Merged Peace President invades Venezuela,/U.S. Forces Capture Maduro

[theprestige]

Ukrainian propaganda is claiming that Maduro was protected by an outer ring of Russian mercenaries, and an inner ring of Cuban janissaries. That the Russians withdrew rather than confront the American raiders. That the Cubans stood their ground and were massacred. That the whole thing embarrasses Putin, and makes it clear Moscow never thought Venezuela was worth fighting for, and Maduro never worth defending.

 

[junkshop]

Ukrainian propaganda is claiming that Maduro was protected by an outer ring of Russian mercenaries, and an inner ring of Cuban janissaries. That the Russians withdrew rather than confront the American raiders. That the Cubans stood their ground and were massacred. That the whole thing embarrasses Putin, and makes it clear Moscow never thought Venezuela was worth fighting for, and Maduro never worth defending.

Citation, please.

 

[Emily's Cat]

I assume that was a typo, and you meant a UN embargo.

To be fair, I know it's an embargo by somebody with the power to enforce it. I assumed US, but if it was UN I don't know that it makes any real difference to what I was saying. Overall point being that Maduro was violating that embargo, got warned, then escalated through a couple of steps... and then because it's Trump it got dialed up to 11 and went all the way to extraordinary rendition.

 

[theprestige]

Citation, please.

 

[junkshop]

Thank you.

 

[dirtywick]

i don't really want my youtube jammed up with ukranian stuff so i looked up and it seems cuba also claims 32 cuban officers were killed

Cuba releases details of 32 officers killed in US strike on Venezuela as US defends attack - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale

HAVANA (AP) — The names, ranks and ages of the 32 Cuban military personnel killed during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S.<a class="excerpt-read-more"...

wsvn.com

 

[dirtywick]

US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’

Chief executive Darren Woods pushes back against president’s call to rush back into troubled country

www.ft.com

exxon mobile calls venezuela uninvestable

 

[Lukraak_Sisser]

US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’

Chief executive Darren Woods pushes back against president’s call to rush back into troubled country

www.ft.com

exxon mobile calls venezuela uninvestable

*sigh* once more for the slow of learning.

Trump (singlehandedly) captured Maduro.
So Trump now owns Venezuela (regardless of what the Venezuelans or the rest of the world thinks)
So investing in Venezuela = giving lots of money to Trump.
And if you don't ICE will come visit.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

I know. Between FN, and HK battling for the soul of the US Army I feel like I should be offended we don't buy American any more, but their stuff is so good.

I can remember being genuinely surprised when the US chose a Beretta pistol as the winner to replace the all-American 1911, but US procurement is able to look past not-invented-here chauvinism. The sticking point is whether the design can be licence built in the US so they're never beholden to a foreign supplier in an emergency.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

Maduro was actively violating a US embargo on oil sales to Russia and China.

Is there a US embargo on selling oil to Russia and China? Serious question.

People tend to throw the word embargo around rather carelessly but I thought an embargo was like a boycott - it was an agreement not to buy. Does the US really have a policy stating "nobody can sell oil to those guys"? Or perhaps a policy stating "Venezuela can't sell oil to anybody"?

 

[LiteBright]

I'm not sure if its been mentioned but the economist did a good analysis of Venezuela's oil reserves and they aren't as impressive as is touted.

They do produce some of the lighter type crude but mostly from offshore rigs and while production from those could be increased somewhat, that wouldn't really lead to a substantial increase in output. By far, the majority of the oil is heavy crude that is very costly to access and refine. Companies only become interested when the price of oil is high and forecast to stay high. But right now, there is a glut of oil and the price is relatively low and forecast to be lower by year's end so no company is going to be interested. With oil use currently forecast to peak around 2030 and then begin dropping as the world begins to electrify (a forecast I'm not sure I agree with), its not likely to ever be worth extracting.

They did an analysis of world oil reserves that are economically viable at current price trends and Venezuela only came in 17th on the list.

 

[dirtywick]

Is there a US embargo on selling oil to Russia and China? Serious question.

People tend to throw the word embargo around rather carelessly but I thought an embargo was like a boycott - it was an agreement not to buy. Does the US really have a policy stating "nobody can sell oil to those guys"? Or perhaps a policy stating "Venezuela can't sell oil to anybody"?

i talked about this earlier but the sanctions are economic sanctions, which isn't saying they can't sell oil but rather that it can't be traded on the us dollar system by american institutions. which, effectively, limited a lot of trading partners they would have since many banks didn't want to run afoul of the us and be sanctioned along with them. which is why they would only deal with certain nations like russia or china, who are already heavily sanctioned and not really in danger of losing anything by being excluded from those financial systems.

this is the power of the dollar reserve currency

Venezuela Oil Embargo: How US Sanctions Work and What They Mean for Gas Prices

Research Report 40 facts checked · 40 sources reviewed Verified: Jan 6, 2026 Fact Check (40 claims) 40 Author Assertions On January 6, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States would keep the oil embargo to force Venezuela to make specific changes. Three days earlier...

govfacts.org

an explanation of how it works

 

[P.J. Denyer]

*sigh* once more for the slow of learning.

Trump (singlehandedly) captured Maduro.
So Trump now owns Venezuela (regardless of what the Venezuelans or the rest of the world thinks)
So investing in Venezuela = giving lots of money to Trump.
And if you don't ICE will come visit.

The US are basically Necromongers now.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Leavitt telling us to read a fake story

Karoline Leavitt
@PressSec
Stop what you are doing and read this…

https://twitter.com/x/status/2009997866425897308

 

[theprestige]

I know. Between FN, and HK battling for the soul of the US Army I feel like I should be offended we don't buy American any more, but their stuff is so good.

When did FN and HK become global logistics powerhouses? No army in the history of the world has housed its soul in the small arms issued to its infantry.

 

[Axxman300]

When did FN and HK become global logistics powerhouses? No army in the history of the world has housed its soul in the small arms issued to its infantry.

The bigger question is why did Colt and Browning implode. And the infantry is everything. Dropping bombs and raining artillery is cool and everything, but you need to take and hold ground...something we are not doing in Venezuela, which should be another question for our moronic leadership, but our press can't nut up and ask.

 

[Axxman300]

Leavitt telling us to read a fake story

Karoline Leavitt
@PressSec
Stop what you are doing and read this…

https://twitter.com/x/status/2009997866425897308

Americans are numb to the lies from this White House. Leavitt has access to the after-action reports, she can get redacted copies, and quote them, and release them. But no, she's on social media...because of course she is.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Translation: Russia and China object to their enemy (the US) taking action to deny their countries resources (oil) obtained from stolen US properties (US oil rigs "nationalized" by the dictator of Venezuela).

That nationalisation happened in 1976. That’s 50 years ago. And at that time, the US oil companies were not marched away from their offices at gunpoint. They simply wound up operations, shut the plants down, and left. Nothing was "stolen".

Maduro was actively violating a US embargo on oil sales to Russia and China. US warned Maduro to stop, and they didn't. US blockaded boats, and they kept pushing. US seized boats, and Maduro taunted the US and kept pushing. So the US enforced the embargo in a very aggressive fashion. It wasn't nice, it wasn't pretty, it wasn't friendly and meek. But tactically? Highly effective.

Would you accept another country telling the USA who they could or could not sell product to?

My personal feelings about the ethics of the situation aren't particularly pertinent to observing that we too a materially effective step to deny our enemies access to a vital resource.

"Enemies"?? Since when was Venezuela or Maduro an enemy? Or is an enemy someone who doesn't kow-tow to you? Because there's 8 billion enemies out there if so.