Let’s talk about…US invasion of Venezuela and “capture” of Maduro

Okay, who had “the US invades Venezuela and kidnaps the President” down as the first big story of 2026?

Well done if you did, you probably got good odds.

That’s the “breaking news” as of about two hours ago:

Venezuela President Maduro captured after US strike and will face drugs and weapons charges
CNN

The story is that a meticulously planned special forces raid resulted in Nicolas Maduro and his wife being dragged from their bedroom and whisked out of the country. They are reportedly en route to New York on a US naval ship.

This was foreshadowed late last year, when laughable stories about the US Special Forces “rescuing” Venezuelan “opposition leader” María Corina Machado. The Nobel Peace laureate (ha!) was said to be “in hiding” before that, in fear of the Maduro regime.

It’s a ridiculous story, but we live in the age of ridiculous stories.

In terms of reaction, the predictable people from each side are having their pre-programmed reactions. There’s going to be a lot of talk about sovereignty and the greater good in the next few weeks.

…but I can’t help but feel this is just another story designed to set a meta-narrative.

The US is going to heel turn and take down the notion of national interests and “old-fashioned individualism” in the process. Since it’s about oil, we’ll be told this is one more reason to focus on renewable energy, and that climate change is making warfare more likely and is thus an international security emergency.

People who die in “climate or energy conflicts” will be added to the “climate-related deaths” statistics.

And you know what would stop things like this from happening?

Global government.

But what do you guys think?

Will Maduro be tried?
If convicted, what will his sentence be?
What will happen to Venezuela’s oil now?
Will other world leaders support or condemn Trump? and will the UN do anything about it?