The United States of Venezuela

[myboynoah]

daBrockie, you need to read that again. Grok is basically saying its not from Reuters, its from the NYT. It does NOT appear to be saying the underlying claims are untrue.

Doh

Worse yet, even if only the original Reuters report is true, Chinese tankers running a U.S.-imposed blockade is not a good thing. For all we know, they've been doing this regularly and flipping us off as they pass by.

So, when does freedom start to reign in Venezuela where Trump is calling the shots?

Also, it seems that the "z" in Venezuela is pronounced like an "s" rather than a "z." Or was that just a mispronunciation by the Spanish-speaking guy on the news?

[Copelius]

The Z in Spanish is pronounced "s", unless you are castillian. Then it is "th"

[falafel]

Doh

Worse yet, even if only the original Reuters report is true, Chinese tankers running a U.S.-imposed blockade is not a good thing. For all we know, they've been doing this regularly and flipping us off as they pass by.

So, when does freedom start to reign in Venezuela where Trump is calling the shots?

Also, it seems that the "z" in Venezuela is pronounced like an "s" rather than a "z." Or was that just a mispronunciation by the Spanish-speaking guy on the news?

Is today the day when you learned that "z" sounds like "s" in Spanish?

[myboynoah]

no hablo espanol

[myboynoah]

I ask again, why are we here?

Embedded Tweet

[dabrockster]

daBrockie, you need to read that again. Grok is basically saying it’s not from Reuters, it’s from the NYT. It does NOT appear to be saying the underlying claims are untrue.

Ahhh.. Falafelie… Note it says a few not 16. But semantics Amiright..

[LVAllen]

daBrockie, you need to read that again. Grok is basically saying its not from Reuters, its from the NYT. It does NOT appear to be saying the underlying claims are untrue.

For crying out loud dabrockster, stop relying on AI to do your thinking or checking for you.

Reuters report on 12 tankers leaving, half likely to China, although destination unknown, as well as a separate group of three and a Chevron tanker. Note this is not the report date that Grok gave.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americ...ys-2026-01-05/

The NY Times story using some of the same sources at Reuters (people and documents associated with tankertracker.com), and saying that 15 of the 16 were under sanctions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/w...-blockade.html

Now, the reasons for the sanctions (hauling Russian and Iranian oil) weren't given in the Reuters piece, just the NYT, and I didn't see a connection to wider BRICS countries. But frequently saying "ChatGPT said this" or a here's what Grok said is doing you no favors.

[frank ryan]

Confirms what I'd ready heard and posted, but apparently there was some sort of trade off of Ukraine for Venezuela. Disgusting. Also noteworthy is Putin not condemning action in Venezuela.

Russian officials indicated in 2019 that the Kremlin would be willing to back off from its support for Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela in exchange for a free hand in Ukraine, according to Fiona Hill, an adviser to President Donald Trump at the time.

The Russians repeatedly floated the idea of a “very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine,” Hill said during a congressional hearing in 2019. Her comments surfaced again this week and were shared on social media after the U.S. stealth operation to capture Maduro.

Hill said Russia pushed the idea through articles in Russian media that referenced the Monroe Doctrine — a 19th century principle in which the U.S. opposed European meddling in the Western Hemisphere and in return agreed to stay out of European affairs. It was invoked by Trump to justify the U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

Even though Russian officials never made a formal offer, Moscow’s then-ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, hinted many times to her that Russia was willing to allow the United States to act as it wished in Venezuela if the U.S. did the same for Russia in Europe, Hill told The Associated Press this week.

“Before there was a ‘hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink, how about doing a deal?’ But nobody (in the U.S.) was interested then,” Hill said.

Trump dispatched Hill — then his senior adviser on Russia and Europe — to Moscow in April 2019 to deliver that message. She said she told Russian officials “Ukraine and Venezuela are not related to each other.”



At that time, she said, the White House was aligned with allies in recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president.

But fast forward seven years and the situation is different.

After ousting Maduro, the U.S. has said it will now “run” Venezuela policy. Trump also has renewed his threat to take over Greenland — a self-governing territory of Denmark and part of the NATO military alliance — and threatened to take military action against Colombia for facilitating the global sale of cocaine.

The Kremlin will be “thrilled” with the idea that large countries — such as Russia, the United States and China — get spheres of influence because it proves “might makes right,” Hill said.

Trump’s actions in Venezuela make it harder for Kyiv’s allies to condemn Russia’s designs on Ukraine as “illegitimate” because “we’ve just had a situation where the U.S. has taken over — or at least decapitated the government of another country — using fiction,” Hill told AP.

The Trump administration has described its raid in Venezuela as a law enforcement operation and has insisted that capturing Maduro was legal.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hill’s account.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the military operation to oust Maduro but the Foreign Ministry issued statements condemning U.S. “aggression.”

https://apnews.com/article/russia-venezuela-putin-maduro-fiona-hill-b26a94ceaba69c6ddd9193e2b31cb97f

[dabrockster]

Confirms what I'd ready heard and posted, but apparently there was some sort of trade off of Ukraine for Venezuela. Disgusting. Also noteworthy is Putin not condemning action in Venezuela.







https://apnews.com/article/russia-ve...9193e2b31cb97f

I would say most of us had this assumption. The questions now is. Which liar will reverse course on this wink-wink, nod-nod agreement..

[dabrockster]

For crying out loud dabrockster, stop relying on AI to do your thinking or checking for you.

Reuters report on 12 tankers leaving, half likely to China, although destination unknown, as well as a separate group of three and a Chevron tanker. Note this is not the report date that Grok gave.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americ...ys-2026-01-05/

The NY Times story using some of the same sources at Reuters (people and documents associated with tankertracker.com), and saying that 15 of the 16 were under sanctions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/w...-blockade.html

Now, the reasons for the sanctions (hauling Russian and Iranian oil) weren't given in the Reuters piece, just the NYT, and I didn't see a connection to wider BRICS countries. But frequently saying "ChatGPT said this" or a here's what Grok said is doing you no favors.

Neither were the destinations provided either in the article. However, the pattern of use shows it has been used for Iran and Russia in the past. I think this idea of us letting them go is a bit much. They are evading the blockade. refusing to allow their ships to be boarded. Not sure we can chase down all 16 of them..

the recent news of us boarding and taking the ship before Russia got their navy vessel there shows a different tune than posted on the "X" account that was originally posted.


After it left the Caribbean, its name was changed from Bella-1 to Marinera, and it adopted the Russian flag.

Further data from TankerTraffic shows the vessel making a sudden turn southbound, also slowing down.

The incident follows a disputed boarding attempt in late December. The US Coast Guard tried to intercept Bella-1 near Venezuela on December 21, but its crew refused to allow personnel aboard.

In the days that followed the ship changed its identity and the crew painted a Russian tricolour on the hull.


The US seized another shadow fleet tanker Sophia in the Caribbean Sea in the early hours of this morning, with authorities saying that it was carrying oil from Venezuela.

Seems this one has now changed course and is heading south..
https://x.com/TankerTrackers/status/...204829508?s=20


https://metro.co.uk/2026/01/07/us-fo...ntic-26130727/


Seems Russia and China are doing everything possible to evade and get through the blockade. That doesn't sound like a deal as being projected..

At least three other sanctioned oil tankers that were operating near Venezuela in recent weeks have changed their flags to Russia, according to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. The ships — the Malak, now renamed the Sintez; the Dianchi, now the Expander; and the Veronica, now the Galileo — had previously been sailing under the flags of Comoros and Guyana, according to MarineTraffic.

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/venezu...ela-rcna252738

[frank ryan]

I would say most of us had this assumption. The questions now is. Which liar will reverse course on this wink-wink, nod-nod agreement..

It's coming from someone who would know. We did flat out abandon Ukraine. And Russia not even uttering condemnation over Venezuela is mind-blowing.

[dabrockster]

As for this thread shifting to all things Russia and Trump are in bed.. Shifting back to what is happening in Venezuela.

I am more concerned with the recent activities and repression that has started to crackdown on celebration across Venezuela. Not a fan of thinking this VP will be any different and this Cabello strongman should be gone (By any means). He is the defecto military and Gestapo for Maduro and the VP. If anything, he could easily take over with his backing of the "Colectivos -gang" and military support. Why he is still alive is beyond me in the effort to rid Venezuela of all the regime. He seems like a unhinged guy who should not have the military power..

Security forces have boarded buses, searched phones and interrogated people, looking for evidence that they welcomed the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Over the past several days, security forces have interrogated people at checkpoints, boarded public buses and searched passengers’ phones, looking for evidence that they approved of Mr. Maduro’s removal, according to Venezuelans in the country and human rights groups. At least 14 journalists and six citizens were detained; most have been released.

The split screen of the government leading a show of support for an unpopular authoritarian leader while cracking down on his critics was especially striking because the United States is now supporting that government.

Ms. Rodríguez appears to have declared a 90-day state of emergency that gives the security forces broad power to “immediately search and capture” anyone who supports “the armed attack by the United States,” along with other measures that would further erode civil liberties in a nation long under authoritarian rule.

This quote makes me ill. It is about the Oil. Political prisoners be dammed.. He is going to lose any goodwill from Venezuelans/Americans as well as Cubans who share a similar feelings of communist regimes that need to be changed.

Mr. Trump was asked by reporters on Sunday whether the two sides had discussed the release of political prisoners or the return of opposition politicians from exile. “We haven’t gotten to that yet,” he responded. “What we want to do now is fix up the oil.”

[Jeff Lebowski]

Rogue tanker has been seized. Happened this morning.

[dabrockster]

It's coming from someone who would know. We did flat out abandon Ukraine. And Russia not even uttering condemnation over Venezuela is mind-blowing.

Good Lord.. You are a petulant child who must argue all things even when it is not about you or even when the comment is in agreement with you and collectively.. This "I am right" and any hint of disagreement (Like this conversation) shows you have some serious issues..

[frank ryan]

Good Lord.. You are a petulant child who must argue all things even when it is not about you or even when the comment is in agreement with you and collectively.. This "I am right" and any hint of disagreement (Like this conversation) shows you have some serious issues..

Dude drop the personal attacks. I'm not sure what you're going for but I don't appreciate it.


It is hard to discuss geopolitics without Russia coming up. The changing interactions between Russia and the US is at the center of global changes whether that annoys you or not.