Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jan. 12, 2026
Update	: Jan. 12, 2026
Parts	: 09

Synopsis:



My friends, to say the least, I was utterly shocked to learn about what the Trump administration did just over a week ago in the South American sovereign nation of Venezuela. In fact, I have been carefully reading the news, listening to a number of interviews, and writing this new series for the past week. Things have been happening so fast, and so many things have been said by so many governmental people in so many places, that it has been quite challenging to keep up with it all as I have been writing this series.

Many of us realized that something big was on the horizon. After all, the signs were rather clear, meaning the pre-war psychological manipulation of the American public; President Trump's bravado and constant threats against Venezuela; the multiple and controversial alleged drug boat bomb strikes; and lastly, the stern ultimatum to surrender which President Trump gave to Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. However, in all honesty, I did not expect President Trump to actually send the US military into Caracas and capture Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Did you? We have not seen an action similar to that since thirty-six years ago when in December of 1989, US military forces invaded the Central American nation of Panama and ousted General Manuel Noriega from power. Noriega was likewise accused of drug trafficking at the time.

Regarding the alleged drug boat attacks, allow me to remind you of something which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posted on his X account in late October of 2025, almost two months after the first boat strikes had begun. Mr. Hegseth's post clearly reveals exactly how President Trump and his cohorts view the drug traffickers, as well as how intent the Trump administration is to destroy them all, no matter how long it takes. As you will see, the alleged drug traffickers were now being referred to as "narco-terrorists", very similar to the terrorists associated with al-Qaeda in the Middle East. Hegseth wrote as follows:

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"Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.

The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and was carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.

These strikes will continue, day after day. These are not simply drug runners -- these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs are the "Al Qaeda" of our hemisphere and will not escape justice. We will find them and kill them, until the threat to the American people is extinguished."

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The aforementioned boat strikes were designated as Operation Southern Spear. What I find interesting is the fact that in preparation for the fast-approaching invasion of Venezuela, and the surprising attack on Nicolás Maduro's compound in Caracas -- which occurred on January 3, 2026, and which was designated as Operation Absolute Resolve -- only two weeks earlier in mid-December of 2025, the Trump administration declared the government of Nicolás Maduro to be a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Furthermore, a month prior to that, in mid-November of 2025, the US Department of State posted the following announcement on their website:

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"The Department of State intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), effective November 24, 2025. Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela's military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary. Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela's legitimate government. Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe."

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So as you can see, the Trump administration was putting all of their ducks in a row, and slowly building their case so that the American public would accept what the US military would eventually do on the night of January 3, 2026. It was a carefully orchestrated plan involving gaslighting and psychological manipulation, to supposedly legitimize the attack on Maduro's heavily fortified compound.

For those of my readers who are old enough to remember, what just occurred in Venezuela is in my view the Iraq game plan all over again. Furthermore, it is the same game plan which is still being played out with Iran as well. Exactly what am I referring to? Please consider the following four points. Hopefully, doing so will make everything more clear to you in case you are confused, or don't know what to think about what just happened in Caracas, Venezuela:

1. Over a certain period of time, demonize a foreign leader who refuses to align himself with American interests for his nation.

2. Find supposedly valid and justifiable reasons which you can use to psychologically manipulate the American public so that they will be willing to accept your actions, BEFORE actually taking steps to take down that particular foreign leader.

3. Illegally invade that leader's country using the false, aforementioned manufactured reasons as your justifications for doing so, and for committing an unprovoked act of war.

4. Take down that foreign leader -- regime change -- and then replace him with someone who is more willing to abide by America's agenda for their country.

In short, my friends, what occurred back in 2003 with Saddam Hussein during the eight-year Iraq War was regime change, as is now common knowledge. Furthermore, we have just witnessed another case of regime change yet again in early 2026 with the very surprising ouster and capture of Nicolás Maduro by US military forces. In fact, just today, and only three days since Maduro was ousted from power, I noticed that some of the American news organizations have already begun to refer to the developments in Venezuela as regime change. So there is no denying what is going on.

In short, the US government still very much believes in the illegal practice of regime change, and it has never really abandoned it. Apparently, regime change has always been on the table as a possible option and last resort when lesser options fail to yield the tangible results that Uncle Sam desires. We have all just witnessed undeniable proof of it. By the way, as I've pointed out in other BBB articles, for the United States, tangible results ALWAYS equates to the targeted foreign country yielding to American power, and bowing to American influence. In other words, becoming a part of America's hegemonic sphere of influence. Nothing else is acceptable to the United States. As you continue reading this series, you will see that this is precisely what the United States now expects Venezuela to do.

Now, to be clear, Saddam Hussein was a despicable dictator. He was a ruthless thug and a cruel tyrant who even killed his own people when it suited his purposes. However, to this day, the fact still remains that Saddam Hussein was NEVER in possession of WMD, or weapons of mass destruction. Yes, as I pointed out years ago in some of my older articles -- which you'll find listed at the end of this same series -- a few decades ago, Mr. Hussein did contemplate the possibility of possessing nuclear weapons. However, he eventually abandoned the idea. Furthermore, Saddam never once posed as a serious threat to the United States of America. In fact, his SCUD missiles could barely reach the nation of Israel.

Returning our attention to Venezuela, the general consensus around the world is that Nicolás Maduro did NOT legitimately win his third term during the last presidential election in Venezuela in 2024. According to the opposition party, the election was really won by the opposition candidate, Edmundo González. In fact, during the previous presidential election in 2018, while Nicolás Maduro was supposedly elected to a second term, the opposition declared that the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was the actual interim president, and not Maduro. So for a number of years, there were serious doubts concerning the legitimacy of Maduro's presidency. Voting irregularities and questionable legal practices swirled around his presidency.

But let me ask you a rather simple question. Do questionable election results give another nation the right to go into a foreign country and forcefully remove a leader from power? Personally, I offer a very strong "No!" Why not? Because in my view, national elections are INTERNAL affairs, the results of which should ONLY be determined by the people of that same nation. If certain suspicions should arise regarding possible electoral improprieties, then it is solely the responsibility of the citizens of that nation to investigate, and to find a common ground solution to the problem. It is NOT the right or the responsibility of another nation to go in and try to fix such a problem, because doing so is disrespecting a nation's sovereignty.

To reiterate this important point. No nation has the right to influence or meddle in the internal electoral processes of another nation. Yet that is precisely what the USA just did when it captured and imprisoned Nicolás Maduro. That is what the USA did in Iraq as well. Regime change is contrary to international law, and nobody has the right to do. Only the people of that nation can and should work to change the corrupt leadership in their country. Period.

Consider the following. A huge swath of American citizens remain totally convinced to this very day that Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 US presidential election. They still believe that Donald Trump won the election. So what if Russia or China had decided to step in and remove Biden from power by force, just as the USA just did with Maduro? Would you have accepted it? Obviously not. Such an event would have surely shocked the world. Such an act would have been widely condemned by the world, and loudly declared to be an illegal act which violates national sovereignty and contradicts the rule of law. So why is what President Trump did a week ago any different? Obviously, it isn't.

On a side note, the phrase "rule of law" simply means that no one is above the law, and everyone stands equal before the law, regardless of whether they are a private citizen, or a member of the government. Everyone has access to the law, is subject to the law without partiality, and is to be treated fairly.

Regarding Maduro being accused of being directly involved in drug trafficking, if we go strictly by the information which has been made available to us, then it would seem that Maduro stands guilty as charged, and very seriously so. In fact, as you will see in just a moment, recent events over the past several years reveal that Nicolás Maduro is just one of the major players in the Latin America to USA drug trafficking controversy.

Yet at the same time, we should not completely discard the possibility that just as the USA under the George W. Bush administration falsely accused Saddam Hussein of possessing WMD, it could also be that the drug charges against Maduro are bogus as well. As I point out in "Gaslighting: We Are Being Manipulated and Surveilled", let me also remind you that all any of us really have to go by is the manipulated information which we are fed on a daily basis by our own government, by the main stream media, and by a plethora of sources on the Internet. How much of it is to be trusted? As I explained to you earlier, one of the first steps in taking down a foreign leader is to psychologically manipulate the public so that they will be willing to accept your actions, even if grudgingly.

Quite frankly, for many years now, I have not fully trusted American news reports, or the US government, and much less online information. Let's face it, folks. It is all slanted and manipulated to promote and advance one particular agenda or another. In short, we are all purposely psychologically manipulated and intentionally herded into a constant state of perpetual confusion where we do not really know what is true and what is false with absolute certainty. We all have our own ideas, of course, but because of these factors, how much can we really trust what we believe to be true when it is based on such manipulated "facts"?

However, despite all of the constant manipulation, one thing which does remain quite certain in my mind is the fact that similar to Saddam Hussein, Nicolás Maduro posed absolutely no military threat to the United States whatsoever. As such, in my view, there was no legal justification for the United States to go in militarily and forcefully remove Maduro from power. What the United States did was an unprovoked act of war, plain and simple.

As some of my readers will already know, what makes the drug trafficking accusation against Nicolás Maduro -- as well as Maduro's subsequent capture -- all the more hypocritical on the part of the Trump administration, is the fact that on December 1, 2025 -- and just six weeks ago as of the date of this series -- President Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras -- Juan Orlando Hernández -- of very similar drug trafficking charges.

For those of my readers who may not be aware, in June of 2024, ex-President Hernández was sentenced to forty-five years in prison after a U.S. federal jury convicted him of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, and a number of related firearms offenses. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Hernández and his co-conspirators trafficked more than four hundred tons of cocaine through Honduras between 2004 and 2022. This cocaine was destined for the United States of America.

Online reports indicate that US prosecutors involved in the case maintained that in 2013, Hernández accepted the sum of one million dollars from the former Mexican cartel kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán while he successfully ran for his first term as the president of Honduras. Hernández would eventually serve a full second term before being indicted, convicted and imprisoned in the USA. US prosecutors stated that Hernández's government had set up Honduras to serve as a pivotal waypoint -- or as a sort of superhighway -- for cocaine that was arriving from South American nations such as Colombia and Venezuela.

President Trump had first announced his intentions to pardon Hernández on his social media platform -- Truth Social -- on November 28, 2025, where he stated that he intended to issue a "full and complete pardon" to Hernández. As I said, Trump fulfilled his promise on December 1, 2025, and Hernández was released from federal prison on that same day. According to President Trump, Hernández had been treated unfairly. What I find very interesting is the fact that upon his release, and in his very first public statement soon after his release, Hernández publicly thanked the Lord for His mercy in setting him free. It was following those remarks in Spanish that he also profusely thanked President Trump for his pardon.

My friends, to me personally, the remarks which were made by Hernández offer a strong hint regarding why President Trump may have decided to release the man. As they say, birds of a feather flock together. As I point out in articles such as "Beware of Dominionism!", and as some of my readers already know, President Trump has surrounded himself with Catholics, Jews, Dominionists and members of NAR. That is to say, New Apostolic Reformation. The latter practice a very worldly form of Christianity which emphasizes wealth and political power. I suspect that these Christians strongly influenced President Trump's decision to pardon Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández, despite the serious drug trafficking charges which were leveraged against him.

This would also seem to explain Hernández's first statements following his release. Is Hernández a true Christian, or was he simply putting on a public show for Christians, just as President Trump likes to do? I obviously don't know the man, so I honestly can't say for certain. Maybe he drew closer to the Lord while he was in prison. It happens to a lot of men who endure breaking and suffering. However, if Hernández was really guilty of trafficking four hundred tons of cocaine, then it seems rather obvious to me that there is no way that he could possibly call himself a real Christian. As such, his post-release statements remain highly suspect in my opinion. As some of us already know, crafty politicians just love to play the Christian card with the gullible, naive Christian crowd; particularly if it will help them to win their vote. As I said, President Trump does it all the time.

While we will probably never know all the behind-the-scenes details regarding the Hernández case, I am sure that you can see the huge problem -- and blatant hypocrisy -- here with regard to President Trump's questionable actions. If not, allow me to explain it to you by way of a question. How is it that both the presidents of Honduras and Venezuela are implicated by US prosecutors in the same drug trafficking ring, and yet one of them merits release by President Trump after serving barely a year and a half of his forty-five year prison term, while only a month later, the other one -- meaning Maduro -- deserves to have his country invaded by US military forces, and himself captured and imprisoned under Trump's direct orders?

In my view, this disparity in treatment between Juan Orlando Hernández and Nicolás Maduro reveals that there is something else going on here which goes way beyond drug trafficking charges. To reiterate, we have two powerful leaders of two Latin American countries, both of whom were heavily involved in what appears to be the same drug trafficking ring, and both of whom were eventually caught. In fact, I even have to wonder if Hernández would have been caught, if Trump had been in power at the time of Hernández's capture. Who knows.

So exactly what is going on here? Well, it is my belief that just as WMD were used to conceal the REAL reason why the USA invaded Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein from power, it's very possible that drug trafficking charges have now been used to conceal the REAL reason why the USA just resorted to regime change, illegally invaded the sovereign nation of Venezuela, and arrested Nicolás Maduro and his wife. So if Trump's real motivation wasn't drug trafficking, then what was it? It is not difficult to see, in my view. As most Americans should know by now, Donald Trump is NOT big on EVs -- or electric vehicles. In fact, their differences of opinion regarding EVs is one of the reasons why Donald Trump recently had a falling out with Elon Musk. It was not just about DOGE and the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which Elon Musk thought was wasteful and ridiculous. The two men simply have very different visions for the United States with regard to EVs and gasoline-powered cars.

Simply put, Donald Trump is old school and strongly supports gasoline-powered vehicles and the oil industry, just as the Bushes did as well. That being the case, allow me to ask you an easy question. Is it merely a coincidence that Venezuela happens to be the number one country in the world insofar as proven oil reserves are concerned? In fact, it may interest you to know that according to latest statistics, Venezuela has more confirmed oil reserves than Saudi Arabia. Estimates are around 300 billion barrels, most of which is extra-heavy crude oil that is located in the extensive Orinoco Belt in the eastern part of the nation. In contrast, Saudi Arabia has ten percent less oil with about 267 billion barrels.

So the answer seems quite clear to me personally. President Trump's threats against Venezuela, the warnings to Maduro himself, the controversial drug boat attacks, and lastly, Nicolás Maduro's capture and imprisonment, are really all about control of the Venezuelan oil fields. It is NOT just about the drug trafficking problem alone as so many people have intentionally been led to believe by President Trump and his team. This indisputable truth will become even more evident to you as you continue reading this series. In fact, even if you don't read this entire series, just the words which have been spoken, and the various actions which have been taken by the Trump administration over the past week since the invasion of Caracas occurred, prove that this is so beyond a shadow of a doubt.

As some of my readers may know, the United States has been endeavoring to place a pro-USA government in Venezuela for literally years. Let us not be too quick to forget how the US also attempted to take down Venezuela's former president, Hugo Chávez, but failed. Rumor has it that the American CIA was behind the April 11, 2002 coup d'état which temporarily removed Chávez from power for a few days. Certain sources claim that while the CIA was aware of the impending coup, it didn't orchestrate it or even become directly involved in it. However, it's also claimed that the CIA did not warn Chávez, which basically amounts to tacit approval of the coup in the eyes of some people. Eleven years later, in March of 2013, Nicolás Maduro was Vice President of Venezuela when Chávez died from cancer. And thus, Maduro became the new interim president of Venezuela.

Just as President Bush promised freedom, peace and democracy for Iraq -- which turned out to be a very huge lie because the Iraqi people are most certainly not living under freedom and democracy today -- Trump is now promising the very same things -- along with tremendous wealth -- for the people of Venezuela. Of course, that promise comes with a condition. Venezuelans must willingly surrender control of their vast oil fields to America's powerful oil companies. Thus, just as I noted earlier, it is the Iraq playbook all over again.

In fact, I will take this particular topic a step further. If you take the time to really study Donald Trump and get inside his head, and carefully follow his public comments, you can really learn a lot about the guy. This is exactly what I do in such articles as the following, which you will also find listed at the end of this same series:

1. America, Trump, MAGA and Peace, Safety and Prosperity

2. President Trump and the Golden Age

3. President Trump and the Cashless Society

4. Trump Fiefdom and the Trilateral World

Basically, Donald Trump's entire world revolves around power and wealth, and defeating his perceived competitors, whether it is another businessman, or another nation. Trump does not like to lose, and he will pound his enemies into the ground if he feels the need to do so. There exists a clear line of evidence which proves that Trump is convinced in his mind that he can get whatever he wants, if he just throws enough money at someone or something, or else convinces someone that he can make them wealthy beyond belief, if they will just acquiesce to his demands and follow his agenda.

President Trump uses this very same strategy and approach in his dealings with other nations who have something that he wants, or else something that he wants done. Even in our recent history, we find some very clear examples of Trump's strategy in action. For example, when Trump was trying to get North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to give up his nukes, do you recall what Trump promised him, and how he tried to entice Kim? President Trump told him that he could modernize North Korea and make his nation rich beyond belief.

Turning our eyes towards the Middle East, and particularly towards the terrible, devastating war which has raged in the Gaza Strip, as I point out in articles such as "Gaza Strip Horrors and the Trump Plan" and "Donald Trump, Gaza, and the Tyre Prophecy", Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu seem to have hatched this plan -- obviously behind closed doors in their private discussions -- whereby they'll supposedly turn the Gaza Strip into the so-called "Riviera of the Mediterranean", which would eventually provide great wealth and wonderful lives for the people who reside there, AFTER Hamas has been utterly destroyed.

As some of my readers may recall, initially, President Trump wanted to expatriate all of the Gazans to other surrounding countries. However, that idea horrified too many people, so Mr. Trump later softened his tone, and now seems to support the view that the Gazans will remain in the Gaza Strip, and will benefit greatly from the wonderful things which Trump and Netanyahu intend to do there. Of course, at this current time, such a wonderful vision for the Gaza Strip is very far from actually being realized. As I already said, Gaza is now in a state of utter devastation, while Gazans are suffering from the cold weather, from hunger, from disease, and from constantly being forced to move around as the Israeli IDF forces continue to weed out the remaining Hamas members who insist that they will NEVER give up their armed struggle.

Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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