US Intervention in Venezuela: Resource Control Over Democracy

Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams · January 06, 2026 · Listen to Original Episode →

Original Title:

TL;DR

The US military invasion of Venezuela to seize President Maduro sets a dangerous precedent, potentially normalizing extrajudicial regime decapitation and complicating international relations.
Misuse of language, such as calling a military invasion "capture," obscures harm and allows bad-faith actors to redefine critical terms, undermining accountability and democratic discourse.
The Trump administration's shift from an alliance-based system to a "spheres of influence" national security strategy signals a more aggressive, militarized policy in the Western Hemisphere, echoing 19th-century imperial designs.
Stephen Miller's framing of migration as an "invasion" and conflation with criminal activity justifies military force against migrants, aligning domestic immigration policy with foreign military interventions.
The US intervention in Venezuela, driven by oil interests rather than democratic promotion, creates cognitive dissonance by supporting an authoritarian regime while claiming to spread democracy globally.
Companies face significant risks engaging in Venezuela due to the uncertain political landscape and the historical precedent of US interventions, making them reluctant to invest despite potential oil reserves.
The dismissal of Maria Corina Machado, a widely supported opposition figure, by the Trump administration suggests a US decision to override Venezuelan election outcomes and negotiate with the existing regime.

Deep Dive

The US military's 2026 operation in Venezuela, characterized as a "capture" of President Maduro and his wife, represents a dangerous departure from established norms and a concerning precedent for international relations. This aggressive act, framed by the administration as a response to Venezuela's role in drug trafficking, underscores a broader shift in US foreign policy away from democratic alliances toward a sphere-of-influence model, prioritizing resource control, specifically oil, over democratic values. This strategic pivot, championed by figures like Secretary of State Rubio and Stephen Miller, signals a move toward a more militarized and imperialistic approach in the Western Hemisphere, echoing 19th-century doctrines and potentially exacerbating domestic policy concerns like immigration by conflating it with national security threats.

The implications of this operation are far-reaching. Firstly, the justification of "capture" instead of more precise terms like "kidnapping" or "extrajudicial rendition" highlights a deliberate obfuscation of harm and a disregard for accountability, mirroring past instances where language was manipulated to downplay severe actions. This sets a precedent for future interventions, potentially normalizing unilateral military actions against foreign leaders under dubious pretenses. Secondly, the administration's emphasis on oil as the primary driver, explicitly stated over concerns for democratic transition figures like María Corina Machado, reveals a transactional foreign policy that sacrifices democratic ideals for strategic resource acquisition. This approach is not only inconsistent with past US commitments to promoting democracy in Latin America but also risks alienating allies and empowering authoritarian regimes by demonstrating that resource control can override democratic principles.

Moreover, the operation's architects, particularly Secretary of State Rubio and Stephen Miller, reveal a coordinated effort to reshape US foreign and domestic policy. Rubio's focus on Cuba, viewing Venezuela's oil as leverage against the Castro regime, and Miller's framing of migration as an invasion, driving the need for military force, illustrate how international actions are intertwined with domestic agendas. This conflation of migration with narco-terrorism and foreign adversaries serves to justify increased militarization and stricter immigration policies, effectively using foreign interventions to bolster domestic control. The historical parallels drawn to the invasion of Panama and the de-Ba'athification of Iraq, while distinct, underscore the persistent risks of such interventions, including civilian casualties and unintended consequences that can fuel instability and resistance. The administration's embrace of a "spheres of influence" model, as evidenced by White House statements and the invocation of the Monroe Doctrine, signals a radical departure from post-WWII alliance-based foreign policy, indicating a more aggressive and potentially isolationist stance that could destabilize the global order.

The core takeaway is that the US intervention in Venezuela signifies not just a foreign policy shift but a fundamental redefinition of American global engagement, prioritizing resource control and domestic security agendas over democratic values and international cooperation. This strategy, driven by a willingness to employ military force and manipulate language, risks undermining democratic norms both abroad and at home, creating a more volatile and unpredictable international landscape for decades to come. Americans are urged to critically examine information sources, understand the implications of national security policy for domestic life, and actively protest administration actions, recognizing that foreign policy is inherently domestic policy.

Action Items

Audit US foreign policy: Analyze 3-5 instances of past interventions in Latin America for recurring patterns and unintended consequences.
Draft policy brief: Outline 5 key linguistic distinctions between "capture" and "kidnapping" in international relations to promote precise terminology.
Create information verification checklist: Develop 3-5 criteria for assessing the factual basis of news reports on geopolitical events.
Track media framing: Monitor coverage of 2-3 international incidents for shifts in language and their potential impact on public perception.
Evaluate national security strategy: Compare current US foreign policy with 2-3 historical strategies to identify deviations from alliance-based systems.

Key Quotes

"If you were shocked to learn that 2026 would start out with the us military sending 150 aircraft into venezuela and a special forces team designed to seize president nicolas maduro and his wife celia flores you wouldn't be alone this brazen extrajudicial act of regime change or at least regime decapitation has set a dangerous precedent and somehow made the world even more complicated than we left it in 2025"

Stacey Abrams highlights the shocking nature of the US military's operation in Venezuela, framing it as an extrajudicial act of regime change. Abrams emphasizes that this action has established a dangerous precedent and increased global complexity.

"Words matter in 2018 I lost my bid for governor of georgia and in my speech I very clearly acknowledged that I didn't win the seat but I refused to use the commonly accepted term in politics concession in fact I explicitly rejected it as inappropriate and talked about it in my speech because you see as an advocate for voting rights I could not in good conscience concede or vouch for a system or a victor that disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of citizens and a lot of folks were mad that I didn't do so I didn't use the word concede because it wasn't right and I continue to stand by my linguistic choice because words matter"

Stacey Abrams explains her deliberate choice to avoid the word "concession" after her 2018 gubernatorial loss. Abrams argues that this linguistic choice was a principled stand against a system she believed disenfranchised voters, underscoring her belief in the power of words to shape perception and action.

"The charges sort of linking this cartel de los soles the cartel of the suns is not a real thing in terms of a it's not an organization there is no cartel of the suns it's a shorthand that us law enforcement and intelligence analysts use to describe the network of venezuelan military and security officials that were looking the other way or that were had relationships with major drug producing or much major drug trafficking organizations and colombian guerrilla groups that were financing themselves through the drug trade"

Ricardo Zuniga clarifies that "Cartel de los Soles" is not a formal organization but rather a descriptive shorthand used by US law enforcement. Zuniga explains that this term refers to a network of Venezuelan military and security officials involved with drug trafficking operations.

"The United States has had a presence in the venezuelan oil economy for you know over a century american firms were very important in developing venezuela's oil industry had a very strong presence there nationalization is something that oil companies have faced and faced to this day all over the world and that's just international practice sovereign nations control the resources in those nations"

Ricardo Zuniga discusses the historical US involvement in Venezuela's oil industry and the concept of nationalization. Zuniga asserts that sovereign nations have the right to control their own resources, a practice common globally and one that oil companies must navigate.

"The national security strategy is a radical departure from the policies of the united states from the end of the second world war till now we had an alliance based the alliance based system where us power was reinforced by alliances with like minded countries and especially with democratic countries not you know everyone's heard of nato but we had these sorts of relationships all over the world in asia in the americas and elsewhere and democracy was sort of the core defining aligning factor that's not true in this national security strategy which goes from an alliance based system to a spheres of influence system that's not very 19th century way of looking at the world"

Stacey Abrams characterizes the current US national security strategy as a significant shift from post-World War II policy. Abrams explains that the strategy moves away from an alliance-based system, which prioritized democratic alignment, towards a "spheres of influence" model reminiscent of 19th-century geopolitics.

"The whole point here is to conflate migration refugee movement of refugees with criminal activity led by us military adversaries against whom you will use military force so that you can then justify the use of military force against migrants in the united states and outside the united states so that's the through line here"

Stacey Abrams explains a perceived strategy of conflating migration with criminal activity and military threats. Abrams argues that this tactic is used to justify the deployment of military force against migrants, both domestically and internationally.

Resources

External Resources

Books

"The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy" by William Dobson - Mentioned as a resource for listeners to learn more about modern authoritarianism and the fight for democracy.

People

Donald Trump - Mentioned as the current president whose administration invaded Venezuela and whose policies are seen as a departure from traditional US foreign policy.
Nicolas Maduro - Mentioned as the former president of Venezuela, accused of narcoterrorism and whose regime was the target of a US military action.
Celia Flores - Mentioned as the wife of Nicolas Maduro, who was also targeted in the US military action.
Stacy Abrams - Mentioned as the host of the podcast "Assembly Required."
Ricardo Zuniga - Mentioned as a guest on the podcast, providing analysis on the situation in Venezuela.
Carlos Perez - Mentioned as the former president of Venezuela who nationalized the oil industry in 1976.
Hugo Chavez - Mentioned as a former military officer and president of Venezuela who staged an attempted coup and later won the presidency.
Fidel Castro - Mentioned as having been personally responsible for helping turn the armed forces against coup plotters during a coup attempt against Hugo Chavez.
Nicolas Maduro - Mentioned as the successor to Hugo Chavez, a former bus driver who came up through the union system.
Juan Orlando Hernandez - Mentioned as the former president of Honduras, convicted for his role in transporting cocaine to the United States.
Maria Corina Machado - Mentioned as a prominent Venezuelan politician and a symbol of opposition to the Maduro regime.
Edmundo Gonzalez - Mentioned as the candidate who ran in the recent Venezuelan election, selected by Maria Corina Machado.
Manuel Noriega - Mentioned as the former leader of Panama whose arrest by the US 36 years prior is paralleled with the current situation in Venezuela.
Saddam Hussein - Mentioned in the context of the US invasion of Iraq and the concept of de-Ba'athification.
Marco Rubio - Mentioned as Secretary of State whose intentions and push for incursion in Venezuela echo the Monroe Doctrine and national security strategy.
Stephen Miller - Mentioned as a key player in the Trump administration, focused on domestic policy, immigration, and framing migration as an invasion.
Kirstjen Nielsen - Mentioned as the former Secretary of Homeland Security who reiterated the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans.

Organizations & Institutions

Wild Alaskan Company - Mentioned as a sponsor of the podcast, providing wild-caught seafood.
Starbucks - Mentioned as offering new caramel protein lattes.
Crooked Media - Mentioned as the production company for the podcast "Assembly Required."
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) - Mentioned as a masked paramilitary force that operates as a secret police.
Department of Justice (DOJ) - Mentioned in relation to the unsealing of indictments against Maduro and his wife.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - Mentioned as serving as political fig leaves for stealing private data and slashing the social safety net.
PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) - Mentioned as the current ruling party in Venezuela, led by Nicolas Maduro.
ELN (National Liberation Army) - Mentioned as a Colombian rebel group with a significant presence in Venezuela and a major player in the international drug trade.
Cartel de los Soles - Mentioned as a shorthand used by US law enforcement and intelligence analysts to describe a network of Venezuelan military and security officials involved with drug trafficking.
US Military - Mentioned as having sent aircraft into Venezuela and conducted operations to seize President Nicolas Maduro.
US Senior Foreign Service - Mentioned as the career background of guest Ricardo Zuniga.
US Gulf Coast - Mentioned in relation to processing plants capable of handling Venezuelan oil.
NATO - Mentioned as an example of an alliance-based system that the US had globally.
Tren de Aragua - Mentioned as a criminal organization that does not traffic fentanyl but is used by the Trump administration to frame migration as an invasion.

Websites & Online Resources

Wildalaskan.com - Mentioned as the website for Wild Alaskan Company, offering a discount on first orders.
Quince.com/stacy - Mentioned as the website for Quince, offering free shipping and returns on orders.
Defendingourneighbors.org - Mentioned as the website for the Defending Our Neighbors Fund, where listeners can donate to provide legal aid to immigrants.
Ondeck.com - Mentioned as the website for OnDeck, offering small business lines of credit.
Betterhelp.com/abrams - Mentioned as the website for BetterHelp, offering online therapy with a discount for listeners.
Immigrationadvocates.org - Mentioned as a resource for listeners to help Venezuelan refugees.
Assembly Notes (Substack) - Mentioned as Stacy Abrams' Substack where she shares thoughts on authoritarian regimes.

Other Resources

Monroe Doctrine - Mentioned as a historical declaration by the US that the Western Hemisphere was its area of influence, now cited by the current administration.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) - Mentioned as a status for Venezuelans that remains revoked by the current administration.
National Security Strategy - Mentioned as a radical departure from previous US policies, shifting from an alliance-based system to a spheres of influence system.
De-Ba'athification - Mentioned as a concept from the US invasion of Iraq, involving the elimination of the Ba'ath Party's presence in the armed forces and security forces.