(01-04-2026 07:50 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  I dont do this news or twitter following like some of you, just not my thing but I was wondering.....

has anything came out about America having any inside help in this?

It's not like they just landed on the guys lawn went in while he was a sleep, quietly. From the pictures there was a fight put up, for at least a few minutes. So you would think the president of a country would have had the time to get into his bunker.

Not directly but they have said the CIA has been in Caracas for several weeks tracking his every move.

(01-05-2026 01:28 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 10:34 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 08:06 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  It's also worth noting Venezuela held elections for the first time in several years and over seventy percent voted for Maduro's opponent, but he refused to leave. (Didn't leftists accuse Trump of doing the same thing after the 2020 election, which has been exposed more and more as fraudulent? Why, yes. Yes, they did.)

Also, I think Trump was saying Machado didn't have enough support and respect in the Venezuelan government as it stands now. I could be wrong on that.

Finally, it's rather telling that the left held all these "No Kings!" protests only for Trump to remove an actual dictator and for them to be livid. They don't care about "no kings"; they just Trump. That's all this is. And they're trying to lecture Venezuelans who are celebrating this, only for the Venezuelans celebrating to tell them they don't know what they're talking about. (And of course, the left doesn't know what they're talking about.)

Well to be completely honest, Maduro won the official count 52-43%. The opposition’s analysis showed massive fraud and they believe they won overwhelmingly on legal votes.

bullet, with all due respect, my friend, even the Biden Administration didn't recognize him as the legitimate President of Venezuela. That should tell you something.

Your statement was misleading implying the official vote was proven to be 70-30 and they ignored it. They manipulated it.

(01-05-2026 09:51 AM)Was SoMs Eagle Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 09:50 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 09:43 AM)Was SoMs Eagle Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 01:28 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 10:34 PM)bullet Wrote:  Well to be completely honest, Maduro won the official count 52-43%. The opposition’s analysis showed massive fraud and they believe they won overwhelmingly on legal votes.

bullet, with all due respect, my friend, even the Biden Administration didn't recognize him as the legitimate President of Venezuela. That should tell you something.

Yeah, as the old saying goes, Biden was one so he knew one. The exit polls in maduro’s last election were about 75% against him. He stole it. Just like Biden did.

using the same company to do it.

I hope we learn the truth there but if there is a profound truth we will probably never know it.

If it was a coordinated campaign, people would be bragging about it. It was just a continuation of what big city Democrats have been doing all along but on a massive scale with some winks and nods.

(01-05-2026 09:56 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 01:28 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 10:34 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 08:06 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  It's also worth noting Venezuela held elections for the first time in several years and over seventy percent voted for Maduro's opponent, but he refused to leave. (Didn't leftists accuse Trump of doing the same thing after the 2020 election, which has been exposed more and more as fraudulent? Why, yes. Yes, they did.)

Also, I think Trump was saying Machado didn't have enough support and respect in the Venezuelan government as it stands now. I could be wrong on that.

Finally, it's rather telling that the left held all these "No Kings!" protests only for Trump to remove an actual dictator and for them to be livid. They don't care about "no kings"; they just Trump. That's all this is. And they're trying to lecture Venezuelans who are celebrating this, only for the Venezuelans celebrating to tell them they don't know what they're talking about. (And of course, the left doesn't know what they're talking about.)

Well to be completely honest, Maduro won the official count 52-43%. The opposition’s analysis showed massive fraud and they believe they won overwhelmingly on legal votes.

bullet, with all due respect, my friend, even the Biden Administration didn't recognize him as the legitimate President of Venezuela. That should tell you something.

Your statement was misleading implying the official vote was proven to be 70-30 and they ignored it. They manipulated it.

Fair point. Still, Both the Biden and Second Trump Administrations didn't recognize him a legitimate, same with over sixty countries from around the world.

(01-05-2026 09:53 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 07:50 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  I dont do this news or twitter following like some of you, just not my thing but I was wondering.....

has anything came out about America having any inside help in this?

It's not like they just landed on the guys lawn went in while he was a sleep, quietly. From the pictures there was a fight put up, for at least a few minutes. So you would think the president of a country would have had the time to get into his bunker.

Not directly but they have said the CIA has been in Caracas for several weeks tracking his every move.

Yep. Several weeks and maybe even as many as six months. (I thought I heard that earlier, but I could be wrong.)

(01-05-2026 09:43 AM)Was SoMs Eagle Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 01:28 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 10:34 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 08:06 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  It's also worth noting Venezuela held elections for the first time in several years and over seventy percent voted for Maduro's opponent, but he refused to leave. (Didn't leftists accuse Trump of doing the same thing after the 2020 election, which has been exposed more and more as fraudulent? Why, yes. Yes, they did.)

Also, I think Trump was saying Machado didn't have enough support and respect in the Venezuelan government as it stands now. I could be wrong on that.

Finally, it's rather telling that the left held all these "No Kings!" protests only for Trump to remove an actual dictator and for them to be livid. They don't care about "no kings"; they just Trump. That's all this is. And they're trying to lecture Venezuelans who are celebrating this, only for the Venezuelans celebrating to tell them they don't know what they're talking about. (And of course, the left doesn't know what they're talking about.)

Well to be completely honest, Maduro won the official count 52-43%. The opposition’s analysis showed massive fraud and they believe they won overwhelmingly on legal votes.

bullet, with all due respect, my friend, even the Biden Administration didn't recognize him as the legitimate President of Venezuela. That should tell you something.

Yeah, as the old saying goes, Biden was one so he knew one. The exit polls in maduro’s last election were about 75% against him. He stole it. Just like Biden did.

To clarify, it was stolen for Biden not by Biden. I am not sure JB can even make a piece of toast. You know - the thing.

(01-05-2026 10:17 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 09:53 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-04-2026 07:50 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  I dont do this news or twitter following like some of you, just not my thing but I was wondering.....

has anything came out about America having any inside help in this?

It's not like they just landed on the guys lawn went in while he was a sleep, quietly. From the pictures there was a fight put up, for at least a few minutes. So you would think the president of a country would have had the time to get into his bunker.

Not directly but they have said the CIA has been in Caracas for several weeks tracking his every move.

Yep. Several weeks and maybe even as many as six months. (I thought I heard that earlier, but I could be wrong.)

Since August.

Late to the game here, but I have no issues with removing that despicable man. I do, however, worry that we've just created a power vacuum in that country that will allow another tyrant to take over. The VP is illegimate but now in power, but who has their claws into her?

(01-05-2026 12:06 PM)mlb Wrote:  Late to the game here, but I have no issues with removing that despicable man. I do, however, worry that we've just created a power vacuum in that country that will allow another tyrant to take over. The VP is illegimate but now in power, but who has their claws into her?

It feels like nabbing the turd was a show of force. If the government in place still doesn't play ball, a full military intervention will probably be required. It will likely come down to which side the military is going to take. If the US can gain support from the VZ military, they will do the dirty work.

At this point it's acquiesce or face annihilation

(01-05-2026 12:06 PM)mlb Wrote:  Late to the game here, but I have no issues with removing that despicable man. I do, however, worry that we've just created a power vacuum in that country that will allow another tyrant to take over. The VP is illegimate but now in power, but who has their claws into her?

You have some catching up to do. First thing. Trump said immediately that we will now "run the government" until we can have a "safe, proper and judicious transition."

In that vein, we decided to leave the current Maduro government in power until V can have free and fair elections. That will take a while, b/c the process is incredibly corrupted at the moment.

We were concerned that if we removed them now, the country would collapse into anarchy.

So Delcey Rodriquez and the other Maduro leftovers are just a stopgap until we can have democratic elections.

When she was first appointed, she came out with a belligerent statement about fighting oppression by the US. Trump immediately said publicly that she is not in charge, and if she doesn't cooperate, she will suffer a fate worse than Maduro (in other words, another strike can be arranged where she doesn't survive).

Within hours, she issued another statement with a totally cooperative tone. And here we are.

Oh, we also have 1/3 of our naval power sitting right off her coast. And we have embargoed their oil production, and intend to eventually bring in American companies to rebuild their oil infrastructure, which is currently in disrepair, so the country can eventually prosper again. V has the largest oil reserves on earth, even more than the Saudis.

Clear example of FAFO.

(01-05-2026 12:11 PM)bobdizole Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 12:06 PM)mlb Wrote:  Late to the game here, but I have no issues with removing that despicable man. I do, however, worry that we've just created a power vacuum in that country that will allow another tyrant to take over. The VP is illegimate but now in power, but who has their claws into her?

It feels like nabbing the turd was a show of force. If the government in place still doesn't play ball, a full military intervention will probably be required. It will likely come down to which side the military is going to take. If the US can gain support from the VZ military, they will do the dirty work.

At this point it's acquiesce or face annihilation

Ive seen several reports that indicate there was a significant gun fight at the Maduro residence where Delta essentially wiped out the presidential protection force. I would suspect the military, having seen the kind of things the US can do on a small scale, may not be all that gung ho to fight when push comes to shove. While I dont think taking out the Venezuelan military would be that hard, a long term grinding guerrilla operation by small groups of true believers is something that is much more difficult to deal with. Its why I'd rather a pro-American regime change solution that leaves their military intact so whoever takes over will have a viable force to handle that problem on their own.

(01-05-2026 12:22 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 12:11 PM)bobdizole Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 12:06 PM)mlb Wrote:  Late to the game here, but I have no issues with removing that despicable man. I do, however, worry that we've just created a power vacuum in that country that will allow another tyrant to take over. The VP is illegimate but now in power, but who has their claws into her?

It feels like nabbing the turd was a show of force. If the government in place still doesn't play ball, a full military intervention will probably be required. It will likely come down to which side the military is going to take. If the US can gain support from the VZ military, they will do the dirty work.

At this point it's acquiesce or face annihilation

Ive seen several reports that indicate there was a significant gun fight at the Maduro residence where Delta essentially wiped out the presidential protection force. I would suspect the military, having seen the kind of things the US can do on a small scale, may not be all that gung ho to fight when push comes to shove. While I dont think taking out the Venezuelan military would be that hard, a long term grinding guerrilla operation by small groups of true believers is something that is much more difficult to deal with. Its why I'd rather a pro-American regime change solution that leaves their military intact so whoever takes over will have a viable force to handle that problem on their own.

Hence avoiding the Iraq problem. Biggest mistake we ever made was disbanding the Iraqi military only for it to reconstitute as a jihadi force.

(01-05-2026 12:16 PM)TripleA Wrote:  You have some catching up to do. First thing. Trump said immediately that we will now "run the government" until we can have a "safe, proper and judicious transition."

In that vein, we decided to leave the current Maduro government in power until V can have free and fair elections. That will take a while, b/c the process is incredibly corrupted at the moment.

We were concerned that if we removed them now, the country would collapse into anarchy.

So Delcey Rodriquez and the other Maduro leftovers are just a stopgap until we can have democratic elections.

When she was first appointed, she came out with a belligerent statement about fighting oppression by the US. Trump immediately said publicly that she is not in charge, and if she doesn't cooperate, she will suffer a fate worse than Maduro (in other words, another strike can be arranged where she doesn't survive).

Within hours, she issued another statement with a totally cooperative tone. And here we are.

Oh, we also have 1/3 of our naval power sitting right off her coast. And we have embargoed their oil production, and intend to eventually bring in American companies to rebuild their oil infrastructure, which is currently in disrepair, so the country can eventually prosper again. V has the largest oil reserves on earth, even more than the Saudis.

What is said and what is done are often 2 different things. Hopefully things are done in a smart way.

I fully agree with everything Bob and AttackCoog posted just above.

(01-03-2026 01:32 PM)bullet Wrote:  I think a lot of Trump’s supporters are isolationists and will be very unhappy.

This board is blindly following him. It’s great that Maduro is gone but I fear our price. See Iraq. All of you critique Bush as an idiot for Iraq and Afghanistan but love Trump getting us into a bigger quagmire than Iraq. You are scared of selling weapons to Ukraine but want us to run Venezuela? This is NOT Panama. Maduro has a lot of people who love him and his movement.

Bullet, you are TOTALLY off on this .. especially your last line.

Quote: Maduro has a lot of people who love him and his movement.

Only the previous power brokers, and the dignitaries from Russia, Iran and China. (which also included ISIS fighters and Hezbollah fighter).

He was confirmed by EVERY media outlet to have stolen the last election (He got a grand total of 30% of the vote, but claimed "total victory").

Stores were empty, people were using Venezuelan money for toilet paper because it was _That_ worthless.




A LOT of Venezuelans here in the US _Want_ to go home. Go read a ton of the people from Venezuela on X who are posting about this right now They couldn't for fear of death!

Much like the strikes in Nigeria, to protect the Christians who were being slaughtered by the Islams there, they get a little protection, dont' have to come over the border.

PS: Do you think it ws a CONCIDENCE that China had just met with meduro hours before the strike? NOT A CHANCE.

BREAKING: Maduro pleads not guilty in NYC court, claims he was 'kidnapped'

Quote:Deposed Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in a New York City court on Monday after he and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were captured by American forces in the early hours of Saturday and taken to the United States from Venezuela.

Maduro said in the Manhattan courtroom on Monday, "I’m not guilty. I am a decent man." Maduro insisted, "I am still president of my country." Per the Daily Mail, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein cut off Maduro, saying "a plea of not guilty will be entered on behalf of Maduro." When he was asked about his plea again, Maduro said, "I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything that is mentioned here."

Maduro claimed during the hearing that he had been "kidnapped." The deposed Venezuelan leader is being represented by the DC-based attorney Barry J Pollack,who also represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Quote:BREAKING: Nicolas Maduro is reportedly STUNNED by how many rights America grants even the worst criminals, including himself

"He never even conjured the notion he gets an attorney, could apply for bail, can stay silent, the right that none of the material he said outside counsel has to come in..."

He was read his rights and the concept of bail, and said, "I am unaware of those rights."

We are witnessing history. Capturing a dictator alive, and moving him through our own justice system flawlessly.

This is monumental.

(01-05-2026 01:00 PM)mlb Wrote:  

(01-05-2026 12:16 PM)TripleA Wrote:  You have some catching up to do. First thing. Trump said immediately that we will now "run the government" until we can have a "safe, proper and judicious transition."

In that vein, we decided to leave the current Maduro government in power until V can have free and fair elections. That will take a while, b/c the process is incredibly corrupted at the moment.

We were concerned that if we removed them now, the country would collapse into anarchy.

So Delcey Rodriquez and the other Maduro leftovers are just a stopgap until we can have democratic elections.

When she was first appointed, she came out with a belligerent statement about fighting oppression by the US. Trump immediately said publicly that she is not in charge, and if she doesn't cooperate, she will suffer a fate worse than Maduro (in other words, another strike can be arranged where she doesn't survive).

Within hours, she issued another statement with a totally cooperative tone. And here we are.

Oh, we also have 1/3 of our naval power sitting right off her coast. And we have embargoed their oil production, and intend to eventually bring in American companies to rebuild their oil infrastructure, which is currently in disrepair, so the country can eventually prosper again. V has the largest oil reserves on earth, even more than the Saudis.

What is said and what is done are often 2 different things. Hopefully things are done in a smart way.

I fully agree with everything Bob and AttackCoog posted just above.

What did I post that you disagree with? I was just giving facts as they currently stand, not giving a political position.

32 Cuban Security Personnel Confirmed Killed During US Operation To Extract Maduro From Venezuela


Whoops: Schumer's 'Open Mouth, Insert Foot' Moment as Dems' Hypocrisy Hits Hyper Drive on Venezuela

Quote:Democrats have been losing their minds over President Donald Trump's actions in Venezuela to capture and arrest the dictator Nicolás Maduro, who was wanted in the United States and had been under indictment for five years.

We saw Democrats calling it illegal and claiming that Trump needed Congressional approval to effect Maduro's arrest. Their hypocrisy is something else, given the actions taken by Democrats like Barack Obama in the past.

Do they recall how many civilians Barack Obama in foreign countries reportedly took out with his drone actions, which led to some referring to him as the Droner-in-Chief?

Obama embraced the US drone programme, overseeing more strikes in his first year than Bush carried out during his entire presidency. A total of 563 strikes, largely by drones, targeted Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during Obama’s two terms, compared to 57 strikes under Bush. Between 384 and 807 civilians were killed in those countries, according to reports logged by the Bureau.

Do they recall Obama's actions in Libya that went on for months without Congressional approval? They even had ABC questioning his actions. Can anyone forget this?

"We came, we saw, he died," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laughed.

Imagine the hypocrisy it takes to criticize Trump, after those kinds of actions by a Democrat.

But perhaps the Democrat who most inserted his foot into his mouth was Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was mad that he hadn't been told before the action.

Schumer: I was in the SCIF on three different occasions as recently as December, and I asked the administration, are you pursuing regime change? Are you intent on taking military action in Venezuela? Venezuelan territory? And they assured me that they were not pursuing those things. Clearly, they're not being straight with the American people.

Wait, what, Chuck? What did you just say? Did he just talk about what was said in the SCIF?

And you wonder why you weren't told? It was incredibly important for operational security to be able to pull this off, to keep this close to the vest. And if you're talking about what was said in the SCIF, there's a problem.

People immediately called it out.

Democrats are not only incredibly hypocritical, but they don't have a leg to stand on here.

(01-05-2026 01:08 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  BREAKING: Maduro pleads not guilty in NYC court, claims he was 'kidnapped'

Quote:Deposed Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in a New York City court on Monday after he and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were captured by American forces in the early hours of Saturday and taken to the United States from Venezuela.

Maduro said in the Manhattan courtroom on Monday, "I’m not guilty. I am a decent man." Maduro insisted, "I am still president of my country." Per the Daily Mail, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein cut off Maduro, saying "a plea of not guilty will be entered on behalf of Maduro." When he was asked about his plea again, Maduro said, "I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything that is mentioned here."

Maduro claimed during the hearing that he had been "kidnapped." The deposed Venezuelan leader is being represented by the DC-based attorney Barry J Pollack,who also represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Quote:BREAKING: Nicolas Maduro is reportedly STUNNED by how many rights America grants even the worst criminals, including himself

"He never even conjured the notion he gets an attorney, could apply for bail, can stay silent, the right that none of the material he said outside counsel has to come in..."

He was read his rights and the concept of bail, and said, "I am unaware of those rights."

We are witnessing history. Capturing a dictator alive, and moving him through our own justice system flawlessly.

This is monumental.

Where's Tanq.... He is just Venezuelan dad...

(01-05-2026 01:15 PM)TripleA Wrote:  What did I post that you disagree with? I was just giving facts as they currently stand, not giving a political position.

Nothing in there. Again, I was just saying I hope what has been said is what is done.