by Sharon Zhang | Jan 6, 2026 | Article, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, Trump, Venezuela
This story was originally published on Truthout on Jan. 05, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Major American news outlets were informed of the Trump administration’s plan to bombard Venezuela and abduct its president ahead of the operation early Saturday morning, but withheld their reporting on the operation to protect the military, Semafor reports.
Both The New York Times and The Washington Post knew about the raid before President Donald Trump approved it on Friday night at 10:46 pm, Semafor reported over the weekend.
However, according to two people familiar with the administration’s communications with the outlets, they “held off publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops.”
The report raises major questions about the media’s role in the operation, which has been widely condemned as an illegal and authoritarian action by legal experts and foreign leaders; Semafor describes the withholding of coverage as potential “cooperation” with the military by news outlets.
Major news outlets in the U.S. have a history of coordinating with the Pentagon in order to protect military operations.
As Semafor notes, The New York Times reportedly withheld a story about the disastrous Bay of Pigs operation in 1961 before the Cuban invasion at the behest of the Kennedy administration.
There are numerous other such examples. In the mid-2000s, the Times withheld a major report on the National Security Agency’s campaign of warrantless spying on American citizens, Stellar Wind, for a year at the Bush administration’s request.
Most recently, The Atlantic withheld a potential report on a planned U.S. attack on Yemen that was the central focus of Signalgate. That attack, which the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was notified about two hours in advance, killed 15 people, including six children, one of them a newborn baby.
Goldberg noted that he wasn’t clear about the authenticity
by Maha Hilal | Jan 6, 2026 | Boat Strikes, Courts, Donald Trump, Guantánamo, Guantánamo Bay, immigration, Nicolás Maduro, Op-Ed, Supreme Court, Travel Ban, Trump Administration, Venezuela
At a press conference on January 3, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had carried out strikes on Venezuela and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Trump alleged that Maduro oversaw the Cartel de los Soles and had sent members of the Tren de Aragua gang to the United States to terrorize Americans. Unlike previous U.S. presidents…
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by Marjorie Cohn | Jan 6, 2026 | Donald Trump, News Analysis, Nicolás Maduro, Trump Administration, UN Charter, Venezuela
The Trump administration’s massive military attack on Venezuela, launched with 150 aircraft, reportedly killed upwards of 80 people, including civilians. In utter defiance of the mandates of the United Nations Charter, U.S. forces launched the attack as they kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, who have been transported to New York…
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by Amy Goodman | Jan 6, 2026 | Big Oil, Donald Trump, Interview, Nicolás Maduro, Oil, Trump Administration, United Nations, Venezuela
forces attacked Venezuela and abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a Saturday night raid. About 80 people were reportedly killed, including 32 Cubans. Democracy Now! speaks with Andreína Chávez, a Venezuelan reporter based in Caracas, who calls the strikes an “imperialist attack.” Trump also said the U.S. would take the oil from Venezuela, which has the world’s largest…
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by Luke Goldstein | Jan 6, 2026 | ConocoPhillips, Fossil Fuels, Halliburton, Iraq War, News, Nicolás Maduro, Oil and Gas Industry, Regime Change, Venezuela
Just weeks before the American military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. energy giant Halliburton filed an unusual lawsuit in international court claiming the Venezuelan government owed them damages for U.S. sanctions against the country. A separate case against Venezuela is also being pursued by another fossil fuel giant whose board includes an oil magnate…
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by Michael Fox | Jan 5, 2026 | Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Trump, Under the Shadow, Venezuela
In the early hours of Saturday morning, January 3rd, Venezuelans were awoken by the sounds of bombs falling. US helicopters whirled overhead. Explosions struck across the capital Caracas and in surrounding states.
Hours of chaos, fear, and uncertainty.
President Donald Trump would post over social media that the US had “captured” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores amid a “large-scale” strike against the country.
This is the first US invasion of another country in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama, when the US kidnapped and detained Panamanian President Manuel Noriega under charges of drug trafficking. The Trump administration used the same excuse to detain Maduro, despite lack of evidence linking Maduro to drug trafficking.
With this strike, the United States has taken an unprecedented step: This is the first time the United States has used its own military to invade a South American country.
Today, we go to Caracas to look in-depth at the January 3rd US invasion of Venezuela. Host Michael Fox speaks with Caracas-based reporter Ricardo Vaz.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present.
Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump Administration’s onslaught in Latin America.
Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido’s new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.
Resources:
Under the Shadow
You can check out the first season of
