Venezuela - President Nicolas Maduro & his wife "captured and flown out of country" by U.S. Army Delta Force during "large scale attack" - Jan 3, 2026

[BayouBelle_LA]

The Democrats voicing their concerns over Maduro is a far cry from bombing a country,killing civilians and kidnapping their President to face US charges, and stealing their oil for good measure. That is a false equivalence argument.

Just a few examples from my link. The hypocrisy is glaring.

Sen. Chris Murphy​

• THEN: “If Trump cared about consistency, he would make the realist case for intervention in Venezuela (getting rid of Maduro is good for the United States) rather than trying to pretend his Administration all of the sudden cares about toppling anti-democratic regimes.” (1/23/19)
• NOW: “The invasion of Venezuela has nothing to do with American security. Venezuela is not a security threat to the U.S.” (1/4/26)

Sen. Tim Kaine​

• THEN: “This is a deeply concerning development for Venezuelans and for the entire region, since instability abroad impacts us here at home, too.” (9/2/24)
• NOW: “President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro… is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere.” (1/3/26)

 

[southgoldengirl]

The democrats only complained. They did not try to save the USA from drug cartels.
President Trump and his administration acted on the good to the entire UNIVERSE. MOO

Exactly, so it's a false equivalence to compare their actions with Trump's.
How about addressing the drug problem at home? looking at why people are so miserable with their lives that they seek out drugs, providing adequate health care and social services? Addressing the extraordinary inequality in the US for the richest country in the world?
No it's easier to blame those brown people in another country isn't it?
Anyway Trump said it's about the oil, so basically a takeover of exploitation of another nations resources.

"the entire UNIVERSE" LOL America is definately not helping the rest of the world, just creating a lot of geopolitical tension

 

[branmuffin]

Donald Trump Admits Oil Companies Knew About Venezuela Operation Before Congress

Yet they refused to tell Congress because they said there were too many 'leakers'. This tells you everything you need to know.

 

[Arkay]

IMO it’s important to remember that while Trump did actually win this last election, he was elected to be president of the United States and not Emperor of the Western Hemisphere.

Maduro is a bad dude for sure. Take him out, I don’t care.

But Greenland, Canada and other friends and allies are not ours to grab and make into American possessions. Nor can Trump be our president and simultaneously “run” Venezuela.

I like Marco Rubio. He seems sensible to me. But someone somewhere (Melania)? has to talk Trump down from thinking he’s an old-time conquistador.

Preferably before we become the Trump United Hemisphere.

Just my opinion.

 

[branmuffin]

The Democrats only complained. They did not try to save the USA from drug cartels.

The Democrats did not try to save the Venezuelans from that Dictator.

But here we are in the USA trying to help the world.
President Trump and his administration acted on the good to the entire UNIVERSE including many white light spirits of past lives.
IRAN is corrupt as well as Columbia just 2 examples of where a strong county like the USA can help the citizens there that are under the THUMB of a DICTATOR.

WILL WE ASK FOR SOMETING IN RETURN LIKE OIL?
Of course, because the USA is A HUMANITARIN PROVIDER FOR THE WORLD. WE WILL MAKE THINGS FAIR ON THE GROUND IN SOCIETY FOR ALL.

MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

THAT IS THE GOAL.

STOP BICKERING.
MOO

How will the US be 'helping' Denmark if they annex Greenland? How will the US be 'helping' Canada if they invade us? You know as well as I do, that the motivating factor of any of these political takeovers are rooted in materialism: what natural resources or products can the US siphon and use for their own needs? I don't think Canada needs your help if that's your definition of helping. There is absolutely nothing even remotely related to altruism in the offhand way Trump talks about how much fresh water BC has "they have essentially a very large faucet'. Our lumber, our oil, our precious metals, basically anything that the US needs, to exploit OUR resources for YOUR consumption.

 

[SouthAussie]

"More than a dozen media workers were detained on Monday while covering events in the Venezuelan capital, including a march in support of ousted president Nicolás Maduro and the swearing-in of the country’s new legislature, the Venezuelan press association said.

All 14 of those detained in Caracas were later released, the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) posted on X, though one was a foreign journalist who was deported.

Reuters quoted the SNTP as saying those detained included 11 people working with international media outlets and one with a national outlet."

Opposition leader Machado says she hasn’t spoken to Trump since attack as she vows to return to Venezuela – live

María Corina Machado tells Fox News she would share her Nobel peace prize with US president after removal of Nicolás Maduro

www.theguardian.com

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Get your wallets ready...we're paying for it all!
‐---------------
"Moreover, he said, the U.S. may subsidize an effort by oil companies to rebuild the country's energy infrastructure — a project he said could take less than 18 months.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money," he said. "A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue."

Trump says the U.S. isn't at war with Venezuela

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Trump discussed the path forward in Venezuela, including when there will be elections, the opportunities for oil companies and Congress' role.

www.nbcnews.com

Big Oil doesn’t share Trump’s dream of making Venezuelan oil great again​

President Donald Trump may have made a major miscalculation about Venezuela’s oil.

Trump has expressed excitement over the prospect of US oil companies getting their hands on Venezuela’s vast oil resources.

But industry sources tell CNN that American oil executives are unlikely to dive headfirst into Venezuela for multiple reasons: The situation on the ground remains very uncertain, Venezuela’s oil industry is in shambles and Caracas has a history of seizing US oil assets.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/05/business/venezuela-trump-oil-chevron

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Blowing my mind the negative response on this site to the American military arresting Maduro who was indicted in March 2020 on charges of narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons charges, had a reward for his capture, who was illegitimately in office and had been warned that this was coming. In recent conversations POTUS had tried to negotiate with Maduro, he could have been spending the rest of his life living well in another country but he thought Trump was bluffing - so yeah, I'm good with FAFO in this situation.

And so are many others - Tears, relief and questions about what comes next: Venezuelans in U.S. celebrate Maduro capture

All JMO

The negative response isn't about Maduro being arrested. It's about the US claiming this is simply a law enforcement operation when the world can plainly see it was a large scale military operation, invading a sovereign nation, killing dozens of people, and claiming it will now be in charge and send in US corporations to take over the oil. I can't just shrug that off, particularly the loss of life.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

"Canadian businesses can get ahead of the global competition by using the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)—a free trade agreement between Canada and 10 other countries in the Indo-Pacific: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam."

In addition, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay have filed applications to join the partnership.

The US used to be a member but withdrew because the terms of its membership were not sufficiently favourable to the US. Back in 2018, Trump said the US might be interested in rejoining if membership terms were more favourable to it but since then the Biden administration set up a rival trade partnership in the region effectively run by the US.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

apart from the toll of human life, the amount of waste and destruction in wars is breathtaking

True, but it's also the case that wars force innovation in medicine and technology. Modern plastic surgery, for example, started with innovations in the treatment of facial burns and trauma following WWI.

The birth of plastic surgery | National Army Museum

A century ago it was wounded soldiers, rather than celebrities, getting the latest plastic surgery. The First World War saw a huge rise in the number of drastic facial injuries. Surgeon Harold Gillies developed a new method of facial reconstructive surgery in 1917.

www.nam.ac.uk

 

[otto]

The negative response isn't about Maduro being arrested. It's about the US claiming this is simply a law enforcement operation when the world can plainly see it was a large scale military operation, invading a sovereign nation, killing dozens of people, and claiming it will now be in charge and send in US corporations to take over the oil. I can't just shrug that off, particularly the loss of life.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia was confident that it would be over in 3 days, where Russia would run Ukraine. It didn't work out as Russia planned.

It looks as though the US is imitating Russia, making a big show of seizing a country in a day.

Is that what's going on? The US government is playing a game of oneupmanship with Russia? Is the US president's ego getting in his way and causing him to be a show-off with threatening and seizing sovereign countries?

~ in my humble opinion ~​

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Shaping up to be yet another poorly thought out plan (a la doge) which will end up costing Americans their hard-earned tax dollars. You good tax payers?

Trump says the U.S. may reimburse oil companies for rebuilding Venezuela's infrastructure

Big oil firms will either "get reimbursed by us or through revenue," Trump told NBC News in an exclusive interview.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Shaping up to be yet another poorly thought out plan (a la doge) which will end up costing Americans their hard-earned tax dollars. You good tax payers?

Trump says the U.S. may reimburse oil companies for rebuilding Venezuela's infrastructure

Big oil firms will either "get reimbursed by us or through revenue," Trump told NBC News in an exclusive interview.

www.nbcnews.com

The other consideration is that the Orinoco belt of oilfields which Trump seems to be dazzled by are deep in the interior of the country and linked to the coast by pipelines. There's a lot of scope there for guerilla groups loyal to the current regime or future emerging factions to carry out years of sabotage against any new or upgraded infrastructure, which has to be considered a real threat in view of the propensity of countries in the north of South America to spawn such groups. The US could end up with another blisteringly expensive and open ended but futile boots on the ground quagmire if its not careful.

 

[Inthedetails]

Get your wallets ready...we're paying for it all!
‐---------------
"Moreover, he said, the U.S. may subsidize an effort by oil companies to rebuild the country's energy infrastructure — a project he said could take less than 18 months.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money," he said. "A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue."

Trump says the U.S. isn't at war with Venezuela

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Trump discussed the path forward in Venezuela, including when there will be elections, the opportunities for oil companies and Congress' role.

www.nbcnews.com

Might have to fire more national park employees and scientists to pay for it.
jmo

 

[Hexe]

Why didn't the UN or other entities remove the ayatollah or Putin? Everyone complains with the US does something and then everyone complains when the US doesn't do something. Why hasn't the EU forces removed Putin from power?

Because that would be violating the sovereignity of the countries in question and breaking the international law. Everyone complains not because the US removed a dictator, but because the US broke international law and did it not to save poor Venezuelans but to grab the control over the Venezuelan oil.

 

[Hexe]

The Trump administration is doubling down over its claims of hegemony in the "Western Hemisphere"

They might be going for a nasty surprise, when the rest of said hemisphere won't agree.

 

[iamshadow21]

They might be going for a nasty surprise, when the rest of said hemisphere won't agree.

One thing a lot of these central and south American countries do well is very efficient guerrilla warfare, in jungles.

The US doesn't have the best track record with that.

MOO

 

[Hexe]

One thing a lot of these central and south American countries do well is very efficient guerrilla warfare, in jungles.

The US doesn't have the best track record with that.

MOO

That's what I am thinking about.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

One thing a lot of these central and south American countries do well is very efficient guerrilla warfare, in jungles.

The US doesn't have the best track record with that.

MOO

The US is really good at funding it, though. They might even sell weapons to embargoed nations, protect drug traffickers, and violate the Constitution separation of powers to do it.

 

[Yellowbelly]

Based on NATO Article 5 if the US decides to send troops to Greenland what are the ramifications for all of the US military bases in Europe. Currently there are 40 major military bases in Germany, Poland, UK and Italy and hundreds elsewhere across the globe. Currently there are 84000 American troops in Europe, the majority are in Germany. There are two military bases in Denmark. One is in Greenland on the northwest coast and one is in Denmark on the eastern border near Sweden. The one in Greenland is less than 100 km from a Canadian Island which is probably minimally populated. It was the location of a nuclear accident where a B 52 bomber crashed contaminating the island. Host countries can and have expelled US military members from their countries. The US military does not own property on foreign soil. I suppose it's possible to expel US servicemen from Greenland, currently there's about 150 US personnel on the island.

What should be happening behind the scenes is that the non-North American NATO needs to be telling the USA that any attempt to take Greenland by force will mean the end of NATO, no more American bases in Europe and a total European embargo on American goods and financial services. I suspect something that drastic is the only language that the current administration understands.