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

[Inthedetails]

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed she will lead the country "when the right time comes".

"There's a mission, and we are going to turn Venezuela into that land of grace, and I believe I will be elected when the right time comes as president of Venezuela, the first woman president," she told Fox News.

Her comments come a day after she gave President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal, calling it a recognition of his commitment to Venezuela's freedom.

Machado vows to lead Venezuela 'when right time comes'

The opposition leader says she has a mandate to lead the country after the US seized its president.

www.bbc.com

 

[Hexe]

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed she will lead the country "when the right time comes".

"There's a mission, and we are going to turn Venezuela into that land of grace, and I believe I will be elected when the right time comes as president of Venezuela, the first woman president," she told Fox News.

I think this lady shot all her chances for presidenture with this gesture:

Her comments come a day after she gave President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal, calling it a recognition of his commitment to Venezuela's freedom.

 

[Inthedetails]

I think this lady shot all her chances for presidenture with this gesture:

Shot her chance or guaranteed her chance of being placed into office by the person she gave her prize to?

jmo

 

[Hexe]

Shot her chance or guaranteed her chance of being placed into office by the person she gave her prize to?

jmo

She speaks of being elected, so...

 

[Inthedetails]

She speaks of being elected, so...

She was elected but not in office. Giving away the prize might be the key that unlocks the office door.

Time will tell.

jmo

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed she will lead the country "when the right time comes".

"There's a mission, and we are going to turn Venezuela into that land of grace, and I believe I will be elected when the right time comes as president of Venezuela, the first woman president," she told Fox News.

Her comments come a day after she gave President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal, calling it a recognition of his commitment to Venezuela's freedom.

Machado vows to lead Venezuela 'when right time comes'

The opposition leader says she has a mandate to lead the country after the US seized its president.

www.bbc.com

Good luck with that! Trump will never back a woman

 

[Inthedetails]

Good luck with that! Trump will never back a woman

A plane carrying deported immigrants landed in Venezuela on Friday — the first removals from the United States since the Trump administration captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro....

A day after meeting Trump in Washington, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told reporters that the Venezuelan government has used migration from the South American country as a bargaining chip. When asked about the first deportation flight of Venezuelans after Maduro’s capture, she said the only pathway for the millions Venezuelans to return is to “give the people certainty that we will have a democratic future.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article314345779.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Ruminations]

Unless it has to do with the freedom of Americans. JMO.

And he obviously does not want it bad enough to- erhm- promote peace.

MOO

 

[Ruminations]

Moo...it will not make any difference at all. The drug wanters will just find another supplier. Anyways they were shipping cocaine and marijuana not fenital

True.

Also, treating substance use as a health problem and treating health problems with a robust, accessible medical care system will go a long way to reducing the number of drug wanters.

MOO

 

[Ruminations]

The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first attack on a boat that the Trump administration said was smuggling drugs, killing 11 people last September, according to officials briefed on the matter. The aircraft also carried its munitions inside the fuselage, rather than visibly under its wings, they said.

The nonmilitary appearance is significant, according to legal specialists, because the administration has argued its lethal boat attacks are lawful — not murders — because President Trump “determined” the United States is in an armed conflict with drug cartels.

But the laws of armed conflict prohibit combatants from feigning civilian status to fool adversaries into dropping their guard, then attacking and killing them. That is a war crime called “perfidy.”

Retired Maj. Gen. Steven J. Lepper, a former deputy judge advocate general for the United States Air Force, said that if the aircraft had been painted in a way that disguised its military nature and got close enough for the people on the boat to see it — tricking them into failing to realize they should take evasive action or surrender to survive — that was a war crime under armed-conflict standards.

“Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy,” he said. “If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity.”

U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane

Even accepting the Trump administration’s claim that there is an armed conflict with suspected drug runners, the laws of war bar “perfidy.”

www.nytimes.com

This is the kind of thing that is making posting difficult.

The rules are no politics talking about crime.

But this is a war crime committed by a war criminal who also happens to be a politician. (The same war criminal is also adjudicated to be a rapist in civil court, is all over the Epstein files, but using political power to keep them from being released, contrary to law, and has overseen several fraudulent businesses, such as a fake university.)

So what do we do now? How do we avoid politics when a crime-doer is political?

MOO

 

[crussell821]

This is the kind of thing that is making posting difficult.

The rules are no politics talking about crime.

But this is a war crime committed by a war criminal who also happens to be a politician. (The same war criminal is also adjudicated to be a rapist in civil court, is all over the Epstein files, but using political power to keep them from being released, contrary to law, and has overseen several fraudulent businesses, such as a fake university.)

So what do we do now? How do we avoid politics when a crime-doer is political?

MOO

I’d like to know this too. How long do we need to worry about hurting people’s delicate feelings before we can call a spade a spade and discuss that our country is descending into literal fascism?

 

[branmuffin]

This is the kind of thing that is making posting difficult.

The rules are no politics talking about crime.

But this is a war crime committed by a war criminal who also happens to be a politician. (The same war criminal is also adjudicated to be a rapist in civil court, is all over the Epstein files, but using political power to keep them from being released, contrary to law, and has overseen several fraudulent businesses, such as a fake university.)

So what do we do now? How do we avoid politics when a crime-doer is political?

MOO

I'm in agreement with you. This is what Websleuths' Wikepedia says about the forum; Websleuths is an internet community that is focused on crime and missing persons. It goes on to say: Crimes which have received national attention are always highlighted by Websleuths.

One of the definitions of correlation is a relation existing between phenomena or things. In the case of the extrajudicial killings of individuals by processes that contravene the rules of engagement eg., tricking adversaries into failing to realize they should take evasive action or surrender to survive — is a war crime under armed-conflict standards. You can't get more political than that. I think we need clarification here in terms of what constitutes a crime according to Websleuths in today's current climate of a political entity who is breaking norms while breaking laws.

 

[Inthedetails]

I'm in agreement with you. This is what Websleuths' Wikepedia says about the forum; Websleuths is an internet community that is focused on crime and missing persons. It goes on to say: Crimes which have received national attention are always highlighted by Websleuths.

One of the definitions of correlation is a relation existing between phenomena or things. In the case of the extrajudicial killings of individuals by processes that contravene the rules of engagement eg., tricking adversaries into failing to realize they should take evasive action or surrender to survive — is a war crime under armed-conflict standards. You can't get more political than that. I think we need clarification here in terms of what constitutes a crime according to Websleuths in today's current climate of a political entity who is breaking norms while breaking laws.

It's a complicated topic with more than one crime going on.

Bbm:

On the one hand, the U.S. military action in Venezuela is contrary to international law and forms part of the administration’s broader foreign policy objectives, made clear in the National Security Strategy, which focuses on domination and advancing U.S. interests over the protection of democracy and human rights. On the other hand, Venezuela is under an authoritarian government that hung on to power without legitimacy after losing the last presidential election and that brutally oppresses its citizens. The Venezuelan population, who suffer the most, is in the middle, faced with a dire economic and humanitarian situation, as well as political persecution.

Plus, imo, there is another true-crime layer with the prosecution of drug charges on Maduro and wife.

Q&A on Venezuela: Two things can hold true, and Venezuelans need support now - WOLA

Following U.S. military action in Venezuela, WOLA examines the human rights implications, who leads the country now, and what's needed for democratic transition.

www.wola.org

 

[Ruminations]

It's a complicated topic with more than one crime going on.

Bbm:

On the one hand, the U.S. military action in Venezuela is contrary to international law and forms part of the administration’s broader foreign policy objectives, made clear in the National Security Strategy, which focuses on domination and advancing U.S. interests over the protection of democracy and human rights. On the other hand, Venezuela is under an authoritarian government that hung on to power without legitimacy after losing the last presidential election and that brutally oppresses its citizens. The Venezuelan population, who suffer the most, is in the middle, faced with a dire economic and humanitarian situation, as well as political persecution.

Plus, imo, there is another true-crime layer with the prosecution of drug charges on Maduro and wife.

Q&A on Venezuela: Two things can hold true, and Venezuelans need support now - WOLA

Following U.S. military action in Venezuela, WOLA examines the human rights implications, who leads the country now, and what's needed for democratic transition.

www.wola.org

Well, it happens often that a perpetrator is also a victim.

I think the drug aspect is overblown, the US has an interest in keeping trafficking down, but it is never a realistic plan to stop the trafficking if you don't deal with substance abuse right here at home. I can't imagine how much substance abuse treatment could have been provided for the money spent illegally blowing up any of those boats claimed to be traffickers, without proof. Keep that in mind, the department of war has not shown us receipts that the boats attacked were reasonably suspected to be drug traffickers, and it is known that even if they were, the killings were against international law.

As for stolen elections, subverting elections, and the oppression Maduro has committed? Not a fan. But there is no evidence this in particular is why the department of war kidnapped Maduro. I would be a fan of the supporting efforts for free elections and civil rights in Venezuela, but this is not the stated goal of the US. Behaviorally, it appears to be all about oil, and perhaps a dry run to see the global response in preparation for invading Greenland. I hope Maduro is held to account for his crimes in Venezuela.

A person can be a criminal and also be a victim of another crime. This is what appears to have happened with Maduro. It's not really complicated. It more a situation where we don't mind bad things happening to the victim.

MOO

 

[Betty P]

Shot her chance or guaranteed her chance of being placed into office by the person she gave her prize to?

jmo

He has no legal authority to do that.

 

[iamshadow21]

He has no legal authority to do that.

He had no legal authority to kidnap a leader of a sovereign nation and his wife, and yet, here we are.

 

[Inthedetails]

Well, it happens often that a perpetrator is also a victim.

I think the drug aspect is overblown, the US has an interest in keeping trafficking down, but it is never a realistic plan to stop the trafficking if you don't deal with substance abuse right here at home. I can't imagine how much substance abuse treatment could have been provided for the money spent illegally blowing up any of those boats claimed to be traffickers, without proof. Keep that in mind, the department of war has not shown us receipts that the boats attacked were reasonably suspected to be drug traffickers, and it is known that even if they were, the killings were against international law.

As for stolen elections, subverting elections, and the oppression Maduro has committed? Not a fan. But there is no evidence this in particular is why the department of war kidnapped Maduro. I would be a fan of the supporting efforts for free elections and civil rights in Venezuela, but this is not the stated goal of the US. Behaviorally, it appears to be all about oil, and perhaps a dry run to see the global response in preparation for invading Greenland. I hope Maduro is held to account for his crimes in Venezuela.

A person can be a criminal and also be a victim of another crime. This is what appears to have happened with Maduro. It's not really complicated. It more a situation where we don't mind bad things happening to the victim.

MOO

Right. I was responding to the issue of how to keep this thread non-political when it's a complicated layering of political issues.

Even the drug case in criminal court is a political issue and would be even if the defendants weren't political leaders.


jmopinion

 

[SouthAussie]

The following was the day after the oil barons said that Venezuela would have to change it laws, as part of any agreement they would have to extract oil in Venezuela.


"On Thursday, Rodríguez got to work, announcing a change to the Law of Hydrocarbons that regulates oil extraction in Venezuela."

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/19/americas/venezuela-trump-delcy-rodriguez-relationship-latam-intl

 

[Stunned]

The following was the day after the oil barons said that Venezuela would have to change it laws, as part of any agreement they would have to extract oil in Venezuela.


"On Thursday, Rodríguez got to work, announcing a change to the Law of Hydrocarbons that regulates oil extraction in Venezuela."

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/19/americas/venezuela-trump-delcy-rodriguez-relationship-latam-intl

Interesting how fast that happened! IMO

 

[SouthAussie]

“We’re talking to her and ‌maybe we can get her ‌involved some way. I’d love to be able to do that; Maria, maybe we can do that,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to Machado, who met Trump last week and ‍gave him her Nobel Peace Prize.

https://wkzo.com/2026/01/20/trump-considers-role-in-venezuela-for-machado/