Trump’s Venezuela play: How it reshapes South America’s risk map (preview)

Trump’s Venezuela play: How it reshapes South America’s risk map (preview)

From Explaining Brazil by The Brazilian Report

January 5, 2026 · 13 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of a US military strike in Venezuela and its impact on South America's geopolitical landscape.

In Latin America, 2026 quite literally got off to an explosive start. Just before sunrise on January 2, the city of Caracas was violently awoken by the sound of bombs, as US forces launched a sudden, high-intensity strike on the Venezuelan capital. Within hours, President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were in American custody — flown out of the country and headed to New York to face criminal charges. The Venezuelan government has provided no official death count from the strikes,...

Topics covered

  • Venezuela
  • US foreign policy
  • South America
  • military intervention
  • political upheaval

Keywords

  • Venezuela
  • Nicolás Maduro
  • Cilia Flores
  • US military
  • South America
  • geopolitical risk
  • January 2

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Caracas, Venezuela, United States

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