Oh I wasn't second guessing the corruption and conspiracies, just mocking how the libs view any question on voting integrity with retorts of water main breaks, drop boxes, preprinted ballots, mail trucks and illegals voting as though those things never happened either..

They're really big, beautiful things. Really the best things ever. There have never been bigger, better more beautiful things. They're really, really great.

He is going to use it to refuel his Qatari bribery jet. Book it.

it's astounding how sloppy the trump admin has been with manufacturing justification for military conflict with venezuela without straying from the "no new wars" ethos that helped get them elected. it's basically a retread of the neocon iraq hawk playbook from the 00s.

even trump the dove isn't immune to the irresistible temptation for a little foreign regime change.

The voting machines being tampered with was not the issue, they showed that Maduro lost the election. Maduro's government just made up their own results.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/10/gonzalez-proof-win-venezuela-election-vote-tally-maduro

Surprisingly under Hugo Chavez, Venezuela set up one of the most transparent voting systems when he was in charge. Anyone could request the tally of votes printed out from the machines at local polling stations. Volunteers attempted to do just that during the 2024 election. Some places soldiers forcibly stopped them, but they were able to gather 83% of the tally sheets, counted them and uploaded them to the internet for all to verify. They showed clearly that Gonzalez was the winner.
https://resultadosconvzla.com/

This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

I fully support Trump's actions whatever they turn out to be in Venezuela

Don't be surprised if duly elected Venezuelans kick out Maduro with their own people. And with the backing of the United States military.

This is great Trump.

And welcome to the newbies who just started following Venezuela

74OA said:

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This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

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The lethality of fentanyl pills being found on the street recently is radically lower as dealers cut their supply due to supply chain disruptions.

My coke days are long in the past, but I have heard the price has skyrocketed.

But yea, just political theater.

74OA said:

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This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

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So if the border is closed and these drug boats are getting nuked, how do you reckon that fentanyl is going to continue to come into our country?

Because the economist article they didn't read told them so, that's how.

This speech is a great one. Maria Corina's daughter. Don't listen to TuQatar folks who say "Maduro is a REAL conservative!"

This is the story of a people and their long march toward freedom.

What an honor to hear my Nobel Peace Prize 2025 acceptance speech in the voice of my daughter — and to know that very soon, I’ll be able to embrace her and my family again. pic.twitter.com/uyrUOjVQpj

— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) December 10, 2025

BREAKING VIDEO: Moment U.S. forces seized massive oil tanker off Venezuela pic.twitter.com/vKBWbNV7wJ

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 10, 2025

I would think maybe there was something other than oil on this wessel? As in addition to oil (or carrying something to Venezuela)?

Edited: Seems as though it was known to be involved in illicit oil shipments tied to foreign terrorists. Per Bondi…

Quote:

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Bondi alleges tanker was used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran
published at 16:22
16:22
BREAKING
US Attorney General Pam Bondi conducts a news conference at the Department of Justice.
IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has posted more information about the seizure on social media, saying the tanker has been sanctioned for many years due to its "involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations".
She says the the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and US Coast Guard - with support of the Department of Defence - "executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran".
Bondi, the nation's top prosecutor who leads the US Department of Justice, adds the seizure off the coast Venezuela was "conducted safely and securely" and that an investigation into "the transport of sanctioned oil" will continue.
Her remarks are accompanied by a video purporting to show the seizure - we'll bring you more on this shortly.

---

Source: bbc.com

David_Puddy said:

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74OA said:

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This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

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So if the border is closed and these drug boats are getting nuked, how do you reckon that fentanyl is going to continue to come into our country?

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In containers from China.

flown-the-coop said:

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I would think maybe there was something other than oil on this wessel? As in addition to oil (or carrying something to Venezuela)?

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I don't think so. Simply seizing a VZ oil tanker is enough to signal to world markets that buying VZ oil isn't a wise move because your purchase could be confiscated on the open seas. It reduces demand -- and dollars -- for the VZ oil that Maduro needs to fund his regime.

Yep, went to the google machine and found the Bondi update which ties with what you are saying as well.

Cannot wait until NBC flies the crew to NY to interview the harrowing moments and how much they feared for their lives during this violent event.

flown-the-coop said:

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Yep, went to the google machine and found the Bondi update which ties with what you are saying as well.

Cannot wait until NBC flies the crew to NY to interview the harrowing moments and how much they feared for their lives during this violent event.

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The Bondi claim might or might not be legit, but it provides the cover for the seizure.

Bigger picture, it's clear that the US is putting the squeeze on Maduro to reduce drug flows into the US and hopefully stimulate the deposition of an authoritarian, socialist regime. Hard to argue with those objectives, and especially when the plus-prize is warding off Chinese influence in our own hemisphere.

There's always unintended consequences with these things. Remains to be seen what they are. For now, it's interesting theater for sure.

flown-the-coop said:

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My coke days are long in the past, but I have heard the price has skyrocketed.

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Nobody likes a quitter!!!!1

She makes some valid points many in DC and the media I think remain ignorant about:

Quote:

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Mara Corina Machado: Look, some people talk about an invasion in Venezuela, the threat of an invasion, and I answer: Venezuela has already been invaded. We have Russian agents. We have Iranian agents. We have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas operating freely with the regime's approval.

We have the Colombian guerrilla and drug cartels controlling 60% of our territory, involved not only in drug trafficking but also in human trafficking and networks of prostitution. This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas.

What sustains the regime is a very powerful, well-funded system of repression. Where does that funding come from? From drug trafficking, the black market in oil, arms trafficking, and human trafficking.

We need to cut those flows. Once that happens and the repression is weakened, it's over, because violence and terror are all the regime has left. We ask the international community to cut those sources, because the regimes supporting Maduro and the criminal networks have turned Venezuela into a safe haven for their operations across Latin America.

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Reporter: Yesterday, the U.S. seized a ship off the coast of Venezuela. Would you welcome a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela?

María Corina Machado: Look, some people talk about an invasion in Venezuela, the threat of an invasion, and I answer: Venezuela has already been… pic.twitter.com/viNJ6gDQuI

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 11, 2025

Notice the bits about arms/weapons and human trafficking. It's quite real on a global scale imho, and sustains many conflicts in the process. Yes, the Hezbollah angle is real, and keep in mind it was likely us, via USAID etc., that have been their largest financial backers, not Iran.

Definitely a lot there. I know the US is using drug trafficking as the justification, but ultimately the goal is likely regime change as Maduro is doing a lot of business with China and many of the global terrorist organizations. This is likely a message to them that they need to stay on their half of the globe.

Kind of surprised to see the FBI and Coast guard instead of SEALs (not that they need to tell us the truth on who they used). The Coast Guard MSRT is legit, just don't see them often.

txags92 said:

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David_Puddy said:

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74OA said:

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This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

---

So if the border is closed and these drug boats are getting nuked, how do you reckon that fentanyl is going to continue to come into our country?

---

In containers from China.

---

Let's not forget by plans flying over the southern border and of course the BP agents that are owned by the cartels to look the other way.

I mean, you guys don't think drugs are getting across the border by sheer luck, cause they're not.

No Spin Ag said:

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txags92 said:

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David_Puddy said:

---

74OA said:

---

This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

---

So if the border is closed and these drug boats are getting nuked, how do you reckon that fentanyl is going to continue to come into our country?

---

In containers from China.

---

Let's not forget by plans flying over the southern border and of course the BP agents that are owned by the cartels to look the other way.

I mean, you guys don't think drugs are getting across the border by sheer luck, cause they're not.

---

Same as they are saying no illegals crossing. You read the newspapers daily along the border and they still catch the people smuggling people in. Iy has never stopped.

The Fall Guy said:

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No Spin Ag said:

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txags92 said:

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David_Puddy said:

---

74OA said:

---

This is less about stemming the drug flow and more about US political theater and domestic distraction. The illegal drugs business has evolved far beyond being dependent on any single pipeline or boss.

"Over the past 15 years the business has evolved rapidly. Whereas drug gangs used to be vertically integrated, with a single kingpin supervising production, transport and distribution, they now rely heavily on outsourcing. This more fragmented, distributed system, in turn, has fueled specialization and innovation. Traffickers no longer focus almost exclusively on the United States: smuggling has gone global. The result is a system that is more dangerous to the world and more difficult to disrupt."

BUSINESS

---

So if the border is closed and these drug boats are getting nuked, how do you reckon that fentanyl is going to continue to come into our country?

---

In containers from China.

---

Let's not forget by plans flying over the southern border and of course the BP agents that are owned by the cartels to look the other way.

I mean, you guys don't think drugs are getting across the border by sheer luck, cause they're not.

---

Same as they are saying no illegals crossing. You read the newspapers daily along the border and they still catch the people smuggling people in. Iy has never stopped.

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I think the difference now is that the people they catch get taken back across the bridge instead of released into the US with papers.

Booma94 said:

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Definitely a lot there. I know the US is using drug trafficking as the justification, but ultimately the goal is likely regime change as Maduro is doing a lot of business with China and many of the global terrorist organizations. This is likely a message to them that they need to stay on their half of the globe.

---

Yes, again, it's Monroe Doctrine 2.0 as stated in our DOW Five Year Strategy document released around a month ago.

Venezuela is the most degraded and totalitarian country in the Americas so it makes sense what we are doing when all of these different US enemies are operating there using Venezuela as their Western Hemisphere terrorist hub.

Everyone knows these illicit oil tankers have been operating like this for years. It's the only way to move oil around and if all the oil sanctions actually worked then the people sending and receiving who shouldn't be able to under sanctions would have long since perished. This is us stopping a known illegal tanker and I bet we know about most of them and have known for some time. We just continued to let them operate because we have never been on the up and up ourselves.

If we are going to actually get involved with foreign engagements, then this is one of the few I would support because it's in our own backyard. We can't let this one continue because it directly impacts us unlike other more "popular" wars in the Old World.

So this 'tanker' was actually owned by a (Sanctioned by the US) Ukrainian based in Switzerland (tied to Hezbollah and IRGC) and was used to resupply Quds forces in Iran, and was operating under a false flag.

Reports that Trump seized a "Venezuelan oil tanker" are wrong. The truth is even more interesting.

The tanker was registered in Panama and flew a Guyana false flag (thus a stateless vessel), owned by Triton Navigation Corp in the Marshall Islands, which is owned by a Singapore… pic.twitter.com/R471bIpaEl

— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) December 11, 2025

And it was falsifying it's location:

whether it was prescience or serendipity, yesterday before Skipper even made the headlines, I'd done some research on the tanker for the @WindwardAI Ship of the Day series. Little did I know that this research and these images would come in handy just hours later https://t.co/bZmIQW1KoP

— Michelle Wiese Bockmann (@Michellewb_) December 11, 2025

It all checks out. This is the latest act by US forces which Democrats are upset about.

IBT Hunter is on the board of the Zelensky-Garland shipping company who owns this wessell.

Looking forward to Congressional Democrats (and some Republicans) defend Hezbollah and Iran now simply because a Ukrainian is in the mix somehow.

Viva Ukraine!

YouBet said:

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Looking forward to Congressional Democrats (and some Republicans) defend Hezbollah and Iran now simply because a Ukrainian is in the mix somehow.

Viva Slava Ukrainie!

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Do you not even Ukraine brah?

Am I the only one that saw this....


and immediately thought of this?

Coast Guard are familiar on how to get around onboard a tanker, they do on it on a regular routine I have been on a few and the bridge is along way from the engine room and sleeping quarters. Some what of a maze.

This is a pretty incredible story. Twitter can translate it to English. This guy is also a good follow for all things Venezuela

Tremendo lo que revela el Wall Street Journal de la extracción de María Corina Machado:

- Fue monitoreado en tiempo real por la Casa Blanca.

- El bote de María Corina estuvo 3 horas a la deriva, en un mar picado, porque el GPS se había caído al agua.

- Un veterano de EEUU,… pic.twitter.com/IKcw8MrPnB

— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) December 12, 2025

Quote:

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She was monitored in real time by the White House.

- Mara Corina's boat drifted for 3 hours in choppy seas because the GPS had fallen into the water.

- A U.S. veteran, Bryan Stern, had the mission to rescue her. When he found her, he got her onto another boat, gave her snacks, Gatorade, and water.

- He then recorded a video of her as proof of life, which he sent to U.S. officials: "My name is Mara Corina Machado. I am alive, safe, and very grateful."

- The operation was called Golden Dynamite.

- It was a risky mission that nearly failed.

- When Mara Corina's boat was lost, Stern contacted the U.S. Army to help find her.

- The operation was privately funded.

- The rescue team spread false rumors hours before the rescue, saying she was in Europe, to throw off pursuers.

- Stern, an expert in extractions, says it's the most dangerous and important extraction of his life.

- Machado moved around Venezuela wearing a wig and in disguise.

- There were many technical problems throughout the process. Delays of more than 12 hours.

- Mara Corina traveled through the Gulf of Venezuela, where U.S. F-18s were at the time.

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Thx. She seems very thankful.

BillYeoman said:

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I fully support Trump's actions whatever they turn out to be in Venezuela

Don't be surprised if duly elected Venezuelans kick out Maduro with their own people. And with the backing of the United States military.

This is great Trump.

And welcome to the newbies who just started following Venezuela

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if the main opposition leader was able to be smuggled to Norway-

that must mean the USA is assisting her and working with her.

what do we do with the oil tankers? have we even declared an embargo or a blockade?