# The US is currently attacking Caracas (Venezuela), has captured Maduro **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 3, 2026, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296 "2026-01-03T06:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/121 "2026-01-03T18:44:36Z")
From the CNN breaking reel: _Rubio reiterated Saturday that Maduro was “a fugitive of American justice” and an illegitimate leader with a $50 million bounty._ _“I guess we saved $50 million,” he quipped, turning to Trump, who responded, “we should make sure.”_ _“Don’t let anybody claim it, nobody deserves it but us,” Trump added._ **shouldn’t the money go to DJT, I mean ….** /s ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/122 "2026-01-03T18:51:15Z")
Yes, there were differences in degree that mattered, but the modus operandi was similar. As you said yourself: lives and careers were destroyed. Perhaps they were not show trials, but they were show hearings, and they had repercussions for the accused. Accused is the right word, I think, even if it is not a trial before a judge but a hearing before a Committee. And at least one person, Senator **[Lester Callaway Hunt, Sr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_C._Hunt)** commited suicide, although he was not personally accused of anything. Anyway: What I mean to say is that MAGA will not mind doing the same or worse so beware and good luck. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/123 "2026-01-03T18:53:39Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > How is this nightmare occupation to be funded? Just heard on CNN that the oil will fund it and it won’t cost the US a cent. Just like Iraq, right? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/124 "2026-01-03T18:56:54Z")
I imagine Erik Prince is pushing for “peacekeepers” to ensure a democratic country / efficient extraction of oil wealth into the pockets of the right people. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/125 "2026-01-03T19:00:42Z")
This seems linked to what is happening now but if mods want to move it I understand: > **[Trump Hints at Next Targets After Shocking Invasion](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hints-at-next-target-after-shocking-invasion/)** > > The president warned the Colombian president that he needs to “watch his a--.” > When asked about Mexico by Fox’s Griff Jenkins, Trump responded that the cartels have more power than its democratically elected left-wing president, Claudia Sheinbaum, whom Trump clashed with early in MAGA 2.0 over immigration and the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. > > Trump said that Sheinbaum, 63, has rejected offers of American military aid to take action against the cartels, claiming she has told him, “No, no, no, Mr. President. No, no, no, please.” > > Trump then hinted that he might order action in Mexico anyway, claiming that drugs coming over the southern border are killing Americans by the hundreds of thousands. > > “Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/126 "2026-01-03T19:02:35Z")
Moderating: > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > This seems linked to what is happening now but if mods want to move it I understand: I’m not going to move it and it can stay in this thread as a point of interest, but if you want to start a new thread to discuss it, that’s a good idea. Please don’t hijack this thread with a discussion about a potential invasion in Mexico. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/127 "2026-01-03T19:04:25Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > We’re going to get kicked out of the UN. We’re already losing all of our allies. Nobody trusts us now. And we now have more war crimes chalked up to our military. I’m not going to disagree with the sentiment, but if a murderous regime like Russia continues to hold a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, the US is in no danger of losing its standing. Of course this reveals the UN for the feckless, corrupt husk that it is, but that’s a different topic for another thread. While it’s nice to think that international bureaucracies will succeed in holding the Trump regime accountable where our own politics failed, the US is a 500-pound gorilla that’s always done what it wanted, and will always continue to do so, and will face consequences only if we make the unforced error of putting boots on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/128 "2026-01-03T19:09:14Z")
I wish Latin America had the solidarity to boycott the World Cup _en masse_. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/129 "2026-01-03T19:09:42Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > will face consequences only if we make the unforced error of putting boots on the ground. Which it appears, from 45/47’s just finished press conference, is exactly what’s going to happen since the US is going to run Venezuela “till an orderly transition of power” or some such twaddle. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/130 "2026-01-03T19:10:48Z")
A CNN correspondent in Italy noted that the vice-president is also the head of the nationalized oil company, and has ties to Chevron, so that’s why Trump “picked” her over the Nobel prize winner/probable actual election winner (via a stand-in). The vice-president is a Maduro ally, that’s true, but faced with both a big carrot and a big stick, she’s already conceding to US demands, after making a few pro-Maduro, anti-imperialist noises just to keep up appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/131 "2026-01-03T19:12:30Z")
I feel like throwing up. Why??? Why??? Never mind. Going to turn things off for a bit. Can’t stand this regime. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/132 "2026-01-03T19:15:02Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Which it appears, from 45/47’s just finished press conference, is exactly what’s going to happen since the US is going to run Venezuela “till an orderly transition of power” or some such twaddle. It’s a rookie mistake to think that Trump’s ultimate actions will bear even a remote resemblance to anything he says. Likewise to assume Trump or Hegseth will undertake anything that carries a risk of doing real work, or creating real heroes who might outshine them. Of course these things could occur by accident. We can’t rule them out. But no reliable expectations can be formed based on what Trump says. I think the strongest predictor of what happens here is going to be the predictable pattern of human weakness in the face of Trump’s carrot-and-stick (bribes-and-violence) approach. Sounds like the contours of this are already starting to emerge: > [@JKellyMap](#): > > The vice-president is a Maduro ally, that’s true, but faced with both a big carrot and a big stick, she’s already conceding to US demands, after making a few pro-Maduro, anti-imperialist noises just to keep up appearances. Everyone else Trump has threatened has rolled over, shown their belly, and collected their payout. I see no reason why this pattern shouldn’t hold indefinitely. Especially when it’s the kind of gangster-to-gangster arrangement that Trump has a knack for developing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/133 "2026-01-03T19:15:42Z")
He might actually put in a claim for it. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/134 "2026-01-03T19:16:50Z")
[https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5671268-trump-schumer-venezuela-maduro/](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5671268-trump-schumer-venezuela-maduro/) And Senator Charles “Chuckles” Milquetoast Shumer was right on cue issuing a terse, sharply worded statement. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/135 "2026-01-03T19:22:18Z")
Someone needs to get him his pudding and lead him back to his comfy chair. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/136 "2026-01-03T19:23:18Z")
Argentina will not, that much is sure. Even @Frodo would be against that, I think. I fear Spain and Germany won’t either, though I wouldn’t mind. In fact, I would be very much in favour. ---
**Author:** ![betonbill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b782af/32.png) [@betonbill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betonbill)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/137 "2026-01-03T19:24:22Z")
So who really came up with all this? I can’t see Trump planning all of this. I can see him mumbling something about going after Maduro and then somebody in the wings going, “Great idea, sir! We should do something about all of those drugs–and the oil too,” and off we go. How encouraging and complicit are those oil companies, who stand to make millions off of this? Hegseth certainly has encouraged the whole thing because he has all those men just standing around who really need a war. Who has the big money behind this? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/138 "2026-01-03T19:24:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > “We are going to run the country.” Yeah, let’s see how THAT goes. This is the scariest part. “run the country” means boots on the ground, which means dead soldiers. Exciting stuff for a draft-dodging coward. Embroil us in another Libya or Iran for another ten years and let someone else sort out your stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/139 "2026-01-03T19:25:34Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > It’s a rookie mistake to think that Trump’s ultimate actions will bear even a remote resemblance to anything he says. Hehe, yeah. I thought it funny that the AP ran these two updates, one after another. > [@](#): > > [breaking news updates](https://apnews.com/live/trump-us-venezuela-updates-01-03-2026?tab=0000019b-8347-dc32-a3df-8be73e520000) > > ## JUST IN: No visible signs yet that US is running Venezuela after Trump claims, as country’s security forces control key sites > > By [THE ASSOCIATED PRESS](https://apnews.com/author/the-associated-press) > > [breaking news updates](https://apnews.com/live/trump-us-venezuela-updates-01-03-2026?tab=0000019b-8347-dc32-a3df-8be73e520000) > > ## JUST IN: Trump says US is ‘going to run’ Venezuela until transition of power. There are no visible signs the U.S. is controlling the country > > By [THE ASSOCIATED PRESS](https://apnews.com/author/the-associated-press) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296/140 "2026-01-03T19:27:08Z")
I kind of doubt we’ll go boots on the ground. I suspect this is just more ramblings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-us-is-currently-attacking-caracas-venezuela-has-captured-maduro/1026296.md?page=8)