If the first week of 2026 is any indication, President Trump and his regime has their eyes set on controlling not only the United States, but the entire western hemisphere. This week, Stacey talks about the administration’s brazen move to attack Venezuela and send a special forces team in to kidnap President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. She’s joined by Ricardo Zuniga, founding partner of Dinamica Americas, to talk about how the dictator came to power in Venezuela, where the opposition currently stands, and how the country’s oil reserves are inextricably linked to its political fortunes. They also comb through the truths and lies of Venezuela’s role in narco-trafficking, and how Trump’s cabinet members and staff are leveraging foreign policy for personal and dangerous ambitions. 

Learn & Do More:

• Be Curious: Seek out trusted sources of information on both domestic and international policy. To learn more about modern authoritarianism and the fight for Democracy, pick up a copy of the book “The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy” by William Dobson.
• Solve Problems: This issue is closer to home than many of your friends and loved ones may think. Talk to them about why this matters, start rallying your community to protest the administration’s actions, and call your members of Congress.
• Do Good: If you’d like to help the nearly 600,000 Venezuelan refugees in the US now subject to deportation, visit www.immigrationadvocates.org.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.