Greetings. It's Monday, January 5th, 2026. Welcome to the Daily Article podcast from Denison Forum.

I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's daily article written by co-founder and visionary Dr. Jim Denison.

President Trump announced on Truth Social early Saturday morning, the United States of America

has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President

Nicholas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country.

This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement,

end quote. Later that morning, the president held a news conference from Mara Lago, his Florida residence,

in which he stated that the U.S. is, quote, going to run Venezuela until a proper transition can take

place, end quote. He added that the U.S. will rebuild the country's oil infrastructure, which, according to Trump,

will cost billions of dollars.

Maduro and his wife arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn late Saturday.

They are expected to appear in federal court at noon today.

So how did we get here?

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America,

comprising an area of 353,841 square miles, about twice the size of California, and a population

of 29 million. Its capital and largest city is Caracas.

In 1498, during his third voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus landed near the eastern shore of modern-day Venezuela and commended the region to Spain's leaders.

Spanish colonization started in 1522. The country gained its full

independence in 1823 under leader Simone Boulevard. The world's largest known oil reserves

were discovered there during World War I, prompting an economic boom that lasted into the 1980s.

Economic crises then led to a political crisis, the elevation of Hugh Chavez, and the adoption of a new constitution in 1999 that created a socialist government.

Chavez appointed Nicholas Maduro as vice president in 2013.

...