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President Donald Trump said the US used a secret weapon he called "The Discombobulator" to disable Venezuelan equipment when the US captured Nicolas Maduro. Trump also renewed his threat to conduct military strikes on land against drug cartels, including in Mexico. Trump made the comments in an interview Friday with the New York Post. The Republican president was commenting on reports that the US had a pulsed energy weapon and said, "The Discombobulator. I'm not allowed to talk about it." He said the weapon made Venezuelan equipment "not work." "They never got their rockets off. They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off," Trump said in the interview. "We came in, they pressed buttons and nothing worked. They were all set for us." Trump had previously said when describing the raid on Maduro's compound that the US had turned off "almost all of the lights in Caracas," but he didn't detail how they accomplished that. The president also indicated the US will con
The US military said Friday that it has carried out a deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the first known attack since the raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month. US Southern Command said on social media that the boat was "engaged in narco-trafficking operations" and that the strike killed two people and left one survivor. It said it notified the Coast Guard to launch search and rescue operations for that person. A video accompanying the post announcing the latest strike shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames. The US military has focused lately on seizing sanctioned oil tankers with connections to Venezuela since the Trump administration launched an audacious raid to capture Maduro and bring him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. With the latest military action, there have been 36 known strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in South American waters since ..
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodrguez used her first state of the union message on Thursday to advocate for opening the crucial state-run oil industry to more foreign investment following the Trump administration's pledge to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales. For the first time, Rodrguez laid out a vision for Venezuela's new political reality one that challenges her government's most deeply rooted beliefs less than two weeks after the United States captured and toppled former President Nicols Maduro. Under pressure from the US to cooperate with its plans for reshaping Venezuela's sanctioned oil industry, she declared that a new policy is being formed in Venezuela and urged the nation's diplomats to tell foreign investors about it. The Trump administration has said it plans to control future oil revenue to ensure it benefits the Venezuelan people. Rodrguez on Thursday painted a picture of money from the oil sales flowing into the national budget to bolster crisis-stricke
Venezuela is releasing a significant number of citizens and foreigners from its prisons in a decision that the head of the country's legislature described Thursday as a gesture to seek peace less than a week after former President Nicols Maduro was captured by US forces to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York. Jorge Rodrguez, brother of acting President Delcy Rodrguez and head of the National Assembly, did not specify who they would be releasing or how many people would be released. But he said the release of prisoners is happening right now. The Spanish government announced Thursday the release of five Spanish citizens in Caracas. While the embassy is coordinating their return to Spain, officials have not yet specified a departure date. The Penal Forum, a human rights organisation in Venezuela, said that as of December 29, 2025, there were 863 people detained in Venezuela for political reasons. In a post on X, director of the forum, Alfredo Romero, said the liberations
Venezuela's military held a funeral in the capital Wednesday for some of the dozens of soldiers killed during the US operation that captured then-President Nicols Maduro. Music from a military orchestra echoed over the cemetery as family members and soldiers marched behind a row of caskets. Men carried the wooden caskets cloaked in the Venezuelan flag past rows of uniformed officers. Thank you for letting them embrace a military career, a military commander, Rafael Murillo, said to families surrounding him at the cemetery on the city's south side. The men were honored with a gun salute as the caskets were lowered into the ground and their loved ones wailed. Armed National Guard members patrolled parts of the cemetery for hours before and during the ceremony that followed an emotional wake. The funeral came a day after acting President Delcy Rodrguez declared a seven-day mourning period for the fallen officers. Venezuela's military has said at least 24 Venezuelan officers were kill
The Venezuelan government on Monday sought to show its people and the world that the country is being run independently and not controlled by the United States following its stunning weekend arrest of Nicolas Maduro, the authoritarian leader who had ruled for almost 13 years. Lawmakers aligned with the ruling party, including Maduro's son, gathered in the capital, Caracas, to follow through with a scheduled swearing-in ceremony of the National Assembly for a term that will last until 2031. They reelected their longtime speaker the brother of the newly named interim president, Delcy Rodriguez and gave speeches focused on condemning Maduro's capture Saturday by US forces. If we normalise the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today, it's Venezuela. Tomorrow, it could be any nation that refuses to submit," Maduro's son, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, said at the legislative palace in his first public appearance since Saturday. "This is not a regional problem. It is a direct ..