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

[Elley Mae]

1999

With many Venezuelans tired of politics in the country, the 1998 elections had the lowest voter turnout in Venezuelan history, with Hugo Chávez winning the presidency on December 6, 1998 with 56.4% of the popular vote.

Venezuela and Chavismo | World History

courses.lumenlearning.com

Following the adoption of a new constitution in 1999, Chávez focused on enacting social reforms as part of his “Bolivarian Revolution.”

 

[CrimeDawg123]

I'm seeing reports/confirmation that US forces have boarded the Bella 1/Marinera in the NE Atlantic. There has been speculation that the ship was carrying Iranian drone or other military surveillance materials to Venezuela. Also possibly personnel and/or nuclear or biological materials.

NYT gift article:

Live Updates: U.S. Intercepts Russian-Flagged Tanker; Trump Says Venezuela Will Start Sending Oil

The U.S. military intercepted a Russian-flagged tanker as part of its pressure campaign against Venezuela. It also stopped a second ship in the Caribbean.

www.nytimes.com

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

This is all my opinion…

I’m currently on a trip in south Florida, and watching the LOCAL news and seeing things around town, there are many happy people here!

Maybe a lot are the ones who fled Venezuela? It’s really interesting to me to see this disparity between what ‘they’ tell us, or allow to be seen and what else is also happening….

I agree.

It defies reason to believe that Venezuelans are content with an illegitimate president, especially when roughly 2,000 people are leaving the country each day. And now there are checkpoints and arrests, and possibly worse for people who support the arrest of their leader. imo

ETA - 23% of the population has fled Venezuela. Wow! Let that sink in!

https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/venezuela/

More than 7.9 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014. This is the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history and one of the largest displacement crises in the world (as of December 2025).

Rampant violence, inflation, gang-warfare, soaring crime rates as well as shortages of food, medicine and essential services have forced millions to seek refuge in neighboring countries and beyond. An estimated 2,000 people are leaving Venezuela every day.

 

[LAborn]

No I meant the biased mainstream media. IMO. They only show what they want to be seen.

My point is, Trump himself has told the public what he did, and it's against international law.

“This is clearly a blatant, illegal and criminal act,” said Jimmy Gurule, a Notre Dame Law School professor and former assistant U.S. attorney." Was Trump’s attack on Venezuela illegal?

There were legal ways to extradite Maduro. Trump used military force to kidnap, occupy a foreign country, kill, and take their oil. He told us outright what he's doing, not a media outlet right, left or center. I watched his press conference. It's all there from the horses' mouths.

White House stream, if you click on the link it opens in youtube. He starts speaking at about 47:20, followed by the rest of his staff explaining each action:

 

[Elley Mae]

Did the democrats really fail or did they choose to respect the law? Ignoring laws makes it criminal behaviour does it not?

Biden raised the bounty on maduro from (Trump’s)15 million to 25 million. What was the purpose if not to arrest him.

Biden Raises Bounty for Nicolás Maduro to $25 Million

The United States will also extend temporary protections for roughly 600,000 Venezuelan migrants in the United States.

www.nytimes.com

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Tulsi Gabbard is doing a 180 on foreign intervention. It looks like someone else wrote her statement today.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/07/gabbard-trump-venezuela-intervention-intelligence/

 

[MelmothTheLost]

i do know this....
But were there this many high ranking Cubans right in Caracas with the Venezuelen government right NOW?

Because there aren't many other communist countries they could be sent to, I guess.

 

[otto]

Rubio has always wanted control of Cuba.

"Rubio, 54, the son of Cuban immigrants, grew up in Miami, steeped in Cuban culture and anti-communist sentiments that many in the community shared. ... As a senator representing Florida, Rubio took a keen interest in the affairs of Latin and South America.
...

In 2017, he took to the Senate floor and called Maduro a dictator, urging companies and foreign governments not to do business with Venezuela. It was just one of several instances in which he used his pulpit as senator to rail against what he saw as Maduro's regime of "repression."
...

In 2019, he co-sponsored a bill that sought to restore democracy in Venezuela and fast-track planning for the country's financial institutions post-Maduro.

Six years later ... U.S. appears content to get rid of Maduro and work with his vice-president-turned-president, Delcy Rodríguez.
...

"This is the first concrete deliverable of Trump's new national security strategy with a heavy Western Hemisphere focus." Rubio helped write that document, which calls for hemispheric control ... the 2025 edition shifts away from the great-power competition with China and Russia, focusing instead on spheres of influence.
...

The plan is perhaps the strongest example of just how much influence Rubio has acquired in this administration."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venezuela-marco-rubio-9.7035747

 

[Eli9]

NYT gift article:

Live Updates: U.S. Intercepts Russian-Flagged Tanker; Trump Says Venezuela Will Start Sending Oil

The U.S. military intercepted a Russian-flagged tanker as part of its pressure campaign against Venezuela. It also stopped a second ship in the Caribbean.

www.nytimes.com

within the article

Britain said it had helped the United States to board the Russian-flagged tanker, providing air surveillance and a naval support vessel as well as bases to American military assets. In a statement, the British defense ministry said that while “initially flying a false flag,” the tanker had “turned off its transponders while at sea and sought to reflag while being pursued.” Britain took the action because the vessel was sanctioned by the U.S. under its measures against Iran, the statement said.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

WRT Maduro relying on Cuban military for security, in addition to the good resources provided upthread about the history of Cuban involvement

Rotating Beds and Cellphones, Maduro Plans to Outlast Trump

President Trump’s threat of military action has confronted President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela with the gravest challenge of his crisis-ridden reign.

www.nytimes.com

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Tulsi Gabbard is doing a 180 on foreign intervention. It looks like someone else wrote her statement today.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/07/gabbard-trump-venezuela-intervention-intelligence/

It's probably better in the original Russian

 

[Sundog]

Cuba and Venezuela have a close relationship in part because Venezuela has supplied necessary oil to Cuba. Under Maduro, the amount sent was reduced/not adequate, but Trump's actions are two fold, take over oil in Venezuela and break Cuba.

"The Trump administration has warned outright that toppling Maduro will help advance another decades-long goal: Dealing a blow to the Cuban government. Severing Cuba from Venezuela could have disastrous consequences for its leaders, who on Saturday called for the international community to stand up to "state terrorism."

On Saturday, Trump said the ailing Cuban economy will be further battered by Maduro's ouster.

"It's going down," Trump said of Cuba. "It's going down for the count."

Cuba, reliant on Venezuelan oil and support, faces uncertain future after U.S. removes Maduro

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban officials on Monday lowered flags before dawn to mourn 32 security officers they say were killed in the U.S. weekend strike in Venezuela, the island nation's closest ally, as residents here wonder what the capture of President Nicolás Maduro means for their future. The two...

www.pbs.org

Yes, there will be domino effects as a result of geopolitical shifts in South America. Cuba's economy, such that it is, will take a big hit. They will be looking for someone to bail them out, but even the PRC will be taking a hit to their economy and it will be hard for them to help Cuba in any meaningful way.

JMO and experience from visiting Cuba in the past.

 

[sapphire blue]

Biden raised the bounty on maduro from (Trump’s)15 million to 25 million. What was the purpose if not to arrest him.

Biden Raises Bounty for Nicolás Maduro to $25 Million

The United States will also extend temporary protections for roughly 600,000 Venezuelan migrants in the United States.

www.nytimes.com

Raising the bounty doesn’t give the USA the right to kidnap anyone. Would you be okay if the leader of another country kidnapped the us president?

 

[MelmothTheLost]

This is all my opinion…

I’m currently on a trip in south Florida, and watching the LOCAL news and seeing things around town, there are many happy people here!

Maybe a lot are the ones who fled Venezuela? It’s really interesting to me to see this disparity between what ‘they’ tell us, or allow to be seen and what else is also happening….

The majority of those who fled Venezuela are the elite, middle and professional classes. Those who remained were largely the uneducated and lower class, the proletariat, who benefited from government largesse.

Of those who fled, the English-speaking elite and professionals sought refuge in the US (if they could get a visa) and the Spanish-speaking ones in Spain (if they could get a visa). The rest largely fanned out around other Spanish-speaking countries in the region.

Any rebuild of Venezuela is going to need a flow of these people back into the country but they've been gone so long there may be little reason for them to do so.

 

[otto]

Alternate facts:

• As of May 2025, over 6.8 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014.
• The majority of Venezuelan refugees and migrants — approximately 6.7 million — reside in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Colombia hosts the highest concentration of Venezuelan migrants — 2.8 million.

Venezuela crisis: Facts, FAQs, and how to help

The Venezuela crisis has caused more than 6 million people to flee the country seeking food, work, and a better life. Learn more.

www.worldvision.org

 

[Stunned]

Cuba has been sending military and other personnel to other socialist regimes for decades. They had a huge involvement in the civil war in Angola in the 1970s and 1980s for a start.

And Rubio wants Cuba so bad he can taste it! IMO

 

[Elley Mae]

Amazing

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/14/americas/latin-american-leaders-legal-trouble-intl-latam

 

[Elley Mae]

And Rubio wants Cuba so bad he can taste it! IMO

Can’t blame him for wanting to free his parents native country from a dictator.

Jmo

 

[MelmothTheLost]

White House holding briefing after US seizes Russian-flagged tanker in Atlantic - follow live

The UK said it gave support to the operation, while the US confirmed it had also seized a second vessel linked to Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[moonglow123]

Trump embodying "America First" - spending billions on Venezuela and potentially Greenland while cutting health-care for millions of Americans.