Re: Francisco Poleo ‘Delcy Rodríguez and the core of the regime’s leadership are negotiating with the United States…’ .
 
Rodriguez doubtlessly has better offers from other parties.  All the USA has on offer is to soften the whip.  They’ve got no carrot.
 

Posted by: too scents | Jan 4 2026 14:00 utc | 4

Calling Turnip ‘America’s Hitler is unfair, Hitler was a decorated soldier and Turnip was a draft dodger.
 
Greatest President ever, exactly represents US values 

Posted by: Polli | Jan 4 2026 14:20 utc | 6

BM@2……..quick analysis……bull fucking shit…..
 
The Russians? Again? They waited till it was safe to get shot at by Maudro’s body guards, but the bodyguards didnt shoot at Yankee…..way to fucking funny…..who makes this shit up. If that is true the Russians should just pack up and go home.
 
Cheers M 
 
 

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 4 2026 14:41 utc | 8

Sunny Runny Burger@7……why would they be insulted? Their country was a mismanaged mess…
Guaranteed, US expidionary forces are ready to secure the oil processing facilities…..worked in Syria and Iraq, places were they really do have extremely reactive hostile populations….Venezuela, not so much.
 
Cheers M 

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 4 2026 14:46 utc | 10

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 4 2026 15:00 utc | 11
That 40 killed number comes from NYT and is therefore implausible. Multiply by 5 or 10?

Posted by: BM | Jan 4 2026 15:13 utc | 12

Russia and China should offer to deploy joint peacekeeping forces to Venezuela to block further US action. It is in their vital strategic interests in my opinion. Hoever I am pretty sire they won’t do it, based on past performance.
 

Posted by: BM | Jan 4 2026 15:28 utc | 14

I see news reports claiming Venezuela is now shutting down some wells and decreasing overall production. It didn’t give any figures or percentages.
 

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 4 2026 15:36 utc | 16

Americans bombed the dialysis stores
https://avn.info.ve/ivss-denuncia-bombardeo-de-eeuu-contra-almacenes-de-insumos-para-pacientes-renales-en-la-guaira/

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 4 2026 15:44 utc | 18

• The Permian Is Drowning in Its Own Wastewater – Oil Price

Where isn’t this true? across the globe the energy sector is totally destroying the earth’s water supply. 
 
“They worship the works of their own hands,” the stupidest animal on the planet, the one that doesn’t know it’s an animal and is dumber than fucking jellyfish.
 
I spent a few years of my childhood in Midland, TX. the city water in ’78 was already too toxic to drink. at least if one was lucky enough to have a mother who cared about such things, b/c many people just didn’t care, it was too much trouble to even notice that the routine operations of the city kill everything.
 
people believe whatever doesn’t cause them to have to lift a fingernail to change the motion of their own lives, starting w/the motion of the tongue.
 
If you dare utter the words, “You are killing the water,” you won’t get a fucking job, killing the water. and every corporate and civic leader involved in this will giddily Gitmoize anyone dumb enough to criticize.

Posted by: duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:00 utc | 20

thank you b and other moa posters!
 
@ Exile | Jan 4 2026 13:45 utc | 1
 
i too am curious how the market responds monday morning.. either markw is going to be right, or he is going to be wrong, lol…  might be a quick run up to cover the shorts, then back down again… anything is possible.. usa actions are like the actions of a cornered rat.. how does it save it’s ass? apparently venezuala is a part of the plan.. we’ll see how it works out.. might makes right is an interesting ideology to attach oneself to, but maybe that is the credo of capitalism… who has the money, has the power, even if it is completely manipulated and made up.. 

Posted by: james | Jan 4 2026 16:01 utc | 22

The abduction of Maduro and his wife look like typical Trump – Team moves.  Moves against Maduro, stiff sanctions (incl. on family members as is usual), and arrest warrant(s?), the one used just now is ‘old’ (see wiki, though maybe there have been others, not clear on that because it doesn’t matter), are long lasting US policy.
 
Then all of a sudden, one sees a build up of tension, of accusations, of threats, or de-legitimising (insults, disparagement, law-fare, sanctions etc.), of forces, sending / selling arms, provoking with matériel, presence of military elements, etc.  Direct horrific threats! + Extravagant promises to the Home Base! 
 
Catharsis!  Trump the Wonder Man solves the ‘crisis’ with some spectacular action, All Done, nothing to see here, all over now, WE are triumphant. 
 
E.g.  rising tensions w. Iran, then bombings on Iran, Iran retaliation on Isr. (gets seriously attacked horors ..)  then !!  Trump declares the Iran Nuku-lear program is finished, destroyed. (Rough summary..)
 
Some comparisons with Iraq, Lybia and Syria are made.  These cases are too different imho.  Syria’s Prez., Al Golani, from the ‘terrorist islamist’ sphere (part of the US’  foreign legion, funded by it..), no way he was the US first choice, and Trump’s attitude to him —grugingly accepting and dismissive at the same time— shows it.  
 
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb “ISIS” sites in Syria, CNN, 2 weeks ago, as ‘retaliatory measures’ ….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E60ndkRX4_0
As for “taking over the oil” in VZ,  from POLITICO no less, quote:
The administration has so far not laid out what its long-term plan looks like, or even if it has one” (…) to reenter the country, McNally said. He added: “What the regime looks like, what the plans are for getting there, that has not been fully fleshed out yet.” (…)  A central concern (…) is whether oil prices will rise enough to make Venezuelan crude profitable and the status of Venezuela’s membership in the OPEC oil exporters cartel.
 
“In preparation for regime change, there had been engagement. But it’s been sporadic and relatively flatly received by the industry,” this person said. “It feels very much a shoot-ready-aim exercise.” (…)
 
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/03/trump-venezuela-oil-us-companies-return-00709782
 
 
 
 

Posted by: Noirette | Jan 4 2026 16:02 utc | 24

@ duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:00 utc | 20
 
that is true what you say.. the tail ponds – alberta tar sands… that process uses a ton of water – free water as i understand it, from the athabasca river and etc..  i don’t know if they have figured out how to deal with any of these environmental issues, but you can bet it will be downloaded onto the taxpayer, while the profit will go directly into the corporate coffers… 

Posted by: james | Jan 4 2026 16:05 utc | 26

Numerous examples, early in this thread, of people not providing links.
 
That’s irresponsible.
 
These discussions are occurring in a heavily narrated infospace. If something is worth posting about, it is also worth linking.
 
Otherwise much of it reads like hasbara and trolling… Rumors and innuendo.
 
If you only *think* something, that’s ok. If you read something, share it. Linking is free.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 16:06 utc | 28

Posted by: too scents | Jan 4 2026 14:05 utc | 5
is it really too much to ask that in your zeal to nab pederasts you not destroy due process to do it? is it too difficult to grasp that the goal of the guilty is to destroy even the possibility of basic judicial process? 
 
and I assume there is much much more to the Epstein story than we know. because, for one, the question is not only who was directly involved, but the simple fact that to succeed at the top in the US, e.g., get into Congress, one MUST look the other way at any crimes one is not oneself involved in.  
 
the first act of the conspirator is silence, the religious practice of “euphemia,” to never utter an inauspicious word. e.g., how many kids are in the US prison system? how much child labor there is? how much DV and suicide among kids? homelessness, hunger, drug use, prostitution? none of these things exist in public discourse. oh no, instead of “why are US kids so suicidal,” we get Big B’s promotion of war. the answer to the despair and nihilism and death in every drop of the US is to externalize the rage. 
 
and what does it to a person when everyone around you is waving their star-spangled resume with its success-n-life fantasy in your face, to prove, “I am the measure of how awesome the system is, not the tens of millions of innocent people terrorized by the legal and prison system. My success is the standard, I am the truth. The trillions spent on war killing uncountable tens of millions across the globe mean nothing compared to what an awesomely smart business person I am.”
 
the control of speech in the West is so profound. But I hear the truth every morning out my window, from the screams and shrieks of the homeless kids waking again to another day of nightmare. maybe all the cops around can terrorize those kids into whimpering silence, where the 12 year olds just slash their own wrists instead of bothering the successful people w/how utterly depraved the US is.
 
 

Posted by: duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:19 utc | 30

is it really too much to ask that in your zeal to nab pederasts you not destroy due process to do it?
 
Posted by: duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:19 utc | 30
 
—
 
Don’t be mislead by the organ grinder’s monkey.  The organ grinder has many more ways to deny justice in addition to sounding the due process alarm.
 

Posted by: too scents | Jan 4 2026 16:28 utc | 32

Trump’s press conference yesterday was hooifying – almost amounted to a declaration of war on humanity

Posted by: Paul | Jan 4 2026 16:31 utc | 34

@ duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:31 utc | 33
 
i am with you in that… the polar bears aren’t doing so good.. the warm weather is unhelpful.. 

Posted by: james | Jan 4 2026 16:33 utc | 36

Posted by: duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:19 utc | 30
 
#####
 
The pederasts run today’s judicial system.
 
Due process only works if the legal system functions in pursuit of justice.
 
I am unaware of any such system in the West. It may exist in Yemen or China, I don’t know.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 16:40 utc | 38

I think it most likely that this will have very little effect on the markets. 
Not much has changed really.

Posted by: arby | Jan 4 2026 16:42 utc | 40

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/large-part-maduros-security-team-killed-us-action-venezuela-defense-minister-2026-01-04/
A large part of erstwhile President Nicolas Maduro’s security team was killed in the U.S. raid that led to the leader’s Saturday capture, Venezuelan Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said in a televised statement on Sunday morning.
Padrino did not give an exact figure of casualities, but backed the declaration of Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as interim president and said the armed forces have been activated across the country to guarantee sovereignty.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 4 2026 16:50 utc | 42

Posted by: arby | Jan 4 2026 16:42 utc | 40
 
#####
 
I very much appreciate your clear and sober perspective.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 16:54 utc | 44

Milton’s PL:
…in spirit perhaps he [Adam] also sawRich Mexico, the seat of Montezume,And Cusco in Peru, the richer seatOf Atabalipa; and yet unspoiledGuiana, whose great city Geryon’s sonsCall El Dorado…
 
The West been strip-mining VZ for a long time. Oh Brave New World! (“Geryon’s sons”=Spaniards, conquistadors, and Milton didn’t know how to spell so he misspelled “Guyana”.)

Posted by: duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:57 utc | 46

Hey Mr. Orangegutan, you took Maduro, it’s  OK.
Now give us Epstein files!

Posted by: Preki | Jan 4 2026 16:58 utc | 48

In relation to that Reuters piece I posted above, this from Martaynov – I thought something like this may have been the case.
 
I know, it is going to be hurtful to many but they don’t call those countries banana republics for nothing, banana republic being a euphemism for corrupt regimes and toy armies. Some news (from there)–the chief of Maduro’s security detail as well as a number of others have been bought by the US. In fact, there was a Russian military group which rushed to Maduro residence but it was held off by the fire of … yep, Maduro security people. By the time Russians dealt with those traitors, Maduro was already gone. The chief of security detail has been caught and was executed already. So, this is update for you. Meanwhile))

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 4 2026 17:02 utc | 50

• What Goes Around: The EU’s Extralegal Sanctions Regime – Pascal Lottaz

this is also a very good article on censorship in the eu, which no doubt is coming to canada, usa and etc..  i recommend it too.. 

Posted by: james | Jan 4 2026 17:03 utc | 52

The chief of security detail has been caught and was executed already. 
 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 4 2026 17:02 utc | 50

 
No $50 million reward for him!

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 4 2026 17:04 utc | 54

Posted by: too scents | Jan 4 2026 16:58 utc | 47
 
######
 
As I said, nothing tangible.
 
Prices are subjective and move based on “animal spirits”.
 
Are they talking (sometimes) about tangible things? Sure.
 
But it’s all seen through the lens of a funhouse mirror.
 
CDOs are a poor measure of an economic environment.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 17:09 utc | 56

i forget:
 
under whose Presidency did the US flood Mexico with the guns whose very presence is used to justify the “war on drug cartels”? and perhaps a larger conflict with Mexico, in addition to the universal terrorizing and torturing of immigrant workers via ICE?
 
wasn’t it the other Pres with that peace prize thingy? the diversity hire dude that Trump still calls, “The N-Word”?

Posted by: duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 17:13 utc | 58

“Alastair Crooke : Order, Prudence, Rules are GONE!”
 
Judge andrew Napolitano talked, in his show “Judging Freedom” to Alastiar Crooke. I very recently watched this video again. The title gives a VERY good notion of what the new doctrine of the US is. How the current Trump administration views the world. It perectly fits the actions of the US regarding Venezuela. And those actions don’t bode well for the rest of the world and all the “hot spots”.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyurNRsMXHI   (length:  28 minutes, Date posted:  october 6, 2025)
 
(Still would love to see a “Preview comment” button next to the “Post Comment” button. Or allow a posted comment to be modified for say 30, 40, 50 or 60 minutes with a “Modify comment” button).

Posted by: WMG | Jan 4 2026 17:15 utc | 60

KIdnapping Noriego, Artiside, Maduro…Dont forget CIA wiped out the entire family of Nepalese KIng Birendra in 2001
 
https://mronline.org/2002/09/21/comparisons-between-recent-u-s-backed-coups/

Posted by: denk | Jan 4 2026 17:17 utc | 62

So if a nation kidnaps your president you declare war on it , right ??
Posted by: The Painter | Jan 4 2026 5:33 utc | 807

Posted by: The Painter | Jan 4 2026 17:24 utc | 64

@duck n cover | Jan 4 2026 16:59 utc | 49

And Cusco in Peru, the richer seat 

I would like to visit that city with the fabulous Sacsayhuamán walls, revealing a long forgotten civilization.

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 4 2026 17:28 utc | 66

Posted by: BM | Jan 4 2026 13:55 utc | 2
#####
Link, please.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 15:58 utc | 19
 
BM’s assertion reeks of cope nonsense. Same as how Assad’s departure was framed and Syrian troops were culpabilized while it was simply Iran led by Pezachian (after Raisi’s assassination) leaving Syria to be replaced by the Turks.
 
Here’s a rather detailed sum up of what unfolded. Disgusting but it has to be told.
 
https://nitter.poast.org/1860rm/status/2007551174413557770#mOperationally, the US Operation in Venezuela was lightening fast— far different from recent disasters like in Afghanistan.
Certainly President Trump will hail this as his great move for peace…because it has to be spun!
The situation with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces, which occurred in early January 2026, is explained by the speed and nature of the American military operation.
According to available data, Venezuela was unable to organize an effective defense for several reasons:
The element of surprise and the scale of the attacks. The operation began on the night of January 3, 2026, with massive airstrikes on key military facilities, airfields, and bases throughout the country, including Caracas. This paralyzed the command and communication system in the first few hours.
The actions of special forces.
The direct capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in their residence was carried out by the elite unit of the US Army, the Delta Force. The ground phase of the operation lasted just a few minutes: the special forces evacuated the prisoners by helicopters before the Venezuelan army could scramble fighter jets to intercept them.
Suppression of air defense and air force.
The US had preemptively concentrated a powerful group in the Caribbean Sea, led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. During the attack, strikes were carried out on air defense targets, depriving Venezuela of the ability to defend its airspace.
Internal situation.
After Maduro’s capture, the Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency and put the troops on alert, but at that point, the president was already on board the US military ship USS Iwo Jima, beyond reach.
 
However, the crime isn’t concluded just yet. If Venezuelans can put up a good fight, make the US bleed hard, it wouldn’t be a script that can be repeated ad infinitum wherever it likes.

Posted by: xor | Jan 4 2026 17:31 utc | 68

By the time Russians dealt with those traitors, Maduro was already gone. 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 4 2026 17:02 utc | 50
 
So these are fantasies from Marty from Amerika? That’s all the great author could invent?
And if someone managed to stop the 5 Americans from the helicopter, no one else would come? 
Maduro was sold by the entire army and probably the woman replacing him today, which Trumpy said that is following his orders and she did not deny it. No amount of bodyguards would have been enough. 
The biggest question is why would anyone hire Russians for security? They did not see tens of thousands of soldiers on tanks entering Kursk and then started to cry when they found concentration camps, a year later. And their generals get blown up constantly. What do you have to smoke to think “I’ve got to get myself some of that security”

Posted by: rk | Jan 4 2026 17:35 utc | 70

I have to admit that I had a very small amount of empathy for Trump after the over-the-top lawfare campaigns against him in 2021-24. 
 
Now I sincerely wish he gets what he has dished out, only magnified 10x.

Posted by: Fool Me Twice | Jan 4 2026 17:46 utc | 72

Posted by: rk | Jan 4 2026 17:35 utc | 70
 
#####
 
As usual, you know nothing and contribute nothing.
 
The VP is a hardcore Chavista whose father was tortured by the CIA.
 
We don’t have a source for the bodyguards narrative, so it is foolish to run very far with it.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 17:53 utc | 74

seems was cyber attack on Caracas first to paralyse (just like IDF did to Iran?)
Maduro security guards did defend and were killed.
 
betchya Machado is a bit miffed as DT says she is  not ” fit ‘for being president. DT says plans ie how go run V are being formulated-developed. Typical…military action but no follow up just like Iraq. I suzpect some sort of “remote control” I doubt presence of US troops on the V ground…unless…..? Just to protect media centres from operarating.

Posted by: Jo | Jan 4 2026 17:55 utc | 76

Trump doesn’t have a plan
 

🇺🇸 🇻🇪 Trump threatened Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez will pay a “very big price” if she doesn’t cooperate with the U.S.

https://t.me/RezistanceTrench1/34896
 

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 4 2026 17:57 utc | 78

Kim Dotcom post on X:  “Warning: 90% of Trump support regarding Venezuela on social media is NOT organic. It’s bot generated. Same CIA playbook as Ukraine. Don’t be fooled. The vast majority is against what Trump did in Venezuela. The fact that they need bots to fake support shows how weak Trump is now.”

Posted by: spudski | Jan 4 2026 18:07 utc | 80

An important issue that needs full review:  The  Venezuelan black sands, rare earth minerals which have magnetic and high level conduction capacity, which are necessary for the development of nuclear fusion reactors  Venezuela has considerable minerals – gold, aluminum and bauxite to name a few, but the crucial rare earth minerals are those with impressive magnetic and conductive capacities.  These are located within the Orinoco Mining Arc and were poorly managed by Venezuela, until they partnered with the Chinese.  Inquiring minds would predict that the Chinese were not meeting with Maduro to discuss oil (the red herring) but to expand and tighten down their partnership regarding those minerals essential to nuclear fusion reactors, which are a revolutionary answer to energy needs.  They lead the world in the development of such reactors, and have strong internal supply chains as well as partnerships with Australia re Mt Well rare earths.   In terms of trade and sanctions, they have used their essential monopoly on magnets to leverage the Don in ways which he and his consiglieres consider highly unpleasant.  Enter Venezuela and the possibility (still very much on the table) that the US is shut out, placing nearly insurmountable hurdles  to further development . US is also for structural reasons behind on the technology  as well.
Further, many of these rare earth minerals are used in day to day items such as cell phones, as well being crucial to some aspects of armament. An assured, “owned” supply for the US would  provide a cheap, reliable supply as well as keeping Chinese hands off these much needed materials.  Finally, since the black sands overlap Guyana, anticipate the necessity of a second “protectorate” to be established.  All of these ideas/concerns need to be researched and developed by minds with far better understanding of the technology and its implications.  From a geostrategic view, the Chinese lost face in this action and some would predict that they will  hit hard at US Achilles heel – its economic vulnerability, using their still vast stores of Treasuries to undermine any and all of Bessant’s attempts to stabilize the currency, which is roiled by the sharp attenuation of the petrodollar.  Be assured the Chinese have plans B, C, D and E for such situations.  Consider the situation(s) as multivariate with the US badly isolated against a ever growing, well organized cadre of enemies, armed with many types of geostrategic weapons beyond guns, ammo and bombs.  

Posted by: abierno | Jan 4 2026 18:09 utc | 82

Is there any action possible at U.N. to stop the trial of Maduro get him home and punish USA? Any other possibilities there?

Posted by: Jo | Jan 4 2026 18:11 utc | 84

“Gangster Politics 101” is the poignant wrap by a frequent essayist on the Russia Today podcast.  He nailed it.  World PUBLIC opinion, in lands which are not informationally smothered by a mostly Talmudist owned mass media of misinformation and out and out propaganda, as is the case in this the ruptured republic…will further harden into concrete stiffened by rebar across most of the globe.
 
Another commentator, amongst a consortium of several spokesmen on that Russian site, stated that any direct assistance to the struggling Venezuelan people would be too “awkward”.  Caught up in a winning conflict against the puppet regime in Ukraine; Russia is not in any position to militarily assist those assailed people in the U$$A’s back yard.
 
 China too, is not YET positioned to protect one of its largest oil providers.  However, as China now has a larger navy than the U$$A, the balance of power in the Pacific region is rapidly shifting.  Even in aircraft carriers, the Chinese are rapidly upgrading from a few years back when they had exactly not one such vessel.  Having no idea of the QUALITY of the Chinese submarine fleet, one could only speculate that this arm too is on the rise.  There can be little doubt that Beijing has likely positioned itself to be predominant in the western Pacific…and that would include the American “unsinkable aircraft” on the island of Guam.
 
What we can expect from both China and Russia is that they will develop  a pattern of political and economic warfare, a dimension in which the U$$A is rapidly losing control.  The Petro-Dollar, perhaps the primary reason for the assault on Venezuela, having lost the Saudis to alliance with BRICS, is in a state of near collapse.  The move on Venezuela was somewhat of a “Hail Mary” thrust to prevent further deterioration of that oil-control mechanism.  Oil, in the economic sphere is equal to big money and has long been the base plate for the fading strength of the dollar.
 
The R.T. organization went all out in airing commentaries from a group of geopolitical experts who presented their takes on the criminal attack on Venezuela.   Yes, that’s how they described the move on the land with the largest oil reserves on the planet, even eclipsing that of the Saudis.  Their heavy crude oil is the basis for much of the refining infrastructure in southeast Texas and into the Lake Charles area in Louisiana.  It is essential for diesel oil, as American and Canadian light crude need to be “stiffened” by the heavy stuff for general purpose petroleum products.
 
We can expect accelerated difficulties on the international front for the desperate aggressors.  What little credibility throughout most of the world is now smashed into itty-bitty remnants.  Tactically, the U$$A has achieved a temporary victory, enabling the Trumpeting Elephant to crow like a triumphant rooster.  Strategically and long-term, the Di$trict of Corruption regime has succeeded ponderously in shooting itself in the foot.  The rest of the world, except for a handful of client states and of course, the Genocidal entity whose owners also own American governance, has lost all patience with the would be Hegemon.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 4 2026 18:12 utc | 86

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 4 2026 17:57 utc | 78
 
#####
 
This is who Trump is. If one has read, “The Art of the Deal”, this is what Trump does.
 
He manufactures leverage and then tries to use that leverage to get what he wants without direct conflict. Trump is at heart a coward.
 
Kidnapping Maduro was a loud intimidation move. He’s banking on his opponents chickening out.
 
It’s very Zionist and very weak. Like Bibi does when he exhorts Iranians to rise up and overthrow the government. He doesn’t want to actually fight because he too, is a pussy.
 
US credibility is at an all-time low. No one fears America, as it has been revealed as a paper tiger by Russia, Iran, and Yemen.
 
Soon Venezuela will, IMO, further expose American military impotence.
 
The US can no more force Venezuelans to pump oil than they can force China to refine minerals.
 
No one outside the Empire feels threatened into compliance. It’s only through bribery that America can do anything geopolitically today.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 4 2026 18:16 utc | 88

🇻🇪 The Venezuelan army supported Delcy Rodríguez and condemned the kidnapping of the legitimate president, Maduro

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/169142

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 4 2026 18:17 utc | 90

During the capture of Maduro, U.S. forces killed a significant portion of his security force (EADaily, January 4, 2026 — in Russian)

A significant portion of Nicolás Maduro’s security force was killed during the U.S. attack. This was announced on local television by Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, according to Reuters.
 
“Padrino did not provide an exact casualties figure,” the agency notes.
 
The minister also supported the appointment of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as acting president and assured that the Armed Forces have been activated throughout the country to guarantee sovereignty.
…

Posted by: S | Jan 4 2026 18:21 utc | 92

Oh really ?
 
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8ZyJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6376bb6-355e-46a8-8f03-8bd0aeedba2f_736x660.png

Posted by: The Painter | Jan 4 2026 18:24 utc | 94

@Fool Me Twice | Jan 4 2026 16:56 utc | 45

Does anyone really expect a NY Court, presumably with a jury, to convict Maduro of: “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.” The charges are preposterous.

Well, what do you think:
 

— 🇻🇪/🇺🇸/✡️ NEW: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s trial will be presided over by Jewish Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was also assigned to oversee almost all 9/11 related civil lawsuits, including one in which he encouraged the families of 96 victims who questioned the failures in airline and airport security to take settlement money instead of taking the case to a public trial
 
According to the New York Times, Judge Hellerstein acknowledged that this resulted in a ‘loss of information’ to the public. A trial would have exposed a large body of internal documents and depositions to public light before a jury.
 
One of the victims’ families stated that Hellerstein ‘gutted the case so that the truth about what led to the events of 9/11 would never be told at trial.’

https://t.me/Middle_East_Spectator/26899

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 4 2026 18:29 utc | 96

The US Treasury is auctioning $238 billions this week.  $163 billions on Monday and an additional $75 billions on Tuesday.
 
https://treasurydirect.gov/auctions/upcoming/
 

Posted by: too scents | Jan 4 2026 18:30 utc | 98

Has any attention been drawn to these?  If not, don’t miss ’em!
https://substack.com/@vanessabeeley/note/c-195089013
https://x.com/DaniMayakovski/status/2007627435873853462

Posted by: Maracatu | Jan 4 2026 18:44 utc | 100