Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes

“Backwards up the mossy glen

Turn’d and troop’d the goblin men,

With their shrill repeated cry,

“Come buy, come buy.”[i]– Christina Rossetti

“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live- and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States. Simple as that.”[ii]– Secretary of State Marco Rubio

So, it has been done. Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been kidnapped by US forces. He is now in custody in New York, awaiting trial. In the unsealed indictment, he has been charged with narcoterrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons charges, however, central to the US government’s indictment is the theory that Maduro and his regime are affiliated with the Cartel of the Suns, which in reality is a drug cartel founded by the CIA in the 1980’s.[iii] The DOJ has now dropped its claim that the Cartel of the Suns is an organization at all.[iv] Further, the former head of military intelligence under Hugo Chavez, Hugo Carvajal Barrios, is a key witness against Maduro. Carvajal, after being indicted by the US in 2017, flipped on Maduro and he voiced support for the Trump plot to install Juan Guaido as the ‘interim president’ of Venezuela.[v] After his extradition from Spain in 2023 to the US, Carvajal plead guilty to narcoterrorism charges, and he struck a secret plea deal where he would help in the case against Maduro. As Max Blumenthal points out, that Carvajal’s testimony was attained under duress, and that he is clearly exploiting the situation to lessen his sentence, should tarnish his credibility as a witness.[vi]

With the abduction of Maduro, Trump has proven once and for all that he is not the warrior fighting the deep state that claimed he would be in both his 2016 and 2024 presidential campaigns. During these campaigns, he denounced nation building and democracy promotion. Although he has ditched the latter, he is very much in favor of the former, as the US is still in the business of empire. Trump, with a giddy and titillated Lindsey Graham at his side, talking tough about taking over “our hemisphere” and threatening Cuba, Greenland, and Mexico, is a perfect encapsulation of the reality of Trump’s political movement.[vii] While running for president, Trump vehemently rejected the policies of Graham and his ilk, chiefly nation building and military adventurism. Now he is proudly standing beside him, singing his praises, endorsing him in his upcoming Senate race.[viii] Just like Bernie Sanders was a populist front for the vapid, greedy elites in the Democratic party, Trump and his band of lunatics are a populist front for the same elites who all serve the permanent regime.

Trump has once again outed himself as a servant of the very regime he swore to abolish. His cheerleaders on X and elsewhere may claim that anyone who opposes Trump’s abduction of Maduro and his rampant imperialism are a “bunch of pussies”, but I would rather be “a pussy”, than the useful idiot of a mafia state, beholden to a leader who is so obviously the opposite of what he claims to be.

The contrast between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron’s reactions to Trump’s kidnapping of Maduro highlight Trump’s lack of principle and the truth of his adherence. Macron, an avowed globalist, applauded the ousting of Maduro, though he disapproved of the method used. He said that “The Venezuelan people are today rid of Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship and can only rejoice.”, and he then went on to blather about the need for free and fair elections, and a democratic transition.[ix] This is pure illiberal liberal slop. The disagreement with Trump is only with the method employed, not with the actual action itself, however egregious it is. However, Le Pen said, in total contrast, that although Maduro was dictatorial, the “fundamental reason to oppose the regime change” is that “The sovereignty of states is never negotiable, regardless of their size, their power, or their continent. It is inviolable and sacred…To renounce this principle for today for Venezuela would be to accept our own enslavement tomorrow.”[x] Proof of this is the many MAGA lunatics calling for Venezuela, and soon other states, to become colonies of the US. They are calling for the domination and enslavement of people in South America, ‘their hemisphere’. Unlike Le Pen, who has a host of grotesque views, Trump has no principles or guiding ideology. His populism was always a front, a costume. Instead of being a genuine populist, Trump has proven to be a swamp creature, dressed up as a populist.

After their dear leader betrayed a key tenet of his proclaimed ideology, large swathes of MAGA are cheering Trump’s actions, twisting themselves into pretzels to pretend that he is a mastermind, a genius, a supreme tactician, while insisting that anyone who is condemning Trump’s kidnapping, or as the corporate media calls it, his capture, of Maduro is supporting him or ‘narcoterrorism’, as if opposing unilateral, thuggish actions against other countries is somehow supporting the target of that action.[xi] This is a tired trope from the illiberal liberal and illiberal classes. Those who did not support meddling in other states to resist Soviet influence were akin to KGB operatives, if you opposed the Gulf Wars, in 1991 and 2003, you loved Saddam Hussein, and if you opposed toppling Muammar Gaddafi, it was because you adored him, and so it goes. If you have even the slightest reservation about a foreign intervention, it cannot be because you have any principles or you think for yourself, it is because you love dictatorships, or you are a naïve pacifist. In this case, anyone who isn’t ecstatic for the ‘freedom of the Venezuelan people’, or who isn’t getting off on the beauty, glory, and wonder of the US military’s ability to swiftly move in and capture their target within hours, is a Maduro supporter.

Apparently, the Democratic party is one of cranks and communists because they are condemning Trump’s actions, however, it is true that many of the politicians lambasting Trump for kidnapping Maduro drooled at the idea of him being removed from power during Biden’s presidency.[xii] It is darkly amusing to see the likes of Biden and Kamala Harris criticize Trump’s lawless action when it was their regime that put a price on Maduro’s head and imposed even harsher sanctions on Venezuela following the ‘stolen election’ in 2024.[xiii] Harris tweeted that actions like Trump’s overthrow of Maduro “do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable…America needs leadership whose priorities are lowering the costs for working families, enforcing the rule of law, strengthening alliances, and- most importantly- putting the American people first.”[xiv] Many were quick to note her overt hypocrisy. It is true that Biden and Harris, as well as his cronies in the State Department and the National Security Council, repeatedly called Maduro a horrible dictator who stole an election and posed a dire threat to the West, however, it is also true that, despite what most who respond to Harris’s hypocrisy argue, it is egregious and indefensible for the US president to kidnap the leader of another country, based on specious charges.

“Maduro’s bad”, combined with a variety of brainless epithets like narcoterrorist, cartel leader, monster, and so on, do not justify what Trump has done. The zombies who marvel at the speed with which this mission was accomplished and how simple it was to oust Maduro are unwittingly marveling at the only task the empire is exceptional at, militarism, or as Alfred McCoy calls it, micro-militarism.[xv] Micro-military misadventures are desperate attempts to retain or regain imperial power. As I noted in my previous essay, the Trump corollary of the Monroe Doctrine introduced in Trump’s National Security Strategy, shows that the US is quietly submitting that they cannot effectively deter or take on China and Russia. However, they of course have not given up on the imperial project. Venezuela is the first of many future conquests. Some coverage of reactions to Trump’s regime change claim that Cuba’s collapse is imminent.[xvi] Trump also hinted that Colombia is next in line.[xvii] Many in MAGA are defending Trump’s actions using this logic of dominating America’s ‘backyard’, and this somehow makes it America First. Thus, the referent in America First extends beyond US borders into South America, so it’s not America First, it’s Americas First. The Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh, a so-called noninterventionist, said “I totally support turning other countries in our hemisphere into subordinate vassals of the United States. That’s the very definition of an America First foreign policy.”[xviii] It is? So, when Trump claimed that he would prioritize the American people, especially the forgotten men and women who were tossed aside like rubbish because of globalization, when did he say that to help the displaced class he would downsize US empire to just South America? (without downsizing in scale, just in focus)

In their servility to Trump, commentators who previously lauded Trump as a figure opposed to regime change and humanitarian imperialism are now justifying these very policies. The commentator Jesse Kelly said “My concern with America running Venezuela is that we don’t intend to keep it. It would be better for everyone, including Venezuelans, if we just kept it. There are no upsides to turning it over.”[xix] So ultimately, expanding the US empire is not only America First, but it is necessary and better for those who would be subjugated. The Venezuelans were freed to be enslaved once again, this time to the US empire. MAGA personality Matt Forney embodied this imperialist attitude when he said that “The American Empire rises. No more pretense. If you have something we want, we’re just going to kick your door down and take it. And there is no country on the planet Earth who can stop us. Everyone on the planet is America’s slave.”[xx] These comments illustrate the difference between Trump and his predecessors. Beyond the lie of his being a peacenik, a repudiation of the permanent regime, he is a brutal but honest steward of the American empire. This is captured perfectly by his refusal to consider installing Marina Machado in place of Maduro, much to the chagrin of the illiberal liberal class. As it was just revealed, before he acted, Trump was briefed by the CIA about the lack of support for Machado in Venezuela, and that other officials in Maduro’s regime were better placed to take over after his removal from office.[xxi] This should shatter the narrative that the goal of the US/West was to free Venezuela. It also calls into question her Nobel Peace Prize. If she was fighting for democracy on behalf of the people of Venezuela, then why couldn’t she take control of the country? Surely if she is a true representative of the Venezuelan people, then she could easily wrest control from the fragments of the Maduro regime. The same outlets who lauded her Nobel Peace Prize and used it to push for action against Maduro should be ashamed and embarrassed.

In his press conference immediately after Maduro’s kidnapping, Trump said that the US will now “run Venezuela” until a “judicious transition” can be ensured.[xxii] He made no mention of democracy or freedom, and, while unsurprising, it makes the imps in the commentariat prattling on about Venezuela now being free, even if they also express concerns about the legality of Trump’s operation or the optics of it, look like fools. To make this worse, Maduro’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has been appointed to replace Maduro. Trump threatened her by saying that “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,”[xxiii] What is this bigger price, assassination? The justification for Maduro’s ouster in the hive mind of the illiberal liberal class is that he was a horrible tyrant, yet his regime will remain in place. The imperialist threats from Trump and his cronies aside, in essence, this is not truly a regime change operation, it is the beginning of an imperial occupation. We are already seeing Venezuelan security forces cracking down on anyone suspected of supporting the abduction of Maduro.[xxiv]

Rodriguez will eventually be thrown out and replaced if there is not a civil war between pro-Western and pro-Chavismo factions. She is a mere placeholder. As Senator Tom Cotton put it on CNN, “We don’t recognize Delcy Rodriguez as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela…They have control of the military and security services. We have to deal with that fact, but that does not make them a legitimate leader.”[xxv] So, Venezuela is still ruled by an illegitimate leader. Then what was the point of kidnapping Maduro. What is the plan here? Rubio has also said that the US will continue to bomb drug boats.[xxvi] They also want to rebuild Venezuela, and Trump said in his interview with Atlantic that this would be a great thing.[xxvii] If Trump and his minions are to be believed, the US has money to rebuild Venezuela, and potentially Cuba and Colombia, but there is no money for healthcare, education, or social security.

The commentators celebrating the overthrow of Maduro are foolish in that they believe, even after numerous instances of regime change failing horribly, that Venezuela has been freed. The Trump regime is flailing. Even if you want to hail the kidnapping of Maduro as a success, what comes next is opaque. The Trump regime is making no effort to provide a coherent plan.

We are supposed to be glad that Maduro is gone, despite the survival of his regime. The classic argument, “he was bad” is trotted out and we are expected to submit to this twisted, brainless logic. The likes of Forney and Kelly, who are salivating at the thought of the US empire expanding, are deluded by the euphoric fantasy of imperial domination. Stephen Miller’s appearance on CNN with Jake Tapper, where he ranted about the reality of “being a superpower”, embodied the White House’s true allegiance, not to the people, but to the empire.[xxviii] They are so caught up in this delusion that the reality of the empire crumbling and waning does not register for them. Such lunatics are not just raving on X. Elliott Abrams, a former official in the Reagan and first Trump administrations, penned an article for Foreign Affairs in which he argued that regime change was absolutely necessary in Venezuela, and in an interview with Ross Douthat of the New York Times, Abrams lamented that Trump had not gone far enough, as Maduro’s regime was still in power.[xxix] He said “I think the problem with that plan is that we are relying on a bunch of criminals to drive themselves from power willingly, to commit suicide. In the Latin American cases, with which I’m familiar from my time in the Reagan administration, we did a lot of transitions in Latin America, in South America. There’s always negotiation with the army.”[xxx] Douthat should have laughed in Abrams’ face. The idea that he oversaw ‘transitions’ and ‘negotiations’ during his time in the Reagan administration is insulting. Abrams supported the contra killers in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala.[xxxi] He also had an instrumental role in the Iran-Contra affair, where weapons were sent to Iran and the funds from these sales were used to support the Contras in their fight against the Sandinista regime despite a congressional block due to human rights violations.[xxxii] Abrams covered for the atrocities of all these regimes as well, from massacres to acts of genocide.[xxxiii] He has no issue with relying on a bunch of criminals. That he is taken seriously enough to grace the pages of scholarly journals and thinktanks is a testament to how the worst among us are elevated, not ignored.

As Christopher Coyne argues, the “siren song of empire remains powerful”, and too many, Trump and movement included, are unable to resist it, drawn to its promise of absolute power and bountiful fortune.[xxxiv] Instead of draining the swamp, Trump has increased its biodiversity, populating it with new forms of creatures, parasites, insectoids, and reptiles.

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[i] Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market,” The Poetry Foundation, May 9, 2017, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44996/goblin-market.

[ii] The White House, “RUBIO: This Is Our Hemisphere — and President Trump Will Not Allow Our Security to Be Threatened,” The White House, January 4, 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/rubio-this-is-our-hemisphere-and-president-trump-will-not-allow-our-security-to-be-threatened/.

[iii] Jelinda Montes, “Department of Justice Quietly Admits ‘Terrorist’ Cartel Isn’t Real,” Salon.Com, January 6, 2026, https://www.salon.com/2026/01/06/department-of-justice-quietly-admits-terrorist-cartel-isnt-real/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ogshare&utm_content=og.

[iv] Charlie Savage, “Justice Dept. Drops Claim That Venezuela’s ‘Cartel de Los Soles’ Is an Actual Group – The New York Times,” New York Times, January 6, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/us/trump-venezuela-drug-cartel-de-los-soles.html.

[v] US Attorney’s Office, “Southern District of New York | Former Venezuelan General Pleads Guilty To Narco-Terrorism, Weapons, And Drug Trafficking Charges | United States Department of Justice,” Government, Department of Justice, accessed January 8, 2026, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-venezuelan-general-pleads-guilty-narco-terrorism-weapons-and-drug-trafficking.

[vi] Max Blumenthal, Behind the DOJ’s Politicized Indictment of Maduro: A CIA-Created ‘Network’ and Coerced Star Witness – The Grayzone, January 6, 2026, https://thegrayzone.com/2026/01/05/indictment-maduro-cia-network-witness/.

[vii] Sen. Lindsey Graham on Cuba: “Their Days Are Numbered.,” directed by C-SPAN, 2026, 02:13, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSYUq5jNfDI.

[viii] Julia Manchester, “Donald Trump to Attend Lindsey Graham Fundraiser,” Text, The Hill, October 20, 2025, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5563323-trump-to-attend-graham-fundraiser-in-first-midterm-campaign-appearance/.

[ix] France 24, “Macron Says France ‘Does Not Approve’ of US Method to Overthrow Maduro,” France 24, January 5, 2026, https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260105-macron-says-france-does-not-approve-of-method-us-used-to-overthrow-maduro.

[x] Mario Nawfal and Marine Le Pen, “Mario Nawfal on X: “🚨🇫🇷🇻🇪 LE PEN: “IF THE WORLD ACCEPTS WHAT THE U.S…,” X (Formerly Twitter), January 4, 2026, https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2007900530723430557.

[xi] Taylor Penley, “GOP Lawmaker Says Democrats Have ‘Egg on Their Face’ after Trump’s Capture of Venezuela’s Maduro,” Text.Article, Fox News, Fox News, January 4, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/media/gop-lawmaker-says-democrats-have-egg-face-after-trumps-capture-venezuelas-maduro; Newt Gingrich [@newtgingrich], “The political leaders who reacted…,” Tweet, Twitter, January 6, 2026, https://x.com/newtgingrich/status/2008594013545431453.

[xii]  The White House, “Democrats Once Demanded Maduro’s Ouster. Now They Mourn His Capture — Because Trump Did It.,” The White House, January 5, 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/democrats-once-demanded-maduros-ouster-now-they-mourn-his-capture-because-trump-did-it/.

[xiii] Associated Press, “Trump Doubles Reward to $50 Million for Arrest of Venezuela’s President to Face US Drug Charges,” CNN, August 8, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/americas/nicolas-maduro-50-million-reward-trump-administration-latam-intl.

[xiv] Kamala Harris [@KamalaHarris], “Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela…,” Tweet, Twitter, January 4, 2026, https://x.com/KamalaHarris/status/2007619471893045662.

[xv] Alfred W. McCoy, “Micro-Militarism and Decline of Democracy,” Progressive.Org, June 13, 2018, https://progressive.org/api/content/4b9496e8-6439-11e8-8392-12408cbff2b0/.

[xvi] Alex Gangitano et al., “‘People Would Attempt to Flee’: Concern Grows over Possible Cuba Collapse – POLITICO,” Politico, accessed January 8, 2026, https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/following-venezuela-raid-fears-grow-of-economic-collapse-in-cuba-00714716?utm_medium=bluesky&utm_source=dlvr.it.

[xvii] Sen. Lindsey Graham on Cuba.

[xviii] Matt Walsh [@MattWalshBlog], “I totally support…,” Tweet, Twitter, January 4, 2026, https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/2007856205725577506.

[xix] Jesse Kelly [@JesseKellyDC], “My concern with…,” Tweet, Twitter, January 4, 2026, https://x.com/JesseKellyDC/status/2007898037897871556.

[xx] Matt Forney [@mattforney], “The American Empire rises…,” Tweet, Twitter, January 3, 2026, https://x.com/mattforney/status/2007534272656064892.

[xxi] Tyler PagerAnatoly Kurmanaev et al., “Why Trump Refused to Back Venezuela’s Machado: Fears of Chaos, and Fraying Ties,” U.S., The New York Times, January 6, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/us/politics/trump-venezuela-machado.html.

[xxii] Jessica Dickler, “Trump: We Are Going to Run Venezuela until We Can Do a Safe, Proper and Judicious Transition,” CNBC, January 3, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/03/trump-venezuela.html.

[xxiii] Michael Scherer, “Trump Threatens Venezuela’s New Leader With a Fate Worse Than Maduro’s – The Atlantic,” Magazine, The Atlantic, January 4, 2026, https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/01/trump-venezuela-maduro-delcy-rodriguez/685497/.

[xxiv] Rory Carroll and María de los Ángeles Graterol, “Armed Militias Deployed in Venezuela as Regime Attempts to Impose Authority,” World News, The Guardian, January 6, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/caracas-venezuela-paramilitary-groups.

[xxv] Sen. Cotton on Trump Saying US Will ‘Run’ Venezuela: ‘It Means That the New Leaders… Need to Meet Our Demands’ | CNN Politics, directed by Dana Bash, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/04/politics/video/venezuela-strikes.

[xxvi] House, “RUBIO.”

[xxvii] Scherer, “Trump Threatens Venezuela’s New Leader With a Fate Worse Than Maduro’s – The Atlantic.”

[xxviii] Stephen Miller Says US Is Using Military Threat to Maintain Control of Venezuela | CNN Politics, directed by Sara Anwar, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/video/senior-white-house-aide-stephen-miller-says-us-military-threat-to-maintain-control-of-venezuela-digvid.

[xxix] Elliott Abrams, “How to Topple Maduro,” Foreign Affairs, November 20, 2025, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/how-topple-maduro; Ross Douthat and Elliott Abrams, “Opinion | A Defense of U.S. Intervention in Venezuela – The New York Times,” accessed January 8, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/opinion/interesting-times-elliott-abrams.html.

[xxx] Douthat and Abrams, “Opinion | A Defense of U.S. Intervention in Venezuela – The New York Times.”

[xxxi] Heather Digby Parton, “The Right’s Scoundrel Returns: Why Is Elliott Abrams Allowed Back in Polite Company?,” Salon.Com, June 25, 2014, https://www.salon.com/2014/06/25/the_rights_scoundrel_returns_why_is_elliott_abrams_allowed_back_in_polite_company/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ogshare&utm_content=og.

[xxxii] Branko Marcetic, “The Nomination of Elliott Abrams Is a Stain on Joe Biden’s Human Rights Record,” Jacobin, July 6, 2023, https://jacobin.com/2023/07/elliott-abrams-war-crimes-acpd-reagan-biden-cold-war.

[xxxiii] Marcetic, “The Nomination of Elliott Abrams Is a Stain on Joe Biden’s Human Rights Record”; Parton, “The Right’s Scoundrel Returns”; Eric Alterman, Confirmed: Elliott Abrams’s Defense of Mass Murder Was Based on Lies, January 30, 2020, https://www.thenation.com/article/world/elliott-abrams-mozote/; Isaac Chotiner, “Elliott Abrams and the Contradictions of U.S. Human-Rights Policy,” Q. & a., The New Yorker, April 29, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/elliott-abrams-and-the-contradictions-of-us-human-rights-policy.

[xxxiv] Christopher J. Coyne, In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace (Independent Institute, 2022).

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References

Abrams, Elliott. “How to Topple Maduro.” Foreign Affairs, November 20, 2025. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/how-topple-maduro.

Alterman, Eric. Confirmed: Elliott Abrams’s Defense of Mass Murder Was Based on Lies. January 30, 2020. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/elliott-abrams-mozote/.

Anwar, Sara, dir. Stephen Miller Says US Is Using Military Threat to Maintain Control of Venezuela | CNN Politics. 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/video/senior-white-house-aide-stephen-miller-says-us-military-threat-to-maintain-control-of-venezuela-digvid.

Bash, Dana, dir. Sen. Cotton on Trump Saying US Will ‘Run’ Venezuela: ‘It Means That the New Leaders… Need to Meet Our Demands’ | CNN Politics. 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/04/politics/video/venezuela-strikes.

Blumenthal, Max. Behind the DOJ’s Politicized Indictment of Maduro: A CIA-Created ‘Network’ and Coerced Star Witness – The Grayzone. January 6, 2026. https://thegrayzone.com/2026/01/05/indictment-maduro-cia-network-witness/.

Carroll, Rory, and María de los Ángeles Graterol. “Armed Militias Deployed in Venezuela as Regime Attempts to Impose Authority.” World News. The Guardian, January 6, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/caracas-venezuela-paramilitary-groups.

Chotiner, Isaac. “Elliott Abrams and the Contradictions of U.S. Human-Rights Policy.” Q. & a. The New Yorker, April 29, 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/elliott-abrams-and-the-contradictions-of-us-human-rights-policy.

Coyne, Christopher J. In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace. Independent Institute, 2022.

C-SPAN, dir. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Cuba: “Their Days Are Numbered.” 2026. 02:13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSYUq5jNfDI.

Dickler, Jessica. “Trump: We Are Going to Run Venezuela until We Can Do a Safe, Proper and Judicious Transition.” CNBC, January 3, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/03/trump-venezuela.html.

Douthat, Ross, and Elliott Abrams. “Opinion | A Defense of U.S. Intervention in Venezuela – The New York Times.” Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/opinion/interesting-times-elliott-abrams.html.

Gangitano, Alex, Megan Messerly, Eric Bazail-Eimil, and Diana Nerozzi. “‘People Would Attempt to Flee’: Concern Grows over Possible Cuba Collapse – POLITICO.” Politico. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/following-venezuela-raid-fears-grow-of-economic-collapse-in-cuba-00714716?utm_medium=bluesky&utm_source=dlvr.it.

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House, The White. “RUBIO: This Is Our Hemisphere — and President Trump Will Not Allow Our Security to Be Threatened.” The White House, January 4, 2026. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/rubio-this-is-our-hemisphere-and-president-trump-will-not-allow-our-security-to-be-threatened/.

Kurmanaev, Tyler PagerAnatoly, Julian E. BarnesTyler Pager reported from West Palm Beach, Fla; Anatoly Kurmanaev from Caracas, Venezuela, and Julian E. Barnes from Washington. “Why Trump Refused to Back Venezuela’s Machado: Fears of Chaos, and Fraying Ties.” U.S. The New York Times, January 6, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/us/politics/trump-venezuela-machado.html.

Manchester, Julia. “Donald Trump to Attend Lindsey Graham Fundraiser.” Text. The Hill, October 20, 2025. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5563323-trump-to-attend-graham-fundraiser-in-first-midterm-campaign-appearance/.

Marcetic, Branko. “The Nomination of Elliott Abrams Is a Stain on Joe Biden’s Human Rights Record.” Jacobin, July 6, 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/07/elliott-abrams-war-crimes-acpd-reagan-biden-cold-war.

McCoy, Alfred W. “Micro-Militarism and Decline of Democracy.” Progressive.Org, June 13, 2018. https://progressive.org/api/content/4b9496e8-6439-11e8-8392-12408cbff2b0/.

Montes, Jelinda. “Department of Justice Quietly Admits ‘Terrorist’ Cartel Isn’t Real.” Salon.Com, January 6, 2026. https://www.salon.com/2026/01/06/department-of-justice-quietly-admits-terrorist-cartel-isnt-real/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ogshare&utm_content=og.

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