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

Synopsis:



Continuing our discuss from part five, as I have already made clear to you, what is occurring in Venezuela right now is all about the oil and nothing else. No matter which news source I go to, whether it's a conservative source or a liberal source -- The Washington Times, Fox News, OAN, CNN, MxM, ABC, Epoch Times, the New York Times, etc. -- the headlines all scream constantly about the oil. So this is undoubtedly an organized and intentional, purposeful, subtle campaign to gaslight the American public. As I told you in part five, they are clearly doing what is commonly known as the typical bait and switch.

In other words, first they heavily promoted the well-known drug trafficking narrative, and now they have switched gears and are being more honest, and have begun promoting the real narrative, which is about grabbing the oil, American power, and fulfilling US hegemonic goals in the Western Hemisphere. Of course, Trump and his spin doctors had to say that these events would not only be good for America, but they would be good for the Venezuelans as well, because they would acquire a truly free, democratic society with increased wealth and prosperity. Mr. Trump had to get everyone on board with his agenda.

As I briefly mentioned to you at the beginning of part one, we saw something very similar happening during the Iraq War under the George W. Bush administration. Some of my readers will no doubt remember how President George W. Bush and his warmongering cronies kept changing the narrative regarding exactly why America was actually in Iraq in the first place. I mean, the constant bait and switch in Bush's narrative got to the point of being utterly ridiculous. Do you remember? Was America there because Saddam Hussein was a horrible, bad man and a cruel tyrant of a leader? Was America there due to the threat of the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction which would one day result in mushroom clouds over America -- WMD which were never found by the way? Were the American forces really there to bring freedom, peace and democracy to the Iraqis? Apparently, it was for none of those reasons.

Speaking of freedom, peace and democracy -- which is the US's often-used mantra when it decides to illegally invade another country -- in part two of this series, I discussed Venezuelan main opposition leader -- María Corina Machado -- who to the surprise of many knowledgeable observers, Mr. Trump chose to cast aside as the potential interim president in Venezuela, being as he favored Delcy Rodríguez, who now finds herself caught in America's steel vice. Anyway, while working on this series, I came across a particular article in the liberal New York Times which had the headline "Why Trump Refused to Back Venezuela's Machado". While I disagree with a lot of what the NYT prints, to my surprise, I came across the following very powerful line which, in my view, really screams the truth. It stated the following:

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"For Mr. Trump, the focus in Venezuela is oil, not promoting democracy."

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My friends, that is really the gist of it. Even the liberal NYT sees it. As I explained to you earlier, the US government doesn't care what type of government rules in another nation. All they care about is whether or not the government of that nation bends to America's agenda. Furthermore, I am convinced that even if another tyrannical government were to arise in Venezuela, as long as they are supporting US interests, and giving America the oil, the American government will turn a blind eye to any improprieties which are being committed by that government. Yes, the US administration will occasionally publicly complain about human rights violations in a country, but as far as I am concerned, that is just to save face, and to keep up appearances only. It is for public consumption so that people are convinced that the government really cares.

If the United States really had the moral high ground as it likes to project, it wouldn't engage in any trade deals with other nations whose people are being oppressed and treated poorly by their own government. That most certainly includes communist-run nations as China and Vietnam at the very least. So as I said, America WILL turn a blind eye, as long as the money and the profits are good. That is a cruel fact of life in this messed up world of ours. Look at the major problems Apple has had in Chinese factories, yet Apple still has a very major presence in China, because labor is cheap, while the profit margin is good. Money and profit supersede every other concerns

So again, for those of my readers who still require a little more persuasion, please STOP drinking the drug trafficking Kool-Aid and accept the truth. President Trump wanted Nicolás Maduro removed from power so that the United States would be able to regain control of Venezuela's oil fields, plain and simple. Now it remains to be seen how long it will take for major US oil companies to regain their confidence to return to Venezuela, and spend billions of dollars -- and many years -- to return Venezuelan oil production to its former heights.

As I mentioned to you in part four, while President Trump is willing to invest billions of dollars to revitalize the oil industry in Venezuela, and while he's trying to coax the big US oil companies to return to Venezuela, in a recent meeting at the White House, they are STILL showing some reluctance to return to the country until the situation settles there. As it turns out, they have been very wise to wait, because everything is most definitely NOT peachy in Venezuela right now. In fact, barely a few hours ago, the US embassy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas issued a strong warning for all Americans to LEAVE VENEZUELA IMMEDIATELY, because there are now armed militias on the roads who are hunting down all Americans, and anyone else who supports American interests in Venezuela. Part of the security alert reads as following:

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SECURITY ALERT VENEZUELA:
JANUARY 10, 2026: DO NOT
TRAVEL TO VENEZUELA;
DEPART IMMEDIATELY

There are reports of groups of armed militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of U.S. citizenship or support for the United States. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should remain vigilant and exercise caution when traveling by road.

Venezuela has the highest Travel Advisory level -- Level 4: Do Not Travel -- due to severe risks to Americans, including wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure.

Actions to Take:

* Do not travel to Venezuela.

* U.S. citizens in Venezuela should take precautions to ensure their safety.

* All U.S. citizens in Venezuela are advised to leave Venezuela as soon as they feel it is safe to do so.

* U.S. citizens in Venezuela are advised to check flight information in order to depart the country. Some commercial airlines have resumed operations from Venezuela, but tickets may be subject to high demand and limited availability. Monitor airlines’ communications and websites for updated information.

* U.S. citizens in Venezuela should establish multiple methods of communication with friends and family outside of Venezuela.

* U.S. citizens who choose not to depart should prepare contingency plans for emergency situations, as the U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Venezuela.

* Enroll in Smart Traveler Enrollment Program and follow us on Facebook and X to receive security updates.

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My friends, as you may recall, in part two of this series, I told you that I do not believe that President Trump really even fully appreciates and understands Latino pride. Latino leaders do NOT like to be pushed around by the US government. Neither do their people. They will resist and fight back. It took a week for the dam to burst following Maduro's capture, but now it has begun to happen, and the Venezuelans are in fact fighting back. It remains to be seen what will happen next, but if you ask me, I believe that President Trump has foolishly opened a can of worms and perhaps bitten off more than he can chew. So what will he do now? Will he send in a second wave of attack -- or even more -- in order to protect any Americans who still remain in Venezuela, and to quell the current uprisings, even though he had previously decided against doing it?

As you may also recall from part two, Venezuela's interim president -- Delcy Rodríguez -- stated that Nicolás Maduro is the only rightful president of the nation. She strongly demanded that President Trump return Maduro to Venezuela. But then she quickly softened up due to American pressure and began to acquiesce to America's demands. So what is she going to do now as well? Will she continue to submit to Trump? Will she now turn on her open people in order to suppress the uprisings? My friends, this situation could turn very ugly very quickly, and turn into a long slog in Venezuela, just as occurred in Iraq, and just asa occurred in Afghanistan as well. In short, both Trump and Rodríguez now find themselves in a bind, and you can bet that the US oil companies are NOT going to put a foot in Venezuela any time soon. Thus, Trump's dream may possibly evaporate. Time will tell.

At this point in our discussion, I would like to direct your attention to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. One thing which has become very clear to me while writing this series, is that Mr. Rubio has long sought to oust Nicolás Maduro from power. I've also come to better understand why Rubio has such a keen interest in Venezuela in the first place. However, let me provide a little background information regarding the man, for those of my readers who may not be too familiar with him. After that, we will dive deeper into the main subject, all of which ties in directly with the events of January 3, 2026.

As some of my readers will probably already know, Rubio was born in Miami, Florida and is of Cuban descent. In fact, both of his parents were a part of the community of Cuban exiles, and immigrated from Cuba during the 1950s in order to escape from the oppressive regime of Fulgencio Batista. This was a few years before Fidel Castro rose to power, and became just as oppressive a dictator as his predecessor. At this point, I am going to skip ahead quite a few years to when Rubio began to rise in the cutthroat world of American politics.

After serving in Floridian politics in various capacities, Rubio also served three consecutive terms as the US Senator for Florida. Rubio also unsuccessfully campaigned for the US presidency during the 2016 presidential election. Eventually he came to occupy his dual position as US Secretary of State and Acting US National Security Advisor. Rubio has also been the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development -- or USAID -- before it was dismantled, and as the Acting Archivist at the NARA, or the National Archives and Records Administration.

Rubio is the first Latino to serve as US Secretary of State and as Acting National Security Advisor. The accomplishments make him the highest-ranking Hispanic American official in the history of the United States. But what actually caught my attention is the fact that Marco Rubio is a very significant figure in South Florida's communities of exiled Venezuelans and Cubans. In fact, they helped Rubio to win his previous races for the Florida Legislature, and for the U.S. Senate. Furthermore, prior to the events of January 3, 2026, these crucial voting blocs expressed strong support for the ouster of Nicolás Maduro, which has now occurred. So Rubio's star continues to rise, so much so, that President Trump is now considering Rubio as a potential running mate for JD Vance in the 2028 American presidential election. Time will tell.

But that is not all. I have already explained to you how Mr. Trump first began applying his pressure campaign against the Venezuelan dictator during his first presidential term back in 2017. As we already learned, it began with tightening the financial screws and shutting out Venezuela from the American financial system, and nine years later has now resulted in a full military blockade set up around Venezuela. However, what I did not know until now is that Marco Rubio was one of the key architects in designing the campaign of maximum economic pressure against Maduro's regime during Trump's first term. Not only that, but Rubio seems to be a main player -- if not the key player -- in crafting the deceptive campaign that has convinced many Americans that what has just occurred was all about fighting against and taking down the drug cartels.

If you still doubt Marco Rubio's importance in planning this entire operation, invasion and deception, consider what White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly had to say during a November 2025 statement to the press. Ms. Kelly clearly noted that Marco Rubio played "a key role in executing the foreign policy agenda that President Trump was overwhelmingly elected to implement, including securing the border, taking on the cartels, and eliminating the scourge of narcoterrorism that is killing thousands of Americans every year". This is a direct quote from the woman.

In short, my friends, Marco Rubio -- with help from allies in the White House -- seems to be the brains who has spearheaded the entire invasion operation, and the deceptive campaign of psychological manipulation which preceded it. Concerning the alleged drug boat strikes, and the casualties which resulted from them, the statistics I came across indicate that as of December 31, 2025, the US military has killed at least 115 individuals as a result of thirty-five strikes on thirty-six vessels. Eleven of the alleged drug boats were struck in the Caribbean Sea. An additional twenty-three boats were hit in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Two others were struck in some unspecified location. So why are there twice as many alleged drug boats being struck in the Eastern Pacific Ocean? Well, I already told you in part five. Because all of the cocaine that is entering the United States is NOT even coming from Venezuela. It is coming from Colombia.

Of course, the most concerning issue regarding these strikes is that to date, the Trump administration has provided very little convincing evidence -- if any evidence at all -- that the individuals who were killed in these boat strikes were actually drug traffickers. Even more alarming to many of us was that in at least one incident, a second strike was made on a particular boat, because some of its occupants remained alive. The impression I get is that Trump, Rubio, or whoever was in charge, wanted to silence any potential witnesses.

Regarding the military blockade that has been implemented and the invasion itself, the mere logistics of it demonstrate how large of an operation it has been. In fact, the operation has been the largest U.S. military build-up in that region of the world in many decades. From what I have read, it has involved approximately 15,000 U.S. troops. Furthermore, a dozen F-35 fighter jets and AC-130J Ghostrider gunship aircraft -- which are capable of firing Hellfire missiles -- have been placed in Puerto Rico. This, of course, places them a lot closer to the coast of Venezuela. Furthermore, just barely a week ago, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea accompanied by its three destroyer escorts. Finally, with twelve U.S. warships in the region now, hundreds of Marines, along with helicopters and fighter planes, are ready to enter the fray, should it become necessary. By the way, the warships are capable of launching Tomahawk missiles deep into Venezuela.

Having now read everything that I just shared with you in the previous few paragraphs, don't you find it rather odd that men such as Trump, Hegseth, Rubio and Miller -- as well as others such as Karoline Leavitt who parrot the party line -- insist that there has been no invasion, and that there is currently no war? By the way, I also discovered that the incursion into Maduro's compound was NOT as clean and easy as some Americans may believe. In fact, in the most recent statistics I've seen, at least thirty-two Cuban nationals who served as a part of Maduro's security detail were killed during the nighttime raid. The Venezuelan military also reported that twenty-four officers were killed as well, bringing the total number of casualties to at least fifty-six individuals. Yet Trump and his warmongering cronies insist that it was not an invasion, and it is not a war.

Well, a lot of members of the US Congress obviously disagree with the Trump administration's perspective. This includes a small handful of Republicans -- the usual suspects -- so much so, that both houses of Congress are currently trying to rein in President Trump by passing a War Powers Resolution. This morning, as I was reading about this issue in the January 8, 2026 edition of The Washington Times, I found an interesting paragraph which provides another important detail regarding the invasion which occurred on January 3rd. The article -- which is headlined "Senate advances war powers measure to rein in Trump's military actions in Venezuela" -- states the following. Please notice in particular the third paragraph, and the words I have placed in uppercase letters. The speaker is of course the Senator of Kentucky, Rand Paul:

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"The Senate on Thursday narrowly advanced a war powers resolution to block President Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval.

The 52-47 procedural vote comes just days after Saturday's joint military and law enforcement operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

'We bombed all of their surface-to-air missiles, all of their air defense systems,' Mr. Paul said. 'Obviously, that's what you do when you go into a country, but IT WAS AN ALL-OUT WAR. We were just a lot better than they were, and WE WON THE WAR in about 24 hours.'

The Senate will first hold another procedural vote, followed by up to 10 hours of debate and an opportunity for senators to offer amendments before final passage.

Mr. Paul, who cosponsored the measure, said the war powers vote 'isn't an anti-President Trump thing.' He said it's about the constitutional separation of powers, an issue he's raised consistently under Democratic and Republican administrations alike."

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Now wait a minute! If what the United States did in Caracas was not an actual invasion or war as the Trump Administration has been insisting, then why in the world does Rand refer to it as "an all-out war" and say that US forces "won the war in about 24 hours"? Someone is obviously lying here, and I don't think that it is Paul Rand. In a related The Washington Times article that was published a day before on January 7, 2026 and headlined "China, Russia air defenses faulted in Venezuela", we are given more details regarding exactly which Venezuelan air defenses were knocked out by the American invasion, as we see here:

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"Among the major military failures exposed during the U.S. raid against Venezuela was the inability of a high-technology Chinese radar system to operate.

Extensive Russia anti-aircraft missiles and radar also were rendered useless.

The Chinese radar system in question is the JY-27A system that Beijing sold to Caracas and markets elsewhere as capable of detecting low-observable aircraft. This is a key sensor capability the Chinese military wants for use in countering F-35 and F-22 stealth jets and B-2 and future B-21 stealth bombers in any future conflict with the U.S.

However, U.S. military forces on Saturday demonstrated highly effective mission SEAD -- suppression of enemy air defenses -- in the opening minutes of the lightning-fast raid. Forces knocked out both the Chinese radar and extensive Russian air defense missile systems."

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On a side note, the Russian air defense missile systems which are mentioned in the previous excerpt are probably the Buk-M2 and S-300VM Antey-2500 systems, and S-125 Pechora-2M systems, which according to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, Russia supplied to Venezuela between 2008 and 2014. The Buk is a family of self-propelled, medium-range, surface-to-air missile systems designed to counter cruise missiles, smart bombs and rotary-wing aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Regarding the S-300VM Antey-2500, this anti-ballistic missile system targets short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, aeroballistic missiles, cruise missiles, fixed-wing aircraft, loitering ECM platforms, and precision-guided munitions.

The S-125 Pechora is a surface-to-air missile system that has a shorter effective range and lower engagement altitude than either of its predecessors. While it flies slower, due to its two-stage design, it is more effective against more maneuverable targets. It is also able to engage lower flying targets than the previous systems, and being more modern, it is much more resistant to ECM than the S-75. Venezuela is believed to have forty-four of these systems as of 2024.

Regarding ECM, it stands for Electronic Counter Measure, and is an electrical or electronic device that is designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, such as infrared or lasers.

Regarding exactly why Venezuela's air defense systems failed so miserably -- a lot of people are no doubt wondering about this -- the English version of the VREME website -- which is located in Belgrade, Serbia -- offers us the following info in an article called "DW: Why did Russian air defense fail in Venezuela?". It is dated January 9, 2026:

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What happened during the attack?

The US military operation began with a cyber attack that knocked out much of Caracas' electricity supply and allowed 150 US planes, drones and helicopters to approach the capital undetected.

In order to secure the corridor, according to the Washington Post, six anti-aircraft installations that were supposed to protect Caracas were attacked. Among those affected are, among others, a port, an air and military base, an airport and a communication center located on a mountain. According to published footage, at least two Buk missile launchers were destroyed.

In addition, Western military experts found that a significant portion of the air defenses were inoperable due to poor maintenance and a lack of spare parts – but also because Russia had failed to meet repair and modernization commitments.

As a consequence, only a small part of the system was functional at the time of the American attack.

Why did air defense fail?

Yuri Fyodorov attributes the failure of Venezuela's air defenses to the use of the latest generation of US F-35 and F-22 fighter-bombers.

"Those fifth-generation aircraft are very difficult to locate with radar. Theoretically, they could disable air defense and destroy it from the air, as happened in Iran during the 12-day war. Fifth-generation aircraft can relatively easily overcome air defense, including the Russian S-400 systems," says this military expert.

Anti-aircraft systems on the ground, especially Russian ones, are not powerful enough against modern bombers, military expert Daniel Bahmat told the Telegraph magazine.

According to him, anti-aircraft systems cannot compete with the combination of real-time reconnaissance, electronic warfare and precision weapons. Experts also point to the hilly terrain of Caracas as a problem. Russian anti-aircraft systems are designed for flat terrain, according to the Telegraph.

In addition to the technical shortcomings of the Venezuelan air defense, the fact that the army was unable to react to the attack also played a decisive role.

According to the US Defense Blog, the US attacked key command and communication centers, which led to the disorganization of the units. Several hours after the attack, no coordinated actions could be observed.

However, Yuri Fyodorov believes that the main reason for the failure of the Venezuelan air defense is human error. "It is not so much about the technical capabilities of one side or the other, but rather that the Venezuelan armed forces simply overslept and did not expect an attack," says Fyodorov.

Markus Reisner agrees with that. Although export versions of Russian anti-aircraft systems have limited capabilities, the deciding factor is not the weapon systems themselves, but their operators.

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So to reiterate this key point, my friends, what occurred on January 3, 2026 was NOT just a minor operation as the Trump administration would have us to believe. While it was indeed a lightning-fast strike -- certain people such as Rand Paul seem to be viewing it as a one-day war -- nevertheless, it was still a very major, coordinated operation, and in fact a blatant act of war that should not have happened. Just look at the logistics involved. Look at how many individuals were killed. Look at what was either destroyed or incapacitated. Friends, again, it was a serious act of war. Furthermore, as long as the US military blockade remains in effect, and as long as tankers are being detained and boarded, and alleged drug boats are being blown up, and Venezuela is being very seriously financially squeezed, in my opinion, it is STILL a war, no matter what Trump and his warmongering cabinet likes to say. And now the Venezuelan militias are getting involved and hunting down Americans and pro-American collaborators!

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

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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