Venezuela troubles (currency, economy and potential FAFO)

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FWIW (dyodd)

GOP rep reveals secret motive for Trump’s Venezuela invasion​

Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar mentioned to Fox Business that the push for stronger action against Nicolás Maduro’s government is primarily driven by economic factors.

U.S. oil companies could benefit greatly if Caracas is overthrown.

Salazar framed the call for more aggressive tactics and potential military involvement as a way to reintroduce American energy companies to Venezuela’s vast oil industry, referring to this as “very good news for the American economy.”

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...nezuela-invasion/ar-AA1S7ZX8?ocid=socialshare
 
searcher

Post in thread 'Oil Market News, OPEC+, sanctions and price shocks'

U.S. Seizes A Shadow Fleet Super Tanker off Venezuela | The Skipper Has Been Arrested!

Dec 11, 2025 #skipper #sanctions #venezuela
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — discusses the arrest of the stateless Very Large Crude Carrier Skipper off the coast of Venezuela by the United States for carrying Venezuelan and Iranian oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.


16:54


- Marine Trafficwww.marinetraffic.com
- Seasearcher www.seasearcher.com
- Tanker...
 
^
In some places this is seen as an unofficial declaration of war. In this case done without congressional approval. Not a good thing.
 

Columbia Venezuela: Frontier Surrounded By US Military Special Report​

🚨 Crossing the Colombia–Venezuela Border as War Looms | On the Ground Report

I’m Patrick Lancaster, independent war correspondent.

After nearly 4 days and 70+ hours on the road, I arrived in Colombia attempting to enter Venezuela, where tensions are rapidly escalating amid U.S. threats, airspace closures, and talk of possible military action.

This video documents my real journey toward Venezuela — not from a studio, but from airports, buses, border towns, and chaotic crossings. What you’ll see here is what it actually takes to try to reach a potential war zone right now.

0:00 – Arrival in Colombia after 50+ hours of travel
1:10 – Why I’m here and why Venezuela matters right now
1:48 – Trump’s airspace closure & rising regional tensions
2:44 – Colombian customs & transit toward Venezuela
3:18 – Trump threatens Colombia, Venezuela & drug war escalation
6:00 – Searching for routes: flights vs buses vs walking the border
9:35 – Overnight bus journey toward the border
13:16 – Arrival at the border town
14:07 – Chaos, scams & intimidation near the crossing
19:28 – What really happened at the border
21:23 – Reaching the Venezuelan border
22:19 – Why entry was blocked — and what happens next
24:10 – Reporting plans if entry remains denied

🎥 WHAT THIS REPORT SHOWS• How airspace closures and political pressure disrupt travel• The last remaining routes into Venezuela• Border chaos, scams, and security tensions• Multiple failed attempts to cross• Why access to conflict zones is being restricted• The reality of reporting as tensions move toward war

 

They Are Lying About Venezuela​

The United States says this is about drugs, sanctions, and national security.

But when you zoom out, a much bigger story starts to emerge.

Over the past few days, the U.S. seized a Venezuelan-linked oil tanker accused of transporting sanctioned oil tied to Iran — and shortly after, announced escalating enforcement actions against Venezuela. The official explanation centers on narcotrafficking, sanctions enforcement, and protecting American lives.

And while those reasons deserve to be taken seriously, they don’t fully explain why Venezuela, why now, and what’s really at stake.

In this video, we examine the deeper economic forces shaping this conflict — including:

Venezuela’s massive oil and gold reserves

The role of U.S. sanctions as a financial weapon

Dollar dominance and the global reserve currency system

BRICS nations working to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar

The fentanyl crisis as an economic and national security threat

How energy, sanctions, and payment rails intersect

Why blockchain, stablecoins, Bitcoin, and tokenization suddenly matter

What this could mean for oil, gold, crypto, and global markets

Wars today aren’t just fought with missiles and troops.
They’re fought with currencies, sanctions, payment systems, energy flows, and technology.

My goal here isn’t to tell you what to think — it’s to walk through what we know, explore the competing explanations that aren’t being discussed, and let you decide what’s really happening beneath the surface.

If you disagree, think I missed something, or want to add context — drop it in the comments. This channel is growing, and thoughtful discussion matters.

 
^
Once things cool down I assume we'll have a puppet in power and the oil companies will have a field day.
 
chieftain said:
What's the story with the Asian Guy channel? It looks like AI generated content.
Click to expand...
The Asian Guy is full on AI Slop 🤮

I grabs content from other sources ( without acknowledgement ) throws in some other utter garbage & Slops it out on dozens of channels.

This is AI feeding on it's own Garbage & contaminating the Internet.

There are predictions that YT may be so contaminated that within 1 - 2 yrs it may be unusable.

Story on ZeroHedge today : - Why Are DeepFakes Taking Over YouTube?

Link : - https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2026-01-03/why-are-deepfakes-taking-over-youtube

:flushed:
 
SKULL said:
This is AI feeding on it's own Garbage & contaminating the Internet.
Click to expand...

Exactly, and if the trend continues, the slop machine will be generating complete absurdities devoid of ANY fact, rational thought or even grammatical sense.
 
@Viking I don't see any commentary on why you posted this link. Did you find it informative? And why in the Venezuela thread? Please state your thinking. Thanks!
 
Someone_else said:
Okay. It would be helpful if you tossed that comment into the original post. Searcher often throws a disclaimer on his crap links.
Click to expand...
Oh, I just threw it in there for shits and giggles because everybody's up in arms about the AI videos. I watch them and I watch a lot of other videos and listen to people discuss the markets. I was a stacker up until just recently. Now since placing bets, I'm up quite a bit in the last year. I normally don't speculate, but for the next two years, I probably will.
 


🚨🇺🇸🇻🇪 ELON ENTERS THE CHAT: STARLINK GIVES VENEZUELANS FREE INTERNET THROUGH FEB 3

With Maduro gone, VP Delcy Rodriguez scrambling for legitimacy, and Colectivos roaming the streets, Starlink is now dropping free internet across Venezuela.

There’s no government sign-up or strings attached, just uncensored broadband beamed straight into a country where blackouts and censorship have been tools of survival for the regime.

It’s essentially a digital sledgehammer against state control.

In a moment where the regime was trying to control the narrative, Elon just made sure 30 million people can scroll, stream, organize, and post without government filters.

Information is power, and right now it’s flowing from orbit.

This could seriously shift the balance on the ground.

Source: @Teslarati, @Starlink, @elonmusk
 

🚨 BREAKING: Many Venezuelan refugees are now planning to GO BACK HOME because President Trump arrested Maduro

Trump is simultaneously taking down a Communist dictator AND having more migrants self-deport

It just gets better and better! 🔥🇺🇸

"Some people that are refugees are making arrangements to go back home!"

"It's been a very, very net-POSITIVE!"

"There's been demonstrations in Miami in support of this. Venezuelan Americans are happy because, back home, it's going to be safe now."
@realannapaulina
 


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Homemade Arepas

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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.
 
Goldhedge said:


🚨🇺🇸🇻🇪 ELON ENTERS THE CHAT: STARLINK GIVES VENEZUELANS FREE INTERNET THROUGH FEB 3

With Maduro gone, VP Delcy Rodriguez scrambling for legitimacy, and Colectivos roaming the streets, Starlink is now dropping free internet across Venezuela.

There’s no government sign-up or strings attached, just uncensored broadband beamed straight into a country where blackouts and censorship have been tools of survival for the regime.

It’s essentially a digital sledgehammer against state control.

In a moment where the regime was trying to control the narrative, Elon just made sure 30 million people can scroll, stream, organize, and post without government filters.

Information is power, and right now it’s flowing from orbit.

This could seriously shift the balance on the ground.

Source: @Teslarati, @Starlink, @elonmusk
Click to expand...

You notice not in America right, where's my free shit...
 
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