NEWS

You may have woke up to surprising news Venezuela’s occupying dictator, Nicholas Maduro and his wife, are now U.S. military captives en route to New York.

Shortly before addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago late Saturday morning, Mr. Trump shared a photo he said was Maduro on board the USS Iowa Jima.

In an indictment filed against the Venezuelan leader in 2020, federal prosecutors alleged that Maduro and other senior Venezuelan government officials collaborated with the Colombian guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, to traffic cocaine and weapons to the United States. Later Saturday morning, Bondi shared a superseding indictment.

The indictment, prepared by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, accuses Maduro of conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and to import cocaine, and of possessing and conspiring to possess “Machineguns and Destructive Devices.” The charges appear to be the same as a 2020 indictment of Maduro and several key aides. - Trump says “we’re going to run” Venezuela after Maduro’s capture until peaceful transition takes place, Kaia Hubbard for CBS News

Until now Venezuelan drug boat bombings dominated primary news channels. There were international status reports of Venezuelan government interference ahead of today’s surgical strike.

“You cannot tell the difference between the cartels and the government. ‘The Cartel of the Sun’ is run by the leaders of the military, intelligence agencies. Nicolas Maduro, who got in by voter fraud, is the head of that cartel. This cartel is worth more money than anybody can fathom. It has diplomatic immunity and smuggles drugs using military and government airplanes.” … [Alex] Newman also points out that the Venezuelan government is involved in voter fraud all over the world, including the 2020 US election. Yes, the Trump Administration knows this too. - ‘Red Cartel Tsunami: Venezuela is Tip of the Iceberg’ c/o The Liberty Sentinel

U.S. TO BE REIMBURSED: TRUMP - Reuters

A U.S. occupation “won’t cost us a penny” because the United States would be reimbursed from the “money coming out of the ground,” Trump said, referring to Venezuela’s oil reserves, a subject he returned to repeatedly during Saturday’s press conference.

Trump said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been in touch with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez — Maduro’s presumptive successor.

“’We’ll do whatever you need,’” Trump quoted Rodriguez as saying. “She really doesn’t have a choice.”

“‘The hour of freedom has arrived’ says Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado”

“We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it... This is the hour of the citizens. Those of us who risked everything for democracy on June 28 (the date of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election).”

Por ‘La muy seria’, Paula.

HAPPY 2026!!

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THE VERY STRANGE CASE OF IMRAN AHMED

‘Are we going to live in a world where some American puts up a social media post and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested?’ Rubio asked

Probably not.

British tech campaigner Imran Ahmed on Friday decried a US visa ban as “punishment” for his organization’s work combating disinformation and holding major online platforms accountable, telling AFP that Washington’s actions amounted to “tyrannical behavior.”

Ahmed, a US permanent resident, heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit watchdog that researches the harmful effects of online disinformation. He was among five European figures whom the State Department recently said would be denied visas.

The department accused the group of attempting to “coerce” tech platforms into censoring Americans’ viewpoints, a charge they reject. The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the US sanctions.

The US announcement came after the International Fact-Checking Network said last month it was “deeply concerned” by reports the State Department had instructed staff to deny visas to people engaged in fact-checking and content moderation.

AFP spoke with Ahmed after he sued President Donald Trump’s administration in a New York court. - AFP

So where is this now? Ask Sayer Ji, an American man most at-risk of being dragged by Ahmed’s unenforceable authority.

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