The mainstream media covered Venezuela non-stop yesterday. They many times mentioned Delcy Rodríguez, Vice President, because Trump stated she is now in charge. They never mentioned that 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the torture to death of her father, socialist activist Jorge Rodríguez, by the CIA-backed security services of the US-aligned Pérez regime in Venezuela.
That would of course spoil the evil communists versus nice democrats narrative that is being forced down everybody’s throats.
Nor did they mention that the elected governments of Hugo Chávez reduced extreme poverty by over 70%, reduced poverty by 50%, halved unemployment, quadrupled the number receiving a state pension and achieved 100% literacy. Chávez took Venezuela from the most unequal society for wealth distribution in Latin America to the most equal.
Nor have they mentioned that María Corina Machado is from one of Venezuela’s wealthiest families, which dominated the electricity and steel industries before nationalisation, and that her backers are the very families that were behind those CIA-controlled murderous regimes.
Economic sanctions imposed by the West – and another thing they have not mentioned is that the UK has confiscated over £2 billion of the Venezuelan government’s assets – have made it difficult for the Maduro government to do much more than shore up the gains of the Chávez years.
But that Venezuela is a major production or trafficking point for narcotics entering the USA is simply a nonsense. Nicolás Maduro has his faults, but he is not a drug trafficking kingpin. The claim is utter garbage.
The willingness of the West to accept the opposition’s dodgy vote tallies from the 2024 Presidential elections does not legitimise invasion and kidnap.
Yesterday almost every Western government came up with a statement that managed to endorse Trump’s bombing and kidnap – plainly grossly illegal in international law – and simultaneously claim to support international law. The hypocrisy is truly off the scale. It is also precisely the Western powers that support the genocide in Gaza that support the attack on Venezuela.
The genocide in Gaza demonstrated the end of hopes – which were extremely important to my own worldview – for the rule of international law to outweigh the brutal use of force in international relations. The kidnap of Maduro, the rush of Western powers to accept it, and the inability of the rest of the world to do anything about it, have underlined that international law is simply dead.
In the long list of appalling awards of the Nobel peace prize, none can be worse than the latest to the Venezuelan traitor María Corina Machado, intended actively to promote and bring forward the imperialist attack on Venezuela by the United States.
It takes a great deal of effort to come up with a worse decision than to award Kissinger immediately after the massive bombing of Laos and Cambodia. It was a dreadful award, but it was intended to recognise the putative Paris peace deal and prod the United States towards honouring the peace process. Initially it was a joint award with Vietnamese negotiator Lê Đức Thọ (who sensibly declined).
The Kissinger award was a terrible mistake, but the Committee were seeking to end a war, starting from a willingness to cooperate with unprincipled realpolitik. In the award to Machado, they are deliberately seeking to endorse and promote the start of a war. That is a very different thing.
Similarly the award to Obama was a crazed moment of hope after the despair of the invasion of Iraq. It was a combined mistaken belief that Obama would be better, with a mistaken idea it would encourage him to be so.
I accept that the line I am drawing is a thin one; rewarding the perpetrators of Western aggression is only a short step away from actually encouraging Western aggression. But nevertheless a line has been crossed.
The gross hypocrisy of the morally bankrupt Committee chairman, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, in claiming that the prize is for non-violent action on Venezuela, at the very moment that Trump gathered the largest invasion force since Iraq off Venezuela makes me feel thoughts towards Frydnes that ought not qualify me for any peace prize at all. I feel similarly towards Guterres and all those others abandoning their supposed international role to lick Trump’s boot today.
So what now for Venezuela? Well, on the most optimistic reading Trump’s action was performative. He had to do something to avoid the Grand Old Duke of York jibes after that immense concentration of forces off Venezuela, and he has produced a spectacular that actually changes little.
On this reading, the Americans may be making the same mistake they made in Iran, in believing that decapitation strategy and bombing will spark internal revolution. In Iran, they actually strengthened support for the Government.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Bolivarian government in Caracas genuinely did not yet know what had happened, how far there was collusion in the armed forces in Maduro’s kidnap, and whether they still had the control of the army.
Trump’s plain signal that the US views Rodríguez as in charge, and Trump’s contemptuous dismissal of Machado – the only bright point in an appalling day – might give pause to any in Venezuela expecting active US support for a coup.
To those who claim Maduro was a tyrant, I refer you to the comic opera Guaidó coup of 30 April 2019. Guaidó had been declared President of Venezuela by the western powers despite never even having been a candidate. He attempted a coup and wandered around Caracas with heavily armed henchmen, declaring himself President but just being laughed at by the army, police and population.
In any country in the world Guaidó would have been jailed for life for attempting an armed coup, and I expect in the majority he would have been executed. Maduro just patted him on the head and put him back on a plane.
So much for the evil dictatorship.
By pure chance, on Friday I had texted Delcy Rodríguez about arrangements for travel and accreditation so I could go and report from Venezuela and bring you more of the truth from that country that the media is hiding from you. I made plain I was not asking for financial support. Things are obviously fluid at the moment, but it is still my intention to get there.
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Trump’s been on the phone, he’s plotting a regime-change operation against Rockall next.
Rockall?
Rockall is in the Atlantic, west of the Outer Hebrides which include Lewis, birthplace of Trump’s mother
There were reports a few years back of oil in the.vicinity. I hope Trump doesn’t see this discussion!
A possible storyline:
* Trump tells Denmark “Give me Greenland. Never mind that it’s technically yours. I don’t GAF.” (Note: he has practically said as much already)
* Denmark tells Trump he can do one.
* Trump tells Denmark: “You talking to me? Give me the Faroes too.”
* Compradore government in Britain observes that Denmark has no right to the Faroes, because the said Faroes, which were “helped” by British forces during WW2 and which still consume lots of British-style fish and chips, voted in favour of independence but the Danish government told them to shove it. (Note: this is true)
* A few inveterate troublemakers who detest the British ruling scum publicise the logical point that by claiming the Faroes, Trump must be claiming Rockall too, given that Denmark has asserted a claim to Rockall by dint of sovereignty over the Faroes (Note: this is also true)
* Trump issues an online micromessage saying he wants Rockall as well as Greenland and the Faroes, and if Denmark and Britain don’t hand them over he’s going to
sh*t his pants in furysend the US Navy to take them.In the next episode, Nappy Boy says he wants the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, because it’s where his rather strange mother was born.
Canadian butts must be going sixpence half a crown in the light of the takeover of Venezeula. They are on the list for annexation. And ditto Greenland that’s for the taking too.
This is what uncontrolled military power does. It takes.
And oh how the mighty Great British flush must be looking on. A bit player on the sidelines with all pretence of a special relationship gone. The Donald will certainly have not forgotten how mughty Great Britain’s treacherous sitting prime minister Sir Queer Starmer so avidly sought to sink Trump’s election.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the Donald John, in memory of his Gaidhlig speaking mother Mary Macleod, and his Scottish roots might as an aside of world politics play a little game or two with the Great Coloniser. 2026 is after all the 250th anniversary of the US declaration of independence.
Watch this space Mr Starmer. The Donald may well have plans afoot and you did after all only recently interfered in US elections and he may well interfere in Scotland.
Trump has already interfered in Scotland by flying the Scottish saltire on his car, next to the Stars and Stripes but with no British flag in sight, when he visited Scotland.
Obama too interfered in Scotland when he backed “No” in the indyref.
Add Colombia to the list. Let’s hope the government there have the sense to ask for Russian military protection ASAP.
Cuba should also be mentioned. Thirty-two Cubans were killed by US forces in Venezuela. Trump says Cuba is “ready to fall”, but I doubt he understands (or even reads) much intelligence about foreign countries. Cuba is not ready to fall.
On a personal note: I spoke with a Scottish Prebyterian-influenced nutter today who believes in Trump as some kind of messianic figure who is fighting against the “bloodline families” (whoever they are – I feared to ask whether there was a Merovingian connection) and the Nephilim. The guy got crazier and crazier as our conversation proceeded. Near the end he was going on about Cain being the son of Lucifer (or “the Devil”, as he helpfully explained). “Let’s see if Trump can sort it all out. He’s not as bad as they’re making out. Don’t believe the media” were his parting words of advice. He really excelled himself because the last time I’d met him he’d mostly gone on about how good cryptocurrency was, although admittedly on that occasion he’d also claimed Britain was under the legal jurisdiction of a lighthouse authority (seriously). That time, he had used the phrase “fiat currency” without having a clue what it meant, and told me he’d lost all of his money twice – presumably because somebody had told him he could make a fortune on crypto and perhaps they stitched him up because they were in league with Hilary Clinton, Lucifer, Bill Gates, or Pizza Hut or something, but in any case it was clearly nothing to do with the fact that he is an idiot. Anyway the point of all this blurb is that Trump world continues to exist and its members are continuing to apply their deep understanding of the world to current events, even on the eastern side of the Atlantic. This guy is probably not going to do anything as a result of his deranged ideas (apart from throw all his money away maybe – if he’s made any since throwing it away twice before – trying to get rich quick), but I’m sure this isn’t the case with every single one of his fellow believers.
In what way was his mother “rather strange”?
It seems that there was some collateral damage in the US kidnapping drama, the website https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/new-york-times-reports-at-least-40-people-were-killed-in-us-strike-on-venezuela/ar-AA1TwwbM
“The New York Times reported “at least 40 people were killed” in U.S. military strikes on Venezuela as part of President Donald Trump’s operation to capture dictator Nicolás Maduro. Journalist Mariana Martinez reported “military personnel and civilians” were killed in the early morning attack on Saturday, based on a “senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity.” The official’s figure was based on “preliminary reports,” she added.”
FIFA need to recall their peace prize, looks like a bigly error, and who at the NT times think Maduro is more of a dictator than Trump?
Last I heard it was more than 80 dead, including over 30 Cubans and most of the president’s guard. (So they did fight, although against whom is unclear). Many more injured.
According to Andrei Martyanov, the chief of the guard took a bribe to switch sides and keep the Maduros isolated until the Yanks could scoop them. He also cited someone who said that Russians tried to come to the rescue but got into a firefight with the guards. I suppose the Cubans were there to help too. Sounds like a hot mess. One of the CIA’s greatest hits.
Sorry to offer no sources, nor any promise that any of this is true. Still I thought it might be marginally helpful. It will probably be a while before we even learn who was on which side.
Also, I heard that Mr Maduro’s first words on touching US soil were “Happy New Year!” A brave, decent hombre, and my heart goes out to him.
The facts are hard to fit into a simplistic narrative of socialist goodies versus imperialist baddies, or vice versa. All can be true at once:
– Trump wants Venezuela’s oil
– Some of the Venezuelas economic collapse has been due to US sanctions, but much of it due to mismanagement and corruption.
– US is a gangster state
– Maduro is hated by swathes of Venezuelans, even those who previously supported Chavez, and a large chunk of the population has left in the past 10 years as they don’t see any hope for change.
Hopefully Craig gets out there and can speak with normal Venezuelans, and not be on a propaganda mission for anyone, as tempting as it is to paint a compelling narrative.
“Maduro is hated by swathes of Venezuelans” in the same ways that I hate Starmer, Badenoch, Farage and the rest of the political charlatans that make up the UK governing classes. I hate Macron, Merz, Von Leyen and Kallas likewise for their traducing of European values. But, I am only an ordinary citizen who can express my political hate once every so often at the ballot box (and not in the case of the EU).
Many of those who “hate” Maduro are not ordinary Venezuelans but belong to a political elite which is paid by the USA to express their hatred in other ways than through the ballot box. Some “Chaveznistas” might have deserted Maduro but mainly because they have been pressured into doing so as a result of USA actions.
There have been pictures of some Venezuelans waving USA flags in the street to approve the USA military action. I don’t know whether they are genuine. If they are genuine, said Venezuelans are not worthy of respect – to put it mildly.
Problem is that people utterly disenchanted with the political landscape misplace their support elsewhere – ergo the waving by some of US flags.
And nearer to Home in Scotland where independence support sits at over fifty percent the SNP votes slide to around 30% with Labour and the Tories both on the low teens.
But then there is Reform. An anathema to most Scots but in the widespread disdain for the mainstream parties they are actually picking up votes from Labour and the Tories and desperately from the SNP.
When the system is broken this is the result. But, in the case of Scotland, the desire for indepence has not gone. Quite the reverse.
“Stated voting intentions” surely, rather than votes?
Is there any cross-tabulation info showing how Yes/No on the independence question relates to party voting intention? I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those who say they’d vote for Reform are also saying they’d vote for independence. Such types may come across like Vyvyan from “The Young Ones”, sticking two fingers up at everything, but they have almost zero understanding of history (or much else). A scary situation indeed, albeit less scary for the time being than in England where there is clear media-expressed desire for something hot to happen to a refugee hotel.
Something like 20% of the population has left the country in recent years. That goes way beyond disenchantment with politicians that we’re all used to.
I’m naturally sympathetic to chavismo, but having met so many Venezuelans who have felt the need to immigrate to escape what they see as a dictatorship, it’s hard to maintain that view from my European privilege.
Probably the ones who leave are the monied classes who can afford to leave and also don’t like socialism. The impact of American sanctions is also something that shouldn’t be discounted. Similar happened in Iran when the corrupt Shah was deposed. Rats and sinking ships maybe ?
We were told Saddam Hussain was an evil dictator, we were told Gaddafi was an evil dictator, we were told Assad was an evil dictator and now we’re told Maduro is an evil dictator. Maybe the definition of an evil dictator is simply someone who won’t kow-tow to the USA.And worse, may be a socialist !
A lot of educated and well off people left for sure, but all the waiters, barbers and cleaners you meet in Spain aren’t some moneyed aristocracy.
Wouldn’t class Maduro as an “evil dictator” as such, but he lost democratic legitimacy a long time ago, as painful as that is to accept for socialists.
Sadaam, Gaddafi, Assad can be evil dictators without legitimising American interventions.
Funnily enough, you are quoting what Noam Chomsky said about 50 years ago – almost word for word.
“but he lost democratic legitimacy a long time ago, as painful as that is to accept for socialists.”
How did he manage that?
It seems to me that a “dictator” is anyone who is put into power by massive popular support and a “democratically elected leader” is someone who is put into power by the ruling elite.
Fully agree Stevie. Maybe we can add: Messrs Xi, Putin, Kim, and other varied African + Asian heads to the list. Popular elected head of Pakistan, Imran Khan springs to mind too, but not as an evil dictator, but currently jailed on afaik “corruption charges”. I think his “real” crime was by not toeing the line re: Afghanistan.
Lost legitimacy by losing the election by a landslide, as verified by numerous independent bodies and vote counters. Then Maduro’s government conveniently “lost” their full voting tallies so they can’t prove or disprove anything. Just take their word for it.
But once we’re ideologically wed to Maduro, then any evidence against his legitimacy is just discarded as falsified.
“I’m naturally sympathetic to chavismo”.. as anyone can see from my efforts to justify its crude destruction by the criminal Trump-Rubio gang.
Not justifying anything. Just saying the narrative isn’t as simplistic as one would hope.
I’m only sympathetic to Chavismo if the majority of Venezuelans want it, which seems pretty clear they don’t, at least under Maduro
Sure this one is incredibly complicated, and you’re not trying to justify it at all.
Whether to support an unwanted dictator against a colonial aggressor, isn’t an all that simple moral equation IMO. I tend towards supporting the unwanted ruler, until the aggressor has been repelled.
The what if the will of the majority is to oust Maduro and collaborate with US capital?
“what if the will of the majority is to oust Maduro and collaborate with US capital?”
It isn’t. But if it were, they could shove it up their collective a*se.
What other answer to your question is available?
I wouldn’t generalise about Venezuelan emigrants from those who are in Spain. Except that you are definitely right that most whether in Spain or in Colombia or elsewhere aren’t middle class or rich.
It should never be forgotten that the traditional rich in Latin America (and, for that matter, in Spain and Portugal) detest the very ground that people like Chavez, Maduro, Morales, and Lula have walked on.
So those four must have been doing something right.
What other answer is available to the question… well that the democratic will of the people takes precedence, even if it means privatising everything out to American investors. Most people will just take whatever option means they can pay groceries and have a pension.
Devils advocate here eh 😉
This certainly was a factor in Maduro’s drop in votes in regional and local elections in recent years. People simply succumbed to USA sanctions and other pressures. No – one can blame people for that, it has been the reality that they and people in Syria, Iran and elsewhere, have had to live with. As with Iran these interventions need to be exposed for the criminal actions that they are and people need to wake up to the fact.
The Venezuelans I’ve met who’ve gone abroad have departed because economic collapse left them little hope. Some have been pro-Chavez, some anti-Chavez, but most haven’t been particularly interested in politics.
All the fear and risk involved in getting out to Colombia (or Ecuador etc.), and then living there, is a price they decided was worth paying, in order to have a reasonable future in which they’d at least feel a bit more confident they might stay able to eat, have shelter, and maybe support dependants.
That said, everyone is aware that a) the US imposed crippling sanctions, and b) there is a lot of corruption. The corruption manifests in what you need to do to be able to leave, including pay bribes to get documents.
The % who have left the country is much higher than 20% among young people, say aged under 30 or 35.
Many who have stayed and who aren’t criminals or middle class have just about managed to scrape through by getting paid in US dollars, e.g. in women’s beauty-related work, for which a market has remained – rich women continuing to get their hair, nails, eyelashes, eyebrows, skin, etc. done.
Such is the reality of economic collapse. Sometimes caused by war. The situation in Venezuela is very similar to the aftermath of a war.
Coming to many other places soon.
“Some of the Venezuelas economic collapse has been due to US sanctions, but much of it due to mismanagement and corruption”.
I would guess it’s decidedly the other way round. When the Americans go for a country they can make things very unpleasant indeed. They have done it to Cuba, Libya, Syria, Argentina, Chile, and many others.
Venezuela under the Chavistas seems to have gone socialist in a big way and benefited enormously in a very short time. Probably that happens when the rich are stopped from creaming off 30% or whatever of the national wealth. And of course it makes the rich very angry indeed. Same story as Cuba and Libya.
Almost Rule #1 in Washington is that no socialist nation must ever be seen to prosper. (Actually this might explain what has happened to the Scandinavian countries). The fact that China is socialist and is now the richest and most powerful nation in the world, with armed forces that could defeat the USA’s, must be making them grind their teeth and spit blood.
The dependence on oil prices and the dive in state oil production (see management non cooperation/mass dismissals and replacement with loyalists) made collapse on the cards years ago. Add sanctions to that and the jig was up.
It must be said that when Hugo Chavez first became President of Venezuela in 1999, the country’s economy was already heavily dependent on extracting oil and selling it in a relatively unprocessed state to US energy companies. This had been the situation since the early 1920s.
Shifting the economy from a mainly agrarian one, mostly self-sufficient, to an economy based almost entirely on one commodity, and in the process making VZ dependent on food imports, even imports of staple foods like rice and beans, was the consequence of many government decisions over the years, and most of these decisions made by governments that preceded Chavez and Maduro, and their brand of socialism.
Don’t talk and act as if these and other economic issues are all purely the fault of Chavez, Maduro and Bolivarian socialism. They inherited an economy that had long had these problems, long enough that they had become institutionalised and to some extent accepted as “normal” by the general public in VZ.
True that the problem of oil dependency came from long before Chavez. Who knows if a similar collapse would’ve taken place under a conservative government too.
“Some of the Venezuelas economic collapse has been due to US sanctions, but much of it due to mismanagement and corruption.”
Mostly it has been US sanctions. There is certainly some corruption too.
Be careful with the idea of “mismanagement”. That is in a nutshell the view that the traditional fingernail-pulling Latin American rich (of a “why allow the poor to learn to read?” persuasion) express about people like Chavez, Morales, Maduro, and Lula. “They’re not professionals like us. Their suits are sh*t quality. They’re just slobs who don’t understand how to handle money because they weren’t born into it”, etc.
I get you point, but it does seem true that oil production fell drastically under chavismo, likely related to the mass dismissal workers, and lack of investment
This illustrates the perils of Europe marching lock-step with U.S. foreign policy, as the EU certainly did during the Biden administration. It’s largely why they don’t know how to get off the treadmill on Ukraine now, they’re simply in too deep. Back to Venezuela. Apparently, in January 2020, Pedro Sánchez’s govt in Spain courted controversy and EU ire, by welcoming Delcy Rodriguez as she landed at the Barajas airport in Madrid(link below). The EU had earlier imposed a travel ban on entry into the EU. No doubt under pressure from the U.S. This is clearly why the U.S.values the EU over having to deal with individual European governments.The way the EU Commission exercises power has certainly changed my mind about the EU. In its current form I wouldn’t want to rejoin.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2026-01-04/delcy-rodriguez-tiene-vetada-la-entrada-a-la-ue-por-violaciones-graves-de-los-derechos-humanos.html
It’s also been reported there was a mole within Maduro’s administration who facilitated his capture; by revealing things like location information – his itinerary; clothing worn etc. Whether that is true or deliberate mischief making by the U.S.is an open question, as it’s the kind of thing that could be aimed at further destabilizing the government in Caracas.
With regard to yr suggestion that there was a mole in Nicolas Maduro’s administration: I have seen some online reports that the chief of security or the chief of Maduro’s bodyguard had been bribed (apparently to the tune of US$50 million) to betray Maduro’s whereabouts by the Americans.
After Maduro’s kidnapping, the role of the chief of his security was exposed and he has now been executed. No $50 million reward for him, I’m afraid.
I find Venezuela Analysis https://venezuelanalysis.com a good source of information and study of its many articles and accounts particularly of the electoral processes in Venezuela and UN Special Rapporteur Reports show convincing evidence that that USA, its acolytes and collective west media have been conducting a Big Lie, economic and other forms of dirty warfare since Hugo Chavez dared to offer an alternative to USA dominated neo – liberalism. USA has never forgiven His success in reducing poverty and inequality and raising educational standards that in the tradition of Paola Freire gives power and offers hope to the oppressed of society.
Trump. in his approach is just being more brazen than his predecessors Obama and Biden and in doing so reveals the stark criminality behind their actions. Only the completely deluded and psychopaths could seek to justify Trump’s and his acolytes egregiously criminal behaviour.
True to nature, Starmer has sat on the fence and despite his legal background failed to recognise the bleeding obvious criminal nature of the conduct of Trump et al.
But, then stating that he won’t be mourning the passing of a democratically elected and conducted socialist state he reveals his true right wing colours equivalent to those of Machado and Gonzales. He easily forgets that the undemocratic vagaries of the UK electoral system has given him more dictatorial powers on a 34 % vote than Maduro has ever had in Venezuela.
Very interesting comments. Thank you.
While the US has been wanting regime change in Venezuela for decades, this is part of a bigger picture. America largely failed in its pivot to Asia and is now focusing on the Americas.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
They have realised that they can’t face China directly and the US’s main weakness is their supply chain dependency on China. So now they plan to bring supply chains to the Americas under their control, be that Argentina or Greenland. Any American country which does not offer its economic resources to US business will face trouble. Brazil a BRICs member has a general election this year, Cuba is communist and Greenland is big with an interesting position by the North West passage. Expect more heavy handed diplomacy and illegal meddling.
Craig, thank you so much for this. I woke up yesterday to the Washington Post calling this outrage “A Bold Strike.” I so appreciate your offering context to this event, and especially some background on the Chavez and Maduro governments, that are unceasingly maligned here.
Danny Haiphong interviews Diego Sequera live from Venezuela, Danny quotes a speech from the new President Delcy Rodríguez who contradicts Trump, who asserted wrongly that she would work with Rubio to achieve US aims. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPHeoMRsrUw
On a more philosophical level, I wonder why it is the U.S., as the richest, militarily most powerful country on Earth, struggles to have anything resembling an ethical foreign policy, as opposed to always acting with naked self-interest? Is it because the political system produces bad people; or maybe because unethical people are the ones being promoted within the civil service? The U.S. leadership, as seen by writers of U.S. TV series and movies is invariably an idealised version; portrayed as ultra ethical; moral to the point of fault. Watch Star Trek’s Federation’s high standards, or countless other TV shows and movies.
What would an ethical stance to Venezuela be : Lifting all sanctions and normalising diplomatic relations, in return for UN monitored free and fair elections. Fat chance.
The US has always been a colonial settler state. Its international actions now are historically consistent with two centuries of domestic behaviour. If you seek a role model for Trump, let’s remember that The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed by president Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, leading to the internal genocide of the Trail of Tears. When it came to killing native people like the Seminoles for their land and resources, Jackson was a popular hero. So illegal, violent war is just in the country’s blood, Even Vietnam couldn’t turn a tradition of animalistic bullying into peaceful coexistence. The Wolfowitz Doctrine is dead? Long live the Wolfowitz Doctrine. And a major war seems increasingly unavoidable unless Russia and China are willing to prostrate themselves before the Great Hegemon, an alternative outcome almost as disasterous as WW III judging by the state of American society itself.
Goose
” I wonder why it is the U.S., as the richest, militarily most powerful country on Earth, struggles to have anything resembling an ethical foreign policy”
Perhaps because those with the most influence over the US Government are also those who stand to profit from its unethical actions. Its essentially run by gangsters, for gangsters.
I wonder whether Gianni Infantino will have the bollocks to ask for the return of the shonky FIFA peace prize?
The willingness of the West to accept the opposition’s dodgy vote tallies from the 2024 Presidential elections does not legitimise invasion and kidnap.
Interesting, how all the carefully worded statements released by western leaders, use the same formula of words; talking about a ‘transition of power’, not a re-run of the elections under strict international monitoring (a test I doubt U.S. elections would pass), no, a transition of power. Doesn’t this betray their own lack of confidence in the opposition’s claims? Trump, in a moment of brutal honesty claimed Machado simply isn’t popular enough for the U.S. to push forward as Maduro’s replacement. Some polls show up to 90% of Venezuelans have a negative opinion of her. How could they not, when she gleefully supports the idea of the U.S. using military force against her own country and people. The Nobel Committee has a lot to answer for as well.
Ironic, isn’t it, how in the first post-Assad elections in Syria, the public were excluded altogether from voting, Regional electoral committees selected 140 seats out of Syria’s 210-seat parliament. The committees had been appointed by the Supreme Election Committee. The other 70 MPs were selected personally by Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former Al-Qaeda chief known previously as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
Women have, unsurprisingly given the system, won just six seats in the new 210-member parliament.
Democracy test passed? And the West insisted Assad had to be removed for this?
The Nobel Committee may have done us all an unwitting favor. I’ve become fairly certain that the reason Trump made these negative comments is that he’s enraged that she stole his trophy.
Hugo Chavez failed to diversity the economy and kept it reliant on oil. Today, we see the result!
No cause and effect in these two sentences I am afraid. “Today” we see the results of criminality in the form of kidnapping, murder and terrorism.
Just came across this, posted yesterday on Truthout:
Venezuelans Say They Will Continue to Resist in the Face of Trump’s Aggression
Amy Goodman and Juan González host breaking news coverage on U.S. forces attacking Venezuela and seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. We speak to Venezuelan reporter Andreína Chávez in Caracas, as well as professors Miguel Tinker Salas and Alejandro Velasco.
https://truthout.org/video/us-attack-and-seizure-of-venezuelas-president-signal-illegal-regime-change-experts-warn/
The official story has more holes than a Swiss cheese.
I agree with those that say America had help from the inside but I would go further and say Maduro was bought off – carrot and stick I expect.
Pankaj Mishra had already pointed out last month, before this New Year piracy, that in the wake of Gaza:
“No pillar of the postwar Western intellectual and moral order looks as feeble as anti-totalitarianism—the negatively defined liberal identity that helped exalt American and Israeli democracy over their supposed enemies.”
“We have witnessed the extraordinary collapse of a once-potent idea, forged by largely American commentators and politicians in the Cold War era, of a ‘West’ with its foundations in democracy, rule of law and human rights.”
Pankaj Mishra, “Liberal Totalitarianism,” Harpers Weekly, December 2025.
https://harpers.org/archive/2025/12/liberal-totalitarianism-pankaj-mishra-western-hypocrisy/
This is how the West have gone about proving him wrong in 2026, as Craig summarises it above:
“Yesterday almost every Western government came up with a statement that managed to endorse Trump’s bombing and kidnap – plainly grossly illegal in international law – and simultaneously claim to support international law. The hypocrisy is truly off the scale. It is also precisely the Western powers that support the genocide in Gaza that support the attack on Venezuela.
The genocide in Gaza demonstrated the end of hopes – which were extremely important to my own worldview – for the rule of international law to outweigh the brutal use of force in international relations. The kidnap of Maduro, the rush of Western powers to accept it, and the inability of the rest of the world to do anything about it, have underlined that international law is simply dead.”
As I understand it, in a parallel universe, the UN International Court of Justice would have to issue a ruling, and then armed UN peacekeeping forces would have kidnapped Maduro from the US and brought him back to Venezuela.
All other countries would have condemned the US actions and imposed sanctions.
Hollywood actors would have made statements about how ashamed they were to be Americans.
Foreign companies would have closed their businesses in the US, and Trump would have been added to the Interpol database as a wanted person for kidnapping.
Well, in our universe…
I bet we’ll soon hear that Putin is to blame for Trump kidnapping Maduro 🙂
Vladimir Putin is responsible for Trumps adventure in Venezuela, apparently.
https://x.com/BowesChay/status/2008018156741435847
🙂 Thank you, Lapin.
Julian Borger
Senior international correspondent
Analysis
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/03/putin-russia-us-foreign-policy-venezuela
I think that Mr. Julian Borger must pray daily to God to grant Putin a long life. After all, Putin’s existence provides him with easy money for ‘analyses’, and, if Putin were gone, Mr. Borger might suffer from mental constipation.
I think that Mr. Julian Borger must pray daily to God to grant Putin a long life. After all, Putin’s existence provides him with easy money for ‘analyses’, and, if Putin were gone, Mr. Borger might suffer from mental constipation.
That’s true of a lot of the self-appointed experts who have crawled out of the woodwork in the past few years.
You can wager, that if the U.S.can’t get their way there, due to popular resistance, we’ll start to see headlines in the West such as :
How China(or Russian) interference in Venezuela scuppered U.S plans to bring democracy
It’s oh-so predictable, isn’t it. The U.S.TV news networks and presenters, even the ones normally hostile to the Trump administration have been simping for Empire so long, their instinct is to support any and all U.S. military interventions, however unjustifiable.
What amazes me most is that they took the trouble to secure a ruling from the International Criminal Court for Putin. But Maduro was simply kidnapped and is about to be tried in a domestic court.
What makes the difference?
Tatyana
I guess there was a lot of Ukrainian love in this ICC-play and love from American officials who have a Ukrainian or Baltic (mostly fascist) family background.
It´s basically all spooks on some level.
The “research” was done from sunny YALE campus online. They never did the legwork to actually go to Ukraine and see for themselves and possibly run into contradicting facts and testimonies.
It makes more sense to watch Bugs Bunny than any of these charades of court filings and actions and prosecutions…
“What makes the difference?”
They were able to kidnap Mr Maduro. That’s the difference.
In case anyone is still in doubt, the Washington crew are straight out of “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
“Take what you can – give nothing back!”
I thought it was the Chinese visitors who forgot to shut the doors after their visit with Maduro. 🙂
It’s the ICC that can issue arrest warrants.
Gloves are off now. The US government has many personnel around the world, and the phrase “They’ve got it coming to them” comes to mind. Some of them could easily be lifted by four heroes with some resolve.
One thing that’s interesting is that international banking depends on international law. This is not a trite observation. Back in 2007-08 it transpired that banks had been lending large amounts of money to each other, and then they got scared that the other banks they’d lent to might go bust causing them to go bust too – what was described to the population as “credit crunch”. Now with the kidnapping in Caracas we can all see that international law has been shoved further down the toilet, so we can expect similar developments in all fields. “So you thought that money was yours, huh?”
Focusing on gold in particular: quite a lot is still held in New York, even though the German and Dutch regimes were wise enough to repatriate a lot of theirs from that accursed city a few years ago. Some Venezuelan government gold is still in London, the last I heard. It wouldn’t surprise me if the British compradores have already signed it over to Trump-Kushner.
It is not quite as simple as saying “the gold price always goes up when there’s trouble”. That’s not actually true, and the gold price has sometimes been long-term manipulated as if against what one would expect. But when there’s f*cking big trouble, yes of course the gold price will rise.
@ Tatyana:
100% !!!!
Nice to see the political left has finally remembered what borders are for.
Got to admit, I would love it if someone were to lift Trump, Kushner etc. from Washington DC or Florida or wherever, or to whack them. Of those who stand on the side of humanity, who wouldn’t?
Interesting YouTube video: The REAL Reason We Just Invaded Venezuela (It’s Not Drugs)
Watch and listen to Nicolas Maduro’s speech starting at 6:45 and then you’ll know why The Powers That (Should Not) Be decided he had to go.
This is an eye-opener in showing Marina Corina Machada to be a supporter of Israel, so that her concern for democracy does not extend to Palestinians. Such behaviour makes her with Aung San Suu Kyi unworthy of the Nobel prize. In that case, however it means that Trump prefers a compliant government in Venezuela (if he can get it) to Machado in power, suggesting that oil is his main motive (though it may be that his misogyny also plays a part). In any case, I imagine that Zionists will be quite happy that an anti-Zionist like Maduro is out of the way. Whether Venezuela will democratise now, however, is the big question.
P.S. An interesting possible reason from a US reporter on the BBC why Trump didn’t suport Machado: she didn’t decline the Nobel peace prize and suggest that it be given to him instead. 😁
I am very sceptical of this being an “inside job” with bribes etc. Rubio has more or less confessed to the mafia like nature of the whole project. “If you do not do what we say you will be killed” was his meaning yesterday. That is exactly how Maduro was “allowed” to be kidnapped without resistance.
As in Iraq and going back to Vietnam, once American military get hyped up into military mode, and as shown by its recent destruction of innocent fishing boats and their crew, they do not think twice about eliminating anyone who gets in their way.
Trump probably watched the actual kidnapping of Maduro and his wife live. (Cf. Obama and Clinton watching the killing of Osama bin Laden.) It wouldn’t surprise me if he watched the shooting of the survivors on the boat wreckage too.
There will probably be more propaganda photos of Maduro. (Cf. when the USA captured Saddam Hussein they showed photos of a torch being shone into his mouth.) To judge from the way Maduro was walking along, he seems to have been tortured already.
USA = Great Satan.
At the time of the USA war against Vietnam, photos showing “Zippo” actions – USA units burning villages, as shown here – amplified opposition to the war within the USA and in the satellite countries. Unfortunately nowadays in the epoch of ultra-submissive smartphone addiction, things aren’t going play out the same. (Look at Wikileaks and the “Collateral Murder” US military video. Releasing this was brave and admirable, but the reality is that it didn’t achieve much.) Vanguardism against the system was the wrong path in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s the correct path now.
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with 95% of this article, I would take issue with the population of Iran being behind it’s leadership, given the events which are unfolding all over Iran at the moment.
Swop Venezuela for Iran and it is the same old story. The actual protest centred on the bazaar business community. That seems to have been resolved. Meanwhile Mossad / CIA inspired and paid for sporadic protests have been taking place around the country. These are the events that are grabbing corrupt MSM headlines.
I have relatives in Iran, who I am in contact with every week and I know what is causing the current protests and it has nothing to do with Mossad or the CIA (who I both hate), it is mostly caused by the hyper inflation, which has now reached unbearable levels. The national currency – Toman – has reached a record low against the dollar. According to the Statistical Center of Iran, inflation in December rose to 42.2 percent from the year-earlier period, and was up 1.8 percent from November. The price of foodstuffs was up 72 percent compared to a year earlier, while health and medical items were up 50 percent over the same period.
https://kayhanlife.com/authors/irans-bazaar-merchants-protest-as-currency-plunges-to-new-low-and-protestors-chant-long-live-the-shah/
I’d be careful reading Kayhanlife.com. This is a media outlet based in London.
In recent years British media (The Economist, The London Spectator) have been talking up the idea of restoring the Pahlavi dynasty. That suggests bringing back the previous monarchical regime is on the agenda of Western intel spooks. I would be very suspicious in reading articles that insert claims that ordinary people in Iran want the Shah back.
There was a survey done some years ago on Iranians living in the US (mainly Los Angeles) on their attitudes towards restoring the monarchy. 80% were adamant the monarchy should not be restored. If the Iranian diaspora does not support restoring the Shah, and if its attitudes reflect the opinions of people in Iran, then we must ask how all of a sudden ordinary people want the Pahlavis back according to media reports.
@Refinnejenna, I know that version of Kayhan is based in the UK, but what they have posted there is what my relatives in Iran are saying and they are moderate, intelligent people. I don’t think the monarchy will be reinstated in Iran, but there are a number of people in the more wealthy areas of Tehran and other cities who are calling for it. I certainly do not think the ordinary people of Iran want outside interference from the US or the UK. On the other hand, the younger people in particular do want to see an end to the rule of the Mullahs, which is why so many of the highly educated ones emigrate to Europe and the US, even though, following the attacks on Iran by the US, the US Homeland Security have arrested around 1,500 Iranian nationals, describing their status as illegal. We have Iranian nieces and nephews living in Europe and the US.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/ice-arrests-iranian-nationals-trump-sleeper-cells-5Hjd6MC_2/
Sanctions, CIA, Mossad, NGOs, MSM – the essential elements of regime change.
Following the Caracas kidnapping, Tommy Robinson has posted to Elon Musk’s micromessaging service calling on the USA to attack Britain and kidnap Keir Starmer:
https://nitter.poast.org/TRobinsonNewEra/status/2007473017748627840#m
Meanwhile recent British PM Liz Truss has said she’d rather pay money to Donald Trump than to the BBC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbJ81Ri6QjQ
Perhaps the English and British flags that have been raised by white supremacists in Britain will soon be joined by half-Union Jack half-Stars and Stripes ones? “These colours don’t run” being a favourite slogan. Once upon a time it was “Spook the gooks”.
What have respectable Sir Keir and Our BBC been saying about the Caracas kidnapping?
Well, based on the moral case for socialism, here is where Starmer stands…
Remember his 10 Pledges?
I had completely forgotten. But here they are. Reading them feels a bit strange, perhaps like one of the animals in Animal Farm thinking ‘Were we really committed to all that?’
The ‘Prevention of Military Intervention Act’ pledge seems particularly apt.
They complain people are cynical about politicians, but is there any wonder?
And watching Jacob Rees-Mogg on Politics Live a few moments ago, confirms why the Tory party is completely unfit for power. He couldn’t even bring himself to condemn Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, talking about some British claim to sovereignty of the island.
Greenland is vast, stretching over more than 800,000 square miles, but its population is tiny, consisting of only 56,000 people. I think the U.S. will take it somehow, even if they have to bribe the entire population there; many of whom, especially the Inuit population, have long favoured independence(70%). Basically the only thing previously preventing that being Denmark’s financial subsidies. Sound familiar?
Goose
January 5, 2026 at 12:59
“the Inuit population, have long favoured independence(70%)”
Yes but there is no reason to believe that they wish to become a US protectorate.
A poll taken a year ago showed that 85% of Greenlanders oppose a US takeover with a further 9% undecided.
Once again takeover by a foreign power being mistaken for independence.
Goose
My money is not on the annexation of Greenland but rather on protectorate status. It’s a better look and has the advantage that US laws won’t necessarily apply.
It’s going to be fun watching Merz/Macron/Starmer/vdL/Kallas and Mette Frederiksen twist and turn when it happens. A feast for the verbal contortionists!
“Yes but there is no reason to believe that they wish to become a US protectorate.”
They will once someone gets a civil war going.
Don’t forget the star of David, a favourite flag of the nutters,, along with the swastika.
Utterly disgraceful to see the democratically elected president of Venezuela, and his wife hands bound, all but frogmarched from a US helicopter onto Yankee soil like some sort of US death row prisoners heading for the gas chambers – the US is a Terrorist/Pirate State, and it will continue to illegally abduct, regime change, invade attack and murder with impunity in other nations around the globe.
A show trial does the U.S.’s image no favours, and the U.S. judiciary, supposedly proudly independent under their separation of powers and the constitution, is making the country look like some Banana Republic. What chance of any sort of fair trial and him and his wife being declared innocent? The whole idea Maduro, mixed being full time president, with some secret drug Kingpin role is laughable. The U.S.has been looking for an excuse for years; if they had any such evidence they’d have surely presented it earlier. And how countries police drug laws in their own territory is a sovereign matter.
And all the high-minded justifications being put about by western media, insisting this being about bringing freedom of democracy, from the US/UK/EU i.e. those who happily prop up brutal dictatorships in Egypt, Bahrain, among many such examples, where pro-democracy activists routinely languish in jail. The UK, lest we forget, has an unelected head of state, and an unelected second chamber, in which bishops have the right to shape legislation, Our primary legislative chamber is wholly unrepresentative with Labour have 64% of the seats on a 33% vote share, Are we really in a position to lecture any country on democracy?
Gose.
Good points lets not forget the Bank of England is illegally holding billions in gold belonging to Venezuela – it was seized to allow the US puppet Juan Guaido claim he was the rightful president of Venezuela.
On your second paragraph, I never ever want to hear or read about the US and its minions complaining about Russia’s or China’s or NK’s or Iran’s infringements on Internationals Laws – after the illegally abduction of the democratically elected president of Venezuela, and his wife.
“I never ever want to hear or read about the US and its minions complaining about Russia’s or China’s or NK’s or Iran’s infringements on Internationals Laws…”
But you will. Early and often.
Maybe Russia should send Venezuela some anti-aircraft missiles, launchers, and a few drones….
What’s good for the goose…..
They did but they appear not to have been much use.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/23/americas/maduro-trump-venezuela-military-intl-hnk
I wondered why any judge would agree to hear the case at all. Apparently they have enough evidence to convince an American Grand jury to bring an indictment, but once a trial is underway they will have to disĉlose it to the defense. If the case is flimsy, I hope that Maduro will be acquitted.
The objective isn’t to punish Maduro but to take him out of the Venezuelan political scene. The charges are all made up and shouldn’t be upheld by any rational judge/jury.
In short, US laws did not apply in Venezuela, so lawfully Maduro could not be in breach of them.
Today might is right – and International Law is dead – the US Terrorist/Pirate State, China, Russia and possibly a few other nations aside, will do what it wants, and who will stop them? no nation outside the ones I’ve mentioned and a few other with viable nukes will stand in a military sense against the USA – when he’s done with Maduro and Venezuela – Trump will go after Cuba and Colombia, and after a while he WILL go after Greenland as well, I mean who’s going to stop him? the toothless UN, the EU? no chance they’ll find someway to fall in line with the US narrative – which will be – we need Greenland for protection, and Cuba and Colombia were killing innocent citizens and sending drugs to the US.
Thanks to US term limits, Trump won’t be in office from the end of 2028. Or if he is, causing outrage, I assume it’d be in the context of a civil war and a constitutional convention; the necessary prelude to states seceding.
The ‘deep state’ seems to control him. He spoke in 2016-18 of ‘draining the swamp’ but it seems to have half swallowed him instead. Liz Truss said openly that the UK also has a deep state. Hardly surprising, given that bits of our ‘constitution’ date from 1688 or earlier and theirs is younger.
Does anyone seriously think international banking is subsidiary to ‘international law’? The Bank for International Settlements has had sovereign immunity since 1930. Other Central Banks report to BIS. Overall, bankers seem to rule the world, not elected presidents or prime ministers.
“Thanks to US term limits, Trump won’t be in office from the end of 2028”
David .
On the above, I wouldn’t put it past Trump to try and get a third-term, at the very least he’ll do a Putin and groom his successor (Putin/Medvedev) – Trump has already impeded on the US Constitution, as explained here.
https://off-guardian.org/2026/01/05/2025-the-year-the-government-stopped-pretending-it-cared-about-freedom/
Like Putin he might also try to change the constitution to allow himself a third term although he might find this much harder to get through Congress and the Senate.
There is the possibility of JD Vance succeeding Trump and he’s not much if any better. He’d probably still have Trump pulling his strings.
Maybe, just maybe, the American voters will come to their senses and send the whole lot of packing. Who knows.
Trump doesn’t pull Vance’s strings. He’s a Peter Thiel creature.
And believe me, that’s going to be a LOT worse.
You remember very well how the Democrats were contributing to global affairs when last in power.
It’s not even a year ago.
There’s literally nothing they could do that would stop you admiring them, is there?
Constitutional amendments require the agreement of the 50 states too. I think it’s something like two thirds of them. The President might successfully rig or lean on Congress and the courts. Rigging 33 separate states as well would be much harder. But in the end, it’d be whether the Commander in Chief could actually command the military to enforce his wishes or if they’d do the right thing and surround the Ballroom and its White House wing with tanks.
Is Starmer mentally challenged? He says “Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark.”
Greenland is a f*cking colony and it has the right to self-determination.
Greenlanders should, however, learn from Ho Chi Minh and wait until the threat from the Great Satan subsides, before they tell the Danish regime and Danish colonial administrators (yes they do run the place in practice) to f*ck off out of their affairs.
For the benefit of anyone in Starmer’s office who may be reading this: the second para above is a statement of fact, the third is a statement of opinion.
Brian Red
January 5, 2026 at 14:24
Greenland is not independent but has the right to self-determination. Meaning if they vote for Indy from Denmark, they get it.
Therefore “Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark”….
So what is the mental challenge?
Greenland is not a colony.
It receives 50% of government expenditure (£476 million) in the form of a block grant from Denmark so telling the Danes to ‘f*ck off’ wouldn’t be that clever.
They want the island because they see it as integral for the Golden Dome – the proposed missile defence system – Greenland is geographically located on the shortest flight path for missiles launched over the North Pole from nations like Russia and China toward North America.The U.S. already operates the Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base) in northwestern Greenland, which houses a powerful radar system crucial for early missile warning and space surveillance. They want to expand that complex.
They believe under Danish sovereignty, Greenland is currently not protected well enough from Russian and Chinese influence. So if they do take over, everyone, except for military personnel, would likely have to leave.
“Greenland is geographically located on the shortest flight path for missiles launched over the North Pole from nations like Russia and China toward North America”.
That is irrelevant. The Russians have several ways of delivering large numbers of warheads without using that route. The Sarmat ICBM has such a long range that it could be fired in different directions and hit the USA. The Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile can wander the skies for days, allowing it to attack the USA from any direction and even to loiter awaiting commands. And of course Russia has many submarines that can lurk underwater in the Atlantic and Pacific, within easy range of coastal cities and installations at least. Not to mention the monstrous Poseidon that can hit coastal targets with huge warheads capable of raising tsunamis.
Despite being declared operational the R38 ‘Sarmat’ has failed four of its five test launches and is still suffering development delays. If the Burevestnik can be remotely instructed it’s open to spoofing, at the end of the day it’s just another cruise missile and thus just as vulnerable. It’s just a re-working of Project Pluto, a US project to produce a nuclear powered cruise missile, which was abandoned in 1957. It was realised that anything so hot, noisy and radioactive would be too easy to detect and that the radioactive fallout left in its wake would be too dangerous to be acceptable. Something which doesn’t appear to bother the Russians. Poseidon is said to have a 100 megaton warhead, that’s in doubt but still not enough to create the metres high radioactive tsunami claimed. The earthquake that caused the 2004 Tsunami was the equivalent of 200 megatons.
The whole narrative of Russians attacking the West over Greenland is utter nonsense.
The aggressive stance of the US towards Greenland has nothing to do with the proclaimed military threat from Russia – much like the US military built-up in Europe had nothing to do with the proclaimed “threat from Iranian missiles”.
Any discussion about missile ranges is, well, a placebo topic.
The US, like many empires (Russia and China included), simply wants to make sure it fully controls its vicinity and regions of vital interest – and by it the US understands the Americas.
It’s not an inherently rational desire – it doesn’t have to be linked to any real threat. But it’s an approach recommended by many political theorists since the antiquity, and some consider it even more valid today given the evolution of warfare and trade. The Trump administration, with its brutal, gloves-off approach to international relations, simply decided to implement it during its term.
Cuba and Colombia will be next, Greenland is slated for later. Not sure how the French are preparing for the discussion about Guyana.
We live in interesting times, folks.
Kacper
Many U.S military facilities have huge exclusion zones around them, most famously Area 51, the U.S. Air Base in Nevada’s desert. If they control Greenland, they control air, land and sea. I can only think that’s their issue with the current sovereignty arrangements, and Russian and Chinese access to the island? Because as far as I know, neither Greenland’s govt nor Denmark’s have any objection to them expanding their Space base.
I have just read from a Telegram channel this post listing the names of 15 people whom the Americans murdered in the course of their operations. They included members of the Presidential Guard and other Guards units. Does n’t look like a put up job to me from this list.
“At the moment, Venezuelan sources have identified the identities of at least 15 military personnel, who died during the US operation “Absolute Resolve”.
6th Presidential Guard Battalion:
▪️Lieutenant Yendis Christopher Gregorio Barreto.
▪️Lieutenant Lervis Giovanni Rivero Kirinos.
▪️Second Sergeant Richard Rodriguez Bellorin.
Honor Guard:
▪️Jampie Josue Parra Parra.
▪️Frenierson Javier Urtaedo Ortuno.
▪️Jose Angel Illarras Gonzales.
▪️Jerry Antonio Aguilar Velasquez.
▪️Franco Abraham Contreras Tocón.
▪️Isaac Enrique Torres Lamont.
▪️Corporal Segundo Luis Enri Lopez Sanchez.
3rd Guard Battalion:
▪️Second Sergeant Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga.
▪️Second Sergeant Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velasquez.
Graduates of the Military Academy:
▪️Jonathan Alexander Cordero Moreno.
▪️Saul Abraham Pereira Martinez.
Other units:
▪️First Lieutenant Demar Elizabeth Paez Torres (Air Force serviceman, died in Fort Tiuna)”.
Cuba is claiming that 32 of it’s military personnel were killed in the attack. Two days of national mourning declared.
“Claiming”. That weasel word of our propagandists. The favoured side never “claims”. It “says” or even “states”, even when spouting manifest lies or contradicting itself in alternate sentences. The pariah side however always “claims”, as if it was making it all up.
Thank you Craig for the post.
I am curious about the 2024 election in Venezuela. The claims are made from both sides that they won the election. Is there a definitive piece of evidence that the count was accurate?
I wonder what such evidence would look like. Even with the best equipment and system, and with an intact chain of custody, we still have to trust some human beings.
Which ones?
Wiki suggest that the election was flawed.
In part, the vote tallies were not provided by the National Electoral Council (CNE)..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Venezuelan_presidential_election
Meant to say that one concern was the failure to produce tallies..
I don’t know either, but…
Is a free and fair election even possible in a heavily sanctioned country? Is punishing one party on ideological grounds, not a form of direct interference or meddling?
For the Western elites, an election is only deemed free and fair when the people they want in power win. Look at the shenanigans in Romania’s and Moldova’s recent elections: Parties disqualified, leading candidates smeared and disqualified (Romania); pre-election theatrics’ raids and arrests(Moldova); diaspora vote gerrymandering (free travel and publicity for those in Europe, heavily restricted number of ballots sent to expats living in Russia – Moldova). Roadblocks and extensive checks for known opposition areas. Yet the results are instantly welcomed as 100% legit, as Maia Sandu and Nicușor Dan claim their joyless victories.
UK foreign Secretary , Yvette Cooper, followed this line in the House of Commons just a couple of hours ago when she argued that the British Government needed to work with the Venezuelan opposition parties and the Americans to secure a “peaceful transition” to democratic government because the sworn in vice president was tarred with the same brush as Maduro. Her whole performance was along these lines and totally disgusting, as it has to be said that of most MPS from all sides who asked questions.
Neil Corney. You might find this article useful with its many links. Alfred de Zeyas, The Venezuela Elections of 28 July 2024: What and Whom to Believe?
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/the-venezuela-elections-of-28-july-2024-what-and-whom-to-believe. Author states:
“In the light of the refusal of the Venezuelan opposition to accept the election results issued by the competent authority, the CNE, Maduro invoked the procedure known as “amparo” and turned to the Venezuelan Supreme Court as is provided for in the Venezuelan Constitution. In this sense Maduro acted pursuant to the Venezuelan legal order. It is important to remember that serious cyberattacks were registered against the CNE system and numerous government offices, making it difficult to verify the digital evidence. Notwithstanding the technical obstacles, this was done. During a period of three weeks, the Supreme Court examined the complaints against the government, demanded pertinent evidence from the opposition, and analysed the CNE records.18 On August 22, the Supreme Court issued its ruling, confirming that Maduro was indeed re-elected with 52 percent of the popular vote. The opposition and the US media promptly rejected the court’s ruling. But the Supreme Court is the final authority.”
In his next paragraph the author compares this process with the USA disputed presidential elections of 2001 & 2020 in which the USA Supreme Court had the final say.
“Nor did they mention that the elected governments of Hugo Chávez reduced extreme poverty by over 70%, reduced poverty by 50%, halved unemployment, quadrupled the number receiving a state pension and achieved 100% literacy. Chávez took Venezuela from the most unequal society for wealth distribution in Latin America to the most equal.”
Yet 25% of the population have fled this utopia.
Damn Commies, they obviously need some democracy 🙂
Chavez is long gone. Maduro didn’t do anything of that. Just the opposite: he oversaw Venezuela sliding into a severe economic crisis. Sure, a lot of it was because of US sanctions, but in fact the crisis started years before sanctions. Looking from a different perspective, politicians are paid to understand and steer clear of such risks, and I don’t understand why Chavez’s name is being brought up as if in Maduro’s defence.
It’s possible the US military will try to seize or attack the now Russian-flagged oil tanker, currently sailing northeast about midway between Newfoundland and Ireland:
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:711469
The vessel is named the Marinera but was previously Bella 1, flag state unclear but it sailed from Venezuela carrying oil.
If Trump really wants an extra-full nappy, he’ll try to attack the ship as near as possible to Rockall, the Isle of Lewis, or perhaps North Rona or Sula Sgeir.
I strongly doubt he will. He doesn’t need tankers. It was only a terror tactics before the Venezuela attack.
I was reminded of this:
“When someone makes a move
Of which we don’t approve,
Who is it that always intervenes?
U.N. and O.A.S.,
They have their place, I guess,
But first – send the Marines!
We’ll send them all we’ve got,
John Wayne and Randolph Scott;
Remember those exciting fighting scenes?
To the shores of Tripoli,
But not to Mississippoli,
What do we do? We send the Marines!
For might makes right,
And till they’ve seen the light,
They’ve got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
Till somebody we like can be elected.
Members of the corps
All hate the thought of war;
They’d rather kill them off by peaceful means.
Stop calling it aggression,
Ooh, we hate that expression!
We only want the world to know
That we support the status quo.
They love us everywhere we go,
So when in doubt,
Send the Marines!
Tom Lehrer, in 1965, encapsulates US foreign policy, then and for ever.
Just a thought that any media spotlight on Machado seems to be quite painful for Trump. He avoids mentioning her name, and I doubt he’d withstand making her a president, as she “stole his Nobel Prize”.
Was it a deliberate move of the Nobel Committee, or it’s just an unintened side effect?
She’s far more divisive and controversial in Venezuela than western media present. You only have to read a translation of what she’s saying in interviews to understand why. She’s a far-right nutjob with a huge ego, who wants to hand Venezuela’s natural resources to western corporations. Quite why the Nobel Committee sought to elevate her status requires some sort of inquiry itself. Many leaders and regimes around the world are controversial and/or unpopular e.g. Viktor Orbán and Fidesz – the bête noire of von der Leyen and Kallas and the EU Commission. But a politician or citizen calling for outside intervention from a much larger military power to overthrow, amounts to treasonous conduct imho.
Trump received briefings attesting to her unsuitability.
The Venezuelan opposition spokeswoman at the UN yesterday, talked about there being anything “up to a thousand” political prisoners languishing in Venezuelan jails – a point Yvette Cooper and many politicians in the UK highlighted in yesterday’s statement & debate. But Egypt’s el-Sisi, who’s welcomed to Downing Street with smiles and open arms, had an estimated 70,000 political prisoners at one point; many of whom were simply pro-democracy activists – he also oversaw Mohamed Morsi’s death in jail – Morsi was denied vital medications. The US and EU have recently pumped hundreds of millions of €uros to Egypt’s regime, without any attached demands to improve human rights or return to democracy.
Egypt is far from being the only example of the ‘values driven ‘ West’s utter hypocrisy.
The foreign secretary spoke confident that nobody would reference her government’s role in the mass slaughter of women and children in Gaza.
Or the tens of thousands in personal bribes she has pocketed from the Israel lobby.
Her confidence was not misplaced.
She could speak equally confidently in any interview with the BBC.