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.
First of all, I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I took the day off and cooked for eight hours, and my brain is still in some sort of turkey and pecan pie-induced coma, so bear with me here. I almost took the week off, but there are things that I feel are important to mention before we head into the weekend… and December.
Venezuela
Venezuela is dominating the news cycle, and rightfully so. But 90% of what’s out there is junk. For example, half the world seemed to think we were going to invade the South American country on November 24 because that’s the day Nicolás Maduro’s Cartel de lo Soles officially became a Foreign Terrorist Organization. I’m not disagreeing that the timeline isn’t important, but few also seemed to realize that once the Secretary of State makes this decision, there’s a seven-day waiting period before it becomes official. It wasn’t some kind of D-Day. It was red tape.
As I’m writing this, the New York Times has come out and said that Donald Trump and Marco Rubio actually spoke to Maduro last week. The story is from all anonymous sources, and the White House wouldn’t comment on it, so whether it’s true or not is anyone’s guess. If true, I’m guessing it didn’t go well. I’d like to think Maduro did what he does — begged, pleaded, and negotiated everything he owns to stop the Trump administration from ensuring he’s removed from holding the country hostage. Maybe he even launched into another rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
But this is the same New York Times that came out on Wednesday with a hit piece on Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, claiming that she was lying about Maduro’s narco-threats in order to trick the Trump administration into getting involved. Fun fact: Rubio alone probably knows more about this topic than every single New York Times columnist and reporter combined. Yawn. Try again.
This is why I ignore the MSM on this and most topics. That and this: CNN came out this week and asked, “Is the Cartel of the Suns a true criminal organization?” on the day that the FTO designation became official and acted as if it doesn’t think it really exists, despite evidence saying otherwise. As I’ve mentioned, Cartel de los Soles isn’t a cartel in the sense you’re used to — it’s more of a narco-network run by military officials and members of the illegitimate Venezuelan “government,” so maybe CNN is just confused because it doesn’t look like the narco shows on Netflix. Bless their hearts. Many on X responded by asking, “Is CNN a real news network?”
All of that said, here’s some verified information from this week:
1. Yes, Maduro is the (or a) leader of Cartel de los Soles, and yes, it became an FTO on Monday, November 24.
2. Maduro gave up his John Lennon schtick and danced to a techno remix of his own broken English. I’ve heard this song way too many times this week.
🚨🇻🇪🇺🇸 | DELIRANTE: Nicolás Maduro bailó una canción con sus frases “plis pitz forever, no crazy war”, en medio del masivo despliegue militar de Estados Unidos.
El dictador narcoterrorista intentó que su ministro de Educación baile con él, pero se negó. pic.twitter.com/x0C8mVAk99
— La Derecha Diario (@laderechadiario) November 22, 2025
3. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a warning to all pilots flying within Venezuela’s airspace last Friday, citing a potentially hazardous situation “at all attitudes due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.” Most airlines have stopped all flights to Caracas. In response, Maduro punished the “imperialist enablers” by pulling the operating permits for at least six carriers: Iberia (Spain), TAP Air Portugal, Avianca (Colombia), LATAM Colombia, Turkish Airlines, and GOL (Brazil). No U.S. airlines fly directly to Venezuela.
4. On the other hand, Venezuela’s airspace hasn’t been totally empty. There’s a lot of U.S. military buzzing around.
75k+ people are tracking a B-52 Stratofortress with two F/A-18 Super Hornets just north of Caracas, Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/qH9OpTZeo3
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 24, 2025
5. Maduro put on a military costume and brandished a sword this week too, vowing to fight the “new imperial threats of the international far right.” I’m sure Trump and Rubio are shaking in their boots. Combine that with Venezuela’s “military training,” which our very own Stephen Green wrote about this week.
Is Maduro planning to recreate the native resistance to the conquistadors by fighting a carrier strike group with a sword? pic.twitter.com/g0IQKm5SwT
— Uri Kurlianchik (@VerminusM) November 26, 2025
6. Lastly, Trump seems to be upping the rhetoric and has spoken out at least twice this week on the situation. On Tuesday night, while flying to Florida, he said, “If we can save lives, if we could do things the easy way, that’s fine. And if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine, too,” during a press gaggle.
🚨 PRESIDENT TRUMP ON MADURO: “If we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that’s fine.”
“And if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine too.”
🔥🔥
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 26, 2025
And on Thursday, while on a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops, he said, “You really are the backbone of America’s airpower, and in recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea any more. People aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon. We warned them. Stop sending poison to our country. But we’re going to take care of that situation. We’re already doing a lot. We’ve almost stopped it. It’s about 85 percent stopped by sea.”
Whether he’s doing that to ramp up pressure on Maduro and his thugs or to make the folks at the New York Times and CNN search for a fainting couch, I can’t tell you.
Honduras
And now on to Honduras, which is more urgent for this weekend, as the good people of that country go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and all 128 seats of their legislature, and what happens there could be huge if all goes well. The candidates? The current commie president Xiomara Castro’s hand-picked replacement, Rixi Moncada, and her two center-right opponents, Salvador Nasralla and Nasry “Tito” Asfura. All three are running neck and neck in the polls.
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, there is a lot of concern about the integrity of the election. Earlier this month, Castro issued her 26th state of exception extension in a row without approval from the legislature. There are military personnel stationed at polling places. There has been leaked audio of potential tampering by judges. Dozens of national and international groups are monitoring the situation and warning Castro’s team that there will be hell to pay if they don’t play fair. Many are afraid Castro will “pull a Maduro” and hijack the presidency, no matter who actually wins. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted the following on X last weekend:
I spoke yesterday with key representatives of the business community in Honduras, and to my dismay all of them expressed grave concerns about the integrity of the upcoming November 30 elections. Members of the National Electoral Council, which runs the election, tallies the votes, and certifies the winner, have been subjected to intimidation and harassment. The Congress, which may be called upon to declare the winner in the event the Council cannot, has been replaced by a 9-member “Permanent Commission,” which obviously lacks the legitimacy to tackle such weighty matters. The business leaders’ message was clear: BEFORE any votes are cast, everyone must agree on the rules and those entrusted with enforcing them. Political stability and legitimacy are key to economic growth and prosperity.
Trump has also spoken out about the elections this week, making it clear that “democracy is on trial” in Honduras and explaining why he supports Asfura, as well as why the U.S. should care:
Democracy is on trial in the coming Elections in the beautiful country of Honduras on November 30th. Will Maduro and his Narcoterrorists take over another country like they have taken over Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela? The man who is standing up for Democracy, and fighting against Maduro, is Tito Asfura, the Presidential Candidate of the National Party. Tito was the highly successful Mayor of Tegucigalpa where he brought running water to millions, and paved hundreds of kilometers of roads. His chief opponent is Rixi Moncada, who says Fidel Castro is her idol. Normally, the smart people of Honduras, would reject her, and elect Tito Asfura, but the Communists are trying to trick the people by running a third Candidate, Salvador Nasralla. Nasralla is no friend of Freedom. A borderline Communist, he helped Xiomara Castro by running as her Vice President. He won, and helped Castro win. Then he resigned, and is now pretending to be an anti-Communist only for the purposes of splitting Asfura’s vote. The people of Honduras must not be tricked again. The only real friend of Freedom in Honduras is Tito Asfura. Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists, and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras. I cannot work with Moncada and the Communists, and Nasralla is not a reliable partner for Freedom, and cannot be trusted. I hope the people of Honduras vote for Freedom and Democracy, and elect Tito Asfura, President!
Democracy is on trial in the coming Elections in the beautiful country of Honduras on November 30th. Will Maduro and his Narcoterrorists take over another country like they have taken over Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela? The man who is standing up for Democracy, and fighting…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2025
I’ll be paying close attention to what happens on Sunday and bring you all the details as soon as I can.
A Few Other Things
1. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving his 27-year prison sentence.
2. After 24 years of socialism, St. Vincent and the Grenadines finally voted for a more conservative government and prime minister.
3. Both Maduro and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro have made it clear they’re not scared of Rubio, yet they both can’t stop talking about the man who controls their bank accounts: Maduro and Petro to Rubio: ‘Come at Me, Bro… Right After You Unfreeze Our Bank Accounts’
4. Speaking of Petro, he claims the narco-terrorists the U.S. has killed in the Caribbean over the last few months are “humble fishermen.” Well, as it turns out, humble fishermen are dying, but it’s at the hands of Maduro: As It Turns Out, Humble Fishermen ARE Dying in the Caribbean
That headline seemed to confuse a few of you this week — I was accused of creating “clickbait” — but it was just a play on the statements that the Latin American socialist bloc made and a way to highlight the human rights violations happening in Venezuela. Sometimes it pays to read the actual article. Just saying.
Anyway, I’m going to stay on top of Honduras this weekend, and if anything new happens with Venezuela, I’ll jump in and cover that, too. Unfortunately, Rubio isn’t handing me exclusives… yet. But if he does, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the administration, not the MSM. They lie.
Have a good weekend, y’all!
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