https://znetwork.org/category/place/latin-america/south-america/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:29:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/place/latin-america/south-america/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/#respond Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293560 Beyond the seizure of Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources, the January 3 invasion is inscribed within the epochal crisis of global capitalism. Historians will likely look back at the January 3, 2026 attack on Venezuela, the kidnapping of its president, and the takeover of the country as marking the definitive crack up of the post-WWII [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-war-is-peace/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-war-is-peace/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:59:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293508 After declaring his second presidential victory on 6 November 2024, Donald Trump said of his first term: ‘You know, we had no wars for four years. We had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS, we defeated ISIS in record time. But we had no wars. They said, “He will start a war.” I’m not going to start [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-war-is-peace/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-empire-strikes-back-trump-venezuela-and-ice/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-empire-strikes-back-trump-venezuela-and-ice/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1293480 In this livestream, Yanis Varoufakis and entrepreneur and commentator Arnaud Bertrand unpack what just happened in Venezuela, why it matters far beyond Latin America, and what people can do when “might makes right” is being sold as order. We also look at Europe’s response, the oil angle, and the wider shift towards more force, fewer [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-empire-strikes-back-trump-venezuela-and-ice/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-authoritarians-play-victim-from-minnesota-to-tel-aviv-it-is-an-admission-of-violent-intent/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-authoritarians-play-victim-from-minnesota-to-tel-aviv-it-is-an-admission-of-violent-intent/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293486 Fascists and various authoritarian personality types have a proclivity for playing the victim. Anyone who calls into question their brutal tactics is a terrorist/terrorist supporter who not only places them in mortal danger (i.e., As a rule, clad in body armor, heavily armed, and traveling in a belligerent pack) but the security and welfare of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-authoritarians-play-victim-from-minnesota-to-tel-aviv-it-is-an-admission-of-violent-intent/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/greenland-really/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/greenland-really/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:48:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293495 It is hard to understand why Donald Trump is so anxious to acquire Greenland even if it takes military force. When he suggested this during his first administration, one of his Cabinet secretaries mused, “You just sit there and be, like, ‘Well, this isn’t real.’” Now, somehow, it is. Venezuela shows us that, other than a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/greenland-really/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-venezuela-have-to-do-with-taiwan/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-venezuela-have-to-do-with-taiwan/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293471 The New Year did not begin with hope or joy, except for the arms dealers. More precisely, for the military-industrial-media-academic-NGO complex that feeds on permanent war. Orders are flowing, profits are booming, and blood has once again become a growth sector. For any normal society, pirates belong in adventure films, not in the civilian power [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-venezuela-have-to-do-with-taiwan/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-where-the-politics-of-drugs-oil-and-war-intersect/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-where-the-politics-of-drugs-oil-and-war-intersect/#respond Tue, 13 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293439 In the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, lawyer Celia Flores, neither the ‘rule of law’ (if ever relevant to the United States), nor Venezuelan oil is the key issue. Rather, it is a desperate act on the part of a declining power in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and an [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-where-the-politics-of-drugs-oil-and-war-intersect/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-is-colonialism-on-steroids-and-the-template-for-a-renewed-assault-on-latin-america/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-is-colonialism-on-steroids-and-the-template-for-a-renewed-assault-on-latin-america/#respond Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293391 The United States did not invent the concept of bombing civilians – that tradition originated with the Luftwaffe of Herman Goering and Erhard Milch that bombed Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The US, however, has built an empire on the foundation of terrorism from the sky. Psychologically and metaphorically, the obliteration of unarmed civilians with [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-is-colonialism-on-steroids-and-the-template-for-a-renewed-assault-on-latin-america/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-empire-threatens-and-the-emperor-has-no-clothes/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-empire-threatens-and-the-emperor-has-no-clothes/#respond Sun, 11 Jan 2026 16:50:20 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293359 Last Saturday (January 3th), a massive US military attack, concentrating the largest naval aggressor force ever assembled in the Americas in the Caribbean, kidnapped Nicolas Maduro and decapitated the country’s government. Since then, Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have multiplied threats. They spoke of a “second attack.” They boasted that “any member [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-empire-threatens-and-the-emperor-has-no-clothes/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/chronicle-of-a-foretold-coup-the-attack-on-venezuela-and-the-narco-terrorism-fairy-tale/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/chronicle-of-a-foretold-coup-the-attack-on-venezuela-and-the-narco-terrorism-fairy-tale/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:34:22 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293299 Current developments in Venezuela may appear to be unfathomable—until one recalls the long history of imperialist interference in Latin America and the Caribbean. The events of the first week of January constitute an escalation of a long-standing campaign to overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution and resume control on the country with the largest known oil reserves in the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/chronicle-of-a-foretold-coup-the-attack-on-venezuela-and-the-narco-terrorism-fairy-tale/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hugo-chavez-predicted-this/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hugo-chavez-predicted-this/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:16:43 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293292 On January 3rd, the United States invaded and bombed Venezuela and abducted President Maduro and First Lady Flores. This violent act of imperialist aggression by the Trump regime is a continuation of over two decades of hybrid warfare aimed at suppressing the Bolivarian Revolution. Over the past months, the US has been escalating aggression against [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hugo-chavez-predicted-this/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whos-really-running-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whos-really-running-venezuela/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:54:38 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293280 As the Senate voted to advance a War Powers Resolution on Venezuela on January 8th, Republican Senator Susan Collins declared that she did not agree with “a sustained engagement “running” Venezuela.”  The world was mystified when President Trump first said that the United States would “run” Venezuela. He has since made it clear that he [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whos-really-running-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ushering-in-the-age-of-impunity-venezuela-palestine-and-the-end-of-international-law/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ushering-in-the-age-of-impunity-venezuela-palestine-and-the-end-of-international-law/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293249 On January 3, 2026, without provocation, cause, or legal justification, the U.S. bombed Venezuela, invaded its capital, killed dozens of people, and violently abducted the President and First Lady of the country, binding, blindfolding, and spiriting them off to the United States.   Surely, such a blatant violation of a whole raft of international laws, indeed, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ushering-in-the-age-of-impunity-venezuela-palestine-and-the-end-of-international-law/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/abduction-in-caracas/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/abduction-in-caracas/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293252 Two decades before US forces kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro this weekend, Hugo Chávez had already predicted the approach: Years ago, someone told me: ‘They’re going to end up accusing you of being a drug trafficker – you personally – you, Chávez. Not just that the government supports it, or permits it – no, no, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/abduction-in-caracas/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/outscooped-by-trump-the-strike-on-nigerias-real-target-was-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/outscooped-by-trump-the-strike-on-nigerias-real-target-was-venezuela/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293260 Trump’s kidnapping of Maduro has taught me a lesson: that if you think you have a scoop, you file it immediately, not only to get the story out first but to warn the world if it’s about something bad that might be coming. Shortly after Trump bombed Nigeria on Christmas day, I wrote a piece [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/outscooped-by-trump-the-strike-on-nigerias-real-target-was-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/venezuela-greenland-trumps-warning-to-the-west/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/venezuela-greenland-trumps-warning-to-the-west/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1293227 Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau expose the reality behind the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and the dawn of a ‘Donroe Doctrine’ that signals the end of international law. As the first days of 2026 unfold, could Trump’s gangster-style intervention actually be emboldening Putin and Xi, and are Greenland and Canada truly the next targets on [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/venezuela-greenland-trumps-warning-to-the-west/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-current-situation-in-venezuela-a-government-in-charge-a-people-resilient/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-current-situation-in-venezuela-a-government-in-charge-a-people-resilient/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293242 On the early morning of January 3, the United States government launched a massive attack on Caracas, Venezuela, and three of the country’s states. Roughly 150 aircraft swarmed the skies, bombing with exceptional ferocity. Amongst these aircraft were EA-18 Growlers equipped with the most advanced electronic warfare systems, such as the Next General Jammers, as [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-current-situation-in-venezuela-a-government-in-charge-a-people-resilient/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fractured-veins-of-democracy-in-south-america/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fractured-veins-of-democracy-in-south-america/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:48:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293235 South America has entered a period in which liberal democracy is becoming more visible, with geopolitical tensions escalating between Venezuela and the US on the one hand, and election processes extending into 2025 on the other. The rise of right-wing populist governments from Argentina to Chile and from Ecuador to Bolivia is often explained solely [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fractured-veins-of-democracy-in-south-america/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-path-to-caracas-was-paved-in-gaza/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-path-to-caracas-was-paved-in-gaza/#respond Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:31:38 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293198 For decades, the United States and Israel have stuck closely to their respective, scripted roles in the Middle East: the job of good cop and bad cop. The charade has continued despite Washington’s active participation in Israel’s 25-month slaughter of Gaza’s people – and a dawning realisation among ever-larger sections of western publics that they [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-path-to-caracas-was-paved-in-gaza/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-venezuelan-battleground-us-regime-change-v-chinese-economic-cooperation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-venezuelan-battleground-us-regime-change-v-chinese-economic-cooperation/#respond Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:01:47 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293188 In the early hours of January 3, 2026, Venezuela’s President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were dragged from their bedroom and transported to New York. Having been months in-the-making behind the back of the U.S. Congress, the military raid involved more than 150 aircraft and drones, likely causing tens of deaths and far more [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-venezuelan-battleground-us-regime-change-v-chinese-economic-cooperation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/thank-you-trump-for-your-new-national-security-strategy-now-we-know-what-we-may-do/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/thank-you-trump-for-your-new-national-security-strategy-now-we-know-what-we-may-do/#respond Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:00:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293186 No dentist ever extracted a troublesome molar as cleanly and swiftly as Trump has extracted poor Maduro from Caracas. There are reports that not mere military might but very canny spy and money power operating over a long period made this extraction possible – a throwback, if you like, to the treachery of old world [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/thank-you-trump-for-your-new-national-security-strategy-now-we-know-what-we-may-do/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-united-states-is-an-international-lawbreaker/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-united-states-is-an-international-lawbreaker/#respond Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:57:43 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293183 The illegality of US intervention in Venezuela has been amply cited with reference to its attacks on alleged drug boats, its declaration of an oil blockade, and its kidnapping of Venezuela’s leader. When it comes to the US invasion, I have not seen reference to US violations of the fundamental document that governs relations among [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-united-states-is-an-international-lawbreaker/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-colonialism-stupid/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-colonialism-stupid/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:51:57 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293181 What happened in the early hours of January 3 in Caracas left the world stunned. But the strongest reason for astonishment is the fact that the world was stunned. What happened had been widely predicted. Since when? The less informed would say since Donald Trump came to power. But it is mainly since the publication [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-colonialism-stupid/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-shackles-of-hegemony-why-the-arrest-of-venezuelas-president-signals-the-death-of-international-law/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-shackles-of-hegemony-why-the-arrest-of-venezuelas-president-signals-the-death-of-international-law/#respond Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293200 The arrest of the Venezuelan President—an act executed with the precision of a Hollywood thriller and the subtlety of a sledgehammer—marks a Rubicon moment in modern international relations. For the cheering crowds in certain Western capitals, this is framed as a triumph of justice over tyranny, a long-awaited reckoning for a controversial regime. But for [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-shackles-of-hegemony-why-the-arrest-of-venezuelas-president-signals-the-death-of-international-law/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-vs-the-empire/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-vs-the-empire/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293163 The USA is descending into a state of general lawlessness, at home and abroad. From using domestic special ops paramilitary units (ICE) to kidnap people off the streets of America and send them abroad, the US government is now deploying secret special ops military units (Delta Force) to snatch foreign heads of governments from their [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-vs-the-empire/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-u-s-national-security-strategy-and-the-crisis-of-responsible-statehood/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-u-s-national-security-strategy-and-the-crisis-of-responsible-statehood/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293157 When does permissible strategic competition become illegitimate coercion, and when does state power begin to resemble organised crime? What is the Trump administration’s logic in pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández while indicting the sitting Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro on similar allegations of drug trafficking? This article examines the recent U.S. escalation from maritime [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-u-s-national-security-strategy-and-the-crisis-of-responsible-statehood/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuelas-communes-socialism-of-the-twenty-first-century/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuelas-communes-socialism-of-the-twenty-first-century/#respond Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293167 [Editor’s note: “This article was first published before the US attack on Caracas and kidnapping of President Maduro in January 2026.”] The United States is committed to removing Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, along with the government he leads. The pretext—that Maduro is involved in sending drugs to the US—is even refuted by the US government’s [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuelas-communes-socialism-of-the-twenty-first-century/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-will-try-to-defend-aggression-toward-venezuela-its-still-illegal/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-will-try-to-defend-aggression-toward-venezuela-its-still-illegal/#respond Tue, 06 Jan 2026 16:59:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293165 The Trump administration’s massive military attack on Venezuela, launched with 150 aircraft, reportedly killed upwards of 80 people, including civilians. In utter defiance of the mandates of the United Nations Charter, U.S. forces launched the attack as they kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, who have been transported to New York, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-will-try-to-defend-aggression-toward-venezuela-its-still-illegal/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/corporations-are-ready-to-cash-in-on-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/corporations-are-ready-to-cash-in-on-venezuela/#respond Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:58:30 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293136 Just weeks before the American military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro, the US energy giant Halliburton filed an unusual lawsuit in international court claiming the Venezuelan government owed them damages for US sanctions against the country. A separate case against Venezuela is also being pursued by another fossil fuel giant whose board includes an oil magnate whose family has delivered large [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/corporations-are-ready-to-cash-in-on-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-wont-be-the-end-youre-naive-if-you-think-so/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-wont-be-the-end-youre-naive-if-you-think-so/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:47:35 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293132 Late Friday night into early Saturday, I watched the news and scrolled through social media as reports of explosions in Caracas began to spread. I went to sleep unaware of what the morning would bring. Hours later, bleary-eyed and half-blind without my glasses, I woke to headlines announcing that the Trump administration had captured and arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-wont-be-the-end-youre-naive-if-you-think-so/feed/ 1