Venezuela

‘Hands off Venezuela’: Demonstrators rally in Toronto following U.S. seizure of President Nicolás Maduro

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto Saturday afternoon, condemning a military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Toronto protest, which began at around 3 p.m. unfolded hours after the United States seized Maduro and his wife, announcing plans to prosecute them in New York, while also declaring it would run Venezuela during a transitional period.

For the most part the usual cranks who show up at any anti-American pro-tyranny demo.

I get the impression Carney’s media is deeply disappointed normal people and especially the majority of Venezuelans aren’t in a TDS frenzy over Maduro’s toppling.

h/t patthedog

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA, Venezuela

What role could the US play in Venezuela’s ‘bust’ oil industry?

The Venezuelan oil industry has been “a total bust” for a long time, according to Donald Trump. After attacking Caracas and taking the country’s leader captive, Trump promised to take control of Venezuela’s oil industry with the help of America’s biggest oil companies.

Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry could “make a lot of money” with the might of the US behind it, Trump told the press, claiming that the new regime would invest billions to revive its fortunes.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

The Maduro Defenders Come Out

The woke left and woke right are coming out in force to defend Nicholas Maduro and to attack Donald Trump for his operation to arrest him and bring him to the United States.

There is still much to learn about the operation, but by all accounts, it was one of the most audacious and successful operations in memory. Venezuela was warned ahead of time that the US intended to depose Maduro, and there has been a massive military buildup over the past several months. Russia and China have been sending weapons and advisors, yet despite all the help of our adversaries and prior warning, the US went in, captured Maduro, and left with hardly a scratch.

Carney is getting hammered in the comments

h/t Mauser

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Energy Win: Venezuela Has the Biggest Global Oil Reserves, and the U.S. Is Now in Charge

The nation of Venezuela is estimated to have the largest oil reserves in the entire world, and Donald Trump announced today that the United States not only captured Venezuela’s dictator, it will be taking over the country’s oil infrastructure.

The swift and sudden collapse of the Maduro regime is a massive punch to the nose for China, Russia, Iran, and all of our most violent enemies. But more practically for millions of Americans, it could also have a huge impact on our global energy dominance and gas prices. And that also, of course, is a source of concern to our enemies.

Trump is backing regime change in oil-rich Venezuela. Canada, beware

Donald Trump doesn’t want Canada’s aluminum, steel, lumber or cars. Could oil emerge next on this tariff-fuelled northern hate list? It might if he can find substitute supplies. How about Venezuela’s? Going after Venezuela’s alleged narco-traffickers alone does not justify the formidable U.S. military buildup off the country’s waters; going after its oil might.

The biggest U.S. armada assembled since the 1991 Gulf War is steaming off Venezuela’s coast. The array of weapons in the southern Caribbean and on nearby military bases includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, amphibious assault ships and – ominously – equipment, including Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, that is used by elite special forces. Various reports say those forces might include soldiers trained in risky infiltration missions, seizing airfields among them.

h/y Patti Jo

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA, Venezuela

General ‘Razin’ Caine divulges details on Trump Venezuela operation that captured Maduro

The United States’s highest-ranking military officer on Saturday briefed the country on the lightning attack Washington carried out on Venezuela overnight.

General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed details about the elite operation that successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a press conference alongside President Donald Trump.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Satellite images raised speculation about Venezuela’s military capability against the U.S.

A stunning U.S. raid to capture Venezuela’s president came after a group of amateur intelligence analysts argued that satellite images reveal a Venezuelan launch site that could send ballistic missiles as far north as Washington, D.C.

There was no indication that the American attack had anything to do with the subject of the group’s claims, which the U.S. military dismissed earlier as “speculative” and one top expert rated as plausible but unproven by the evidence.

Sounds a bit like Canada …

h/t Clink9

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

World leaders gripe over US arrest of tyrant Nicolás Maduro, despite legal precedent: ‘Deeply alarmed’

Many world leaders whined Saturday over the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, claiming the clandestine US mission was an unnecessary use of force — despite a legal precedent for it.

Allies Russia, Iran, China and Colombia were among the nations lining up Saturday to demand the Trump administration release Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, who were headed to New York City to face federal charges of narcoterrorism.

Trump’s toppling of Maduro is fraught with risk – what happens next is unclear

The US may want many of its foes gone from power. It doesn’t usually send in the military and physically remove them.

Venezuela’s abrupt awakening took two forms.

Its residents were woken abruptly to the sound of deafening booms: the sound of its capital Caracas under attack from US strikes targeting military infrastructure.

Which world leaders have been captured by US previously

The reported capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has placed him among a small and controversial group of world leaders seized by the United States, reviving memories of past U.S. intervention that reshaped entire regions.

With his capture, Maduro would join figures such as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Panama’s Manuel Noriega, whose arrests marked defining moments in US foreign policy.

Maduro Perp Walk

h/t Mauser

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Trump Got Interviewed Just After the Maduro Raid and It Was Eye-Opening

President Donald Trump joined Fox & Friends Saturday morning to discuss the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

President Trump praised U.S. forces who participated in the execution and planning of the operation, saying that “no other country on Earth could pull it off”

… After Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the U.S. operation, President Trump issued a stern rebuttal.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Lights out, then US forces with blowtorches came for Maduro

The Venezuelan dictator was in a supposed safe house when the Delta Force commandos burst in just after 2am and snatched him and his wife, before his security team had time to secure the property’s final defence of two heavy steel doors. Even if they had, the Americans were armed with blowtorches.

Within minutes Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were being flown by helicopter across a moonlit Caribbean Sea to the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship. They are expected to be sent to a New

York federal detention centre before facing trial on drug trafficking charges.
The swiftness of the capture has led to speculation that Maduro may have been betrayed by someone in his inner circle. His personal security was understood to have been overseen by Cuba.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Canadian political leaders celebrate, condemn U.S. strikes on Venezuela and Maduro capture

Canadian political leaders are celebrating and condemning the United States over its nighttime strikes on the capital city of Venezuela and the subsequent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In a statement posted to social media, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada has “refused to recognize any legitimacy of the Maduro regime and opposed its repression of the Venezuelan people, including the persecution of dissenters and particularly political leaders opposed to the regime.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Venezuela

Maduro and wife captured

The US has captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro after a large scale strike on the South American country, US President Donald Trump has said.

Trump said Venezuela’s left-wing president and his wife were flown out of the country in a military operation in conjunction with US law enforcement. They have been charged with drug and weapons offences in New York.

It comes after explosions were reported across the capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning, including at military bases.

BBC live feed – US launches strikes on Venezuela, captures President Maduro and charges him with drug offences

CBS Live Feed – U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela, Trump says Maduro captured and flown out of the country

Venezuelans gather in Chilean capital to celebrate news of US operation

Trump says Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, wife ‘captured’ after large-scale strikes

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by US forces during a “large-scale” nighttime military operation early Saturday, President Trump announced.

“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

US captures Maduro, carries out ‘large scale strike’ in Venezuela

President Donald Trump said the U.S. “successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela” and said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were “captured and flown out of the Country.”

The announcement on Trump’s social media platform came shortly before 4:30 a.m. Saturday a few hours after several explosions were heard in Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas, witnesses said, and photos and videos showed plumes of smoke and a large fireball in the night sky.

Twitter Venezuela

h/t PA Cat, Canuknucklehead™, patthedog

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela as Trump escalates pressure on Maduro regime, sources say

CBS Live Feed: President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, U.S. officials told CBS News, as the administration early Saturday ratcheted up its campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

BBC Live – Explosions heard as smoke rises in Venezuelan capital Caracas

Telegraph Live: US launches air strikes on Venezuela

Guardian Live Feed: Venezuela accuses US after explosions and low-flying aircraft reported in Caracas – live

Twitter – Venezuela

Info is a bit skint no confirmation of US Troops on the ground etc

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Trump casually confirms first land strike on plant in Venezuela: ‘We knocked that out’

Donald Trump gave a nonchalant confirmation of the first US land strike in Venezuela during a radio interview last week that received little attention.

The President said that the Christmas Eve strike was on a facility ‘where the ship comes from’ – seemingly referencing the origination location of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months.

Speaking on WABC on December 26, Trump made the bombshell suggestion that US forces have already started conducting land operations in Venezuela.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

Will Trump attack Venezuela? Russia evacuates diplomats’ families

Moscow is said to have begun evacuating the families of Russian diplomats from Venezuela as Washington increases military pressure on President Maduro.

An unnamed European intelligence official said Russia was viewing the situation in Caracas in “very grim terms”, the Associated Press reported.

The Russian foreign ministry denied the report, calling it “a lie” and “a western provocation”. Although it said the embassy was not being evacuated, it did not address the issue of whether the spouses and children of diplomats were being flown out.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inRussia, USA, Venezuela

US intercepts second merchant vessel off coast of Venezuela in international waters

US forces on Saturday stopped a second merchant vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, according to two US officials, the Associated Press reported.

The move comes days after Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in to and out of the South American country and follows the seizure by US forces of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast on 10 December.

The officials were not authorized to discuss publicly the ongoing military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity, the AP said.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela