True Venezuela

[Geronimo]

I think you're wrong. what russia fears is that is broken apart, taken apart piece by piece and devoured.

The US must be treated as an active enemy to the democractic european govs and an ally of russia

Also it is ridiculous to think that just because NATO and the west failed to materialize any substantial aid to a country that didn't belong to neither the EU or NATO, that this somehow proves that russia is capable of taking on a collective european army (or that it even wants to)

it would attack with the backing of the far right carricature of its former self US andonly if it feels there is a weakness in unity. Divided we fall unkited we stand sort of situation.

But I repeat EU was always known for its soft power, the power to instill democratic values in former countries of the societ block. not forging insurections like US nuland's so eloqeuntly stated with its f the EU phrase. it has largely been succesful.
I refure to believe that there is a US which was not mendled in overthrowing the corrupt yanick gov in ukraine


We can' though allow US to use russia as a scapegoat to push its highly expensive natural gas to us. it has not even one value worth anymore. it is tobe vewed as latin american dictatorship.

I am adamant that russia fears the "west" only if the US is behind europe (and it isn't anymore) and would not engage in enlargment if not provoked.

does that mean that countries like ukraine will be screwd. they were screwd the moment the US changed sides

I'm sure you imagine that treating the US as an active enemy will help the EU to strengthen its position. Could you be more specific about how this would work?

[Bereta_Eder]

I'm not the one imagining it. there are countless articles and opinion pieces that say so.

[Bereta_Eder]

Half of Europeans see Trump as enemy of Europe, survey finds

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ussia-war-poll

(it's way more than half. they think it's putin's assiciate)

I believe US is more dangerous for european values of human rights democracy and human dignity than russia would ever dream of being


and the fact that we have a far right semi dictatorship trying to push its agenda on us is not even worth discussing, it's very apparent, with trump's xenophobix outlandish rants

[Geronimo]

"seeing Trump as the enemy of Europe" goes exactly nowhere in justifying that "The US must be treated as an active enemy to the democractic european govs and an ally of russia".

[Bereta_Eder]

why? who is running the US?

[Broken_Erika]

why? who is running the US?

The Rich and powerful along with anyone who talked to Trump in the last 15 mins.
Also,
Maduro isn't fit to carry Chavez's Jock Strap.

[Provost Harrison]

"seeing Trump as the enemy of Europe" goes exactly nowhere in justifying that "The US must be treated as an active enemy to the democractic european govs and an ally of russia".

You'll literally hand wring over anything Trump says. I find it quite remarkable that he has declared he wasn't to affect regime change over here and you are virtually emotionless over it. You slid be furious about what he's doing to your country. I'm furious that you yanks, progressing friendship for decades show your true, venomous colours.

Thing is though, how this is going to work because you've offended *literally* all of your allies and I would say made enemies of them and I hope we will su anything within our power to redistribute trade and undermine the clearly dangerous US regime. Time we experienced all your assets from Europe. We'll cope, thanks.

[Bereta_Eder]

The trouble is, Europe’s leaders still cannot quite face this painful new truth. The head of Nato, Mark Rutte, ominously announced on Thursday that “Russia has brought war back to Europe” and that “We are Russia’s next target.” He feared that too many don’t feel the urgency of the threat. But he failed to mention that, in this new war, Nato’s most powerful member, the US, has picked a side – and it is Russia.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/12/donald-trump-regime-change-europe-us-european-far-right-keir-starmer

I would agree that the US is the ally of russia

And I;m not talking about that moronic warmongering dutch clown nato's cheif rutte, and a potential war "like our grandfathers" (btw the only reaon we don't all speak german is more because of stalingrad than anything else but that's a different story)

I'm talking about NOW and how both russia (although its methods are pathetic) and the US push an agenda for EU dissolvement pressed by theyr dehumanazing far right wing ideology. they are working in tantem. now, not tomorrow.

[Bereta_Eder]

The Rich and powerful along with anyone who talked to Trump in the last 15 mins.
Also,
Maduro isn't fit to carry Chavez's Jock Strap.

the rich and powerful try to do that all over with varying shades of success. elon musk's 120 millions euros fine should have been 120 billions and all that money going to healthcare education and union s but that's another story

there is only one antidote to corporate greed and that is a strong democratic framework of independent institutions backed by solid politicians

politicians do have power and what they do matters

actually they are (should be) the only real antidote to corporate greed

[BeBMan]

Trump’s world view appears to be:

Let China have Asia/Africa.
Let Russia have Europe.
Let US have the Americas

To wit, if talks of war between European NATO countries and Russia are to be believed, he’ll be selling weapons, materials etc to Russia under that doctrine.

Ditto to China when it invades Taiwan. Already laying scene setters to say U.S. would lose a war to China over Taiwan, so we won’t do anything. Plus, stating that Taiwan owes him bigly on racketeering, I mean ‘insurance’ monies.

I think to get more peace prizes the best way fwd is:

Trump gives South Korea to North Korea before giving both to China, which also gets Taiwan, but divides Mar-a-Lago between Mexico and Canada, while Russia is ruled by an international body controlled by India, Kasachstan, and Afghanistan.

[Bereta_Eder]

let's see what the biggest paper in spain says about trump's US


Make Europe Nazi Again!’


Para dominar el mundo a Estados Unidos le interesa destruir la UE desde dentro y acabar con la democracia liberal. Para eso usa a sus infiltrados, los partidos de extrema derecha

https://elpais.com/ideas/2025-12-14/make-europe-nazi-again.html

[The Mad Monk]

a message with at least 10 characters

[Bereta_Eder]

I will try to transalte it because i speak spanish (:LOL

in order to dominate the world, the US is interested to destroy the EU. In order to tree?? (dendro means tree in greek) and do that and kill liberal democracy it bolsters parties of the far rightr


how correct am I? I don't know

[Provost Harrison]

Dentro means within in Spanish

[The Mad Monk]

Because Latin is not Greek.

[Geronimo]

You'll literally hand wring over anything Trump says. I find it quite remarkable that he has declared he wasn't to affect regime change over here and you are virtually emotionless over it. You slid be furious about what he's doing to your country. I'm furious that you yanks, progressing friendship for decades show your true, venomous colours.

Thing is though, how this is going to work because you've offended *literally* all of your allies and I would say made enemies of them and I hope we will su anything within our power to redistribute trade and undermine the clearly dangerous US regime. Time we experienced all your assets from Europe. We'll cope, thanks.

Let's talk about this. Which declaration did you find my (non) reaction to most remarkable? It could just be that I missed it which would be a failing in my selection of news outlets and time spent keeping up on them. You've generally advocated for opposition to the US your entire life if I recall and now that the US is arguably treating Europe (especially its treaty bound allies in Europe) far worse than any prior time since the first world war, while I can't imagine I'd change your mind, I'm still more interested in ever in understanding where that hostility has come from.

[Broken_Erika]

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro captured following U.S. strikes on Caracas, Trump says

World leaders are monitoring the situation, which the Venezuelan government called an 'imperialist attack'

The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, had been captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández told The Associated Press that Maduro and his wife were at their home within the Fort Tiuna military installation when they were captured.

"That's where they bombed," he said. "And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country."

Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas, the capital of the oil-rich nation, early Saturday, as Maduro’s government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.

Trump first announced the developments on his Truth Social platform shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have since been indicted in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media platform X.

Bondi added that the couple will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts."

The situation marks Washington's most direct intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

It was not immediately clear who was running the country. Under Venezuelan law, the vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike.

“We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life."

Trump said earlier that Maduro “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow."

Maduro was captured by elite special forces troops, a U.S. official told Reuters. The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said Maduro will stand trial on criminal charges in the U.S. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges in the Southern District of New York.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee said Rubio informed him that “he anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody,” the lawmaker posted on social media.

Ahead of the overnight strikes, the U.S. again accused Maduro of running a "narco-state" and rigging the 2024 election, which the opposition said it won overwhelmingly.

The Venezuelan leader, a 63-year-old former bus driver handpicked by the dying Hugo Chávez to succeed him in 2013, has denied those claims and said Washington was intent on taking control of his nation's oil reserves, the largest in the world.

The explosions in Caracas — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions. Venezuela's government said civilians and military personnel died in Saturday's strikes but did not give figures, while Trump said involved U.S. forces sustained injuries but no deaths. The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes, and it was unclear if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ban on U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of “ongoing military activity” ahead of the explosions.

The strike came after the Trump administration spent months escalating pressure on Maduro. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels.

For months, Trump had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs. Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power. Some streets in Caracas fill up


Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighbourhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.

Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us."

Venezuela’s government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

• Trump warns Venezuela's Maduro against playing 'tough' as U.S. Coast Guard chases another tanker

The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas."

“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.

With Venezuelans themselves nervously wondering what would come next, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello appeared on state TV on a street wearing a helmet and flak jacket, urging people not to co-operate with the "terrorist enemy." Reaction swift, some damning


Inquiries to the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command since Trump’s social media post went unanswered.

The FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country to the north, was off limits “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”

Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, posted his potential concerns, reflecting a view from the right flank in the U.S. Congress. “I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” he said on X.

It was not clear if the U.S. Congress had been officially notified of the strikes.

Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling near the Venezuelan coast, and Congress has not specifically approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.

Cuba, however, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the U.S., called for the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel called “the criminal attack."

“Our zone of peace is being brutally assaulted,” he said on X.

• U.S. imposes sanctions on family and associates of Venezuela's Maduro and his wife

• Video
  Trump confirms U.S. seized oil tanker off Venezuela

• Analysis
  Maduro's carefree brush-off of U.S. threats could be his biggest gamble yet

Russia was quick to condemn the U.S.'s actions, calling them "concerning" and "condemnable."

"In the current situation, it is important, first and foremost, to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a way out of the situation through dialogue," Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry said, adding that the United Nations Security Council should convene immediately.

Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry also condemned the strikes.

President Javier Milei of Argentina praised the claim by his close ally, Trump, that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often deploys to celebrate right-wing advances: “Long live freedom, dammit!”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva strongly condemned the U.S. military attack on his neighbour, saying Maduro's capture represents "an unacceptable line."

"These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela's sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community," Lula said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan opposition, headed by recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, said in a statement on X that it had no official comment on the events. It said Maduro has repeatedly cheated it of power in elections, as well as crushing street protests and jailing opposition figures. World monitoring situation closely


The European Union has repeatedly said Maduro "lacks legitimacy," the bloc's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Saturday, adding that she called for restraint and respect for international law regarding the situation.

"The EU has ... defended a peaceful transition. Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint," Kallas said on X, adding she's spoken with Rubio.

Several additional world leaders, including from Italy, Belgium, Indonesia and Germany, confirmed they're monitoring the situation on the ground and in touch with relevant embassies.

The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of U.S. forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Action recalls past U.S. interventions


While various Latin American governments oppose Maduro and say he stole the 2024 vote, direct U.S. action revives painful memories of past interventions and is generally strongly opposed by governments and populations in the region.

Trump's action recalls the Monroe Doctrine, set out in 1823 by then-president James Monroe, laying U.S. claim to influence in the region, as well as the "gunboat diplomacy" seen under Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900s.

The U.S. has not made such a direct intervention in its backyard region since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago to depose military leader Manuel Noriega over similar allegations to those directed against Maduro.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-maduro-venezuela-strikes-9.7032572

[-Jrabbit]

Worst fears confirmed: I live in a rogue nation, led by an amoral war criminal and answerable only to the oligarch class.

Depressing, especially if SCOTUS, Congress, and the UN all decide to do nothing.

Not sure I can handle another 3 years of this crap.

[Uncle Sparky]

I'd suggest moving to Canada, but we produce 2000% of the fentanyl going into the states, so we're all learning to sing, "Jose, can you see" ((I'm sure tRump will change the name to something non-Mexican sounding).
Also, I suspect Ohio still outstrips Canada in fentanyl production - give Vance some credit.

[-Jrabbit]

Canada is under consideration. Weren't you a Wisconsin resident previously?