Trump’s Venezuela play: How it reshapes South America’s risk map (preview)
Published: January 5, 2026
Duration: 12:34
In Latin America, 2026 quite literally got off to an explosive start.
Just before sunrise on January 2, the city of Caracas was violently awoken by the sound of bombs, as US forces launched a sudden, high-intensity strike on the Venezuelan capital. Within hours, President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were in American custody — flown out of the country and headed to New York to face criminal charges.
The Venezuelan government has provided no official death count from the strikes, but they are believed to be in the dozens — at le...