"The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!"

"At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer. This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity."

Writes Trump, at Truth Social.

Here's the NYT story: "Trump Says U.S. Has Deal for Control of Large Share of Venezuela’s Oil/The president said an agreement between the countries covered more than 65 billion barrels of reserves. A U.S. official said it would involve a partnership with a private company."

"For those unfamiliar with the acronym, the first letter stands for a certain curse word, followed by 'around and find out.'"

"It amounts to something like 'Don’t mess with me or you’ll regret it.' The implication, in this context, is that Nicolás Maduro unwisely did the former and now must do the latter.... Superficially, it may seem jarring that people entrusted to run our nation, suit-wearing people who take themselves very seriously, would throw around a term like this. But I actually think it’s a positive development. The normalization of that word — the one Hegseth abbreviated as 'eff' — is a sign of maturity in American English...."

Writes John McWhorter, in "The Trump Administration’s Coarseness Is a Sign That English Has Grown Up" (NYT).

Did he just call the New York Times immature?

Enough of that "and his wife" business.

This is too little too late:

They're playing catch up now, after the arraignment, but decent journalism should have required referring to her by name all along. She was arrested for a reason, so there should be some specificity in the charges against her. Without that, we got the false impression that she was swept in as an appendage of the man.

Every time I heard "and his wife," I thought of the "Gilligan's Island" theme song. The subordination of the female character even in those lyrics has always bugged me.

Now, if you're charged with a crime, you'll prefer to be downplayed, but Cilia Flores doesn't deserve that benefit. 

"For us, this is a very happy day when we see a dictator who has been part of oppressing and abusing the Venezuelan people for 25 years, when we see him in handcuffs..."

"... and held to some sort of accountability, it brought me to tears. It brought me great joy.... I think you can still celebrate that this murderous, corrupt, sadistic son of a bitch is out of Venezuela....”

SHOCKING: The View’s Ana Navarro: “For us, this is a very happy day when we see a dictator who has been part of oppressing and abusing the Venezuelan people for 25 years, when we see him in handcuffs and held to some sort of accountability, it brought me to tears. It brought me… pic.twitter.com/chyUkZ22DP

— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) January 5, 2026

There's also this from Navarro:

“Did Hell Freeze Over?”… @ananavarro Praises President Trump for Getting Rid of Maduro… pic.twitter.com/dJ3iw24yKG

— 𝕰𝖒𝕲 (@Emilio2763) January 4, 2026

Elon Musk laughs at a prison rape joke.

Shameful.

Mamdani's notion of "collectivism" as "warmth" finds its way into the WaPo editorial about Venezuela.

I'm reading "Trump’s bold capture of Maduro was a victory for America. What’s next?" by The Editorial Board of The Washington Post. That's the front page headline. Inside it's "Justice in Venezuela/The next challenge is setting the country up for long-term success."

The editorial ends: "For years, Maduro was a symbol of the false warmth of Latin American collectivism. Now he should spend the rest of his life in a humane American prison. His downfall is good news."

That can't be unrelated to Mamdani's recent assertion: "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism."

Look for more "collectivism" as "warmth" rhetoric. I'm not making a new tag for that. Not yet. I'm sticking with the tags "socialism" and "hotness." How absurd is that?

Anyway, the WaPo editors seem rather positive about Trump's action in Venezuela. The mood at The New York Times is different: "Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise." It ends:

Trump's press conference this morning.

"[Maduro] was trying to get into [his safe room], but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that.... I watched it literally like I was watching a television show."

"And if you would have seen the speed, the violence, you know, they say that, the speed, the violence, they used that term, it was just an amazing thing, an amazing job that these people did — nobody else could have done anything like it."

Rubio reposts what he said last July.

Link.

Maduro ≈ Noriega.

🚨Nicolas Maduro should’ve studied history before waving a sword at President Trump.

January 3, 1990 we captured Panama’s narcotrafficking dictator Manuel Noriega.

January 3, 2026 we captured #Venezuela’s narcoterrorist dictator Nicolas Maduro. pic.twitter.com/rjUTTRs8xw

— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) January 3, 2026

"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. "

pic.twitter.com/sYG2neeuoc

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) January 3, 2026

Just got off the phone with @SecRubio

He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant… https://t.co/lXCxhPoKSZ

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 3, 2026

AND: From the live updates at the NYT:

"María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this week... dodged a reporter’s question about her views on the threat of U.S. military action in Venezuela."

"But she repeated the Trump administration’s talking points on Mr. Maduro’s government, comparing him to a criminal mastermind engaged in a vast array of illegal activities in partnership with America’s adversaries. 'Venezuela has already been invaded,' she said. 'We have the Russian agents, we have the Iranian agents, we have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime. We have the Colombian guerrilla, the drug cartels.'... In response to questions about the seizure of the oil tanker, Ms. Machado said that she supported cutting the funds of Mr. Maduro’s government. She added that he finances himself with gold smuggling, human trafficking, drugs and illegal oil sales...."

From "Nobel Peace Prize Winner Machado Vows to End Maduro’s Rule in Venezuela/María Corina Machado reappeared on the global stage as the Trump administration ramped up its pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro" (NYT).

ADDED: I'm reading "How Nobel peace prize winner María Machado fled Venezuela, in a wig/The Venezuelan opposition leader took great risks to reach Norway, where her daughter had accepted the prize, making a surprise appearance hours later" (London Times): "... Machado left her safe house in the Caracas suburbs on Monday night, wearing a wig and a disguise.... [and] embarked on a ten-hour journey through ten military checkpoints before reaching the coast by midnight. After resting for a few hours at a coastal fishing village, she and two others set out at 5am on a traditional wooden skiff — a small lightweight fishing boat with a shallow bottom, designed to be used near shore — and made the 35-mile trip across the Caribbean Sea to Curaçao, an island nation within the kingdom of the Netherlands. Strong winds and choppy seas delayed her crossing.... [A] source said that the Machado escape team alerted the US government 'so that they would not blow up the boat.' The opposition leader has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administration’s increased military presence in the area...."

AND: The NYT quotes Machado: "I believe that President Trump’s actions have been decisive to reach the point where we are right now, in which the regime is weaker than ever. You need to raise the cost of staying in power and lower the cost of leaving power. Only when you do that, this regime will break down. And that’s where we’re moving toward right now."

"As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. A large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized, actually, and other things are happening. It was seized for a very good reason."

Said President Trump.

Quoted in "U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker Off Venezuelan Coast, Trump Says/The seizure comes as the United States builds up its forces in the Caribbean as part of a pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela" (NYT).

"... Maduro is embracing English, singing John Lennon’s 'Imagine,' advocating for peace and dancing to a remix of his latest English catchphrase, 'No War, Yes Peace.'"

I'm reading "Venezuelan leader Maduro may seem desperate. But his loyalty vs punishment strategy is hard to crack/Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was once critical of English" (ABC News).

"[Maduro] has offered everything. He's offered everything. You're right. You know why? Because he doesn't want to fuck around with the United States."

FAFO. pic.twitter.com/Zh9v18ynzy

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 17, 2025

"I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100 percent of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold."

Wrote El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on X, addressing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, quoted in the NYT.

Among the political prisoners in Venezuela named in Mr. Bukele’s post were several people detained by the Maduro government in a crackdown last year. He also said that as part of the swap, he would require Mr. Maduro to release “nearly 50 detained citizens of other nationalities,” including Americans. As of last month, at least 68 foreign passport holders were wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela, according to a Venezuelan watchdog group, Foro Penal.... 

“Unlike you, who holds political prisoners,” Mr. Bukele wrote, “we do not have political prisoners. All the Venezuelans we have in custody were detained as part of an operation against gangs like Tren de Aragua in the United States.” 

"Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua."

A proclamation by President Trump.

Excerpt:

Are The Washington Post and The New York Times treating the rise of Kamala Harris quite differently?

Kamala Harris is at the top of the Washington Post home page:

The Washington Post headline expresses bold pride in her takeover of the Democratic Party, ousting the unnamed man (Biden) who had won the primaries and who is still (remember?!) President of the United States. And the next headline down casts doubt on the election in Venezuela. Why not admiration for Maduro, how he "took control"? Because he did it via election?

Over at The New York Times, the top headline is "Venezuela's Autocrat Is Declared Winner of Tainted Election." Then, there is a series of headlines — inflation in Japan, the attack in Israel from Lebanon, Biden's plan for the Supreme Court — before we get to something about Kamala Harris, and it's not cheering for her:

 

She's underneath Biden, who's holding up an I'm-still-here finger, and she's walking downward, and, we're told, her "Honeymoon Phase" is "wind[ing] down." She's isolated and her head is bowed: How will she "Maintain Momentum"?

"Tapper didn’t immediately stop Bolton, who worked in the last four Republican administrations, when he admitted orchestrating coups abroad."

"Eventually, though, the CNN host asked his guest to elaborate, and Bolton pointed to the attempted effort in 2019 by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to overthrow the government of President Nicolás Maduro. (At the time, Bolton publicly said the plot, which the Trump administration supported, was 'not a coup.') When Tapper asked him if 'there’s other stuff you’re not telling me,' Bolton played coy: 'I think I’m sure there is.'"

From "John Bolton Admitted on National TV That He Helped Plan Coups" (NY Magazine).

Tapper: I don’t know if I agree with you with all due respect. One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup
Bolton: I disagree with that as somebody who has helped plan coups, not here but other places… pic.twitter.com/jK61a0e3lV

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 12, 2022

"Why Are So Many Latinos Obsessed With Demonizing Black Lives Matter? It's Complicated."

This is an article from October 5th — at WLRN (the Miami NPR affiliate) — that begins "Joe Biden is expected to win the Latino vote big. But not so big in Florida." With hindsight, we know that the big Latino vote win did not happen. There was, in fact, puzzling drop in Latino voter support for Democrats. Let's mine this article for some clues about why that happened. Remember, this is public radio:

Many Latinos who back President Trump bring the racial — and racist — complexities of Latin America to their attacks on the racial justice movement.... 

[T]his summer many Latinos started to loudly express contempt for — and falsehoods about — the Black Lives Matter (BLM) racial justice movement. For months, Latinos for Trump rallies — like one in Miami Lakes where an organizer shouted BLM “wants to tear down the Biblical definition of family!” — have been trumpeting bogus claims about the movement being anti-American.