Venezuela

The US cut off Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba after toppling Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.

Maduro, 63, led Venezuela from 2013 through his capture in Caracas by US special forces on January 3. He pleaded not guilty on January 5 to all US charges against him.

Whether the shift in diplomatic tone and practice was inevitable or whether we’ve reached a tipping point, only time will tell. But what’s clear is that the world will never be the same.

Trump's new policy, which he calls the “Donroe" Doctrine, aims to establish US dominance throughout the Western Hemisphere by replacing regime leaders with US-allied governments.

The threatening statements come even as Cuba and the United States have opened talks aimed at improving their largely adverse relations.

The new order is colder: dependency pricing. Cut the cheap oxygen – oil cash, sanctions-evasion routes, and unprotected chokepoints – and the regimes that live on it don’t just wobble: they suffocate

Meanwhile, White House official Stephen Miller told a gathering of Latin American military leaders on Thursday that drug cartels can only be defeated with military force.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper also gave a press conference at CENTCOM HQ, Florida, addressing the ongoing operation against Iran.

In an Axios interview, Trump expressed his opposition to the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of assassinated leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the next leader.

The contact landed as Iran’s leadership structure was thrown into deeper disarray by continued Israeli strikes, complicating even the basic question of who can commit Iran to any ceasefire.