ForumGarden

There will already be casualties, conservatively in the hundreds.

And the oddest thing is the extraction of Maduro's wife, which implies to me at least one of the couple died. I can think of no other reason to have taken her.

There's practically no news yet, everything is the Presidential Tweet and a lot of speculation.

If the governments of South and Central America have any sense they'll stand together in response to this. President Trump has overstepped a line, he is no longer just America's Jimmy Saville.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... o-captured

Not just the central and southern American nations, every nation that believes in the rule of law should be up in arms.

One of the sad things from a purely British perspective is that almost all of the BBC report was taken up interviewing a Venezuelan opposition leader who was salivating at the prospect of being part of a US backed puppet government. Amongst his claims, 95% of Venezuelans supported the action. Amongst his admissions, both the military and the legislature opposed it. The first can only be an outright lie and the second suggest that claims that Manduro's government was illegitimate are false - if 95% of the population voted against and the election was so blatantly rigged then he would have no legal or military backing. The guy sounded like Trump after he lost his election.

ETA Taking his wife could be too as psychological pressure - keep them separate and threaten that she will suffer if he does not cooperate.

spot wrote: Sat Jan 03, 2026 5:18 am There will already be casualties, conservatively in the hundreds.

And the oddest thing is the extraction of Maduro's wife, which implies to me at least one of the couple died. I can think of no other reason to have taken her.

There's practically no news yet, everything is the Presidential Tweet and a lot of speculation.

If the governments of South and Central America have any sense they'll stand together in response to this. President Trump has overstepped a line, he is no longer just America's Jimmy Saville.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... o-captured

It has been said that the "extraction" was "negotiated", and was agreed upon, so wife went also. Has not been verified, but it's a possibility.

cars wrote: Sat Jan 03, 2026 8:00 am It has been said that the "extraction" was "negotiated", and was agreed upon, so wife went also. Has not been verified, but it's a possibility.

That sounds like negotiated within the building at the time, not by email two days in advance. Any notice would have put the city on alert. But I can imagine it happening on the spot. It does not sound like a consensual encounter.

And what a surprise, it has now been announced that the US will “run” Venezuela until further notice and that the Venezuelan oil industry will be handed over to US oil companies.