Notes and Essays -- John Brown

While both countries were allied with Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. attack could give them justification to use force in other spheres, analysts said. President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Kremlin last May. China and Russia both have close ties to Nicolás Maduro. Credit... Pool photo by Evgenia Novozhenin a By  Anton Troianovski Reporting from Washington The New York Times , Jan. 5, 2026 After attacking Venezuela and seizing its head of state, President Trump said on Saturday that the country had been “hosting foreign adversaries” and asserted that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.” His remarks appeared to be a broadside against Russia and China, which both built close ties to Nicolás Maduro, the captured Venezuelan leader. But in fact, there was also plenty in Mr. Trump’s words and deeds that Beijing and Moscow could get behind. Mr. Trump’s stunning assault on Venezuela has ushered in new uncertainty a...

The Madman Doctrine Article by Historian Greg Grandin on Trump’s abduction of  Nicolás Maduro  above title  from ;  below image from Wikipedia *** JB -- One more item from: Today's News [1/6/26]: "1 big thing: 🇻🇪 Venezuelans face U.S. deportation push" Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. are being encouraged to go home or face deportation following the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Axios' Brittany Gibson reports. "President Trump's decisive action to remove Maduro marks a turning point for Venezuelans. Now, they can return to the country they love and rebuild its future," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said in a statement.  🇺🇸 Venezuelan immigrants had temporary U.S. legal protections until last year, in part due to poor economic conditions and human rights abuses under Maduro. A Temporary Protected Stat...

The discussions, also attended by top U.S. negotiators and other allies of Ukraine, are intended to make progress on European commitments to postwar security if a cease-fire is reached.   Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrived on Tuesday in Paris for the latest round of talks on Ukraine’s future. Credit... Pool photo by Yoan Valat By  Catherine Porter Reporting from Paris The New York Times , Jan. 6, 2026 Updated  1:02 p.m. ET European leaders began meeting on Tuesday in Paris for the latest round of talks on peace for Ukraine, focusing on security commitments for the country in a potential cease-fire with Russia. National leaders and representatives of more than 30 countries gathered at the Élysée Palace for the meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing to also discuss how a potential cease-fire would be monitored, and what steps they would commit to take if Russia breached it. Among the attendees were President Trump’s spe...