Maduro capture

APLMAN99
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Figured that this probably needs its own thread. 

I can’t speak for everyone who is questioning the legality of this action, but I’m pretty sure that nearly no one posting here is supportive of Maduro, just critical of the unprecedented act of military capture and removal of a sitting head of state without a declaration of war (like Noriega) or consent.  

But I think that most should be able to appreciate the irony of this action being taken by a president who has argued that as the leader of a country he should have complete and absolute immunity from any sort of criminal prosecution, no?


 


 

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kmc140
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1/3/2026 3:37pm

"Head of state " ... bwhaaaahaaaa

Give me a fukin break ... 

HE LOST THE LAST "ELECTION" AND STAYED BY WAY OF FORCE !!! 

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Nairb#70
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1/3/2026 3:41pm

Putin must be shitting in his pants right now.

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Oldschool
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1/3/2026 3:48pm

Still digesting the story from multiple sources...did hear Trump say he will run Venezuela in the meantime from one source ..

 

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TAUTOG
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1/3/2026 5:47pm

Not approved by congress 

But no, it doesn't need it's own thread.

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The Shop

BH_84
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1/3/2026 5:52pm
Oldschool wrote:

Still digesting the story from multiple sources...did hear Trump say he will run Venezuela in the meantime from one source ..

 

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

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SEEMEFIRST
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1/3/2026 6:06pm
Oldschool wrote:

Still digesting the story from multiple sources...did hear Trump say he will run Venezuela in the meantime from one source ..

 

BH_84 wrote:
Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. it was never about drugs. It was always about...

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.

Venezuela wouldn't have an oil industry if not for us figuring it out and funding it. 

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borg
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1/3/2026 6:10pm
TAUTOG wrote:

Not approved by congress 

But no, it doesn't need it's own thread.

I'm trying to remember the last time Congress approved anything except maybe a good stock market heads up.

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1/3/2026 6:45pm

although it seems move Venezuelan's support his arrest, i doubt this was any more than for oil, and the fact China was paying for oil in Yuan, not US $$ 

most oil nations taste some US military freedom when they try to detach the US Dollar from the oil trade, 

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Spurdo
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1767488197628475m.jpg?VersionId=KiqfIj9Ctysp

 

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APLMAN99
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1/3/2026 6:58pm
Oldschool wrote:

Still digesting the story from multiple sources...did hear Trump say he will run Venezuela in the meantime from one source ..

 

BH_84 wrote:
Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. it was never about drugs. It was always about...

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

SEEMEFIRST wrote:
Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.Venezuela wouldn't have an oil...

Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.

Venezuela wouldn't have an oil industry if not for us figuring it out and funding it. 

When you say “we” and “us” are you talking about the US government, or companies that we think of as US companies but have zero allegiance to anything but their bottom line?  

Are the companies that are going to benefit from this oil bounty now officially using the US military as their own police force with no limits or need to ask Congress?  
 

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Dudley
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1/3/2026 7:06pm Edited Date/Time 1/3/2026 7:07pm
scott_nz wrote:
although it seems move Venezuelan's support his arrest, i doubt this was any more than for oil, and the fact China was paying for oil in...

although it seems move Venezuelan's support his arrest, i doubt this was any more than for oil, and the fact China was paying for oil in Yuan, not US $$ 

most oil nations taste some US military freedom when they try to detach the US Dollar from the oil trade, 

I think this is correct. Sone are theorizing a potential massive hit to the dollar. Secondary, Exxon gets it contract back. 

It was not about cocaine, cause fentanyl and heroin would be the first priorities. 
 

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Chance1216
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1/3/2026 7:16pm
BH_84 wrote:
Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. it was never about drugs. It was always about...

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

SEEMEFIRST wrote:
Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.Venezuela wouldn't have an oil...

Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.

Venezuela wouldn't have an oil industry if not for us figuring it out and funding it. 

APLMAN99 wrote:
When you say “we” and “us” are you talking about the US government, or companies that we think of as US companies but have zero allegiance...

When you say “we” and “us” are you talking about the US government, or companies that we think of as US companies but have zero allegiance to anything but their bottom line?  

Are the companies that are going to benefit from this oil bounty now officially using the US military as their own police force with no limits or need to ask Congress?  
 

Where were your thoughts and, opinions while Russia and, China were plundering oil and, running everything into the ground in Venezuela. 

Copied from a 2013 article.

Oil production, the backbone of its economy, has collapsed from 2.4 million barrels per day in 2013 to less than 1 million barrels today. Despite the wide-eyed promise that first accompanied new financial endowments from China and Russia after the 2008 financial crisis, they proved insufficient to adequately repair Venezuela’s infrastructure and catalyze its oil production. Today, China and Russia are instead “biding their equatorial time” in the South American country, hoping eventually to benefit from a refurbishing of Venezuela’s national patrimony.



 

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Spurdo
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1/3/2026 7:33pm Edited Date/Time 1/3/2026 7:42pm

The lack of an internal monolog or self reflection that the "Trump shouldnt have gone after Maduro" crew, while at the exact same time begging for blood to run in the streets of Russia will never cease to amaze. 

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olds cool
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1/3/2026 8:26pm
Oldschool wrote:

Still digesting the story from multiple sources...did hear Trump say he will run Venezuela in the meantime from one source ..

 

BH_84 wrote:
Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. it was never about drugs. It was always about...

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

There’s a lot more going on in  Venezuela than oil and drugs but they garner a lot a lot of attention.

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SEEMEFIRST
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1/3/2026 11:48pm
BH_84 wrote:
Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. it was never about drugs. It was always about...

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

SEEMEFIRST wrote:
Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.Venezuela wouldn't have an oil...

Yeah  and all the treasure we spent to get them online only to have them nationaliz it and take it all away.

Venezuela wouldn't have an oil industry if not for us figuring it out and funding it. 

APLMAN99 wrote:
When you say “we” and “us” are you talking about the US government, or companies that we think of as US companies but have zero allegiance...

When you say “we” and “us” are you talking about the US government, or companies that we think of as US companies but have zero allegiance to anything but their bottom line?  

Are the companies that are going to benefit from this oil bounty now officially using the US military as their own police force with no limits or need to ask Congress?  
 

Yes, We.

See, I'm not pissed about the deal because we, you got fucked worse.

My cousin is still getting poached from Venezuela because.... THEY DON'T FUCKING KNOW HOW TO DO IT!

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eins4eins
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1/4/2026 12:31am
Chance1216 wrote:
Where were your thoughts and, opinions while Russia and, China were plundering oil and, running everything into the ground in Venezuela. Copied from a 2013 article.Oil production...

Where were your thoughts and, opinions while Russia and, China were plundering oil and, running everything into the ground in Venezuela. 

Copied from a 2013 article.

Oil production, the backbone of its economy, has collapsed from 2.4 million barrels per day in 2013 to less than 1 million barrels today. Despite the wide-eyed promise that first accompanied new financial endowments from China and Russia after the 2008 financial crisis, they proved insufficient to adequately repair Venezuela’s infrastructure and catalyze its oil production. Today, China and Russia are instead “biding their equatorial time” in the South American country, hoping eventually to benefit from a refurbishing of Venezuela’s national patrimony.



 

Doesn't matter. Venezuela doesn't owe us or anyone anything. Its a sovereign state. Poorly run, but this doesn't justify invading them or kidnapping their leader.

People might be celebrating Maduro being gone, but they will start to realize nothing will change for them. Just look at all those other countries same thing happenend too. Many are failed states now. 

 

This is just another example of lies and zero integrity of the MAGA crowd. Trump campaigned on ending wars, specificallly saying: no more regime changes or country building. And his people were echoing this, also in this forum in the ukraine thread for example: no more support, not our problem. But when it comes to stealing oil, suddenly its a totally different thing and regime changes are fine? Why? 

Especially as we're getting nothing from it. The exact opposite: our taxes are used to allow Exxon and Chevron exploiting Venezuela. We pay their expenses so they can fill their pockets. We won't see a penny. 

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mvd61
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1/4/2026 5:14am

Pretty neat how we can go in and do something about corruption in another country but the same people seem to keep getting away with bullshit inside our borders. The reassuring thing is that at least the next likely leader of Venezuela will be World Economic Forum approved. Those are the good guys. Who knows how long she will last. Surely Don has to be jealous of her Nobel Peace award. 

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Spoonguy
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1/4/2026 5:15am
Oldschool wrote:

Still digesting the story from multiple sources...did hear Trump say he will run Venezuela in the meantime from one source ..

 

BH_84 wrote:
Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. it was never about drugs. It was always about...

Yep, heard that from the orange man’s mouth. 

He also said they’d be Pumping millions out of the ground. 

it was never about drugs. It was always about oil

I think a lot of it was about the people of Venezuela as well. The living conditions there were shit. Millions of people left the country. A country in that state could lead to instability in the entire region. But yeah, it was more about oil than drugs. Our government that allowed oxycontin to be released indiscriminately amongst the population for years complaining about other countries influencing drug use here makes as much sense as our government telling us to stop polluting as they release atmospheric nuclear bomb tests not that long ago historically. 

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1/4/2026 5:33am
Spurdo wrote:
The lack of an internal monolog or self reflection that the "Trump shouldnt have gone after Maduro" crew, while at the exact same time begging for...

The lack of an internal monolog or self reflection that the "Trump shouldnt have gone after Maduro" crew, while at the exact same time begging for blood to run in the streets of Russia will never cease to amaze. 

The lack of internal monologue of those that blindly refuse to see what Russia has done in the last 10 years will never cease to amaze!

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JAFO92
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1/4/2026 6:12am
NoKings
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1/4/2026 7:36am
Dudley wrote:
I think this is correct. Sone are theorizing a potential massive hit to the dollar. Secondary, Exxon gets it contract back. It was not about cocaine, cause...

I think this is correct. Sone are theorizing a potential massive hit to the dollar. Secondary, Exxon gets it contract back. 

It was not about cocaine, cause fentanyl and heroin would be the first priorities. 
 

You speak as if cocaine was the only drug or drug precursor coming out of Venezuela. It wasn't. One thing to consider though....the economy of Venezuela was decimated by the Maduro regime. Poverty was and is extreme in the nation. If foreign investment returns and the economy there improves, it takes away a great deal of the incentive to produce drugs. 

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1/4/2026 7:40am
JAFO92 wrote:
NoKings

came to post this exact meme. Cheers.

Libs must need serious chiro work with the whiplash they cause themselves. It doesn't matter what happens, if Trump did it, then RAGE. TDS is very, very real.

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plowboy
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1/4/2026 7:41am
JAFO92 wrote:
NoKings

Brother man...that meme perfectly illustrates one of, if not the main reason, that Red and Blue can't get on the same page.

Just because us Lefties don't agree with how Trump went about this doesn't mean we are "supporting" a dictator.

If we and our allies agree that an evil mother fucker has to go...then jump on it.  But that ain't what the world is seeing/hearing.

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soggy
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1/4/2026 7:42am

There is suddenly a lot of caring about the venezuelan people like some moral compass has been found.  As long as they stay in Venezuela that is.

Also the irony of stating Maduro stayed in power by use of force when Donald tried to do the same thing is fucking objectively hilarious.  You can't make this shit up.

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Zycki11
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1/4/2026 7:46am
soggy wrote:
There is suddenly a lot of caring about the venezuelan people like some moral compass has been found.  As long as they stay in Venezuela that...

There is suddenly a lot of caring about the venezuelan people like some moral compass has been found.  As long as they stay in Venezuela that is.

Also the irony of stating Maduro stayed in power by use of force when Donald tried to do the same thing is fucking objectively hilarious.  You can't make this shit up.

“Donald tried to do the same thing” oh boy here we go again. Just like Hillary said 2016 was “hijacked”

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soggy
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1/4/2026 7:47am Edited Date/Time 1/4/2026 7:47am
JAFO92 wrote:
NoKings
came to post this exact meme. Cheers.Libs must need serious chiro work with the whiplash they cause themselves. It doesn't matter what happens, if Trump did...

came to post this exact meme. Cheers.

Libs must need serious chiro work with the whiplash they cause themselves. It doesn't matter what happens, if Trump did it, then RAGE. TDS is very, very real.

same for the right who were chanting isolationism, no new wars, and defund Ukraine etc etc etc.

 

I don't think you'll find many people saying Maduro should still be in power, but you will see lots of disagreement from the left and the right and the globe on how it was done.  And it wasn't done for some ethical and humanitarian reason, it was done because of oil.

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R66
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1/4/2026 7:48am

Anyone think it is important to keep China out of Venezuela? 

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soggy
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1/4/2026 7:50am
soggy wrote:
There is suddenly a lot of caring about the venezuelan people like some moral compass has been found.  As long as they stay in Venezuela that...

There is suddenly a lot of caring about the venezuelan people like some moral compass has been found.  As long as they stay in Venezuela that is.

Also the irony of stating Maduro stayed in power by use of force when Donald tried to do the same thing is fucking objectively hilarious.  You can't make this shit up.

Zycki11 wrote:

“Donald tried to do the same thing” oh boy here we go again. Just like Hillary said 2016 was “hijacked”

He tried to prevent the transfer of power.  Not that hard to see.  I'm not making any commentary on anything else.  on that day he tried to remain in power.

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