#venezuela

#venezuela

Maria, a former Venezuelan prosecutor living in Houston, Texas, won't use the word "happy". But in August, when she saw that the United States had doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, she said she felt validated". The reward now sits at $50m, one of the highest bounties ever offered by the US government. To Maria, the bounty is a path to toppling a government steeped in human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention and torture.

Maduro is not a brave boy. So now that he has understood that he's on that very nefarious list of the terrorist organization, that the airspace above Venezuela has been closed off, and the commercial airlines from the United States are not flying, he's understanding that we're about to go in. He understands that he is he has been our enemy for the last 25 years.

The fleet, which comprises 20% of the U.S. naval force deployed worldwide and includes F-35 fighter jets and some 15,000 troops, has participated in military exercises near Trinidad and Tobago in recent days. Four senior U.S. officials have separately told Reuters that the start of the second phase of the military operation is imminent, while international airlines are suspending flights over Venezuela following a recommendation from the U.S. aviation agency, issued on Friday, to avoid the area due to the risk of a military escalation.

Venezuela's top opposition leader, the Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado, has declared her country at the edge of a new era as Donald Trump refused to rule out a ground invasion to topple its authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, but also signalled he was open to talks. Since August, Trump has ordered a massive naval buildup off Venezuela's northern coast, seemingly hoping to spark a military rebellion against Maduro or convince him to quit.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

Castro, a 41-year-old yoga teacher, disappeared on June 26 at the Paraguachon border crossing, which separates Venezuela from Colombia, where he lives. He had gone to renew his expired Colombian residency visa, his family said in August. In mid-September, Castro's mother said she had not received any news from him other than a voice message at the end of July in which he "called for help".

By the numbers: 29% of Americans said they supported the military killings without the involvement of a judge or court. A majority (51%) said they were opposed. The rest were unsure. Approval was split among party lines: 58% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats said they supported the approach. The big picture: The Trump administration has killed at least 80 people in 20 drone strikes since early September. The president is reportedly considering expanding the strikes to land targets, the Washington Post reports.

My great fear, of course, is that with the release of that information, which I think will be devastating for Trump, he's going to do everything in his power to distract,

Michael Durant watched through night-vision goggles as two 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs slammed on to the Panamanian airbase while he hovered off the country's south coast in a Black Hawk helicopter. A gigantic flash, followed by a boom [like] the largest lightning strike you've ever seen in your life, the retired US army pilot recalled of the opening salvo of the Battle of Rio Hato Airfield in December 1989.

"I keep getting calls about this from congressmen," Trump explained in a recent meeting with top officials.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK. We're going to kill them. You know, they're going to be, like, dead. [SOUNDS OF TAPE ENDS] MARGARET BRENNAN: You don't need an aircraft carrier to hit drug boats. Are land strikes planned? SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, I think that's a real possibility.

Driving the news: Graham said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he thinks Trump has decided "it's time for" Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro "to go," calling land strikes a "real possibility." Worth noting: The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request to confirm whether such a briefing has been scheduled. Trump last week said his administration would "probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we are doing" before launching land strikes, but added, "we don't have to do that."