WMD Redux

[Syne]

You can tell who's on the wrong side of history. Leftist/communist governments are decrying the action, including Russia, China, Cuba, and Iran, while some of the neighboring South American countries, Argentina & El Salvador, are praising the end of narcoterrorism, and many Western democracies stay true to spineless form by trying to remain neutral until there's enough solidarity to speak out.

The only significant drawback is that cutting off Venezuelan oil from China may accelerate their designs on Taiwan.

[Yazata]

Photo of Maduro being flown out of Caracas last night on an American helicopter. (Photo released by President Trump.)

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Cerro El Volcan, the highest mountain peak overlooking Caracas, site of all kinds of air defense radar and communications antennas.

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Higuerote air base near Caracas.

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The main Venezuelan naval base at La Guaira, north of Caracas

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Smoke plumes from multiple sites in Caracas

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[C C]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Normally, it would probably be months before that photo of Maduro would be released to the public. If ever.
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Maduro’s inner circle appears to survive U.S. strikes on Venezuela
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/world...iguez.html

EXCERPT: Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who is next in the presidential line of succession, figured among the Venezuelan officials issuing pronouncements or making public appearances after U.S. strikes on targets in the country.

While reports circulated that Ms. Rodríguez was in Russia at the time of the attacks, Ms. Rodríguez is in Caracas, according to three people close to her. Russian state media also denied reports that she was in Moscow.

Other top Maduro allies who appeared to survive the attacks included Vladimir Padrino López, the defense minister and Venezuela’s top ranking military officer; and Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister and one of Mr. Maduro’s top enforcers.

The survival of these officials suggests that Venezuela’s government remains functioning, at least shakily, in the hours after Mr. Maduro and the first lady were seized and extracted from the country.

If Mr. Maduro’s inner circle does remain intact and at the helm of Venezuela’s institutions, that also raises questions as to what happens next.

A war game run during President Trump’s first term assessed what may follow if Mr. Maduro were ousted, forecasting chaotic power struggles as military units, rival political factions and guerrilla groups vie for control of the country.

[Yazata]

Police in Caracas seem to have largely disappeared. The celebratory anti-Maduro demonstrations have largely ceased, and the Marxist motorcycle paramilitaries have returned to terrorizing people. It's starting to look to me like Maduro was snatched, but the socialist regime survives, or at least it's trying to. It's unclear if/how President Trump proposes to enforce American control there. I think that a majority of Venezuelans oppose the regime, and it's seemingly up to them to take action, now that the regime has been severely weakened. But the regime pretty much has a monopoly on firearms, so it will be hard for regular civilians to oppose them. (Which is precisely why the United States has the 2A.) It looks like a coup launched by the surviving military might be the best path to removing them.

As far as the people of Caracas are concerned, celebration has turned to panic-buying of gas, food and supplies, as survival becomes the primary goal

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[Magical Realist]

Everything anticipated in the OP has come to pass. We all knew it had nothing to do with fentanyl. We all knew it has nothing to do with Maduro being a dictator. It has everything to do with US taking over the oil reserves. Black gold..Texas tea. Same move as with Iraq. Remember how they found Saddam Hussein in a spider hole? Now they release a photo of Maduro in sweatpants. History repeats itself and we learn nothing.

[Syne]

Sure, if you think a dictator subverting democratic elections, harboring/funding terrorists, and running the country with brute squads terrorizing citizens is a good thing. Only then would there would be no other reason but the oil.

[Magical Realist]

There's dictators all over the world doing that. Why pick Venezuela? Because they have the richest oil reserves in the world. This is all about oil and nothing else. Oh, and making Sir Donald the Bone-spurred look like a great ruthless warlord. MAGA's already jacking off to pics of explosions in Caracas. It's just a big war movie to them.

https://planetrulers.com/current-dictators/

[Yazata]

There's dictators all over the world doing that.

Speaking of which...

Reports coming in that "at least ten" US Air Force C-17A transport aircraft have arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire England, after flying from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah Georgia, home of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and the 3'd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). And also from Fort Campbell Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st/2nd Battalions of the 160th SOAR.

There's no indication of what they are up to. It could just be training exercises...

Probably not capturing Britain's brutal dictator, Keir Starmer. (Quiet down, it's a joke.) The US aircraft are probably just refueling in England before heading onward towards... where? Venezuela isn't in that direction.

But...

Pro-democracy anti-regime demonstrations are once again happening all over Iran. And several Iranian government websites have suddenly gone down, including the Iranian government's main website. Was that cyberwarfare? Could we be planning...?

No. Probably not. But it bears watching. I don't think that we have enough forces in the area to take on Iran, which would be tougher than Venezuela. I'd expect to see more visible buildup before something like that, like we saw recently in the Caribbean. But if Israel and Saudi Arabia and the UAE all joined us, maybe... (And we know that Netanyahu was just in Washington and that he wants to hit the Iranian guided missile program again.)

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[Magical Realist]

Just goin over Trump's track record with other brutal dictators:

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[C C]

[...] I think that a majority of Venezuelans oppose the regime, and it's seemingly up to them to take action, now that the regime has been severely weakened. But the regime pretty much has a monopoly on firearms, so it will be hard for regular civilians to oppose them. [...]

That's not going to happen, anymore than certain Slavs and Mandarin Chinese have ever had the will and capacity to overthrow their respective governments (except for when it was communist-led revolutions). If the remaining socialists in charge were truly crippled or they themselves never actually cared much for Maduro's reign, then might there be a chance. But it doesn't quite sound like it...