¡Venga por mí, cobarde! (Come and get me, coward) - the famous words by president of #Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, that infuriated Donald Trump and make him send a commando to #Caracas to capture him. You can get this image printed as poster, tshirt, or more.

https://nickoprints.com/featured/venga-por-mi-cobarde-nicolas-maduro-meme-poster-nicko-prints.html

#Maduro #NicolasMaduro #art #wallart #Maduromeme #NicolasMaduroMeme #poster #posterart #Venezuela

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Coloful poster of president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro , with the words „Venga por mi, cobarde”

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Tshirt with coloful portrait of president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro , with the words „Venga por mi, cobarde”

“Gamblers, trying to collect their payout from #Polymarket, left baffled as they learn that the US operation carried out in Venezuela does not meet Polymarket's definition of an invasion”.

(and just in case you’re wondering, #Polymarket is a #crypto thing, unlike #Kalshi which lets you gamble in real money)

#Venezuela #Maduro #Trump #Uspol #predictionMarkets #predictionMarket #gambling

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By Brett Arends (MarketWatch) -- If this isn't an invasion, what is? Donald Trump Jr.'s private investment company bought a stake in Polymarket last year, and he joined the company's advisory board. Who says the U.S. government didn't just invade Venezuela to capture its president and first lady? A global betting market with close ties to the Trump family, that's who. Customers of Polymarket are crying foul after the world's biggest prediction market has refused to pay out on bets that the U.S. would "invade" Venezuela, claiming that the events over the weekend don't count. "Then what the f- would be an invasion?" asked one anonymous client in a post on the Polymarket website, calling the company "Polyscam.” "Polymarket has descended into sheer arbitrariness," said another. "Words are redefined at will, detached from any recognized meaning, and facts are simply ignored. That a military incursion, the kidnapping of a head of state, and the takeover of a country are not classified as an invasion is plainly absurd." "You wanna be f-ing kidding me," wrote another. "So it's not an invasion because they did it quickly and not many people died?" asked another. (The New York Times, citing a Venezuelan official, has reported a death toll of 80 in the raid.) The comments section turned to heavy sarcasm, with several gamblers asking

https://mastodon.social/@Nicolas_Maduro

#Maduro #Venezuela

reminder that #crypto touches pretty much every story in the news these days, including recent events in #Venezuela

#Maduro and #PdVSA have been using #Tether #USDT to avoid american sanctions and sell #oil to #Russia and whoever else for years.

#HowardLutnick #LUtnick #uspol #stablecoin #corruption #Putin #sanctions #SanctionsEvasion

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47. As a further part of the money laundering scheme, the defendants YURY OREKHOV, JUAN FERNANDO SERRANO PONCE and JUAN CARLOS SOTO also consummated a transaction involving 500,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil from PDVSA | 2021, SERRANO wrote OREKHOV that he [SERRANO] had “just finished with [PDVSA’s Vice President for Trading and Supply]. You will be berthing tomorrow . . . on Wednesday we have to pay 50%. They want to increase $.50 per barrel . . can you transfer USDT?” OREKHOV confirmed, “[O]k. 35.5 USDT yes . . . should it be 100% USDT? Or can some part be cash as well?” SERRANO responded that he knew of “one guy who can give us cash against USDT.” A “recap” document and loading instructions for the 500,000 barrels at “34.00 USD/BBL” was later sent to OREKHOV. The next day, OREKHOV told SERRANO:

The moment marks the realization of a long-held goal for #Rubio, who has voiced his criticisms of #Maduro & desire for change in #Venezuela for well over a decade. Those who have worked closely with Rubio, whose parents fled #Cuba shortly 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 fmr senator’s chief of staff 2011–2014.

#geopolitics #law

Chuck Schumer’s strongly worded letter about #Venezuela from last November. can’t find any official pronouncements about Trump’s criminal incursion into the country nor about the capture of #Maduro.

Democrats have a funny way to standing against American #fascism, on a day that will forever live in infamy.

Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Urging Senate Passage Of The Venezuelan War Powers Resolution
The Senate Democratic Caucus
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-urging-senate-passage-of-the-venezuelan-war-powers-resolution

RE: https://mastodon.social/@blogdiva/114724583963536081

this post is also about #Venezuela.

with the #genocide in #Gaza taking its course and their methane fields (aka natural gas) in the bag, the petromafia won’t stop at #Maduro.

they will crank up the other genocide, #SouthSudan, in preparation to invading #Nigeria and capturing their Moby Dick, #Iran

spring isn't the time to shut down the United States.

the time is now.

"As predicted in September, October, November, and December, the United States has begun its invasion of Venezuela. A US Navy and Air Force air armada started attacking strategic military objectives around the country."

"UPDATE: Trump is claiming they have captured Maduro and flown him out of the country."

~ Malcolm Nance

Trump #Venezuela #war #military #oil #Maduro
/3

https://substack.com/home/post/p-183323659

Padrino said on national television that #Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás #Maduro, ordered a massive deployment of soldiers, “almost 200,000,” he said, as part of the special operation.

…The breadth of firepower inherent to an #AircraftCarrier strike group—the Ford typically travels with dozens of fighter jets & an assortment of other lethal capabilities—would seem excessive for the type of strikes that #US forces have carried out on alleged drug boats since early Sept, experts said.

#Trump #law

Any effort to remove #Maduro would place the admin under further scrutiny over whatever legal rationale it does offer, given the hazy mix of reasons it has presented so far for confronting Maduro. Among them are drug trafficking, the need for US access to #oil & #Trump’s [BS] claims that #Venezuela’s govt released prisoners into the #US.

#law #WarPowers #Congress #InternationalLaw

…A move to justify targeting #Maduro would constitute another effort by the #Trump admin to stretch its legal authorities. It has already engaged in targeted killings of suspected drug smugglers who, until Sept, were pursued & arrested at sea rather than killed in drone strikes.

#law #WarPowers #Congress #InternationalLaw

While the *guidance* is still being drafted, some #Trump admin officials expect it will argue that #Maduro & his top security officials are central figures in the Cartel de los Soles, which the admin has designated as a “narcoterrorist” group. The #DOJ is expected to contend that designation makes Maduro a “legitimate” target despite longstanding #US legal prohibitions on assassinating national leaders. [this is carrying Trump’s water a bit much]

#law #WarPowers #Congress

#Trump aides have asked the #DOJ for additional guidance that could provide a legal basis for any #military action beyond the current campaign of striking boats that the admin says are trafficking narcotics, without providing evidence. Such *guidance* could include a [questionably] legal rationale for targeting #Maduro without creating the need for congressional authorization for the use of military force, much less a declaration of #war. [not so sure about that NYT]

#law #WarPowers #Congress

The #Trump admin has developed a range of options for #military action in #Venezuela, including direct attacks on military units protecting #Maduro & seizing control of the country’s #oil fields, acc/to #US ofcls.

Trump has yet to decide how or whether to proceed. Ofcls said he was reluctant to approve ops that may place US #troops at risk or turn into an embarrassing failure. But many of his senior advisers are pressing for the most aggressive options: ousting Maduro.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/us/politics/trump-weighs-attacks-venezuela.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

…But #Russia remains the primary lifeline for #Maduro. On Sunday, an Ilyushin Il-76—one of the Russian aircraft sanctioned in 2023 by the #US for participating in the arms trade & transporting mercenaries—arrived in #Caracas, #Venezuela’s capital, after a circuitous route over Africa to avoid Western airspace, according to Flightradar24. The Kremlin declined to comment on the letter.

Just a day earlier, Moscow ratified a new strategic treaty with Caracas.

#Trump #law #war #WarPowers #Congress

The Venezuelan government, according to the documents, is also reaching out to #China & #Iran, soliciting #military assistance & equipment to strengthen the country’s defenses. #Maduro composed a letter to Chinese President #Xi Jinping seeking “expanded military cooperation” between their two countries to counter “the escalation between the #US & #Venezuela.”

#Trump #law #war #WarPowers #Congress

In a letter meant for the eyes of #Russia’s leader, Venezuelan President Nicolás #Maduro made multiple requests this month.#Trump’s admin was targeting ships off the South American coast & rattling sabers in Washington. #Venezuela needed President Vladimir #Putin’s help.

The asks included overhauls of defensive radars, military aircraft repairs & potentially missiles, according to internal US government documents obtained by The Washington Post.

#Trump #law #war #WarPowers #Congress

#GiftArticle

This is why you need to go to #Congress to attack other nations!

As #US ramps up the pressure, #Venezuela pleads with Moscow for help

Documents show #Maduro drafted letter asking #Russia for missiles, radars & upgraded aircraft as US forces amass in the #Caribbean.

#Trump #law #war #WarPowers
https://wapo.st/4oKBgKO

It was unclear why Admiral Holsey is leaving now, less than a year into his tenure, & in the midst of the biggest operation in his 37-year career.

…Since early Sept, #US Special Ops forces have struck at least 5 boats off the coast of #Venezuela that the #Trump admin claims were transporting drugs, killing 27 people. US officials have privately made it clear that the main goal is to drive Nicolás #Maduro, #Venezuela’s #authoritarian leader, from #power.

#military #USSouthCom #law #murder

The authorization is the latest step in the #Trump admin’s intensifying pressure campaign against #Venezuela. For weeks, the #US #military has been targeting boats off the Venezuelan coast it claims are transporting drugs, killing 27 people. US officials have been clear, privately, that the end goal is to drive #Maduro from #power.

The new authority would allow the #CIA to carry out #lethal operations in #Venezuela & conduct a range of operations in the #Caribbean.

#law #war #AbuseOfPower

The agency would be able to take covert action against #Maduro or his government either unilaterally or in conjunction with a larger military operation. It is not known whether the #CIA is planning any operations in #Venezuela or if the authorities are meant as a contingency.

But the development comes as the #US #military is planning its own possible escalation, drawing up options for #Trump to consider, including strikes inside Venezuela.

#law #Congress #war #WarPowers #AbuseOfPower

#Trump ordered an end to #diplomatic talks w/ the #Maduro govt this month as he grew frustrated w/ #Venezuela’s leader’s failure to accede to #US demands to give up #power & continued insistence that they had no part in #DrugTrafficking.

The #CIA has long had authority to work w/govts in Latin America on #security & #intelligence. That has allowed the agency to work w/Mexican ofcls to target drug cartels. But those authorizations do not allow the agency to carry out direct #lethal ops.

#law

The #Trump admin’s strategy on #Venezuela, developed by Secy of #State #MarcoRubio, with help from #CIA dir #JohnRatcliffe, aims to oust #Maduro from #power.

Ratcliffe has said little about what his agency is doing in Venezuela. But he has promised that the CIA under his leadership would become more aggressive. During his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe said he would make the CIA less averse to risk & more willing to conduct covert action when ordered by the president….

#law #war #WarPowers

I'm not a fan of #Maduro but in a propaganda battle between tinpot dictators, he made Trump and the US #Navy look like rookie #terrorists.
#Venezuela

…If #Maduro is no longer in power following #US pressure, "no one will be crying," one #Trump administration official told Axios' Marc Caputo.

Meanwhile, another suggested "this could be Noriega part 2," referencing the U.S. military's 1989 operation to capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

#geopolitics #law #InternationalLaw #WarMongering #Venezuela #Caribbean #military

The #US had recently announced plans to boost its maritime force in the waters off #Venezuela to combat threats from Latin American drug #cartels.

The US has not signaled any planned land incursion by the thousands of personnel being deployed. Still, President Nicolás #Maduro’s government has responded by deploying troops along Venezuela’s coast & border with neighboring #Colombia, as well as by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian #militia.

#law #geopolitics #military #Trump

#PeteHegseth: #Venezuela mission won't stop "with just this strike"

#Defense Sec Hegseth suggested in a Wednesday interview that the #US strike on an alleged drug vessel that ofcls said hailed from Venezuela would not be the last as US assets amass off the country's shores.

Tuesday's operation marked a sharp escalation in already boiling tensions between the US govt & the regime of Venezuelan President #Maduro.

#geopolitics #law #InternationalLaw #Trump #WarMongering
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/03/hegseth-venezuela-boat-strike-maduro