"He wields a replica of a prehistoric club as he rages against enemies of the revolution..."

"...on his weekly television programme. He is rumoured to be one of the richest men in Venezuela, but insists he is but a 'humble soldier.' At night he tours Caracas in his bulletproof Toyota, rifle at the ready, reassuring his millions of TikTok viewers that all is calm in the homeland. This is the mad, bad and dangerous-to-know world of Diosdado Cabello: interior minister, head honcho of the security forces and possible roadblock to the Trump administration’s vision of a vassal-state Venezuela."

The London Times reports.

And look at that club! "Prehistoric," indeed. It's Flintstonesque:

(What is the origin of the phrase "mad, bad and dangerous-to-know"? It's something Lady Caroline Lamb wrote about her lover Lord Byron in 1812.)

"María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, repeatedly praised President Trump on Monday during a prime-time appearance on Fox News...."

"Ms. Machado... even offered him the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in October, a prize Mr. Trump has coveted for years..... 'She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,' Mr. Trump said of Ms. Machado on Saturday. 'She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.' Senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had persuaded Mr. Trump that Venezuela could be further destabilized if the United States tried to back the opposition. A classified C.I.A. intelligence analysis reflected that view, according to a person familiar with the document.... Mr. Trump has not indicated if new elections will be held in Venezuela, saying only that the United States was 'in charge' of the country. Ms. Machado said on Monday that the opposition would win 'over 90 percent of the vote in free and fair elections.'..."

The New York Times reports, in "Venezuela’s Machado Praises Trump in Fox News Interview/María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, offered to share her Nobel Peace Prize with President Trump. He has refused to back her."

Here's the interview:

ADDED: There's some good background in this other NYT article, published before that Fox News interview, "Why Trump Refused to Back Venezuela’s Machado: Fears of Chaos, and Fraying Ties/U.S. intelligence suggested María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, would struggle to lead the government. But her relationship with Trump officials had been souring for months" (NYT)(gift link). Excerpt:

"You can't turn Venezuela into the operating hub for Iran, for Russia, for Hezbollah, for China, for the Cuban intelligence agents that control that country."

"That cannot continue. Those things cannot continue to be in place. You cannot continue to have the largest oil reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States, not benefiting the people of Venezuela, and stolen by a handful of oligarchs around the world including inside of Venezuela, but not benefiting the people of that country. You know, we've seen how our adversaries all over the world are exploiting and extracting resources from Africa, from every other country. They're not going to do it in the Western Hemisphere."

Said Marco Rubio, on "Meet the Press" this morning.

"'The task in front of him is stupefying,' said a senior U.S. official, noting the dizzying array of policy decisions related to energy, elections, sanctions and security that await."

"This person, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to respond freely. The moment marks the realization of a long-held goal for Rubio, who has voiced his criticisms of Maduro and desire for change in Venezuela for well over a decade. Those who have worked closely with Rubio, whose parents left Cuba before the Communist takeover in 1959, say the issues of the region are close to his heart. 'Marco’s parents’ experience … is hardwired in him,' said Cesar Conda, a Republican strategist who worked as the former senator’s chief of staff between 2011 and 2014.... His Spanish proficiency, familiarity with Latin American leaders and the Venezuelan opposition make him a natural point man for Trump, said another senior U.S. official...."

From "Rubio takes on most challenging role yet: Viceroy of Venezuela/The top U.S. diplomat has pushed for regime change for over a decade. Now the hard part begins" (WaPo).

WaPo's use of the word "viceroy" expresses its own opinion — though few readers will have any idea what that opinion is and many will mistake it for an official title that has been given to Rubio. It's not.

Wikipedia says: "A viceroy is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning 'in the place of' and the Anglo-Norman roy (Old French roi, roy), meaning "king.' This denotes the position as one who acts on behalf of a king or monarch. A viceroy's territory may be called a viceroyalty...."

I guess this is raw meat for the "no kings" crowd. But then again, maybe it's just a tidbit for those of us who enjoy alliteration: Viceroy of Venezuela. Maybe "governor" is a more appropriate word, but save that for the Washington Post headline when we take over Greenland. Just an alliteration joke. I think the right answer is that no title at all is appropriate for what Rubio is doing and a descriptive phrase like "who is taking the lead role" is best.

Things I found when I created a new tag — "Trump and Venezuela" — and went back into the archive to add it to old posts.

From the Althouse archive:

August 2017: Trump said: "I’m not going to rule out a military option.... Venezuela is a mess. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary."

March 2018: When anti-Trumpers were interpreting Trump's handshake with baseball hero Jose Altuve, I wrote: "I don't know if Altuve talks about politics, but I don't think he's even an American citizen. He's Venezuelan. If I were Venzuelan, I'd be most worried about Venezuela, and looking at Trump, I'd be thinking, is there some way he can help Venezuela?, or, if I was inclined to the hostility anti-Trumpers are seeing in his face — Why hasn't President Trump done something yet about Venezuela?"

February 2019: When Trump was pleading with the Venezuelan military to support Juan Guaido, I wrote: "I was surprised that on the channel I was watching — Fox News — the analysis after the speech was about the 2020 presidential campaign.... People in Venezuela are suffering. They're starving. We need to help. I thought Trump was trying to get something done, but the news folk rush to talk about the damned campaign, as if that's what sophisticated, savvy people do. I found it offensive."

April 2019: Quoting a Swedish journalist in Venezuela: "Two months have passed since I got here and in that time, the possibility of an American intervention in Venezuela has been on everyone’s mind.

Elon Musk loves the idea of Rubio as "president of Venezuela, governor of Cuba, and the Shah of Iran."

I support this 💯 https://t.co/MFckQ5VWqr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2026

"The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine."

“The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine.”

He’s always on 😂 pic.twitter.com/78P3MnrLFv

— Josh Rainer (@JoshRainerGold) January 3, 2026

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

"Let's celebrate without leaving our homes! Listen to the joy of a country that can already caress freedom. #venezuelalibre"

¡A celebrar sin salir de las casas! Escuchen la alegría de un país que ya puede acariciar la libertad. #venezuelalibre pic.twitter.com/SY6v3de70a

— Cristian Crespo F. 🇨🇺 (@cristiancrespoj) January 3, 2026

Grok's fact check: "The video in @cristiancrespoj's post shows people in Caracas apartment buildings celebrating with fireworks, cheers, and shouts of joy at dusk/night — exactly the kind of spontaneous, from-the-balconies reaction that exploded across social media and news reports right after the U.S. operation.... No credible reporting suggests the video is old, staged, or from unrelated events (e.g., past protests or unrelated fireworks). It aligns with the timeline and widespread reports of street/apartment-level jubilation following the news of the capture.This is a genuinely historic (and highly controversial) moment — the first direct U.S. military capture of a sitting Latin American head of state since the 1989 Panama invasion — so the celebratory footage is consistent with what was happening."

And, according to Grok, Cristian Crespo is "a Latin American human rights activist."

"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:

Another snapshot from a presidential biography.

Texted, just now, from my son Chris, who reads presidential biographies:

The book is "The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism" (commission earned).

I think there's some fat-shaming there, no? Or fat-celebrating. Also: "Venezuelan troubles."

"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).

"To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."

Writes Donald J. Trump, on X, thanking us for our attention to this matter.

"[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