Tag: regime change

Trump Says America Will TAKE CONTROL of ‘Stolen’ Oil After Socialist Dictator Maduro Captured — Radical Socialist Democrats Melt Down

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the United States will take control of Venezuela’s long-mismanaged oil sector, following the stunning capture of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The narco-tyrant, who has turned the once-prosperous nation into a hellhole of drugs, corruption, and poverty, was nabbed in a pinpoint U.S. operation that’s already being hailed as a masterstroke against global criminal networks.

The Venezuelan regime issued a statement rejecting the “military aggression” and invoking the UN Charter. They claim it’s all about seizing oil and minerals after Maduro wrecked it all.

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely grave military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population in the civilian and military districts of the city of Caracas, capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.

This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, particularly its Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of States, and the prohibition on the use of force.

Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and places the lives of millions of people in grave danger.

The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to break the Nation’s political independence by force. They will not succeed.

After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate Government remain steadfast in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to decide their own destiny.

The attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a “regime change,” in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail just like all previous attempts. Since 1811, Venezuela has faced and defeated empires.

When in 1902 foreign powers bombarded our coasts, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: “The insolent boot of the foreigner has profaned the sacred soil of the Fatherland.” Today, with the moral fortitude of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise once again to defend their independence against imperialist aggression.”

The attack came after Maduro held a meeting with a senior Chinese envoy. Maduro welcomed Qiu Xiaoqi, China’s special representative for Latin American affairs, to the Miraflores Presidential Palace on Friday, where the two reaffirmed Caracas’ strategic alignment with Beijing.

Speaking from Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, President Trump said the chaos and corruption that have defined Venezuela for decades will not be allowed to repeat itself.

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Trump Doubles Down, Says Gustavo Petro “Does Have to Watch His Ass” After Threatening to Take Action Against Cocaine Factories

President Trump on Saturday doubled down on past threats to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, saying that he should “watch his ass” after Trump ordered strikes inside Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro, signaling possible actions against Colombia next.

The US military executed strikes and a ground invasion to capture Maduro and his wife on Saturday at approximately 2 am local time, and they were taken prisoner on board the USS Iwo Jima. Maduro was indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges of Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States, the Gateway Pundit reported.

As The Gateway Pundit reported last month, Trump told reporters that Petro needs to “watch his ass” and close the cocaine factories, which “we know where they are,” he said, while making an announcement on shipbuilding at Mar-a-Lago.

WATCH:

Trump: He has to watch, because, you know, he’s got drug factories. They make cocaine in Colombia, and he’s no friend of the United States. He’s very bad, very bad guy, and he’s got to watch his ass, because he makes cocaine and they send it into the United States of America from Colombia. We love the Colombian people. I love the Colombian people. They’re great people, energetic, smart, great, but their new leader is a troublemaker, and he better watch it. They better close up those cocaine factories. They have at least three major cocaine factories. We know where they are. He better close them up fast.

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Communist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Gets LIT UP After He Weighs in on the Capture of Venezuelan Tyrant Nicolas Maduro

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is having an awful day after seeing his fellow communist, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, captured by U.S. forces this morning.

As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier, a series of explosions rocked Caracas and other cities in Venezuela signal the start of the US campaign against the Maduro’s evil Marxist regime.

Low-flying aircraft could be heard, as well as air raid sirens. Bright flashes could be seen in at least six locations, including Fort Tiuna army base and La Carlota Air Base, where power outages hit some neighborhoods.

U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during the raid. As TGP’s Jordan Conradson reported, both have been indicted in the Southern District of New York.

Mamdani took to X this afternoon to whine about the incredibly successful mission and express ‘worry’ about the Venezuelans residing in New York City.

“I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City,” he wrote. “Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”

“This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home,” he added. “My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.”

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Trump issues thinly veiled warning to Mexico, slams Cuba, Colombia after US strikes Venezuela, arrests Maduro

President Trump issued a thinly-veiled warning to Mexico’s president Saturday while announcing the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro Saturday.

Trump, who also had strong words for the leaders of Colombia and Cuba,  said the attack on Venezuela wasn’t meant to be a warning for Mexico, but said “something’s going to have to be done” about the cartel-run country.

Trump has clashed with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo over trade tariffs, and blamed the US neighbor for allowing illegal immigration and narcotics to flow across the southern border.

“We’re very friendly with her, she’s a good woman,” Trump told Fox & Friends Saturday. “But the cartels are running Mexico — she’s not running Mexico.”

Sheinbaum said Mexico “strongly condemns and rejects” US military action in Venezuela and urged the US to end “all acts of aggression against the Venezuelan government and people,” in a statement released Saturday.

Trump also doubled down on his warning to Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

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Trump: U.S. Will ‘Run’ Venezuela Until ‘Proper Transition Can Take Place’

President Donald Trump announced the United States will “run” Venezuela until the time allows for a “judicious transition” just hours after American forces captured the country’s now-former dictator, Nicolás Maduro, in operation “Absolute Resolve.”

Trump made the announcement during a highly anticipated press conference at Mar-a-Lago while flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years,” Trump said.

He added that an eventual transition “has to be judicious because that’s what we’re all about.”

“We want peace, liberty, and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country. It’s their homeland,” he said.

Trump emphasized that the risk of a Maduro-like figure gaining power now cannot be taken.

“We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind…we’re not going to let that happen,” the president said.

He reiterated, “We’re there now, but we’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place… We‘re going to run it, essentially, until such time as a proper transition can take place.”

“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” Trump said at the presser.

Trump announced the capture of Maduro, who administration officials say was the head of the Cartel of the Suns, and his wife, Cilia Flores, early Saturday morning on Truth Social, and subsequently shared a picture of Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima in American custody.

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Trump hints at his next target for a military operation after stunning capture of Maduro

Communist-run Cuba may be the next country to have an American-made regime change, President Donald Trump floated at a press conference addressing the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

‘I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now, very badly failing nation, and we want to help the people,’ Trump said when asked if the operation in Venezuela contained a message to the island nation. 

‘That system has not been a very good one for Cuba,’ the president continued. ‘The people there have suffered for many, many years.’

After Joe Biden removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism last year, Trump quickly reinstated the designation within his first days in office and reapplied economic sanctions. 

The U.S.-Cuba relationship remains strained as the island nation is under a strict embargo, preventing goods from reaching the socialist state.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is the son of Cuban refugees who fled during the nation’s communist revolution, doubled down, warning that the nation’s leadership should be worried. 

‘Suffice it to say, you know, Cuba is a disaster,’ Rubio said at the press conference. ‘It’s run by incompetent, senile men.’ 

‘If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned, at least a little bit,’ the secretary of state added. 

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The $60 Billion Question: Is Venezuela Secretly A Bitcoin Superpower?

Alex Saab may control $60 billion in Bitcoin for the Maduro regime. As Trump’s naval blockade tightens, the real battle is being fought on the blockchain.

Nicolás Maduro is in U.S. custody. In the early hours of Saturday morning, Delta Force operators dragged the Venezuelan president and his wife from their bedroom in Caracas and flew them to the USS Iwo Jima, now steaming toward New York where Maduro will face drug trafficking and weapons charges in federal court.

But as Washington celebrates the most dramatic U.S. military operation in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion, a more urgent question is emerging in intelligence circles: Where is the money?

For years, Maduro and his inner circle systematically looted Venezuela—billions in oil revenue, gold reserves, and state assets—and, according to sources with direct knowledge of the operation, converted much of it into cryptocurrency.

The man who allegedly orchestrated that conversion, who built the shadow financial architecture that kept the regime alive under crushing sanctions, is not on that ship.

His name is Alex Saab.

And he may be the only person on Earth who knows how to access what sources estimate could be as much as $60 billion in Bitcoin—a figure that, if verified, would make the Maduro regime’s hidden fortune one of the largest cryptocurrency holdings on the planet, rivaling MicroStrategy and potentially exceeding El Salvador’s entire national reserve.

The claim comes from HUMINT sources and has not been confirmed through blockchain analysis, but the underlying math is provocative.

Venezuela exported 73.2 tons of gold in 2018 alone — roughly $2.7 billion at the time. If even a fraction of that was converted to Bitcoin when prices hovered between $3,000 and $10,000, and held through the 2021 peak of $69,000, the returns would be staggering.

Sources familiar with the operation describe a systematic effort to convert gold proceeds into cryptocurrency through Turkish and Emirati intermediaries, then move the assets through mixers and cold wallets beyond the reach of Western enforcement.

The keys to those wallets, sources say, are held by a small circle of trusted operatives—with Saab at the center.

What Washington didn’t know—and what court documents would later reveal—was that Saab had been a DEA informant since 2016, even as he built Maduro’s shadow financial empire.

Now, with Maduro captured, the question becomes: Will Saab cooperate again? Or will he disappear with the keys to Venezuela’s stolen fortune?

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Trump: We Are in Venezuela Now, and We Are Going to Stay

Following a military operation that captured President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until an acceptable government is set up. 

“We are going to run [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had,” the President said on Saturday. “We are there now, and we are going to stay until the proper transition takes place.”

Trump went on to say that the US is prepared to attack Venezuela again. “We are ready to stage a second, much larger attack if we need to do so.” He continued, “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them if they aren’t fair.”

The President did not name a new leader of Venezuela. However, María Corina Machado said, “Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate and take power.” Machado is a Venezuelan opposition figure who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. She has endorsed US sanctions and military action against Venezuela. 

Trump did say he had not spoken with Machado, adding that she doesn’t have the respect needed to lead the country. 

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said following the attack that she had activated Maduro’s military plans. “The first thing President Maduro told the people of Venezuela was ‘people to the streets,’ activated as militia, activating all the Nation’s comprehensive defense plans,” the vice president said. “No one will undermine the historic legacy of our Liberator father, Simon Bolivar. The people of Venezuela, in perfect national unity, must mobilize to defend their natural resources and what is most sacred: their right to independence and to the future.”

Trump claimed his administration spoke with Rodriguez, who agreed to work with the US. 

When asked by the press, Trump refused to give a timeline on how long American control over Venezuela would last. The President said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth would act as the viceroys of Venezuela.

Trump added that he was willing to deploy American troops to occupy the South American nation. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” the President explained. He claimed Washington would pay for the occupation of Venezuela with profits from the country’s oil. 

Trump said no Americans were killed and no military equipment was lost in the operation that captured Maduro early Saturday. Caracas has not reported on the Venezuelan casualties from the American raid and strikes. 

Trump said he ordered the attack on Venezuela because Maduro was trafficking narcotics to the US, hosting Washington’s adversaries, and stealing American oil. Venezuela is not a major drug trafficking hub and is not listed by the Drug Enforcement Agency as responsible for fentanyl entering the US. 

The President and Rubio suggested a similar operation could take place in Cuba. 

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Anti-Islamic uprising in Iran continues: “This is the year of blood. Khamenei will be toppled.”

Starting on Sunday, there have been widespread anti-regime protests in Iranian cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad and Zahedan, primarily driven by economic distress, including the Iranian rial’s collapse to a record low of approximately 1.4 million to the dollar.

The protests, which began as economic demonstrations by merchants and shopkeepers, escalated into broader political unrest with chants of “Death to the Dictator” Ali Khamenei and pro-monarchist slogans calling for the return of the Shah.

Security forces, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons, while the government declared a state of emergency and vowed “total war” against the United States, Europe and Israel. 

There is no credible evidence of foreign military or organised group control over Iranian cities.

The central bank governor, Mohammad Reza Farzin, resigned amid the crisis.

The situation remains fluid, with protests continuing into 31 December with crowds chanting “This is the year of blood. Khamenei will be toppled.”

On Monday, independent news channel Tousi TV reported that anti-Islamic Iranians have taken control of Iranian cities.

“The revolution is still ongoing against the Islamic occupiers and the regime forces have retreated. Multiple cities and towns have now fallen into the hands of the anti-Islamic Iranians, and at the same time, resignations inside the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] have now started,” Mahyar Tousi said jubilantly while waving the Iranian flag.

His news cast includes videos of the popular uprising from Tehran, Karaj and other cities around the country.

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Spook Story: Ex-US amb. to Venezuela monetizes coup-plotting alongside former CIA officials

Former US ambassador to Venezuela James “Jimmy” Story has gone from de facto manager of the putschist, Washington-backed opposition in Venezuela to one of the most prominent voices promoting the Trump-Rubio regime change policy inside legacy media.

On December 7, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria featured his calls for toppling Venezuela’s government during a panel with convicted Iran-Contra felon Elliot Abrams, while the New York Times provided Story with space to argue that “Washington should approach dismantling the Maduro regime as we would any criminal enterprise.” Story’s appearance on Piers Morgan did not work out quite as well because Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal was present to dismantle his neocolonial propaganda.

While he pushes a US war on Venezuela in the media, Story is also monetizing his coup-plotting experience by soliciting clients for a series of consulting firms, where he works alongside top former CIA officials who orchestrated destabilization operations inside Venezuela.

The first of these firms is Dinámica Americas, where Story serves as a senior advisor helping “companies, philanthropies, non-profits, and multilateral and other organizations successfully navigate evolving conditions in the Americas.” Among his colleagues at Dinámica is Juan Cruz, the former CIA director for Latin America, whom The Grayzone exposed for his role in managing opposition assets in the lead-up to the failed Operation Gideon mercenary invasion.

At Frontier Advisors, a risk management firm he co-founded, Story works alongside Zodiac Gold CEO David Kol, whose company exploits the mineral wealth of Liberia, which suffers from rampant smuggling and deforestation due to foreign domination of its gold mining zones. Story’s fellow managing partner at Frontier, former Lt. Gen. Dave Bellon also runs a private equity firm, Global Frontier Capital, that “create[s] carbon credits to sell to investors and polluters in need of offsets” in South Asia and South America. These are precisely the kind of figures yearning to feast on the carcass of the Venezuelan state in a fantasy post-Maduro scenario.

Finally, Story is listed as “strategic partner” at Tower Strategy LLC, a lobbying firm founded by the ex-CIA station chief for Venezuela, Enrique “Rick” de la Torre. As journalist Jack Poulson explains in the article we’ve republished from his All Source Intelligence, de la Torre previously worked at a lobbying firm founded by one of the closest confederates of Secretary of State Marco Rubio – the lead architect of Trump’s regime change strategy in Venezuela.

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