Eclectic Food For Thought

I’m going to be offline more than on the next few days, as Christmas is fast approaching for those of us who keep the old calendar. But, looking ahead a bit has me quietly laughing and going “wow!” The Trump II team is not thinking small.

What happened this morning has global implications. The illegitimate ruler of a country (anyone thinking any of the elections including the one installing Chavez courtesy of The Peanut were legit is a fool and/or a liar) has been taken on the basis of legally issued arrest warrants from the U.S. for him, his wife, and others. Been on the books for years, and it is worth noting that Argentina also has arrest warrants out for him and many of the same people. Haven’t dug, but they may not be the only ones.

Okay, so a dictator has been removed. Whoop I hear from the peanut gallery. Yes, his “government” still stands — for now. Thing is, it has had it’s legs cut out from under it not just by the strike, but by the blockade and the ending of the illegal oil and drugs that have funded it and provided the means of staying in power. In turn, Maduro and company have been propping up Cuba and some other interesting regimes (cough Ortega family cough).

Without Venezuelan oil, money, and other support, Cuba probably has about 30 days before things go from horrible to nightmare. There are already blackouts, shortages, and more just from the current blockade. Going to be interesting to see what happens in several countries in the region over the next year.

This has also just knocked a major prop out from under the mad mullahs in Iran. They have been playing oil games to keep themselves and others funded with Venezuela a major partner in same. The blockade has hurt, but having this taken from them while they are in the fight of their lives with an uprising is a nice indirect knife twist. Hard to pay Arabic mercenaries to fight for you (which is happening right now) when your already shaky revenue stream takes a major hit. More thoughts on Iran later, but have noted for a year plus now that it was a powder keg and not a lot would be needed to see it explode. Without Obama to intervene on behalf of the Mullahs, think this time may be the time. Also worth noting that two groups had/have transition plans and such in place, which is good.

The actions this morning also cuts off the terrorism and weapon pipeline that Iran had been running into the Americas. Venezuela was not only that, but it was the command and control nexus for all operations in this hemisphere including those being set up here in the U.S. It is a given that assets are already here and in place (as previously discussed here ad nauseum), and they have just been cut off. That could get spicy, but it also changes the nature of the engagement. Been noticing a number of stories about various plots being foiled and such, much of which gets buried because it appears to be related to immigration enforcement that corporate media ignores. I simply note that such would be a good way to bury coverage of intel ops and related.

Nor was Iran the only one using Venezuela as a base for attacking the U.S. Interesting that the Chinese special envoy met with Maduro just hours before the snatch, pledging undying support. Funny how China seems to be the source for a lot of both precursor chemicals to, and fully produced fentanyl, that flooded the U.S. for several years there. Interesting that since the U.S. got serious about the border and eliminating as much of the fentanyl smuggling threat as possible that overdose deaths have dropped dramatically. Sure it’s all just coincidence though…

This is also going to impact some other governments and regions. Maybe more on that later if I get the chance but not counting on anything until after Wednesday. Between now and then will be mostly at Church, or trying to catch a bit of rest.

More soon I hope.

UPDATE I: From Wretchardthecat courtesy of Instapundit

What the press has still not realized is the potential flood of Venezuelan supply would reduce the geopolitical risk premium in oil, potentially dropping prices by $10-20 per barrel on expectations alone, keeping them range-bound between $50-70. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott…

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) January 3, 2026

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