NonilexThe #Venezuela mission to the #UN has requested an emergency #Security Council [#UNSC] meeting & has asked the Council to condemn the #US military strikes against the country.
Venezuela’s ambassador, Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta, said in a letter to the UNSC president: “The United States of America always uses lies to fabricate wars. It is an international #tyranny imposed with the #propaganda of death: the recent past confirms this.”
#MaríaCorinaMachado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, posted a statement calling for national unity following the capture of Nicolás #Maduro.
“Given his refusal to accept a negotiated exit, the government of the United States has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law,” she wrote. “We have struggled for years, we have given it our all, & it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening.”
Her support is unsurprising.
#Machado added that #EdmundoGonzález, who the #US has recognized as Venezuela’s President-elect, must “immediately” take office & be recognized as the country’s commander of the armed forces.
“Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate & take power,” Machado said. “We are going to restore order, release the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, & bring our children back home.”
#law #Congress #WarPowers #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
Sick
#Trump posted a photo on social media showing #Maduro wearing a sweatsuit & a blindfold with the caption: “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.”
Maduro appeared to be wearing a flotation device around his neck. Next to him was someone wearing a jacket that had a DEA logo.
Maduro also had protective headphones on his ears & appeared to be lifting a water bottle with both arms to drink
#law #Congress #WarPowers #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
This picture violates #InternationalLaw. It is illegal to use pictures of prisoners for #propaganda.
#GenevaConventions #law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #Maduro #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #WarCrimes
“We are going to run the country,” #Trump said of #Venezuela. He said he did not want the #Maduro regime to continue with another leader.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
#Trump put no time limit on the #US #occupation. It would be up to the #UnitedStates to decide when to return the country to Venezulan control. And then he turned to #oil, saying that US companies would fix the infrastructure, “& start making money for the country.” [doubt any will go to Venezuelans]
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Maduro #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
#Trump referred to a “partnership” between #Venezuela & the #UnitedStates, which he said would make Venezuelans “rich, independent & safe.” Of course, this was a partnership accomplished by a #GovernmentOverthrow.
BTWs Trump’s asides about #DC, #NOLA, & #LA are total bullshit. No murder in NOLA & DC since his illegal intervention? Flat out lies.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Maduro #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
Now he’s back to insane asylums sending mental patients to the #US.
The man does not know the difference between “seeking asylum” & an “insane asylum”. #Trump is such a fucking moron.
#law #immigration #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Maduro #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
#Trump has offered NO details about what the #US running #Venezuela looks like. Will there be an US official there in a leadership position?
As he justifies the #military operation, Trump argued that #Maduro sent members of Tren de Aragua to the US to terrorize the US. Trump’s own #intelligence community earlier this year debunked that claim, finding that the gang was not controlled by the Venezuelan govt.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #InternationalLaw
In declaring that the #US will be “running” #Venezuela, #Trump has raised a host of questions: Will the US have an occupying #military force? Will it install a pliant government for some number of years? Will it run the #courts, & determine who pumps the #oil? All of this, of course, could enmesh the US in the kind of “forever wars” Trump’s #MAGA base has rejected.
Trump spoke about bringing in US oil companies to remake the #energy infrastucture &, presumably, to exploit oil reserves.
When asked how much running #Venezuela, potentially for years, will cost, #Trump said: “It won’t cost us anything.”
His claim that the #US won’t have to spend any money because it will be “reimbursed” by the #oil the US will take “out of the ground” is a total fantasy.
This will cost the US billions.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Maduro #abduction #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
The news conference is over. Despite multiple questions about how #Venezuela will be run, no details were provided.
#Trump repeatedly said “we’re gonna do” this & “we’re gonna do” that, but never gave info about HOW.
There were vague allusions to #MarcoRubio & Pete #Hegseth & a “group” but no specifics.
This is nuts.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Maduro #abduction #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #oil #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
#Trump also completely dismissed the idea of working with opposition leader & #NobelPeacePrize winner #MaríaCorinaMachado who actually won the last presidential #election in #Venezuela. Instead he said #MarcoRubio was in contact with Maduro’s VP #DelcyRodríguez. If this was even slightly about #Maduro being an illegitimate president, Rodríguez would also be illegitimate. This is so transparently about #oil it’s ridiculous.
#law #abduction #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
Trump’s suggestion that Maduro’s VP, #DelcyRodríguez, would help the #US run the country literally came as #Venezuela state TV was playing a clip of her denouncing the US #military operation.
“Faced with this brutal situation & this brutal attack, we do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás #Maduro & first lady Cilia Flores,” Rodríguez said. “We demand immediate proof of life for President Maduro & the first lady from the government of President Donald #Trump.”
#Trump spoke more about #oil than anything else. I don’t think I even heard him mention #democracy a single time. He vowed to fix #Venezuela’s oil infrastructure & said the #US plans to sell it to other countries [again, how is this legal?].
“We’re in the oil business. We’re going to sell it to them,” Trump said. he said oil companies will pay for the rebuilding of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, & the wealth will pour in.
#law #abduction #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #theft #piracy
Secy of #State #MarcoRubio said the “capture” of President #Maduro & his wife from #Venezuela was a “law enforcement” operation as a rationale for not going to #Congress, yet #Trump said the #US will now run the country & said “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” neither of which would be the result of a #LawEnforcement action.
Also AG #PamBondi was not included in the news conference announcing what would absolutely be the most significant #prosecution of her career.
Conflicting reports
Um… The VP of #Venezuela #DelcyRodriguez is currently in #Russia, 4 sources familiar with her movements said Saturday, after #Trump said #Maduro had been seized by US forces after an attack on the country & US Secy of #State #MarcoRubio was in contact with her & that she had been sworn in to the presidency.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuela-vice-president-rodriguez-russia-four-sources-say-2026-01-03/
Conflicting reports.
#Rodríguez addresses the nation [apparently in #Venezuela]
In a televised address to the nation that lasted less than 15 minutes, #DelcyRodríguez demanded the #US free #Maduro & calls him the country’s rightful leader, but left open the door for dialogue with the US.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
https://apnews.com/live/trump-us-venezuela-updates-01-03-2026#0000019b-8547-d3eb-adff-f7df5a480000
#Venezuela VP #DelcyRodríguez, speaking on state television in Spanish, reiterated calls for the release of #Maduro & his wife.
She called for calm & unity to defend the country amid Maduro's "kidnapping" & said Venezuela will never be the #colony of any nation.
Rodríguez spoke from #Caracas with her brother, national assembly head Jorge Rodríguez, interior minister Diosdado Cabello & the foreign & defense ministers.
#law #Trump #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/live-trump-says-us-has-captured-venezuela-president-maduro-2026-01-03/
#DelcyRodríguez was defiant as she spoke on live television. “If there is one thing that the Venezuelan people & this country are clear about,” she said, “it is that we will never again be slaves, that we will never again be a colony of any empire, whatever its nature.”
“There is only one president in this country, & his name is Nicolás #Maduro Moros,” Rodríguez said.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #InternationalLaw
#DelcyRodríguez, spoke flanked by powerful military officials & other key government leaders as she denounced the #UnitedStates’ actions. As she introduced each figure on live television, they nodded toward her in a show of deference as she demanded that #Maduro was the rightful president of #Venezuela. The display of force & unity undermined President Trump’s earlier comments that Washington would work with Rodríguez to run Venezuela.
#DelcyRodríguez added that #Venezuela was open to having a respectful relationship with the #Trump admin, but only within the framework of international & Venezuelan #law. “That is the only type of relationship I will accept, after they have attacked & militarily assaulted our beloved nation,” she said.
#Congress #WarPowers #criminal #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
#DelcyRodríguez was sworn in as #Venezuela’s new president Saturday, but she repeatedly said that #Maduro was Venezuela’s “only president” & even the text on Venezuelan state TV labeled her as vice president. When she ended, the state broadcaster immediately said that Rodríguez was the VP who had just made clear that Maduro was Venezuela’s president.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
In an interview w/ NYT, secy of #state #MarcoRubio said he was reserving judgment on #DelcyRodríguez’s comments, in which she denied she planned to work with the #US.
“We’re going to make decisions based on their actions & their deeds in the days & weeks to come,” he said, referring to ofcls in the interim #Venezuela govt. “We think they’re going to have some unique & historic opportunities to do a great service for the country, & we hope that they’ll accept that opportunity.”
The #UN #Security Council will convene an emergency meeting on Monday morning to discuss #US strikes in #Venezuela. #Russia, #China & #Colombia asked for the meeting after Venezuela’s mission to the UN wrote a letter to the Council president requesting the meeting to condemn & stop US strikes on the country. Secy Gen António Guterres is expected to address the #UNSC Monday. He said in a statement earlier that all sides must uphold #InternationalLaw & the #UNcharter.
Plane carrying captured Venezuelan
President Nicolás #Maduro & his wife, Cilia Flores, has arrived at Stewart Air National Guard Base in NY.
The Venezuelan leader is expected to face drugs & weapons charges in Manhattan federal court next week.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/venezuela-explosions-caracas-intl-hnk-01-03-26?post-id=cmjypez7q00003b6pw6kzipxk
#law #Congress #WarPowers #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #sovereignty #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
At least 40 people were killed in Saturday’s attack on #Venezuela, including #military personnel & #civilians, according to a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe preliminary reports.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #Maduro #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
Far more than a first lady, #CiliaFlores is one of #Venezuela’s most powerful #political figures. She built extraordinary #influence over decades while largely operating from the shadows. Flores shaped a #judicial system in which nearly every major decision ran through her & embedded state institutions with relatives & loyalists, acc/to journalists, analysts & former officials. At the same time, they noted, her family amassed vast, unexplained wealth.
#law #Maduro #Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/world/americas/cilia-flores-maduro-wife-venezuela.html?smid=url-share
A lawyer from a lower middle class background, #CiliaFlores began her political rise in the 1990s, becoming close to #HugoChávez — the former president who was #Maduro’s mentor & predecessor — while he was imprisoned after a failed #coup attempt in 1992. She steadily climbed the ranks of Chávez’s socialist movement, known as #chavismo, becoming a central figure in #Venezuela #legislature.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #Trump #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
#CiliaFlores & #Maduro have been partners since at least the late 1990s, when both were lawmakers. They married in 2013, the year he became president. After Chávez’s death, she was widely seen as critical to consolidating & sustaining Maduro’s hold on #power, bringing a loyal #political base & deep institutional #influence.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
Within #chavismo, #CiliaFlores commands both respect & fear, said Roberto Deniz, a Venezuelan investigative journalist who has reported extensively on the Flores family.
“She is a fundamental figure in #corruption in #Venezuela —absolutely fundamental— & especially in the structure of #power,” said Zair Mundaray, who worked as a snr prosecutor under both #Chávez & #Maduro. “Many people consider her far more astute & shrewd than Maduro himself.”
Though she stopped holding formal government posts after 2013, #CiliaFlores retained immense behind-the-scenes authority. She is often described as a key architect of #Maduro’s political survival.
“Within #chavismo itself, they know the real power that Cilia Flores has, more so than perhaps the general public,” Deniz said.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #Venezuela #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
#CiliaFlores is also widely believed to wield decisive #influence over #Venezuela’s #justice system. Many #judges & senior officials are thought to be loyal to her or have been placed through her networks. The #judiciary is considered thoroughly politicized, having failed to issue a single ruling against the state in more than two decades.
#law #Congress #WarPowers #criminal #Trump #abduction #oil #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #theft #piracy #InternationalLaw
“It is a completely politicized, flawed, #corrupt judicial system, & #CiliaFlores bears a great deal of responsibility for what the Venezuelan judicial system has become,” Deniz said.
Investigative journalists have documented extensive #corruption involving the #Maduro-Flores family, including misuse of public funds & business links with sanctioned foreign businessmen. One investigation showed the family effectively taking over an entire street of luxury homes in Caracas, the country’s capital.
A federal indictment unsealed on Saturday charged #CiliaFlores, along with #Maduro & son, with collaborating with drug traffickers.
“She has been basically co-governing the country since he came to #power, & in many ways is the strategy or power behind the throne,” said Risa Grais-Targow, the #LatinAmerica director for Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. “She’s been key to his staying power, but also now his downfall as well.”
Secy of State #MarcoRubio sidestepped questions from ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday about which #LegalAuthority the #US had to conduct its actions in #Venezuela. #Rubio said the US has “court orders” to quarantine Venezuela’s #oil, which he argued would freeze the #economy “until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States & the interests of the Venezuelan people are met.”
#geopolitics #law #Congress #WarPowers #Trump #Maduro #abduction #LandGrab #sovereignty
When Stephanopoulos asked whether the #US is running #Venezuela right now, #Rubio pointed to the #oil embargo & said the US will use it as leverage until “the people who have control over the levers of power in that country make changes that are not just in the interest of the people of Venezuela, but are in the interest of the United States.”
#geopolitics #law #Congress #WarPowers #Trump #Maduro #abduction #LandGrab #sovereignty #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #piracy #InternationalLaw
A day after #Trump declared that the #US planned to “run” #Venezuela for an unspecified period, #Defense Dept ofcls said there were no US #military personnel in country.
But a force of 15k troops on land in nearby countries & on a dozen warships in the #Caribbean “remain in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend themselves, & our interests in the region,” Gen. Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, said Saturday.
#LatinAmerica experts said that the US is probably underestimating the challenge of governing #Venezuela.
“Credible estimates of the number of boots on the ground required range from tens of thousands to well into the hundreds of thousands,” said Adam Isacson, a scholar at the Washington Office on Latin America. “In Panama in 1989, the occupying force was 27,000, & Venezuela is 12X the size & 6.5X the population — with a much broader array of armed & criminal groups.”
Steve Hersey@Nonilex
"underestimating" assumes that any thought went into that task at all, something I seriously doubt happened.
I don't believe any of these loonies thought past the headlines and the distraction from the Epstein files. Certainly not the loony-in-chief.
Frank Heijkamp
FinchHaven sfba"A day after #Trump declared that the #US planned to “run” #Venezuela for an unspecified period, #Defense Dept ofcls said there were no US #military personnel in country."
"there were no US #military personnel in country."
And this is the crux of it right now
Trump is used to throwing his weight around in the United States, where he can call in SWATting and bomb threats from his psychotic followers, where he can call in Bongino and his ICE thugs over night
He can do nothing of the sort in Venezuela
How is he going to "govern" a country with its own politics, populace and armed rebel squads
Wall Street is sending down a bunch of analysts in a month to work out a plan
Are they all going to be wearing tactical plate body armor?
What sort of force (SEAL Team 6?) is Trump going to send down to provide cover?
Nope.
All Trump and Hegseth need to do is to "project power"
Just like a video game
Lydia T. PottThey should be reminded that “Following orders” is not a good defence. It’s been tried before.
bouriquetDay 1 went according to plan. Was there a detailed plan after day 1?
Sean LynchThere was a 'concept' of a plan...
GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺