I know most readers, and indeed myself, have been thinking about the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. The TV news is heavily focused on it and therefore so are we. There have been 11 ICE related shootings since Trump’s effort to expel brown people, errr… illegal immigrants, started (MSN). None of them have gotten this much press.
We haven’t been paying a lot of attention to the Epstein Files currently being censored, err… redacted, by the DOJ since the Navy moved to the coast off Venezuela either.
Let’s talk about current events in Venezuela since it’s “liberation.” Buck the trend so to speak.
Venezuela is facing political tension, security crackdowns, and media restrictions after Donald Trump‘s US forces captured President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation last week (Business Standard). The new president Delcy Rodriguez, who was actually Maduro’s vice president, has declared a state of emergency.
Venezuela has entered its most dangerous internal phase in decades after the government formally published a sweeping State of Emergency decree ordering security forces to hunt down and arrest anyone accused of promoting, supporting, or facilitating the U.S.-led armed attack that resulted in the removal of former president Nicolás Maduro. Times Caribbean Online
Regime change huh?
The only people who have lost influence in Venezuela is the democratic opposition movement. That movement was the biggest thing in Venezuelan politics before the arrest of Maduro. Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize and her cohort Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia beat Maduro in the 2024 elections
According to The Sunday Times González was “widely seen as the rightful winner” of a disputed election whose results announced by CNE electoral authorities—without providing evidence—cast Venezuela into a political crisis; most American aligned countries did not recognize Maduro as the winner, while non western aligned countries including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea did.The BBC and The Guardian reported that Peru was the first country to recognize González as Venezuela’s president-elect on 30 July… Academics, news outlets and the opposition provided strong evidence showing that González won the election by a wide margin with the opposition releasing copies of official tally sheets collected by poll watchers from a majority of polling centers showing a landslide victory for González Wikipedia
Nevertheless the state run Election Council declared Maduro the winner by a slim margin without providing evidence or election numbers. The results were widespread protests and a decline in Maduro’s popularity.
Only when Trump sent the US Navy to the Caribbean to blow up drug boats did Maduro’s popularity rise. To discredit claims of those pointing this out Trump arranged to have Maduro arrested leaving the nation to be run by the same political machine that backed Maduro.
Did you know? Delcy Rodriguez has been sanctioned by nations including Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Columbia and the United States. Wikipedia
Trump has plainly stated Machado will not be running the country.
“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Trump told reporters. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.” (LA Times on MSN-7 Jan 2025). Anyone who still thinks Trump and his man gods are pro democracy are living in delusion.
- Trump leaves Venezuela’s opposition sidelined and Maduro’s party in power LA Times on MSN
- Inside the Secret Network Powering Maduro’s Propaganda Machine Caracas Chronicles
- What’s happening in Venezuela after Nicolas Maduro’s capture by US forces? Business Standard
- Venezuela Declares Internal War; State of Emegency Orders Mass Arrests After US Attack Ousts Maduro The Caribbean Online
- Venezuela orders nationwide manhunt for supporters after Maduro’s arrest by US forces Fox News
- Why Maduro is Mobilizing the Militia Caracas Chronicles
- Russian Air-Defense Deliveries to Venezuela and the Escalation Risk of U.S.–Venezuela Military Conflict (5 Nov 2025) Robert Lansing Institute
- Putin deploys top general and troops to Venezuela to train Maduro’s forces, report claims (26 Nov 2025) The Express
How about giving the Epstein Files to the House Subcommittee and letting them do the redactions? For this to happen the issue must be forced.