Operation Southern Spear(ed)
from @katzonearth [he doesn't post here, mostly only on his Substack-hosted blog sadly]

> While Americans have spent the last 24 hours justifiably focused on Trump's exposure in the #epsteinFiles, the president has been increasingly engaged in another dangerous flirtation: with yet another war. The supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group are nearing Venezuela, capping off the most significant U.S. military escalation in Latin America since the 1994 U.S. invasion of Haiti. Venezuelan President Nicolás #Maduro has mobilized an estimated 200,000 troops in hopes of staving off regime change. Trump, meanwhile, keeps treating the #Caribbean as his personal shooting gallery, with the death toll from missile strikes on civilian boats he accuses (without offering evidence) of drug smuggling now reaching eighty.

Not just the hey please stop talking about Epstein Files. It's also such an astonishingly major coincidence! that at least three of the countries where Don has begun or is clearly threatening to start wars, all using concocted false pretexts - #Venezuela, #Nigeria, and #Iran - are ALL OIL EXPORTERS.

#hegemony #plunder #feudalism #mercantilism #conquest #colonialism #imperialism #CIA #CIAwars #invasionPretext #invasion #warCrime #invasions #destabilization #CIAinvasions

https://theracket.news/p/operation-southern-spear-ed

Operation Southern Spear(ed)
from @katzonearth [he doesn't post here, mostly only on his Substack-hosted blog sadly]

> While Americans have spent the last 24 hours justifiably focused on Trump's exposure in the #epsteinFiles, the president has been increasingly engaged in another dangerous flirtation: with yet another war. The supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group are nearing Venezuela, capping off the most significant U.S. military escalation in Latin America since the 1994 U.S. invasion of Haiti. Venezuelan President Nicolás #Maduro has mobilized an estimated 200,000 troops in hopes of staving off regime change. Trump, meanwhile, keeps treating the #Caribbean as his personal shooting gallery, with the death toll from missile strikes on civilian boats he accuses (without offering evidence) of drug smuggling now reaching eighty.

Not just the hey please stop talking about Epstein Files. It's also such an astonishingly major coincidence! that at least three of the countries where Don has begun or is clearly threatening to start wars, all using concocted false pretexts - #Venezuela, #Nigeria, and #Iran - are ALL OIL EXPORTERS.

#hegemony #plunder #feudalism #mercantilism #conquest #colonialism #imperialism #CIA #CIAwars #invasionPretext #invasion #warCrime #invasions #destabilization #CIAinvasions

https://theracket.news/p/operation-southern-spear-ed

A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the #LatinAmerica region on Tuesday, escalating a military buildup that Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney, Brian Finucane, Senior Adviser for the US Programme at the International Crisis Group, says that the Trump administration is using 'a rhetoric of counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics to cloak a regime-change programme'.
#Venezuela #Trump #Maduro #war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0fachqp--4

Venezuela Mobilizes Military as US Aircraft Carrier Approaches
“The only reason to move it there is to use it against Venezuela,” said one policy expert of the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/venezuelas-military

from #CommonDreams
Julia Conley
Nov 12, 2025

White House officials have sought to walk back #Trump’s repeated threats against #Venezuela in recent days—even as the Department of Defense has continue to strike boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific—but officials in the South American country on Tuesday took the arrival of a #US aircraft carrier in the region seriously despite the administration’s claims that it won’t target Venezuela directly.

As the USS Gerald R. Ford entered waters near #LatinAmerica, accompanied by three warships, Venezuela’s #defense minister said its entire #military arsenal had been placed on “full operational readiness,” with President #Maduro ordering the deployment of nearly 200,000 soldiers.

#news #politics #USpol

A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the #LatinAmerica region on Tuesday, escalating a military buildup that Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney, Brian Finucane, Senior Adviser for the US Programme at the International Crisis Group, says that the Trump administration is using 'a rhetoric of counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics to cloak a regime-change programme'.
#Venezuela #Trump #Maduro #war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0fachqp--4

Venezuela Mobilizes Military as US Aircraft Carrier Approaches
“The only reason to move it there is to use it against Venezuela,” said one policy expert of the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/venezuelas-military

from #CommonDreams
Julia Conley
Nov 12, 2025

White House officials have sought to walk back #Trump’s repeated threats against #Venezuela in recent days—even as the Department of Defense has continue to strike boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific—but officials in the South American country on Tuesday took the arrival of a #US aircraft carrier in the region seriously despite the administration’s claims that it won’t target Venezuela directly.

As the USS Gerald R. Ford entered waters near #LatinAmerica, accompanied by three warships, Venezuela’s #defense minister said its entire #military arsenal had been placed on “full operational readiness,” with President #Maduro ordering the deployment of nearly 200,000 soldiers.

#news #politics #USpol

#Trump Weighs Options, and Risks, for Attacks on #Venezuela

President Trump has yet to make a decision, but his advisers are pressing a range of objectives — from attacking drug cartels to seizing oil fields — to try to justify ousting Nicolás #Maduro

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/us/politics/trump-weighs-attacks-venezuela.html

unpaywalled: https://archive.is/wyAWS

#Trump Weighs Options, and Risks, for Attacks on #Venezuela

President Trump has yet to make a decision, but his advisers are pressing a range of objectives — from attacking drug cartels to seizing oil fields — to try to justify ousting Nicolás #Maduro

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/us/politics/trump-weighs-attacks-venezuela.html

unpaywalled: https://archive.is/wyAWS

#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

…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