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The U.S. State Department is again advising American citizens not to travel to Venezuela, warning of "severe risks" including wrongful detention, kidnapping and torture. The State Department said that it does not have an operating embassy or consulate in the South American country, and cannot provide routine or emergency consular services to U.S. citizens there. All U.S. citizens currently in Venezuela should leave immediately, the State Department said. "U.S. citizens are at extreme risk of detention when entering Venezuela at any location. They may be unjustly charged with terrorism or other serious crimes and detained for long periods," the State...

There probably isn't a more useful policy aim for the U.S. than taking out Venezuela's socialist regime. President Trump has hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan illegal aliens, including many criminals who have wrought mayhem, to deported and sending back to a democracy will be a lot easier. Venezuela's regime has served as a useful catspaw to multiple anti-American dictators, including China's oligarchs, the Russian regime, and the Iranian mullahs to keep the U.S. in check, propping up the otherwise bankrupt regime in power to harass the U.S. They've threatened and attempted to destabilize their neighbors. And close to President Trump's...

Leftists have long held no qualms about assassination against their rivals, and in Colombia, where narcoterrorism is also a problem and left-narco alliances are common, it has started up again.. But at least we have a secretary of state who is wise to what's going on. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a high-level delegation to Bogota after a leading Colombian presidential candidate, conservative Sen. Miguel Uribe, died of his wounds in a June shooting by a criminal known as a 'sicario' or hitman who obviously had a sponsor. Rubio seems to know who that might be, though,...

President Donald Trump released a video Tuesday that showed the U.S.'s lethal strike on a vessel involved in the drug trade that was coming out of Venezuela. In the same Truth Social post, the president revealed that 11 Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists were killed in the attack. He initially announced the strike from the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon. 'You'll see that we just, over the last few minutes literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,' Trump told reporters. The president said he had just been briefed on the matter by the chairman...

A Venezuelan court granted an arrest warrant Monday for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who claims to have rightfully won July elections that authorities awarded to incumbent Nicolas Maduro.The court, the prosecutor's office said on Instagram, had granted its request for a warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia for "serious crimes."The office had earlier published its request to the court on social media, in which it listed the alleged crimes that stem from the opposition's insistence that Maduro and his allies stole the July 28 presidential vote.

Like his sugardaddy, Vladimir Putin, Venezuela's dictator, Nicolas Maduro, likes to take American hostages for use as bargaining chips. He's got a lot of them in his many dungeons. So surprise, surprise, he's traded a lot of them: According to ABC News:The more than 200 Venezuelan migrants who were deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador's mega-prison in March have left El Salvador to be sent to Venezuela as part of a prisoner swap that included Americans being held in Venezuela, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced on X. The deal included the release of 10 Americans held in...

The United States is strengthening its naval presence in the waters off Venezuela to counter threats posed by drug cartels. More than 4,000 personnel will be deployed to the area, amid growing tension between Washington and Caracas. The U.S. government has not indicated any intention of a land incursion into the South American nation. The news follows confirmation last week of three U.S. Aegis guided-missile destroyers being deployed to the waters. Then, more recently, Venezuela announced it would send military vessels to the Caribbean Sea and elsewhere to help combat drug trafficking. According to the U.S. Navy’s new chief of...

Summary U.S. naval buildup exceeds usual deployments in Caribbean Venezuelan officials claim U.S. targets their government, not drug cartels Experts suggest U.S. aims to pressure Maduro regime, not just combat drugs WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A large buildup of U.S. naval forces in and around the Southern Caribbean has officials in Caracas and experts in the United States asking: is the move aimed at combating drug cartels, as the Trump administration has suggested, or is it for something else entirely? Seven U.S. warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, are either in the region or are expected to...

U.S. naval buildup framed as anti-smuggling push, but invasion rumors swirl. Venezuelans struggle to keep daily life steady amid fear and uncertainty. Venezuelan president rallies militias and denounced Washington’s “imperialist” threats. CARACAS, Venezuela — U.S. warships steam toward the southern Caribbean. The Trump administration denounces embattled “narco-president” Nicolás Maduro and doubles a bounty on his head to $50 million. Rumors of an invasion, coup or other form of U.S. intervention flood social media. For the beleaguered people of Venezuela, mired in more than a decade of crisis — hyperinflation, food shortages, authoritarian rule and rigged elections — a new phase...

Maduro’s removal-he’s a cartel leader-a distinction without much of a difference. Phase Two entails gunboat diplomacy. Force against Venezuela may be used to convince wavering Iranian leaders to concede.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video posted on X.The Drug Enforcement Administration has thus far seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, Bondi said, and “nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself, which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”***The...

CCTV Footage was released today, from Israel’s Precision-Airstrike against Hezbollah’s Central Command Bunker in the Dahieh Suburb of Southern Beirut on September 27th, which resulting in the elimination of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah as well as several… pic.twitter.com/SLzTYiG0WW— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 7, 2025VIDEO AT LINK.........................

The trial of two Iranians and six others, who tried to smuggle 2.2 tons of cocaine to the island, exposed networks spanning the Middle East and Venezuela. JNS Staff. July 9, 2025 / JNS) An Irish court on July 4 sentenced two Iranian nationals in connection with a transnational drug trafficking operation involving more than 2.2 tons of cocaine, as authorities investigate suspected links to Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, Irish media reported. The men—Soheil Jelveh, 51, a former captain of the cargo vessel MV Matthew, and Saied Hassani, 39, a senior officer with significant maritime experience—received sentences of 17.5...

Protests against the arrest of a pro-Palestine Columbia graduate student are being organized by a Marxist revolutionary group that is pro-Communism, anti-Israel, and has potential links to the Chinese Communist Party. Mahmoud Khalil, a leader in the pro-Palestine and anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University, was detained earlier this month by the Trump administration, with the Department of Homeland Security arguing that he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” The People’s Forum helped organize some of the campus chaos and is now organizing protests to free Khalil. Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) is the pro-Palestine and anti-Israel group...

Customers rejected Smartmatic for reasons unrelated to Fox. For example, the filing said, Smartmatic’s equipment was not certified.. Both Fox News and Smartmatic, the voting software company, filed lengthy briefs Thursday arguing about Smartmatic’s past and predicted financial health. Fox’s filing reveals how Smartmatic was massively losing business long before Fox began reporting on it in 2020. Smartmatic’s filing, which includes many fully redacted pages, says that before the 2020 election, Smartmatic’s CEO believed the company to be “strategically positioned for multi-billion-dollar growth, given its global footprint, its track record,” and its breaking into the U.S. market with a contract...

SCOOP: 🚨 Chinese representatives spotted at @PDVSA headquarters in Venezuela ahead of expiring US licenses for American oil companies in Venezuela 🚨 There are 17 more days left until the licenses for American oil companies in Venezuela will expire. Sources on the ground in Venezuela sent me this photo of Chinese officials sent by Xi JinPing to prepare for the seizing of American oil assets, sitting in the lobby of PDVSA. Additionally this week, thousands of Chinese workers arrived in Venezuela to work at the oil refineries and to literally seize the American oil assets in Venezuela on May 27th....

In 2023, María Corina Machado won the nomination as the Unity Democratic Platform candidate for the presidency in Venezuela. The Maduro government invalidated this election. Edmundo González Urrutia took her place on the July 2024 ballot. According to non-government sources, he got 70% of the votes in the Venezuelan presidential election to 30% for incumbent Nicolás Maduro Moros. However, Maduro declared himself the winner. There were massive public protests against Maduro's usurpation. Thousands were arrested. Maria went into hiding. Edmundo sought and was granted asylum in Spain. Five top aides of the Unity Democratic Platform Party were granted asylum by...

Going Entebbe on the hostage-taking dictator, right in front of his patron, Vladimir Putin. For Venezuela's fraudulently elected Nicolas Maduro, in Moscow to pay tribute to his patron Vlad Putin, yesterday was kind of embarrassing for both of them. Way under the radar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been busy, figuring out a way to make both of them look like weaklings, and with perfect timing, he succeeded: The U.S. welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas. Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S....

Communism is not dead in Latin America. In fact, the dominoes are falling south of the border, but no one seems to be noticing. “It’s a new day. Communism is dead. It’s even dead in Cuba.” So declared Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May 2002. “I hate to say it,” she continued, “it’s dead.” The senator’s proclamation was a surprise, no doubt, to Fidel Castro, whose regime was (and is) alive and as Red as ever. It also must have come as welcome news to the people of Cuba, still suffering, after nearly half...

Now that Hugo Chávez is out of the picture, former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Otto Reich warns President Obama to tread carefully in dealing with the “evil, evil men” that are now running the South American nation. “These guys are so tricky and so evil, quite frankly,” Reich, tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview following the announcement of Chávez’ death on Tuesday. “The people in power in Venezuela today are evil.” … Reich added that Fidel Castro and his brother may be calling the shots in Venezuela. …