Welcome to “The New Monroe Doctrine,” where I give you an update on what’s going on in the Western Hemisphere, south of our border, especially as it relates to the United States.
Venezuela’s Iron Lady
I have to admit that it’s been a lot of fun seeing María Corina Machado in Washington, D.C. over the last couple of days. Heck, it’s a lot of fun seeing this woman out and about and not hiding in a bunker somewhere in Caracas. For over a year, we had to watch her give interviews and updates from an unknown location because simply going outside would have led to her imprisonment and possibly her death. As a matter of fact, when she finally did go outside, she almost died anyway, and not at the hands of the Venezuelan regime, but more on that in a moment.
In case you missed it, Machado had lunch with Donald Trump yesterday and presented him with her actual Nobel Peace Prize medallion as a symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people.
President Donald J. Trump meets with María Corina Machado of Venezuela in the Oval Office, during which she presented the President with her Nobel Peace Prize in recognition and honor.🕊️ pic.twitter.com/v7pYHjVNVO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 16, 2026
You can tell the MSM hates this because most of its stories about it are focused on the fact that the Nobel committee said one can’t literally re-award the prize to someone else once she receives it. That’s not what she did, and they know better, but that’s the anti-Trump narrative.
Anyway, aside from Trump and Marco Rubio, Machado is the most beloved person in Venezuela, and if you saw her interactions with the Venezuelan people gathered outside the White House yesterday, you’d understand why. She greeted them with hugs, warmth, strength, and promises. Her message? All will be well: “Know that we are counting on President Trump for the freedom of Venezuela.”
Machado welcomed like a rockstar outside White House after meeting with President Trump. “Venezuela! Venezuela!” her supporters chanted pic.twitter.com/KFUIEltaPy
— Bo Erickson Reuters (@BoKnowsNews) January 15, 2026
You don’t reach that “rockstar” status without putting in the effort. This woman has literally fought for her country and its people, unafraid to stand face-to-face with some of the most dangerous men in the world and shout them down. The results were ugly, but her efforts are what brought Venezuela to where it is today.
Everyone who is out chanting about no kings and tyrants today, should be forced to go actually live under one in #Venezuela #Nicaragua or #Cuba and see what happens when they protest there. This is Nobel Peace Prize winner @MariaCorinaYA who has bravely done just that. https://t.co/7za7HjblHC
— SarahDownSouth (@SarahDownSouth) October 18, 2025
Machado is still spreading her message to the United States and spoke at the Heritage Foundation on Friday morning. She had a message that should humble every single one of us here in the United States, particularly the idiots rioting in Minneapolis over I don’t even know what anymore:
I am very proud to be part of this generation of Venezuelans. Most of them have never known what it means to live in freedom or what it means to be part of democratic society, but they have risked their lives, their loved ones, everything they have, because they share that dream to live in a free country.
I’m certainly talking about our political prisoners and all those who have been persecuted, those who are all today in exiled, but I’m also talking about those children that are growing without their mothers because they had to flee to send food back, that are growing without education because public schooling in Venezuela works two days a week because teachers earn $1 a day and they need to get other jobs in order to eat, that are growing without health and food, and we have the generation that is suffering the highest levels of malnutrition in a century.
That’s our children right now. And it is because of them, it’s because of saving lives that we’re doing what we’re doing right now, and that’s why we’re going to win.
Machado also spoke about that Hollywood-esque escape from Venezuela she took last month. If you’ll remember, with the help of Grey Bull Rescue, she wore disguises, made it through regime checkpoints, and crossed the Caribbean Sea on a small boat in the dark of night. When asked about that today, she said:
Yes, there was a certain moment in the trip, in the boat where I was hurt because the waves were very high, over six feet, and there was a strong wind, and we got lost in the ocean. We lost the sign up of the GPS, and satellite phone stopped working, and Starlink antenna did not work as well, all at the same time.
So it was a very risky, dangerous and scary moment, I have to say. And it lasted several hours. But at the end we have worked, moved ahead de la mano de Dios. And that’s why I believe it is a miracle. And I’m here, and I know that someday I will be able to tell you all the details and thank personally all those that risked their lives in order for this to happen.
She said that as long as the regime is still in place, it would be impossible to mention the people who helped by name and put their lives in danger. However, a video from that night has been released, and it’s amazing to watch.
Hay que ser muy mezquino y poco hombre para, tras ver este video, decir que “ay, es que a mí no me gusta María Corina porque en el 2008 le tomaron una foto con…”.
Mezquino y cobarde. pic.twitter.com/bRkWv1Paxb
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) January 16, 2026
Venezuela’s Current Commie
Some of the MSM continue to tout the idea that Delcy Rodríguez is now the president of Venezuela, and once Trump gets whatever he wants, he’ll let that stand. The regime may have had some sort of swearing-in ceremony, but that woman is, as I keep saying, simply Trump’s pawn. The president posted a fake Wikipedia bio image of himself as the country’s president, and that’s probably a lot more accurate than most are willing to admit at the moment.
President Donald J. Trump posts a fake image from Wikipedia labeling him as the “Acting President of Venezuela” as of January 2026. pic.twitter.com/VHYiRmIZHs
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 12, 2026
Both Trump and Machado alluded to that on Friday.
Machado called the transition to democracy a “very complex and delicate process” but pointed out something Rubio said last week (and that I pointed out a few months ago) — that comparing Venezuela to some place in the Middle East is apples and oranges. “We’re talking about a society that is perhaps the most cohesive in the region,” she said, adding that about 90% of the people want the same thing. There are no major political, social, or religious tensions in the country — it simply comes down to the regime and its loyalists vs. the opposition. Most of the country is in favor of the opposition, as was proven during the 2024 elections. The regime simply holds control right now. For now.
When asked about Delcy Rodriguez, Machado confirmed what the New York Times and other media outlets don’t want to tell you. “Yes, she’s a communist, she’s the main ally and representation of the Russian regime, the Chinese and Iranians, but that’s not the Venezuelan people and that’s not the armed forces as well,” she said. “…this is a complex phase we are in right now. Some of the dirty work is being done by them, but then the result of a stable transition will be a proud Venezuela who’s gonna be the best ally United States has ever had in the Americas.”
Side note: Venezuelan opposition figure and lawyer Estrella Infante told me that Rodriguez’s nickname is the “Pirate of the Caribbean” because of her “expertise in moving Venezuelan oil, gold, and minerals through complex global routes that pass through Africa and end in the Middle East and Europe.” She’s the one who makes the deals with our adversaries. (I’m actually working on a profile on Rodriguez to counter the NYT, which calls her a “moderate,” but it’s taking some time.)
Anyway, Machado made it clear today that you would never be able to hold elections without first dismantling the regime and the multitude of criminal networks that run through the country. She sounds patient, optimistic, and more confident than ever that this will be done after talking to Trump yesterday. I see why the Venezuelan people take their cues from her.
Trump actually mentioned something similar as he boarded Air Force One on Friday. “Well, if you ever remember a place called Iraq, where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired — and they ended up being ISIS. Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS,” he said.
#AHORA | Trump explica por qué por ahora EEUU decide trabajar con Delcy Rodríguez y asegura que quiere evitar el error de Iraq:
“Recuerda que existe un lugar llamado Iraq, donde todo el mundo fue removido, y terminaron volviéndose ISIS”. pic.twitter.com/6idovkTgTN
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) January 16, 2026
At the same time, Trump also praised Machado, apparently gaining a lot of respect for her after their Thursday meeting, and made it clear he will meet with her again.
Meanwhile, CIA director John Ratcliffe actually went to Venezuela this week and met with Dirty Delcy — do we like that nickname? — to deliver Trump’s messages in person. If flight records are to be believed, there is also currently a State Department team en route to Caracas from Colombia on Friday evening.
On the Political Prisoners
I know some of you will ask, and releasing all of the political prisoners is often seen as the first step in the right direction for Venezuela. As of 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Foro Penal, the most trusted source on this, can confirm that 100 have been released since January 8. There’s still a long way to go, but it’s better than none at all. I won’t deep dive into this tonight, but I will share a couple of videos of some of the ones who have been released just so we can end on a pleasant note.
The caption on this one reads “Mariana González de Tudares was finally able to see her husband, Rafael Tudares, for the first time since his kidnapping by Chavismo, in an emotional reunion marked by the weight of injustice.”
🇻🇪‼️ | Mariana González de Tudares pudo finalmente ver a su esposo, Rafael Tudares, por primera vez desde su secuestro por el chavismo, en un reencuentro marcado por la emoción y el peso de la injusticia. pic.twitter.com/zDHj037e1d
— UHN Plus (@UHN_Plus) January 16, 2026
This is the moment when Luis Farías, a 72-year-old man and political prisoner of the Chavista dictatorship, is released.
His dog literally goes crazy, jumping all over him, and his family can’t hold back their emotions either.
This is just one case among the thousands of… pic.twitter.com/4pazxGyGbr
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) January 15, 2026
A New FAA Warning
As I’m writing this, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued multiple flight advisories, warning pilots to exercise “extreme caution” when flying over parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America due to military activity and Global Navigation Satellite System interference at all altitudes. The warning is in place through March 17. It comes as Trump and Rubio have spent the past week putting pressure on Mexico’s narco-president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to crack down harder on cartels.
It sounds like Trump is far from done cleaning up the hemisphere.
As I say, Rubio isn’t handing me exclusives… yet, but if I find out more on any of these topics, I’ll let you know.
PS: Thanks for standing by while I fangirled over Machado a little bit. I am just in awe of this woman and have been for a while, so seeing her in the U.S. still fighting after all she’s been through is just wonderful.
In the weeks to come, I’m hoping to do more on countries that aren’t Venezuela because there is so much good stuff happening in the Americas right now. Sometimes, I hesitate to take deeper dives because I know Western Hemisphere geopolitics isn’t everyone’s obsession, but when I do step back, I get so many emails asking for more. So consider this your fair warning; I’m going to keep diving even deeper next week. Feel free to email me if there’s something you’d like me to consider.
And on that note, enjoy your weekend!
