War on the world : Now, Delcy must go
The news is out about what is expected from Venezuela.
The Trump administration is (https://t.me/SputnikInt/97749) demands that Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez bend the knee to the US’ whims, or else suffer the same brutal capture as her predecessor Nicolas Maduro, Politico reports. She has been openly threatened.
US officials are reportedly attempting to force Rodriguez to undertake “several pro-US actions” in a narrative to have a “quick win”:
🔴 Cracking down on “drug flows”
🔴 Expelling Iranian, Cuban, and other “hostile” operatives
🔴 Stopping oil sales to countries the US labels as “adversaries”
🔴 “Facilitating free elections” and stepping aside.”
Delcy Rodriques
It is clear now that Delcy is not the one who may have sold out Nicholás Maduro.
Rodriguez earlier took the oath as Venezuela’s interim president, stressing that she did so “with pain” because of the suffering caused by the US’s “illegitimate military aggression.” Maduro’s son was at her side and on completion of the ceremony, Delcy hugged the Russian and Chinese ambassadors and did the customary bow to the Iranian ambassador, first, before anyone else.
Delcy is a strong and effective leader who will not readily submit to the US. She has local support from certain countries, and a new negotiation game will probably begin.
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez is a revolutionary Chavista stalwart, and the daughter of a slain revolutionary. She is loyal to the Bolivarian Revolution.
There are some claiming she is a ‘traitor’. I find that very hard to believe. I see no evidence for it, and… pic.twitter.com/YjK7Gvm0x3
— Ammar Kazmi 🇵🇸 (@AmmarKazmi) January 6, 2026
The oil tankers still in Venezuela are trying to break out en masse and in convoy. We wait for the results here. Over the past two weeks, 20 tankers of the “shadow fleet” changed the flag of Gambia to others. Of these, 8 switched to the Russian flag. The total number of tankers that have switched to the Russian flag since the beginning of such changes is 11 and is growing. A striking example was the reflagging of tankers heading from Venezuela.
Previously, the Russian flag was not a privilege, but now it is regarded as a way of protection from sanctions and blockades of American piracy. Russia and China are making strides to establish their own ship’s registeries and insurance. The fear of sanctions is clearly dissipating. Russia just warned the US to quit chasing the Marinera/former Bella 1.
The Legal Process
The Judge is 92 years old.
In the mean-time the Maduro case may collapse, as the DoJ admits Cartel de los Soles doesn’t actually exist. That was the core accusation: that Maduro is the leader of a brutal cartel, and that is why the Treasury and State Department designated the Cartel as a ‘terrorist organization’. Now it does not exist. What is left in the indictment is a conglomeration of soft words. The new indictment against Maduro (https://t.me/geopolitics_prime/62483) mentions the cartel only twice, in passing, deep into the document, where it’s described as a loose “patronage system run by those at the top,” and no mention is made of the sitting president’s supposedly extensive role within it. That’s a big problem for the Trump camp, which spent the last six months beating the drums of war against Venezuela on the pretext that the Cartel poses a threat to the US and that Maduro is its kingpin. It’s also why the US began its military campaign in September, targeting ‘drug boats’ before later switching to other, more openly dubious tactics, like tanker seizures, electronic warfare, and Maduro’s abduction.
Maduro’s court case will either go the way of Julian Assange, with a years-long procedure of made-up legal warfare against him. I cannot see that he will be Epsteined, at least not in the short term. Russia and, specifically, China are not leaving this one alone, and China is consistently demanding the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, based on the legal protections for a sitting head of state. In Venezuela, part of the opposition tried to fly a drone, there was gunfire, and the military took out the drone and quashed what was called an attempted coup. Also, during street protests and demands for Maduro’s release, much of the small opposition is taking part.
Geopolitics Prime prepared this list of headaches in the legal process, which is already becoming a political circus and show trial against Maduro. I am not presenting this as a legal opinion but simply as a list of headaches.
♦️ Sovereign immunity: Maduro is the sitting head of state of a sovereign country, whether the US recognizes him as such or not, and is not subject to US law. If it were otherwise, any country could arrest any foreign leader it doesn’t like
♦️ The abduction of a head of state from a country with which the US is not at war violates Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter and the Charter of the Organization of American States. The US is still a party to both, although they don’t care and will still try for a show trial.
♦️ Illegality of abduction: Maduro wasn’t arrested in the US. Delta Force attacked Venezuela in the dead of night and targeted him in his home. The landmark 1974 US v. Toscanino case showed that the egregious, conscience-shocking nature of abduction is a legitimate defense
♦️ Under US law, major military operations require congressional authorization, which Trump never got, carrying out an act of war without War Powers Resolution approval
♦️ The Political Question – Doctrine could be used to argue that Trump’s dispute with Maduro is in the political, not judicial realm
Other headaches
🔴 If Maduro gets a jury trial, how can either side expect an impartial one in such a polarizing case (hint: the defense won’t just approve wealthy Venezuelan emigres or Chevron execs during jury selection)
🔴 Maduro could use the court to expose the US legal system. During Monday’s preliminary hearing, he spoke via translator, hinting at potential problems a judge could face if he wanted to shut him up
🔴 What kinds of evidence is the prosecution planning to introduce if it doesn’t have access to materials from inside Venezuela? If it uses classified files, it may face problems revolving around the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA)
The immediate future
What I expect is that China will not leave the abduction of Maduro alone. They will run a vicious diplomatic and economic campaign against the US and will not accept or respect the US calling dibs on the Western Hemisphere as part of a new Monroe Doctrine. Russia has been relatively quiet in the run-up to Orthodox Christmas. The retaliation is multi-pronged, and again, I have not verified each of these actions.
Aftermath of hijacking Chinese oil tanker
The US blatantly hijacked a Chinese oil tanker under the Panama flag, aiming to threaten oil trade with countries that the US has imposed sanctions on.
– Put the case to UNCLOS and sue the US for a compensation of $2 billion. This is to reinforce the established rules and set a precedent that the US could be sued.
– Continued sanctions on 20 US weapon industries so they cannot access rare earth supplies (even if China relaxes rare earth supplies with the US, these companies remain blacklisted), and these are the major companies that need rare earth the most.
– Cancel orders on agriculture and choke off significant Trump support in the US.
– Continue to offload US bonds that further weaken US financing of its debts.
– Continue to trash the use of US$ in the oil trade, as 85% of the oil transactions are already in RMB.
– The hijack has pushed up the shipping insurance that allows China to work with suffering countries to create a new insurance pool that will definitely attract many shipping companies.
– Impose a 25% added charge to any shipping companies with 25%+ US shareholding on port charges.
All the above combined effects sent a strong signal that China does not need to counter with military means but can stand tall as a rules-maker to reshape the financial landscape, which has long been dominated by US hegemony.
China is, in fact, speeding up the process of dedollarisation, which is key to destroying US hegemony.
So, what happened in Venezuela, besides the fact that we do not know (yet) who the traitor group is? Again, China did the analysis, and there is wall-to-wall coverage in the Chinese-English media. Of course, China is warning other countries that are currently in the imperial crosshairs.
Recently, the US launched a military strike against Venezuela and forcibly seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. According to US media reports, the operation began with cyberwarfare. Chinese cybersecurity firm Antiy released a report on Tuesday saying that the US likely conducted cyberattacks to cause widespread power outages, thereby “opening operational channels” for subsequent airstrikes and special operations.
A cybersecurity expert told the Global Times that with its cyberattack capabilities, the US typically aims to gain deep control over other countries’ information systems and continuously conduct covert information gathering; during wartime, these capabilities can be converted into battlefield intelligence advantages, enabling attacks on critical infrastructure such as financial and military systems at any time, which could further lead to the collapse and disintegration of societal operations.
According to US media reports, the US side suggested that it used cyberattacks or other technical capabilities to cut power in Caracas during strikes on the Venezuelan capital. The US side also reportedly confirmed that US Cyber Command participated in the operation.
According to the latest report by Antiy, “the blackout in Caracas was largely intended to provide more covert support for the low-altitude entry and operations of [the US] helicopter fleet, requiring precision, certainty, and controllability. The likelihood of power infrastructure being compromised by firepower strikes or physical damage is relatively low, whereas cyberattacks are more likely to cause blackouts, thereby ‘opening operational channels’ for subsequent US airstrikes and special operations.”
“It cannot be ruled out that the US attempted to disable its opponent’s air defense weapon systems through cyberattacks during the operation.”
The report suggests that in the US cyberwarfare against Venezuela, possible tactical moves may include breaching Venezuela’s critical infrastructure and key information systems to obtain internal documents, materials, intelligence, and other information; breaching and controlling the mobile phones or terminal computers of key Venezuelan personnel to directly access information, turning these devices into mobile eavesdropping tools or stepping stones for further attacks; breaching Venezuela’s security devices and smart home systems in key buildings to achieve internal reconnaissance and surveillance purposes; and breaching critical infrastructure to gain control, continuously monitor operational status, and prepare for the transition to cyberspace attacks.
Li Baisong, deputy director of the technical committee of Antiy, told the Global Times that it has long been an open secret that the US conducts extensive and indiscriminate cyberattacks and infiltrations against numerous countries, including its allies, and the recent operation against Venezuela is another example of this.
According to Li, profound changes have occurred in military technology. In the era of informatized and intelligent warfare, more effective methods are now available, such as attacks, infiltration and disruption in cyberspace, which could be used to achieve the objective of degrading or neutralizing opposing weapon systems.
Faced with the increasingly powerful cyberattack challenges from external forces, countries should strengthen cybersecurity awareness and build robust cybersecurity defense systems, Li said. “On one hand, every organization and enterprise should take on the primary responsibility for the security planning, construction, and operation of their information systems. On the other hand, and more importantly, it is essential to enhance the capability for systematic confrontation and comprehensive national defense,” he said.
The overall picture is still messy, but with this Chinese analysis, some dominoes fall into place. We know who put the lights out. The lights are also out on the Epstein files, which they now say will take years to disclose fully. The lights are also out in Trump’s head when it comes to peace in West Asia. The lights are also out on Russia-US negotiations. I cannot see how Russia and China will manage to turn on the lights for the international legal system, since those lights are out as well.
In Venezuela, it is now openly being talked about that the US abduction of the Venezuelan president was thought to be the result of a traitor in his ranks, a member of one of the paramilitary groups deployed to the capital, Caracas, to maintain order.