Free Republic

The brilliantly executed US operation to snatch Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro benefits American citizens in many different ways.It took out the head of a major international organized crime cartel. The cartel, which the US has labeled the “Cartel de los Soles,” or Cartel of the Suns, is responsible for cocaine trafficking into the United States. Maduro had turned the upper levels of the Venezuelan government, military, and security services into a huge organized crime entity. The Department of Justice is prosecuting Maduro and others for running what a federal grand jury indictment calls “a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy.” While...

United States Southern Command on Monday announced that Joint Task Force Southern Spear took out three narcotrafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific. A total of eight “narco-terrorists” were killed in the strikes. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking,” US SOUTHCOM said. Video from the strikes shows massive explosions on each boat, turning them into burning piles of rubble. WATCH: US Strikes More Venezuelan Drug Boats US Southern Command said in a statement on X, On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task...

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier. Trump didn’t offer details about the possible discussions with Maduro, but he said “Venezuela would like to talk.”The U.S. military has been carrying out a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in...

The world’s biggest aircraft carrier and largest warship ever built entered the Caribbean Sea on Nov. 16. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford to the region as an effort to carry out the Trump administration’s plan to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and dismantle criminal networks that “exploit our shared borders and maritime domains,” according to a Navy statement. The carrier’s arrival is considered to be an escalating pressure tactic against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who the United States does not recognize as the legitimate Venezuelan leader based on evidence that he stole last year’s...