Maduro: Who's Next?
Also in this edition: Tijuana, between hope and death. Without corn farmers, there is no country. A Muslim socialist immigrant governs New York. 2026: a year of resistance and solidarity?
Lea La Jornada Internacional en español aquí.
Kidnapping Is Only the First Step
The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is only the first step in a campaign to subject Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Greenland to the will of Donald Trump’s government. For nearly two centuries, the United States has carried out coups d’état, interventions, and invasions to overthrow disobedient governments. Trump criticized his predecessors for how they handled such actions and, during his campaign, pledged to oppose the occupation of other countries.
However, it has become clear that the U.S. establishment, even with Trump in charge, has not changed its objective of maintaining dominance, especially in the Western Hemisphere. The effort to achieve this may no longer rely on coups or military occupations, but rather on kidnappings, targeted drone strikes, the use of advanced technology for warfare, political coercion, and psychological warfare. Still, old-fashioned military force has not been ruled out, as shown by the current naval-military deployment in the Caribbean.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of this recent intervention is the frankness of the president and his government. It was not justified with rhetoric about saving democracy, human rights, freedom, or the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Instead, Trump declared that the goal is “oil” and critical minerals. No one remembers a more honest imperial action.
Donald Trump ordered the military operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, under the pretext of an anti-narcotics action and declared that the United States will govern the South American country until achieving an “appropriate transition.” But first things first. “Our very big oil companies, the biggest in the world, are going to go there to fix the oil infrastructure and start making money for that country.” He justified this by saying that Venezuela’s oil industry was built by the United States and that “the socialist regime stole it from us.”
In his first public appearance since being kidnapped by U.S. armed forces, Maduro stated before a federal court in New York that he is the “constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and that he was “kidnapped.” He added, “I consider myself a prisoner of war,” and therefore requested the application of his rights under the Geneva Convention.
In Venezuela, the Chavista government respected constitutional order and appointed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim president. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest Maduro’s kidnapping, and government structures continued to function. Nevertheless, the U.S. government imposed a naval blockade, reiterated that it is “in charge” of the country, and threatened further military action to demand access to oil and the submission of the Chavista government.
Many countries, especially in the so-called Global South, opposed the intervention and pointed out the damage it causes to the multilateral system. But once again, too many governments showed themselves unwilling to directly criticize President Trump. Mexico defended the basic principles of non-intervention and respect for sovereignty. President Claudia Sheinbaum was among the first leaders to condemn the intervention and rejected demands by U.S. politicians to halt the flow of oil to Cuba.
The governments of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, along with the Non-Aligned Movement, condemned the attack during an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council. “These actions must not be allowed, as they constitute a severe blow to the United Nations Charter and to multilateralism,” said Mexico’s permanent representative to the UN, Héctor Vasconcelos.
“These actions are part of a continuous U.S. effort toward regime change that has extended for more than two decades,” explained Jeffrey Sachs in his remarks to the Security Council, published in La Jornada. But Venezuela is not alone. “Last year, Washington carried out bombing operations in seven countries, none of which were authorized by the Security Council, and none in legitimate self-defense under the Charter.”
“Sovereign Venezuela is mortally wounded, and vultures hover over it with a Nobel Peace Prize in one claw and stock certificates in the other,” La Jornada writes in an editorial. “What we have seen so far in Venezuela is not the end of anything, but the beginning of a new stage, even more turbulent than the previous ones. As Pancho Villa used to say: ‘Cheer up, bastards, what’s ahead is even worse,’” wrote Luis Hernández Navarro. ▶️ VIDEO
A few days after the kidnapping, Trump predicted the fall of the Cuban government and issued new threats against Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland—a territory that had never before been on the list of possible U.S. interventions. (Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified, to reassure everyone, that the United States wanted to “buy” Greenland, not invade it—an offer not extended to the others on the list).
So, after Maduro, no one knows: who’s next?
Read this interview with Maduro, from before he was kidnapped.
The Quote:
But in order to keep justice from shriveling up like a beautiful orange fruit containing nothing but a bitter, dry pulp, I discovered once more at Tipasa that one must keep intact in oneself a freshness, a cool wellspring of joy, love the day that escapes injustice, and return to combat having won that light.
—Albert Camus, in Return to Tipasa
In Case You Missed It
◻️ Borders, between hope and death. Tijuana is a split mirror: it reflects the energy of those seeking new opportunities and the darkness of those lost to addiction and violence. Jair Cabrera Torres reports that between the glow of its lights and the shadows of its corners, the city moves to the rhythm of the border, where life and death dance together.
◻️ Achievements to start the new year. President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that the minimum wage increase for 2026, representing a 154 percent increase in purchasing power, will be enough to cover two basic food baskets. She also announced the gradual reduction of the workweek from 48 to 40 hours during her term. Mexico experienced a 13.6 percentage-point decrease in the number of people living in poverty, and southern states reduced poverty the most over the past seven years.
◻️ Without corn farmers, there is no country. If small, medium, and large producers no longer find corn cultivation profitable, they will stop planting it, and our already significant food dependence will increase, explains Armando Bartra in La Jornada del Campo. The López Obrador government set two major goals for the countryside: reducing poverty and achieving food self-sufficiency. The first was achieved, among other things, thanks to broad-coverage programs. The second was not; in fact, dependence is greater today than it was seven years ago. VIDEO ▶️ Why are Mexican farmers protesting? A conversation with Luis Hernández Navarro.
◻️ Drug use in Mexico. Illegal drug use among adults grew by 40 percent over the past decade, while among minors it fell from 6.2 to 4.1 percent, though not so with vaping.
◻️ End and beginning. As the year ended in the United States, perhaps the most important thing that happened in 2025 was the beginning of something promising for 2026: resistance and solidarity. In Illinois, experts on the first commission on abuses by migration agents analyze and compile case files on attacks committed by ICE. “Trump will face growing difficulties in pushing his agenda of dismantling U.S. legality and institutions,” La Jornada writes in an editorial.
◻️ A Muslim immigrant governs New York. Thousands took part in street celebrations for the inauguration of a democratic socialist as mayor of the mecca of capitalism, and the triumph of a progressive countercurrent that broke the monopoly of the political leadership of both parties and represents a rejection of the right wing that controls Washington.
