THE GUARDIAN: Washington keeping 15,000-strong military presence in Caribbean in case interim president hinders US objectives
The prospect of the United States seizing direct control of Venezuela appeared to recede on Sunday after the shocking seizure of President Nicolás Maduro – but US officials said Washington was keeping a 15,000-strong force in the Caribbean and might make a fresh military intervention if Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, did not accommodate their demands.
While Rodríguez kept up a defiant tone in public, the substance of conversations she had had in private with US officials was not clear.
In the aftermath of Maduro’s abduction on Saturday, Donald Trump said the US would “run” the South American country of 30 million people. On Sunday he warned Rodríguez to heed US wishes. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” he told the Atlantic.
Rodríguez, 56, had on Saturday pledged fealty to Maduro and condemned his capture as an “atrocity” but the New York Times reported that Trump officials several weeks ago identified the technocrat as a potential successor and business partner partly on the basis of her relationship with Wall Street and oil companies.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, spoke to Rodríguez, who told him “‘we’ll do whatever you need’”, Trump told reporters. “She, I think, was quite gracious, but she really doesn’t have a choice.”
In the capital, Caracas, senior government and military figures demanded the return of Maduro but pledged support for Rodríguez as a stand-in leader and called for a return to normality. » | Patricia Torres in Caracas, Tom Phillips in Bogotá and Rory Carroll | Sunday, January 4, 2026
Monday, January 05, 2026
Sunday, January 04, 2026
What Might the US Do Next after Venezuela? | Inside Story
Jan 4, 2026 | The US capture of Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro has been sharply criticised by his allies - but not by Western nations, despite questions about its legality. So, does the operation signal a new aggressive US strategy - and what might the global impact be?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Charles Shapiro - a former US Ambassador to Venezuela under President George W. Bush.
Stefan Wolff - Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Ernesto Castaneda - Director of the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at the American University in Washington DC.
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Charles Shapiro - a former US Ambassador to Venezuela under President George W. Bush.
Stefan Wolff - Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Ernesto Castaneda - Director of the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at the American University in Washington DC.
US Attack on Venezuela: How We Got Here, What Next and Was It Legal?
Trump’s Venezuela Power Grab: 'He Wants Oil and to Give Deals to His Cronies’ | Sidney Blumenthal
Jan 4, 2026 | “Trump wants money. He wants the oil. He wants to give deals to, his cronies, possibly himself.”
Trump’s Venezuela takeover is driven by greed, not democracy, says Sidney Blumenthal, former advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Trump couldn’t run a casino without it going bankrupt, so how can he be expected to run America AND Venezuela? The man must be living in Cloud Cuckoo Land! — © Mark Alexander
Trump’s Venezuela takeover is driven by greed, not democracy, says Sidney Blumenthal, former advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Trump couldn’t run a casino without it going bankrupt, so how can he be expected to run America AND Venezuela? The man must be living in Cloud Cuckoo Land! — © Mark Alexander
There Is No Authority’ for US to Enter Venezuela and Oust Maduro: Schumer
Rubio: Maduro Ouster Is ‘Not about Securing the Oil Fields’
Another politician, another pack of lies! — © Mark Alexander
Trump Has Made the US a ‘Rogue State’, Says International Relations Expert
Jan 4, 2026 | “Even by the record of American imperial interventions in Latin America, this is quite breath-taking.”
Trump’s actions in Venezuela represent a disregard for international law and established norms, making the US a “rogue state”, says Queen Mary University international relations professor Lee Jones.
Trump’s actions in Venezuela represent a disregard for international law and established norms, making the US a “rogue state”, says Queen Mary University international relations professor Lee Jones.
Mexico’s President Condemns US ‘Intervention’ in Venezuela
Le Danemark appelle au «respect» de l'intégrité du Groenland après un tweet polémique de l'épouse d'un conseiller de Trump
LE FIGARO : La femme du directeur de cabinet adjoint à la Maison-Blanche, Stephen Miller, a partagé une carte du Groenland aux couleurs du drapeau américain, assortie d’une courte légende en capitales : «SOON» (bientôt).
Le Danemark et le Groenland ont appelé dimanche au «respect» de l'intégrité territoriale du territoire autonome, après le tweet de la femme du directeur de cabinet adjoint à la Maison-Blanche, Stephen Miller, ayant partagé une carte du Groenland aux couleurs américaines. Katie Miller a publié samedi sur son compte X une carte du Groenland colorée aux couleurs du drapeau américain, assortie d'une courte légende en capitales : «SOON» (bientôt).
Le Groenland est convoité par Donald Trump, au grand dam du Danemark, et les tensions entre les deux pays ont été relancées par l'annonce fin décembre par Donald Trump de la nomination d'un envoyé spécial pour ce vaste territoire autonome danois. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | dimanche 4 janvier 2026
Le Danemark et le Groenland ont appelé dimanche au «respect» de l'intégrité territoriale du territoire autonome, après le tweet de la femme du directeur de cabinet adjoint à la Maison-Blanche, Stephen Miller, ayant partagé une carte du Groenland aux couleurs américaines. Katie Miller a publié samedi sur son compte X une carte du Groenland colorée aux couleurs du drapeau américain, assortie d'une courte légende en capitales : «SOON» (bientôt).
Le Groenland est convoité par Donald Trump, au grand dam du Danemark, et les tensions entre les deux pays ont été relancées par l'annonce fin décembre par Donald Trump de la nomination d'un envoyé spécial pour ce vaste territoire autonome danois. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | dimanche 4 janvier 2026
04/01/2026 - Another Cold Night for All - Evening Weather Forecast UK – Met Office Weather
Trump Plunges the U.S. Into a New Era of Risk in Venezuela
THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Trump opened a new chapter in American nation building as he declared that the United States had toppled Venezuela’s leader and would “run” the country for an indefinite period.
President Trump’s declaration on Saturday that the United States planned to “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period, issuing orders to its government and exploiting its vast oil reserves, plunged the United States into a risky new era in which it will seek economic and political dominance over a nation of roughly 30 million people.
Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago private club just hours after Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, and his wife were seized from their bedroom by U.S. forces, Mr. Trump told reporters that Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Mr. Maduro’s vice president, would hold power in Venezuela as long as she “does what we want.”
Ms. Rodríguez, however, showed little public interest in doing the Americans’ bidding. In a national address, she accused Washington of invading her country under false pretenses and asserted that Mr. Maduro was still Venezuela’s head of state. “What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity,” she said.
Mr. Trump and his top national security advisers carefully avoided describing their plans for Venezuela as an occupation, akin to what the United States did after defeating Japan, or toppling Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Instead, they vaguely sketched out an arrangement similar to a guardianship: The United States will provide a vision for how Venezuela should be run and will expect the interim government to carry that out in a transition period, under the threat of further military intervention. » | David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager | David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager are White House correspondents. | Published: Saturday, January 3, 2026. Updated: Sunday, January 4, 2026
Just imagine how much safer and stabler the world would be today had the powers-that-be had the courage to incarcerate Trump when they had a golden opportunity to do so! Many Americans must surely be rueing the lack of courage. Now, we have to ask how many innocent Americans are going to have to lose their lives in the ensuing conflagrations after this extra-judicial kidnapping of a world leader.
The USA has lost its lustre as a result of this military operation which has questionable legitimacy. For certain, the world can no longer look up to the USA for leadership for moral clarity.
Donald Trump was re-elected on the promise that he would put an end to the ‘forever wars’. But here Americans are again: up to their necks in military conflict. And Venezuela won’t be the last. In fact, it is almost certainly just the start. We already know that Trump is suffering from megalomania. We also know that he has several countries in his crosshairs. Greenland, Canada, and Panama to name just a few. Cuba had better start preparing for the worst, too.
Not so long ago, many feared that Trump was planning on taking the country back to the 50s. To the previous century would be a more accurate description! — © Mark Alexander
President Trump’s declaration on Saturday that the United States planned to “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period, issuing orders to its government and exploiting its vast oil reserves, plunged the United States into a risky new era in which it will seek economic and political dominance over a nation of roughly 30 million people.
Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago private club just hours after Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, and his wife were seized from their bedroom by U.S. forces, Mr. Trump told reporters that Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Mr. Maduro’s vice president, would hold power in Venezuela as long as she “does what we want.”
Ms. Rodríguez, however, showed little public interest in doing the Americans’ bidding. In a national address, she accused Washington of invading her country under false pretenses and asserted that Mr. Maduro was still Venezuela’s head of state. “What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity,” she said.
Mr. Trump and his top national security advisers carefully avoided describing their plans for Venezuela as an occupation, akin to what the United States did after defeating Japan, or toppling Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Instead, they vaguely sketched out an arrangement similar to a guardianship: The United States will provide a vision for how Venezuela should be run and will expect the interim government to carry that out in a transition period, under the threat of further military intervention. » | David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager | David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager are White House correspondents. | Published: Saturday, January 3, 2026. Updated: Sunday, January 4, 2026
Just imagine how much safer and stabler the world would be today had the powers-that-be had the courage to incarcerate Trump when they had a golden opportunity to do so! Many Americans must surely be rueing the lack of courage. Now, we have to ask how many innocent Americans are going to have to lose their lives in the ensuing conflagrations after this extra-judicial kidnapping of a world leader.
The USA has lost its lustre as a result of this military operation which has questionable legitimacy. For certain, the world can no longer look up to the USA for leadership for moral clarity.
Donald Trump was re-elected on the promise that he would put an end to the ‘forever wars’. But here Americans are again: up to their necks in military conflict. And Venezuela won’t be the last. In fact, it is almost certainly just the start. We already know that Trump is suffering from megalomania. We also know that he has several countries in his crosshairs. Greenland, Canada, and Panama to name just a few. Cuba had better start preparing for the worst, too.
Not so long ago, many feared that Trump was planning on taking the country back to the 50s. To the previous century would be a more accurate description! — © Mark Alexander
Trump Deciding Who Will Run Venezuela Sends 'Strong Signal’ to Putin and Xi Jinping | Ben Wallace
Jan 4, 2026 | “You cannot have the person who removes the head of state suddenly deciding who’s going to run it.”
Trump has said the US will ‘run’ Venezuela, but that move will send ‘a very strong signal’ to Russia and China.
Everyone keeps saying that Nicolás Maduro stole the last election, but did he REALLY? Have these people got definitive PROOF of that? Or is this just a myth that is being put out there because the result of the election didn’t conform to everyone’s wishes?
I am not on anyone’s side here: I am merely asking pertinent questions. And in my long life’s experience, I discovered long ago that politicians say things—whether true or not—to justify their actions. — © Mark Alexander
Trump has said the US will ‘run’ Venezuela, but that move will send ‘a very strong signal’ to Russia and China.
Everyone keeps saying that Nicolás Maduro stole the last election, but did he REALLY? Have these people got definitive PROOF of that? Or is this just a myth that is being put out there because the result of the election didn’t conform to everyone’s wishes?
I am not on anyone’s side here: I am merely asking pertinent questions. And in my long life’s experience, I discovered long ago that politicians say things—whether true or not—to justify their actions. — © Mark Alexander
Europas Ratlosigkeit nach Maduro-Festnahme: Viel Moral, wenig Macht
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Im Globalen Süden wird genau beobachtet, wie Europa reagiert. Nach der Maduro-Festnahme wirkt die EU zerrissen, defensiv und politisch entkernt.
Die Festnahme des venezolanischen Präsidenten Nicolás Maduro durch amerikanische Spezialkräfte hat die Europäische Union kalt erwischt. Während Washington mit militärischer Entschlossenheit „in seinem Hinterhof“ Fakten schafft, herrscht in Brüssel am Tag danach vor allem eines: strategische Orientierungslosigkeit. Die neue amerikanische Sicherheitsstrategie trifft die EU nun besonders ins Mark.
Offiziell reagiert Brüssel mit üblichen diplomatischen Floskeln. Die EU-Außenbeauftragte Kaja Kallas erklärt, man habe Maduros Legitimität seit 2021 nie anerkannt und setze auf einen „friedlichen Übergang“. Zugleich mahnt die Estin, die innerhalb der US-Regierung praktisch keine Verbündeten hat, zu Zurückhaltung sowie zur Einhaltung des Völkerrechts. Es ist die altbekannte europäische Doppelbotschaft, die vor allem eines verrät: Unsicherheit. » | Nicolas Butylin | Sonntag 4 Januar 2026
Die Festnahme des venezolanischen Präsidenten Nicolás Maduro durch amerikanische Spezialkräfte hat die Europäische Union kalt erwischt. Während Washington mit militärischer Entschlossenheit „in seinem Hinterhof“ Fakten schafft, herrscht in Brüssel am Tag danach vor allem eines: strategische Orientierungslosigkeit. Die neue amerikanische Sicherheitsstrategie trifft die EU nun besonders ins Mark.
Offiziell reagiert Brüssel mit üblichen diplomatischen Floskeln. Die EU-Außenbeauftragte Kaja Kallas erklärt, man habe Maduros Legitimität seit 2021 nie anerkannt und setze auf einen „friedlichen Übergang“. Zugleich mahnt die Estin, die innerhalb der US-Regierung praktisch keine Verbündeten hat, zu Zurückhaltung sowie zur Einhaltung des Völkerrechts. Es ist die altbekannte europäische Doppelbotschaft, die vor allem eines verrät: Unsicherheit. » | Nicolas Butylin | Sonntag 4 Januar 2026
À Cuba, après l’attaque américaine au Venezuela, la crainte et l’espoir
LE FIGARO : Si le régime cubain condamne fermement l’intervention militaire au Venezuela, les habitants sont très partagés sur les conséquences à venir pour Cuba.
« Je suis contente, le Venezuela est libre. J’espère qu’après Caracas, ce sera au tour de Cuba », confie Camila[1], une ancienne restauratrice havanaise, émue du renversement de Nicolás Maduro par les forces spéciales de Donald Trump. L’intervention militaire des États-Unis contre Caracas et l’enlèvement du dictateur Nicolás Maduro et de son épouse Cilia Flores par l’administration américaine a suscité une réaction immédiate de La Havane. «Cuba dénonce et exige d’urgence une réaction de la communauté internationale face à l’attaque criminelle menée par les États-Unis contre le Venezuela», a écrit le président cubain Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, qui s’oppose au «terrorisme d’État contre le courageux peuple vénézuélien et contre notre Amérique» sur son compte X.
Si le premier ministre, Manuel Marrero Cruz, a appelé à une mobilisation de la communauté internationale pour défendre l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes pour en faire une zone de paix, le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, a souligné que ces «actions militaires contre Caracas et d’autres localités du pays sont des actes lâches contre une nation qui n’a attaqué ni les États-Unis ni aucun autre pays». » | Par Hector Lemieux | samedi 5 janvier 2026
Réservé aux abonnés
« Je suis contente, le Venezuela est libre. J’espère qu’après Caracas, ce sera au tour de Cuba », confie Camila[1], une ancienne restauratrice havanaise, émue du renversement de Nicolás Maduro par les forces spéciales de Donald Trump. L’intervention militaire des États-Unis contre Caracas et l’enlèvement du dictateur Nicolás Maduro et de son épouse Cilia Flores par l’administration américaine a suscité une réaction immédiate de La Havane. «Cuba dénonce et exige d’urgence une réaction de la communauté internationale face à l’attaque criminelle menée par les États-Unis contre le Venezuela», a écrit le président cubain Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, qui s’oppose au «terrorisme d’État contre le courageux peuple vénézuélien et contre notre Amérique» sur son compte X.
Si le premier ministre, Manuel Marrero Cruz, a appelé à une mobilisation de la communauté internationale pour défendre l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes pour en faire une zone de paix, le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, a souligné que ces «actions militaires contre Caracas et d’autres localités du pays sont des actes lâches contre une nation qui n’a attaqué ni les États-Unis ni aucun autre pays». » | Par Hector Lemieux | samedi 5 janvier 2026
Réservé aux abonnés
Today, Trump’s Target Was Caracas. What Tomorrow?
THE GUARDIAN: He took office promising to annex Greenland and take back the Panama Canal. Now that he has ousted Maduro, other countries could be next
“This is genius,” Donald Trump enthused. It was February 22, 2022. Vladimir Putin had just declared parts of eastern Ukraine to be independent and sent in Russian troops to serve as so-called peacekeepers. The once and future American president was impressed, even inspired. “We could use that on our southern border,” Trump mused.
Trump didn’t know then that he was speaking at the start of a full-scale invasion that has lasted nearly four years and inflicted upwards of 1.5 million casualties and counting. And Trump doesn’t know now what he has unleashed in Venezuela. The South American country is not Ukraine, nor, for that matter, is it Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya. But by ordering military strikes to seize dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump has thrown a country of around 28 million people into uncertainty and tossed aside the most obvious, hard-won lesson of decades of US foreign policy failures: regime-change wars are easy to start and hard to win, much less to turn into anything resembling genuine success.
So far, Trump has taken step one, if that. He has yet to bring down Venezuela’s regime, only to decapitate it, scooping up the man at the top. In his speech announcing the war, however, Trump played the conquering hero. The president boasted at length about the “overwhelming military power” he had exhibited, as though the United States did not possess a long record of smashing operational triumphs — recall “shock and awe” in Baghdad — that gave way to strategic disaster. » | Stephen Wertheim* | Sunday, January 4, 2026
* Stephen Wertheim is a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School
“This is genius,” Donald Trump enthused. It was February 22, 2022. Vladimir Putin had just declared parts of eastern Ukraine to be independent and sent in Russian troops to serve as so-called peacekeepers. The once and future American president was impressed, even inspired. “We could use that on our southern border,” Trump mused.
Trump didn’t know then that he was speaking at the start of a full-scale invasion that has lasted nearly four years and inflicted upwards of 1.5 million casualties and counting. And Trump doesn’t know now what he has unleashed in Venezuela. The South American country is not Ukraine, nor, for that matter, is it Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya. But by ordering military strikes to seize dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump has thrown a country of around 28 million people into uncertainty and tossed aside the most obvious, hard-won lesson of decades of US foreign policy failures: regime-change wars are easy to start and hard to win, much less to turn into anything resembling genuine success.
So far, Trump has taken step one, if that. He has yet to bring down Venezuela’s regime, only to decapitate it, scooping up the man at the top. In his speech announcing the war, however, Trump played the conquering hero. The president boasted at length about the “overwhelming military power” he had exhibited, as though the United States did not possess a long record of smashing operational triumphs — recall “shock and awe” in Baghdad — that gave way to strategic disaster. » | Stephen Wertheim* | Sunday, January 4, 2026
* Stephen Wertheim is a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School
Unsealed Indictment Reveals Charges against Nicolás Maduro and His Wife
THE GUARDIAN: Venezuelan president accused of running a ‘corrupt’ government fuelled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded US with cocaine
A newly unsealed US justice department indictment accuses the captured Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fuelled by an extensive drug-trafficking operation that flooded the US with thousands of tons of cocaine.
The arrest of Maduro and his wife in a stunning military operation early on Saturday in Venezuela sets the stage for a major test for US prosecutors as they seek to secure a conviction in a Manhattan courtroom against the longtime leader of the oil-rich South American nation.
The attorney general, Pam Bondi, said in a post on X that Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts”. » | Associated Press | Sunday, January 4, 2026
King Don and his regime have got a nerve to accuse Nicolás Maduro and his wife of corruption! Is Dementia Don trying to say that he and his cronies cannot be accused of the same? Further, as for drug-trafficking, I don’t believe it. And you shouldn’t either. In any case, if King Don cared about drug-trafficking, he wouldn’t have pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras from jail. — © Mark Alexander
A newly unsealed US justice department indictment accuses the captured Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fuelled by an extensive drug-trafficking operation that flooded the US with thousands of tons of cocaine.
The arrest of Maduro and his wife in a stunning military operation early on Saturday in Venezuela sets the stage for a major test for US prosecutors as they seek to secure a conviction in a Manhattan courtroom against the longtime leader of the oil-rich South American nation.
The attorney general, Pam Bondi, said in a post on X that Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts”. » | Associated Press | Sunday, January 4, 2026
King Don and his regime have got a nerve to accuse Nicolás Maduro and his wife of corruption! Is Dementia Don trying to say that he and his cronies cannot be accused of the same? Further, as for drug-trafficking, I don’t believe it. And you shouldn’t either. In any case, if King Don cared about drug-trafficking, he wouldn’t have pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras from jail. — © Mark Alexander
Brexit Shock: 62% Now Want to Re-join EU
I, for one, would welcome getting rid of the pound! Long-term, the value of the pound has gone down and down. In fact, since the end of World War One, the pound has approximately halved in value every ten years! Yes, its value goes up for a while now and then, but the long-term trend is DOWN! Not wanting to relinquish the pound sterling is no argument for not re-joining the European Union. — © Mark Alexander
Crans-Montana: Wie es zum Brand kam
Trump Attacks Venezuela and Kidnaps Their President
Strong language alert!
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