Monday, February 9, 2026

Latest News

Colombia’s Petro claims U.S. “kidnapped” Maduro during Caracas strike

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday that Nicolás Maduro should be returned to Venezuela to face trial in his home country, calling the U.S. military operation that captured the ousted leader in Caracas earlier this month a “kidnapping” that violated Venezuelan sovereignty. “They have to return him and have him tried by a Venezuelan […]

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Trump floats U.S. military action against Colombia after Maduro capture

By The City Paper Staff -

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated rhetoric toward Colombia on Sunday, suggesting that a U.S. military operation against the country — which he said could be dubbed “Operation Colombia” — was a possibility following Washington’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump described Colombian President Gustavo Petro as “a […]

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Trump: U.S. partnership to make Venezuelans “rich, independent and safe”

By Richard Emblin -

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” of power is completed, following a U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence in […]

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Trump praises “brilliant” military operation against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

By Richard Emblin -

U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “brilliant” the U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, as explosions were reported in Caracas early Saturday. Governments across the Americas and Europe are reacting to the arrest of the Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. In a brief telephone interview with […]

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The New Monroe Doctrine: U.S. Recasts Latin America as Security Priority

By Luis Guillermo Plata -

Why such a massive U.S. military deployment off the coast of Venezuela, supposedly to combat the “Cartel of the Suns” and stop drug trafficking from Venezuela to the United States? After more than four months, the results amount to little more than a handful of small vessels destroyed – an extremely modest impact given the […]

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Stain on Hay: Should María Corina Machado Refuse the Literary Festival?

By Richard Emblin -

For a literary festival, silence can be more revealing than speech. The decision by three writers to withdraw from the 2026 Hay Festival in Cartagena over the presence of María Corina Machado, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the most prominent figure in Venezuela’s democratic opposition, has exposed a paradox at the heart of […]

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Colombia’s FM Snubs Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize After Daring Escape

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia’s Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio declared Thursday that the Government of President Gustavo Petro is “not in agreement” with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado – a position that signals how Colombia remains a close ideological ally of one of the hemisphere’s most authoritarian states. In remarks that were […]

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María Corina Machado Issues Post-Maduro “Freedom Manifesto”

By Richard Emblin -

As the USS Gerald R. Ford navigates uncomfortably close to the Venezuelan coastline and some 15,000 U.S. Marines remain stationed across Caribbean waters, Venezuela’s political crisis has entered a volatile new phase. In Caracas, Nicolás Maduro is publicly calling for peace and dialogue — even quoting John Lennon’s “Imagine” and delivering rally slogans in English […]

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USS Gerald Ford Enters the Caribbean: What Next for Venezuela?

By Richard Emblin -

The arrival of the USS Gerald Ford in Caribbean waters has raised the stakes in the tense relationship between the United States and Venezuela. The aircraft carrier – the most advanced and powerful in the U.S. Navy – traveled for more than two weeks from the Mediterranean to take up position near South America, joining […]

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Did Venezuela’s ex-spymaster Hugo Carvajal Spark OFAC Sanctions Against Petro?

By The City Paper Staff -

The U.S. Treasury’s unprecedented decision to sanction Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his inner circle has sparked speculation that recent testimony by Venezuela’s former spy chief, Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, may have cemented the move. Carvajal, once a powerful general in Hugo Chávez’s intelligence services, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism […]

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U.S. Treasury Puts Colombia’s Petro and Close Circle on ‘Clinton List’

By The City Paper Staff -

The U.S. Government moved aggressively against Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his inner circle on Friday, imposing sanctions that target his financial and political support network as relations between Washington and Bogotá struck a new low. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), also known as the Clinton List, designated Petro, First Lady […]

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Trump Calls Colombia’s Petro an “Illegal Drug Leader,” Halts U.S. Aid

By The City Paper Staff -

In an extraordinary escalation that threatens to end decades of strategic partnership, U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Sunday labeled Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” and announced the immediate suspension of U.S. financial aid to Colombia. Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused […]

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Colombia’s top Grammy Artists banned from entering Maduro’s Venezuela

By The City Paper Staff -

The Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro has banned prominent Colombian Grammy-winning artists, including Juanes, Carlos Vives, Maluma, and Silvestre Dangond, from entering the country. The ba announced by Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s Minister of the Interior, accuses the artists of supporting the opposition and inciting political instability.

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