UPDATE:
Here’s a shocker. The lefties in the EU show a little backbone.
Pretty easy to tell who the bad guys are. Unless you’re a Dem. Mamdani has his panties in a wad. Commies gotta stick together.
A PSA from VP Vance:
Maduro sent boatloads of fentanyl to our shores. He’s done.
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.
“This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement. Details to follow.”
Trump celebrated the mission in which Maduro and first lady were flown to the US, where the Venezuelan president is set to stand trial on criminal charges.
“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump told the New York Times. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
Trump ordered airstrikes on military sites around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas with at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft reported in the region, which began around 2 a.m. local time amid heightened tensions between Maduro and the US.
The strikes rocked sites in the state of Miranda, where Caracas is located, and nearby Aragua and La Guiera, sending plumes of smoke and fire into the air and causing power outages.
Photos show a fire tearing through Fuerte (Fort) Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex located in Caracas, after an explosion.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who would take power under the country’s law, said she didn’t know the whereabouts of Maduro and Flores.
“We demand proof of life,” Rodriguez said.
Residents reacted to the ground-shaking explosions as they were walking the streets of the capital.
“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” Carmen Hidalgo told the Associated Press. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”
The Federal Aviation Administration banned US commercial flights over Venezuela early Saturday because of “ongoing military activity.”
Maduro was indicted for narco terrorism:
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and his wife on terrorism and weapons charges in the Southern District of New York.
“Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York,” Bondi wrote Saturday morning on X.
“Nicholas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States. They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.
“On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.”
In other words, he supplied the drug cartels with weapons.
Venezuela is a communist prison where Maduro stayed in power through a combination of violence, oppression, and fraud.
Like his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, he rigged the election.
Around the world Venezuelan citizens are celebrating.
The EU has not recognized the controversial 2024 election that handed Maduro a third term in power and sent Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado into hiding.
Dozens of sanctions have also been imposed on Venezuelan officials by the EU for undermining democracy in the country.
……The US recognized González as the country’s legitimate leader after he defeated Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin in the 2024 election. González run in place of Corina Machado after she was banned from running by the Maduro-run high court. Maduro ignored the election results and remained in power.
Corina Machado has yet to comment on Maduro’s capture by US forces, but told Fox News Digital last month that “I am absolutely grateful to President Donald Trump for every gesture, every signal and every moment that he has stood with the Venezuelan people.”
In France, the far left is burning the American flag, while in New York socialists and communists are demanding the release of Nicolás Maduro. Meanwhile, Venezuelans around the world are celebrating the end of life under socialism. Zohran Mamdani is promising to govern New York under socialism, a system which can only fail to improve the lives of the average person. Venezuela is a perfect example.
Venezuela was once one of the richest countries in Latin America. After more than two decades of socialism, 82 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty, including 53 percent in extreme poverty. More than 94 percent of the population lacks sufficient income to purchase basic goods and services. As of May 2024, the minimum monthly wage is $3.56, and the average monthly salary is about $100, while the basic monthly food basket costs roughly $500. The Gini inequality coefficient has reached 0.603, making Venezuela one of the most unequal societies in the world.
Eighty-two percent of Venezuelans suffer from food insecurity, and 17 percent of children under five were malnourished as of 2018. Because of misguided socialist policies, including collectivization and nationalization, along with the inability to purchase necessary chemicals and fertilizers on the global market, food production fell by 60 percent between 2014 and 2018. While the country cannot produce enough food domestically, most people also lack the income to purchase imported food. As a result, 84 percent of basic food basket items are unavailable in supermarkets.
The healthcare system has collapsed, with both maternal and infant mortality increasing by more than 30 percent since 2015. The maternal mortality rate stands at 98.87 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above the UN target of fewer than 70. Previously eradicated or controlled diseases have returned. Malaria cases rose from only 106 in 2008 to 1.3 million confirmed cases by 2018. Diphtheria, measles, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and dengue have returned. Seventy-nine percent of hospitals lack running water, and 14 percent of intensive care units have shut down. Most laboratory services and hospital nutrition programs operate only intermittently or are completely inoperative.
Because of extremely low pay and the high cost of living, roughly half of the country’s doctors have fled Venezuela. An estimated 70 percent of medical and nursing staff have abandoned their positions in search of better-paying work so their families can survive.
Rolling blackouts and intermittent water supply affect daily life. Forty percent of school-aged children experience irregular attendance due to teacher strikes, staff shortages, lack of food, and failures in electricity, water, and transport services.
Along with economic ruin, socialism imposed repressive social controls. Venezuela ranked 156th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 World Press Freedom Index. The government blocked websites, social media platforms, and foreign news outlets, and shut down at least 115 media organizations across print, radio, and television. So-called anti-hate laws, carrying prison sentences of up to 20 years, have been used to silence journalists and activists. Additional anti-fascism, anti-terrorism, cybercrime, and NGO surveillance laws created a rapid and comprehensive legal machinery for repression.
The government built a sweeping surveillance apparatus that collects data on large segments of the population. State-directed disinformation campaigns use paid troll accounts and fake websites to smear journalists and activists. Venezuelans have been detained simply for filming events on the street or for comments made in WhatsApp groups, creating widespread fear of discussing political or social issues online.
As of September 2024, Venezuela held 1,793 political prisoners, the highest number recorded in the 21st century. Following the July 2024 election, approximately 1,400 people were detained for protesting or expressing dissent, bringing the post-election total to 1,659 detainees, including children. Most were charged with terrorism and remain imprisoned without sentencing.
But the fucking liberals stand with Maduro.
The protests are organized by a network of leftist groups that make their living by deploying paid agitators who march with pre-printed signs and scream rhetoric from a script.
Gotta love the memes.
The media and the rest of the DNC woke up Saturday to the news that Trump arrested Maduro on charges related to his narco-terrorism activities. The arrest required some military muscle and the rockets red glare, the fire in the air, gave proof through the night that our MAGA was there.
The move invigorated Trump supporters and saddened his opponents.
Once again, our favorite president chose to side with the 80 on another 80/20 issue and Democrats are stuck defending one of the worst dictators in a world of slime.
Democrats cannot say the arrest was unprecedented because Democrats had Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández arrested as his term expired for similar charges. The feds gave 45 years in prison. Trump pardoned him, likely for information.
The first President Bush oversaw the 14-day Panamanian War of 1989 to get Manuel Noriega arrested on narco-terrorism charges. He got 40 years but died at 83 before finishing his prison term. 23 American soldiers died in that war.
This time, ferreting out Maduro and ferrying him to New York cost no American soldier’s life. It took 88 minutes but Three Hour War rhymes with three hour tour.
……..Trump has combined the powers given presidents in the War on Drugs (declared 55 years ago) and the War on Terrorism (now in its 25th year). If Democrats believe Trump has too much power, then let them repeal the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, civil asset forfeiture, laws that allow warrantless searches and the PATRIOT Act.
The big winner this weekend was Marco Rubio. He handled Sunday talk shows like Tiger Woods handles a nine iron. Margaret Brennan at CBS was no match:
BRENNAN: The defense minister, who has deep ties to Russia, $15 million price on his head. He is still in place. I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco-terrorist regime?
RUBIO: You’re confused? I don’t know why that’s confusing to you. I mean, it’s very simple.
BRENNAN: They’re still in power!
RUBIO: You’re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about the one operation! Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people.
We got the top priority. The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested along with his wife who is also indicted.
That was a sophisticated and frankly, complicated operation. It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country. The guy lived on a military base.
Land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets. That’s not an easy mission and you’re asking why didn’t we do that in five other places at the same time?
………Kristen Welker at NBC was Rubio’s next victim:
WELKER: Why does the United States need to take over Venezuela’s oil.
RUBIO: We don’t need Venezuela’s oil. What we’re not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States. China is not even in this continent. This is the western hemisphere, this is where we live.
……….With its drugs, its oil and its terrorists, Maduro’s regime was a lynchpin for Red China, Russia and Iran in their efforts to topple the United States. His arrest drew howls from the Democrats because of that.
Under the Trump Doctrine, FAFO is in full force.
Related articles:
https://www.westernjournal.com/venezuelan-americans-break-celebration-maduro-capture/