Venezuela-US tensions

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

CNN team witnesses multiple explosions in Venezuela’s capital Caracas

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/03/americas ... s-intl-hnk

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

This is absolutely insane. No authorisation from Congress. No imminent threat from Venezuela. Just a blatant oil grab, and yet another distraction from the Epstein files. How much longer are Americans going to tolerate this lunatic President? This will clearly strengthen calls for his impeachment. And I wonder what the UN will have to say about all this.

[wjfox]

[firestar464]

god f*ck there goes any hope of people-driven liberation of venezuela with trump's bullshit invasion

[firestar464]

[wjfox]

France Condemns US Operation To Capture Maduro

Jan 03, 2026, 9:47 am EST

France on Saturday condemned the American operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, saying it undermined international law while no solution to the country's crisis can be imposed from the outside.

Maduro "gravely violated" the rights of Venezuelans, but the military operation that led to him being grabbed "contravenes the principle of non-use of force, which underpins international law", Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.

"No lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside", he said, warning that "the increasing violations" of this principle by permanent UN Security Council members "will have serious consequences for global security, sparing no one".

https://www.barrons.com/news/france-con ... 5zKw%3D%3D

[raklian]

Trump truly needs to be impeached, removed from office, and sent to the Hague.

[Yuli Ban]

Sad thing is, Maduro fucking sucked. Him getting removed is to Venezuela what removing Trump would be to America. So I don't have sympathy for him.

But the sheer audacity of just kidnapping a geopolitical leader, well that just sets an awful precedent

[firestar464]

[firestar464]

wtf?

[firestar464]

[caltrek]

Once again, Trump has managed to divert attention and focus on one scandal by starting up a whole new scandal.

[caltrek]

Her is another factor that may have weighed in on Trump's decision to capture Maduro:

Venezeula: Defending U.S. Global Petrodollar Supremacy
January 3 , 2026

Introduction:

(Daily Kos) In 2018, Venezuela announced it would "free itself from the dollar." They started accepting yuan, euros, rubles, anything BUT dollars for oil.
…
…the entire American financial system is built on one thing:
The petrodollar.
…
Every country on Earth needs dollars to buy oil.

This lets America print unlimited money while other countries work for it.

Read more here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/ ... with-poll

caltrek’s comment: I suppose I should note that this “content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.” I did inquire via Bing co-pilot and it essentially confirmed the central points of this article. One point made in that search: "By 2018, its export volume was too small to meaningfully affect global dollar demand.

So Venezuela alone cannot weaken the dollar."

...

"This is symbolically significant, even if economically small."

"Venezuela is not the cause of this trend, but it is an early adopter."

[firestar464]

Venezuela Isn’t Panama—No Matter How Much Trump Wishes It Were

https://time.com/7342906/venezuela-maduro-trump-panama/

[caltrek]

John Bolton Dumbfounded by Trump’s ‘Assault’ On Venezuela’s Opposition Leader
By Joe DePaolo
January 4, 2026

Introduction:

(Mediaite) Former National Security Advisor John Bolton was perplexed by President Donald Trump’s “assault” on Venezuela’s opposition leader amid tremendous uncertainty about what comes next following the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

In an interview Saturday night on CNN with Kaitlan Collins, Bolton called out Trump’s criticism of Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — as well as the president’s declaration that the United States will “run” Venezuela for now.

“I have to say the most stunning part about the press conference was probably saying the U.S. was going to run the country,” Bolton said. “But the second most stunning was the assault on Mrs. Machado, the leader of the Democratic forces, the natural alternative government that Trump just dismissed.”

During a Saturday morning press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump completely undercut the prospect of Machado taking over as Venezuela’s new president.

“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump said. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Read more here: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/jo ... -leadwer/

[firestar464]

lol this was never about democracy

[caltrek]

In a recent television interview, Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued that seeking Congressional approval for the capture of Maduro would have endangered the success of the mission. Yet, Venezuela knew that boats from that country were being blown out of the water. A resolution out of Congress supporting military action in a general way would thus have done nothing to ruin the element of surprise for actions to arrest Maduro. Also of relevance:


Who Are the Real Outlaws at Sea?
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S
January 2 ,2026

Introduction:

(The Progressive) The United States has intercepted and appropriated two tankers transporting oil from Venezuela, seizing and offloading their cargoes in Texas, while also pursuing a third tanker in the Atlantic Ocean that is reportedly linked to Russia. It has also destroyed more than thirty-three small boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean using the justification of “drug enforcement” and killing at least 112 people whose identities and occupations it has not revealed.

On December 16, President Donald Trump ordered a “total and complete blockade” of “all sanctioned Venezuelan oil vessels,” but the real scope of his order is unclear, and legal experts say that these tanker seizures by the United States amount to illegal acts of war against Venezuela.

The United States is claiming the right to seize vessels, disrupt maritime trade, and kill civilian boaters—while at the same time bombing Yemen and condemning its de facto Houthi government for intercepting ships in the Red Sea to counter Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

This contrast exposes a stark double standard. The U.S. government has labelled the actions by the Houthis as terrorism, piracy, and a threat to U.S. national security—even though the Houthi government has presented plausible legal justifications for its actions based on the laws of war. Meanwhile, in this hemisphere, the Trump Administration has tried to normalize—even glorify—its own attacks on tankers, pineros (ferries or water-taxis), and fishing boats, all of which violate the most basic principles of international law.

Beginning in November 2023, Yemen’s Houthi movement launched a naval campaign in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza. The Houthis publicly announced their criteria, stating they would target only vessels linked to Israel, bound for Israeli ports, owned by Israeli companies, or connected to states materially supporting Israel’s war.

Read more here: https://progressive.org/latest/who-are ... -20260102