How Trump Fixed On a Maduro Loyalist as Venezuela’s New Leader

(Was she in on it? Was this just a threat? A cope from the Trump administration because they can't really control who comes to power next? Or will Delcy wait a couple days for the dust to settle then hand over a portion of Venezuela's oil interests to US businesses to supposedly calm the situation? Rewarding the aggressor by giving them what they want. That wont sit well with the people I can tell you that. We will see.)

from the NYT

...

Weeks earlier, U.S. officials had already settled on an acceptable candidate to replace Mr. Maduro, at least for the time being: Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who had impressed Trump officials with her management of Venezuela’s crucial oil industry.

The people involved in the discussions said intermediaries persuaded the administration that she would protect and champion future American energy investments in the country.

“I’ve been watching her career for a long time, so I have some sense of who she is and what she’s about,” said one senior U.S. official, referring to Ms. Rodríguez.

“I’m not claiming that she’s the permanent solution to the country’s problems, but she’s certainly someone we think we can work at a much more professional level than we were able to do with him,” the official added, referring to Mr. Maduro.

It was an easy choice, the people said. Mr. Trump had never warmed up to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had organized a winning presidential campaign in 2024, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Since Mr. Trump’s re-election, Ms. Machado has gone out of her way to please him, calling him a “champion of freedom,” mimicking his talking points on election fraud in the United States and even dedicating her Peace Prize to him.

It was in vain. On Saturday, Mr. Trump said he would accept Ms. Rodríguez, saying that Ms. Machado lacked the “respect” needed to govern Venezuela. 

U.S. officials say that their relationship with Ms. Rodríguez’s interim government will be based on her ability to play by their rules, adding that they reserve the right to take additional military action if she fails to respect America’s interests. Despite Ms. Rodríguez’s public condemnation of the attack, a senior U.S. official said that it was too soon to draw conclusions about what her approach would be and that the administration remained optimistic that they could work with her.

Mr. Trump declared on Saturday that the United States intended to “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period and reclaim U.S. oil interests, an extraordinary assertion of unilateral, expansionist power after more narrow, and also contested, arguments about stopping the flow of drugs.

... 

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AI Jimmy Kimmel's Cass Sunstein Moment Used to Back Trump Regime Change in Venezuela

by Scott Creighton

“Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.”
—1984 [1949] George Orwell 

Someone kindly sent me a video of what they thought was Jimmy Kimmel making a statement about the current situation with Donald Trump kidnapping the leader of Venezuela so he and his rich friends could get their hands on that heavy crude oil our refineries need while also opening up the country to hot money speculators and private equity vulture capitalists. 

It wasn't actually Jimmy Kimmel, it was a 'fan-made' AI compilation of his previous work designed to appear to present the opposition position on the subject while cleverly embedding dark, free market capitalist propaganda into the message i.e.:

"and by the way Maduro is an illegitimate leader who has presided over unimaginable suffering the Venezuelan opposition has every right to want him gone' Jimmy Kimmel AI video at the 5:40 mark below video

This is the same type of Cass Sunstein styled controlled opposition as Bernie Sanders saying it is illegal and wrong to invade Libya but then follows it up with... 'but Gaddafi is an evil dictator who kills his own people'

This is a collection of Jimmy Kimmel statements and writings combined to produce a bit of carefully crafted propaganda which points out OBVIOUS flaws in our current regime but then promotes LIES about life in Venezuela and living under a social democracy.

Its designed to blunt any real opposition to the act by dehumanizing the target of aggression and playing up the 'R2P' bullshit narrative that its GOOD that we did .... (fill in the blank)

Sanders is ALLOWED to remain in office because he serves their interests in this way just like Jimmy Kimmel understands he is EXPECTED to say the OBVIOUS about Trump.. but also poisons the well when it comes to the objective of the regime change: demonizing socialism and leaders who side with BRICS' multi-polar world view.

Looks Like Someone Sold Venezuela Down the River

Trump's stupid story about Delta or Seal Team 6 or some such nonsense forcing the door open as Maduro tried to close it is just stupid. We created a diversion and some of Maduro's own people grabbed him and his wife and handed them over to us. Also, they can't let him live long enough for the bullshit trial. They have no case so he will be Epsteined soon enough.

Direct Support

Trump: We Are in Venezuela Now, and We Are Going to Stay

from AntiWar

Following a military operation that captured President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until an acceptable government is set up. 

“We are going to run [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had,” the President said on Saturday. “We are there now, and we are going to stay until the proper transition takes place.”

Trump went on to say that the US is prepared to attack Venezuela again. “We are ready to stage a second, much larger attack if we need to do so.” He continued, “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them if they aren’t fair.” 

The President did not name a new leader of Venezuela. However, María Corina Machado said, “Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate and take power.” Machado is a Venezuelan opposition figure who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. She has endorsed US sanctions and military action against Venezuela. 

Trump did say he had not spoken with Machado, adding that she doesn’t have the respect needed to lead the country. 

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said following the attack that she had activated Maduro’s military plans. “The first thing President Maduro told the people of Venezuela was ‘people to the streets,’ activated as militia, activating all the Nation’s comprehensive defense plans,” the vice president said. “No one will undermine the historic legacy of our Liberator father, Simon Bolivar. The people of Venezuela, in perfect national unity, must mobilize to defend their natural resources and what is most sacred: their right to independence and to the future.”...

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Lavrov holds phone call with Venezuelan vice president

from RT

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has held a phone call with Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and expressed solidarity with the people of the South American nation in the face of US aggression.

The conversation took place on Saturday, shortly after US President Donald Trump announced that following large-scale strikes on Venezuela, American special forces had captured and taken the nation’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, out of the country.

“Lavrov expressed firm solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of armed aggression,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Moscow will continue to support Venezuela’s policy of defending the country’s sovereignty and national interests.

Both Lavrov and Rodriguez “expressed their support for preventing further escalation and for finding a way out of the situation through dialogue,” the ministry said. Both sides also voiced commitment to furthering the Russia-Venezuela strategic partnership agreement.

Under the Venezuelan Constitution, Rodriguez is next in line of succession if the president is no longer capable of fulfilling his duties. However, Trump has stressed that the US will be involved in deciding who rules in the oil-rich South American country. 

“We can’t take a chance on letting somebody else run and just take over where [Maduro] left off,” he told Fox News in a phone interview on Saturday. “So we're making that decision now.”...

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Death toll rises to 27 in Ukrainian strike on New Year’s party: Russia

from PressTV (H/T AuntBB)

Russian authorities report that the death toll from a Ukrainian drone strike at a New Year’s party in a café in the Kherson region has risen to at least 27 people.

In a statement released on Friday, Russia’s Investigative Committee noted that two children were killed in the attack, with five additional minors among the injured.

At least 100 civilians, including guests and staff, were present at the venue when the “terrorist act” occurred just before midnight on December 31 in the Black Sea coastal village of Khorly, according to the statement.

Multiple drones targeted the crowded café and a hotel, igniting a massive blaze, it added. At least one of the UAVs carried an incendiary mixture.

The agency also reported that investigators have recovered fragments of several drones at the scene. A criminal investigation into the act of terrorism has been initiated.

Over 26 forensic examinations, including medical, genetic, explosive, and fire safety analyses, have been ordered as part of the inquiry.

“All members of the Ukrainian military involved in this crime will be identified and brought to justice,” the agency stated.

Russian officials claim the drone strike in Khorly was intentionally timed to maximize casualties and constitutes a war crime...

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Jeffrey Sachs: U.S. Attacks Venezuela & Kidnaps President Maduro

 from Glenn Diesen

 

Condemnations pour in after US bombing of Venezuela, kidnapping of Maduro

from PressTV

An outpouring of condemnation has followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States had carried out a “large-scale military strike” against Venezuela and abducted its leader, President Nicolas Maduro.

The Venezuelan government, in a statement shortly after the US bombings, slammed Washington for an “extremely serious military aggression.”

“Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and people,” the statement read.

Colombia rejects aggression against Latin America

“Alerting the whole world that they have attacked Venezuela,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in a series of statements posted on the social media platform X on Saturday.

“The Republic of Colombia reiterates its conviction that peace, respect for international law, and the protection of life and human dignity must prevail over any form of armed confrontation,” Petro said.

The Colombian president said in a separate post that Bogota “rejects the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America”.

Petro subsequently declared the mobilization of military troops to the border with Venezuela...

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Trump Attacks Venezuela to Steal the Oil

Early this morning the Trump regime illegally attacked Venezuela under the cloak of darkness in an effort to steal the heavy crude oil our refineries need to keep their profit margins high. Trump claims its got something to do with drug imports from the country but that's BS and everyone knows it. Everyone except the professional liars on Fox News that is. Supposedly they captured Maduro and his wife and flew them out of the country. Check for news and updates here...

https://nomadiceveryman.blogspot.com/search/label/Venezuela%20coup%202026 

Direct Support

Trump says ‘Maduro captured’ as US carried out ‘large-scale strike’ against Venezuela

from al Jazeera English