The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak

The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak

NEWSFLASH: Loud explosions overnight in Venezuela

Sources are confirming bursts of fire and loud explosions as the U.S. threatens escalation in Venezuela.

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Jacqueline Cole
Jan 03, 2026
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Video: bombing in Venezuela, obtained by Joshua Freitas

There are reports of explosions in areas of Venezuela. For months, the aggression was kept offshore, sinking boats in the Caribbean. More recently, the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Just last week, the U.S. conducted a drone strike on a Venezuelan port.

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Tensions have been climbing between the United States and Venezuela since August, when the U.S. started to rev up its military presence in the Caribbean.

In November, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Venezuela’s airspace should be closed, warning “airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers.”

What began as a series of maritime strikes on suspected smuggling vessels soon widened into a broader pressure campaign: the U.S. carried out at least 20 lethal attacks at sea, killing over 100 people, President Trump authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela, and recently, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled “Operation Southern Spear,” framing the mission as an effort to protect “America’s neighborhood,” the Western Hemisphere, from “narco-terrorists.”

Video: bombing in Venezuela, obtained by Joshua Freitas

After the paywall:

- What could explain this attack?

-Details of the tension between the U.S. and Venezuela

-Is this violence even legal?

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