. Such operations are only profitable if accompanied by strong guarantees of political and legal stability—conditions that are currently lacking. Furthermore, Venezuelan crude is not considered a critical or essential asset for the global energy supply. The United States has sufficient domestic production and guaranteed access to both Canadian and Arabian Peninsula oil. In fact, the collective intelligence of financial markets seems to have reached a similar conclusion: in the last week, oil prices have remained virtually stable, without significant upward or downward pressure.

Nothing less than expected. After nearly three days of talks, the United States and China have agreed to cut tariffs. The agreement, still pending approval by the American and Chinese presidents, was announced by Trump himself, who provided the first details: the United States will apply 55% tariffs on Chinese products; Beijing, for its part, will apply 10% on American products.

We want a world without emissions, but to get there we depend on minerals and other elements to make solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. And this is where the paradox of the energy transition arises: while we seek to reduce dependence on fossil fuels to combat climate change, concentrating and extracting them can lead to environmental and social impacts, such as emissions, deforestation, and water pollution. Added to this is growing geopolitical tension over the control of these resources. Is it more sustainable? Science is looking for answers.

From toothpaste to euro bills and mobile phones, most of the things we use every day are made from elements that come from underground. Furthermore, in recent years, the use of minerals has increased exponentially due to the energy transition and our increasingly technological society. Some of these materials are considered strategic and critical, with high added value and crucial for industry. And within this group are rare earths.

Ukraine's rare earths could be the key to unlocking a future peace agreement, following the agreement signed this week by the Donald Trump administration and Volodymyr Zelensky's administration. The United States' hunger for these metals and other critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and tantalum, is at the heart of its involvement in the war in Ukraine, but also the reason why Donald Trump is threatening to annex Greenland and Canada. But the United States is not the only power immersed in the rush for critical minerals. The European Union has also defined as a strategic priority "achieving a secure and sustainable supply chain" for 34 critical raw materials, which include these and other minerals. essential for green technology and digital, but also, and now more than ever, for the growing military industry.

The 17 chemical elements known as rare earths possess magnetic, optical, and electrical properties that make them crucial for fiber optics, displays, and electronic devices in general. They are used to make radars and sensors, rechargeable batteries, satellites, drones, computers, mobile phones, speakers, telescopes, and even medical devices. In an increasingly technological society trying to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, these materials are becoming increasingly necessary. Seemingly simple components such as the magnets in hard drives, speakers, and most electric motors are made with these rare earths.

This Sunday's dossier is dedicated to rare earths. We've talked a lot about this these past few days, because the United States and Ukraine have finally signed an agreement to exploit them. These critical materials are now the new oil, and the global race to control them has begun. Let's review the conflicts around the world caused precisely by these materials, from Africa to Greenland. We'll also explain exactly what materials we're talking about from a geological perspective and what they're used for.

Windmills for wind energy production, electric car batteries, or compact electronic devices like GPS devices. These are examples of technologies that require a critical mineral to function. Although these raw materials have been highly valued for years, the spotlight has recently returned to them.