Trump's War With Cartels, Venezuela & Capture of Maduro

For anyone interested:

Takes some logistics to do what the US did.

Goldhedge said:

"Follow the money" has always been the solution. From USAID, to exposing Somalian "daycare" fraud system, to stopping the drug boats in international waters.

We're learing so much more about how the world was set up to extract money to fund the deep state.

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So much to lear and so little time to lear it.

Fatrat said:

We have a large part of our navy down south, might be a good time for Argentina to seize the Falkland islands again and China to snatch Taiwan...

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China will definitely invade Taiwan, when is the question.

searcher said:

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If anybody gives a sh!t about GS opinion please your hand.

Rubio explains how U.S. might ‘run’ Venezuela after Maduros’ ouster​

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will use leverage to achieve its policy aims in Venezuela.
• It comes one day after the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
• Rubio said he expects U.S. oil companies to be interested in starting operations in Venezuela.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday appeared to backtrack on President Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela after U.S. forces on Saturday captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and hauled him to the U.S.

Asked for details on how the U.S. plans to run Venezuela, Rubio said the U.S. would use leverage gained from its oil blockade on the country and regional military buildup to achieve its policy aims. He did not say the U.S. would directly govern Venezuela.

The U.S. in recent months has seized tankers associated with the country and moved military ships and warplanes into the Caribbean.

More:

foolsgold said:

An overly simplistic view which I don't share.

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it's a victim mentality.

4930, Venezuela - Free at Last​

Russia, China Demand That US Immediately Release Maduro From Custody

• Within mere hours after President Trump announced the Saturday capture by US forces of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife after a brief shock bombing campaign and special forces operation in Caracas, Russia has demanded from Washington his immediate release.
• “We firmly call on the U.S. leadership to reconsider this position and release the lawfully elected president of a sovereign country and his wife,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, and described that the crisis should be resolved through diplomatic means.
• “Russia will continue to support the course pursued by its Bolivarian leadership to defend the country’s national interests and sovereignty,” the Foreign Ministry said, while also calling for restraint and cautioning against further escalation.

I have been monitoring the Venezuela issue all day long, and there are so many questions yet to be answered (thanks to great Pentagon OPSEC), but the strategic reason for bringing down Maduro has become abundantly clear.

While we ostensibly captured Maduro based on legitimate, outstanding US drug charges from 2020, the real reason for the military operations early this morning is that neutralizing Maduro's Venezuela had become a strategic imperative for the USA.

Under Maduro, Venezuela had become the Latin American crossroads for all of the USA's principal enemies. Maduro was nurturing relationships with Russia, Hezbollah and Iran. Worst of all, Venezuela was eagerly becoming a part of Red China's Belt & Road initiative.

As America's enemies were lining up Venezuela as their base of operations in the Western Hemisphere to cause mischief and destruction for the USA, Maduro was at the same time making Venezuela a crossroads, safe haven and enabler for all manner of narcoterrorist operations, ranging from Colombia's FARC to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

On top of all that, Venezuela had become a key player in the illegal alien invasion of the USA, shipping its very worst to the USA in a deliberate and comprehensive destabilizing operation that might have worked had Donald Trump not won in 2024.

Next in importance: oil. The global and regional ambitions of both China and Russia are in large part dependent on the politics of petroleum, and the USA just deprived both of the cudgel afforded by friendly Venezuelan oil. Trump opponents say "It's about oil" as if that was a bad thing. Yeah, it's about oil.

Finally, all of this was in keeping with the most essential and fundamental foreign policy mandate of the USA almost since the nation's inception: the Monroe Doctrine. Operations like what Maduro was running simply cannot be allowed in the Western Hemisphere. Trump was right for falling back on this most basic of doctrines that protects the USA's sovereignty.

So was Maduro seized because of some five year-old drug charges? Yes. Legally--yes. However, like so many strategic issues in the world today, an action needed to be backed by the fine points of law, and it was. But the reality is that the Maduro takedown was a Monroe Doctrine-driven necessity that has greatly enhanced the power and national security of the USA.

Congratulations, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and the rest of the Trump national security team: you boldly took the steps necessary to defend the USA.

Well done.

Read the indictment here.

The grand jury indicted Maduro, his wife, Cilia Flores and four others on four counts: Narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

“Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the indictment read.

“That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite, including Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace Diosado Cabello Rondon, the defendant, and former Minister of the Interior and Justice Ramon Rodriguez Chachin, the defendant,” the charging document read.

The White House absolutely savaged Maduro on Saturday.

Source: thegatewaypundit.com

Columbia too

We are the new Nazi's...what else can you say...

Fatrat said:

We are the new Nazi's...what else can you say...

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This is what the Americans should be asking of themselves :-


Yes America, u are now the " Baddies "

foolsgold said:

China will definitely invade Taiwan, when is the question.

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They missed that boat, their best chance and opportunity was before the spicy cough shit show.

Now, the CCP is treading water.

Why is he going after cocain? Does anyone die from using it? Why not go after Fetanyl and Mexico and China? Meth, Fetanyl and Heroine is where the deaths are in the country. The CIA controls most of the H. China makes all the chemicals for the fetanyl and meth and Mexico produces both the fetanyl and Meth.

Since Rubio is a neocon it was almost [redictable that Trump would be using the military this term. Quite a change from his last term in office.

Venezuela and Colombia are both easy targets. Mx and China not so much. I think that's why we haven't gone after the drugs doing the real damage to Americans.

Cigarlover said:

Why is he going after cocain? Does anyone die from using it? Why not go after Fetanyl and Mexico and China? Meth, Fetanyl and Heroine is where the deaths are in the country. The CIA controls most of the H. China makes all the chemicals for the fetanyl and meth and Mexico produces both the fetanyl and Meth.

Since Rubio is a neocon it was almost [redictable that Trump would be using the military this term. Quite a change from his last term in office.

Venezuela and Colombia are both easy targets. Mx and China not so much. I think that's why we haven't gone after the drugs doing the real damage to Americans.

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This has NOTHING to do with drugs

The U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the charges he faces​

Jan 4, 2026
After the U.S. capture of Venezuela's Maduro, correspondent Scott Pelley interviews a former hostage negotiator who may have spent more time face-to-face with Maduro than any other American official.

12:29

No clue as to how any thing here will eventually pan out. Will be interesting to see it. We're watching history being made. We're living in interesting times.

Serious question

Will there be an insurgency and what will it look like?

If we put boots on the ground, they will shoot them...

Worth reposting for the democrats who are in denial.

What I find funny about this whole thing is that the people in Venezuela are ecstatic. They are dancing in the streets, thanking President Trump for liberating them, partying like it's New Years Eve. The only people who seem to be very unhappy about Maduro's capture are the communist democrats here in this country and their seditious mainstream media. Sort of tells the whole story right there.

CiscoKid said:

What I find funny about this whole thing is that the people in Venezuela are ecstatic. They are dancing in the streets, thanking President Trump for liberating them, partying like it's New Years Eve. ...

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Some of those social media reports are propaganda. I've also seen reports or protests in Venezuela. Ultimately, it doesn't matter though. The American people will be the final arbiters of whether or not the action was just.

The cia had actors waiting in the wings for this day, spared no expense...

pmbug said:

Some of those social media reports are propaganda. I've also seen reports or protests in Venezuela. Ultimately, it doesn't matter though. The American people will be the final arbiters of whether or not the action was just.

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Stanisalv is ex Army officer now living in Moscow. I follow his vlogs for his military perspective on Ukraine.

Here he talks about war and the opposition in Venezuela that is sure to appear for the US military when we send soldiers in. He says there's no Rothschild bank there and that the NEOCONS are pushing Trump into another Vietnam. The US Military isn't combat ready especially since 20% of the force is female and they can't carry the load.

In the Eyes of Truth Update 5.01.2026 The Day After​

Most definitely related.

Goldhedge said:

... The US Military isn't combat ready ...

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Do you believe this?

Goldhedge said:

The US Military isn't combat ready

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pmbug said:

Do you believe this?

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My thoughts

- Used to have 2 friends who worked for the DOD (they have both passed - may they RIP) who were ex military. They used to tell me things about our military and other militaries. Not gonna get in to what was said but some of the stuff about other countries made me laugh and was later all proven true. Let's just say a certain country populated mostly by East Slavic peeps is no match for NATO and the U.S.

One of the funny things we talked about was Y2K. They both laughed when I brought it up and told me it was nonsense. Proved out to be right.

- We spend a lot of money on our defense and some of it has lead to some neat shit we can deploy against our enemies. Two threads on that subject matter for anyone interested:

https://www.pmbug.com/threads/gov-military-spending-dod-contracts-national-defense.5694/

https://www.pmbug.com/threads/military-subjects-war-stories-incldg-the-cold-war.4510/

- From a military view point what we pulled off in Venezuela was amazing and speaks for our capabilities.

jm2c (fwiw)

Edit to add: Lotta interesting reading can be found here:

pmbug said:

Some of those social media reports are propaganda. I've also seen reports or protests in Venezuela. Ultimately, it doesn't matter though. The American people will be the final arbiters of whether or not the action was just.

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Was killing Bin Laden just? Where were the protests then? Had the filthy Kenyan or the child-sniffing pedophile done this, the media would be dead silent and there would be no protests. This is all because the communists in this country have severe TDS.