By Zack Strong
January 3, 2026

“LA LIBERTAD AVANZA. ¡VIVA LA LIBERTAD, CARAJO!” – President Javier Milei in response to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro

The United States is always called the bad guy, the villain, the imperialist invader. Why, then, do the common people always flock to the streets, gush tears of thanks, chant praises and wave flags, and say prayers of obvious gratitude whenever we topple their dictators? The Panamanians did it with Noriega. The Iraqis did it with Saddam. They’re doing it today in Venezuela after U.S. forces neutralized the Venezuelan military and surgically captured and extracted Marxist dictator Nicolas Maduro. The world’s historical memory concerning America’s contributions to the cause of mankind is short and ungrateful.

None of this is to suggest that the United States is blameless or pure. As a diehard Jeffersonian constitutionalist, I’m frankly sick of presidents and administrations not declaring war per the Constitution before carrying out military action. The Wars Powers Act is insufficient, though it has been used by several presidents to justify unilateral action. I’m tired of the abuse of power and the broken oaths of office. I’m sick of government obfuscation, redacted documents, mind manipulation by the intelligence agencies, the destruction of the dollar, the centralization of political power in D.C., and so much more. I demand and the Constitution requires that the president follow his oath and that Congress does its duty to defend the nation’s interests.

Given the impotent and treasonous Congress we have sitting in Washington, however – a graver threat than Maduro could ever be – it is understandable that President Trump would act independently and avoid informing the snakes who might hiss our secrets to our enemies. The Democrats’ reaction to the operation – their wild defense of the narco-dictator Maduro and their unhinged condemnation of President Trump – perhaps vindicates the Donald’s constitutionally dubious move. Their hypocrisy in selectively championing the Constitution in this instance simply because it could hurt their political enemy is glaring.

Objections to the way this situation was handled aside, Maduro is an evil man whose oppressive regime is illicit, having blatantly stolen the past election by multiple millions of fraudulent votes. His regime sent drugs and murderous cartel operatives to the United States. They intentionally sent criminals and thugs into our country to brutalize, rape, and torment our people. They oppressed their own people. Perhaps most significantly, they courted Russia and China, allowing these far greater enemies to land bombers and weaponry on their islands and in their territory – in America’s back yard. Venezuela was a clear threat to the United States and the entire region.

One of my jobs several years back was teaching English online to English Language Learners primarily from Latin America. I taught many Venezuelans. Nearly all of them lived in exodus in other countries – Colombia, Chile, Panama, etc. Why? Because their families fled the oppression of the Marxist regime ruled over first by Hugo Chavez and, until today, Nicolas Maduro. This exodus has not benefited surrounding nations because with the Venezuelans has come a plague of corruption which I witnessed firsthand when I lived in Panama. Nevertheless, these Venezuelans were and are victims of a brutal, illicit, lying, murderous, oppressive communist regime whose head has now been lopped off.

For years, I have strongly advocated enforcing the Monroe Doctrine. It was a God-inspired policy that would, if followed, protect this hemisphere and provide a safe haven for Freedom in the world. The Monroe Doctrine was gradually abandoned by successive U.S. administrations, most notably those of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. In 2013, under the Marxist mole Obama, the initiated Skull & Bonesman John F. Kerry treacherously announced a formal end to the Monroe Doctrine and any pretense to American protection of Liberty in the Western Hemisphere, paving the way for Red China to flood Latin America with their money, drugs, operatives, colonizing hordes, and corruption.

In my 2019 article “Hemisphere of Freedom,” I wrote directly about the threat posed by communism in Latin America, and by Venezuela specifically through support from its nefarious allies Russia and China:

“Most people do not comprehend the menacing leviathan that sits camouflaged and ready to strike from Latin America. Americans do not realize, for instance, that Mexico has been a communist stronghold for nearly a century. Tens of thousands of Christian Freedom fighters, Cristeros, were murdered as the Masonic communists conquered the nation. Under this pernicious influence, Mexico was the first nation in the world to recognize the illegitimate Soviet regime in Russia. It was the land Trotsky called home when Stalin exiled him from the Soviet Union. For decades, Red Mexico has covertly waged war against us via illicit drugs, illegal immigration, etc. And the rest of Latin America has fared nearly as poorly under the advances of global communism.

“I currently sit writing this article in Panama City, Panama. The Chinese influence in some places here is almost in-your-face obvious. The fact that the U.S. government gave away the critically-important Panama Canal, and that it has fallen into Chinese hands, is equally obvious. It was always one of the communist goals to wrest control of the Canal from us, and they have succeeded. What’s more, Panama’s outgoing president cozied up with Red China during his unpopular term, signing numerous major economic and construction deals that greatly benefit China and give that aggressive communist nation major leverage in Panamanian affairs. Chinese influence is growing so profoundly here that Huawei recently began installing an invasive facial recognition system similar to the one the Reds installed in their own enslaved nation.

“Unfortunately, the United States has fiddled while the Americas have burned. That is, communist-sponsored regimes have been installed throughout Central and South America while we have ignored the crisis – indeed, while certain traitors in our government tied our hands and facilitated the conflagration. To be sure, we have fought back in a limited way. Operation Just Cause in Panama, for instance, was carried out to remove the Marxist dictator Manuel Noriega from power. Noriega had recently declared war on the United States and entered into dangerous agreements with Soviet client states. Caches of Soviet weapons were discovered everywhere by our military personnel during the operation. Despite the success of Operation Just Cause – an operation cheered by the Panamanian people at the time, though considered unjust American “imperialism” now after a generation of brainwashing – Panama has once more been roped into the communist orbit. . . .

“One of the most glaring cases of communist intervention in the Americas is Venezuela. Venezuela was once a prosperous nation before the communists took over. Today, however, socialist policies have turned Venezuela into a third-world trash heap where people are literally starving and Nicolas Maduro runs the county like a classic Marxist dictator. Russia and China, of course, have been behind the tragic destruction. President Trump has recently turned his sights on Venezuela and has threatened military action (though his threat to intervene is likely as hollow as his promise to put U.S. troops on our Southern border). In response, Russia rushed in to safeguard its stronghold. In December, Russian nuclear bombers landed in Venezuela and in March Russian troops arrived. If Russian nuclear bombers three hours from our border do not spur us to invoke the Monroe Doctrine to protect our nation’s flanks, what will?

“Will the United States act to cut out the communist tumor or will Venezuela remain a Cuba-like GULAG for decades more? And what of Nicaragua, Uruguay, and the other states in our back yard that we have allowed to be seized by the communists? What will we do? Will we step aside and allow Russia and China to fully take over? Will we further allow ourselves to be surrounded and isolated in a hemisphere we once swore to preserve in Freedom? It seems obvious to me that the only thing that can save the Latin American states from communist aggression is American intervention – yes, even military intervention where necessary.

“If you care about the welfare, preservation, and self-defense of our great Republic, you must support the Monroe Doctrine. As Ezra Taft Benson stated, the Monroe Doctrine is correct but needs to be applied. Will we finally take the initiative to free Latin America from communist strangulation and remove the grave threat to our south? Truthfully, the threat is not far away; it touches us every day via illegal immigration and the mass smuggling of narcotics into our land. It is not merely a border crisis that afflicts us – it is a crisis engulfing the whole of our hemisphere.

“The situation in the Americas is extremely critical. To invoke or not to invoke the Monroe Doctrine is one of the most pressing questions facing us. As for me, I will denounce communist aggression wherever it festers. And I openly throw my support in with those past American patriots who wanted the Western Hemisphere to be a Hemisphere of Freedom.”

I applaud the toppling of the Marxist Maduro regime. It is the first of many that should be ousted within our sphere of influence. I have been writing a no-holds-barred article titled “Mexico: An Existential Threat” that calls for the overthrow of the Mexican regime, the annexing of Mexico, and the partitioning of that failed narco-terrorist state into states that would join the United States after the passing of a generation – the time needed to educate a new generation in the principles of Liberty and rule of law. I digress on the topic of Mexico until a future time.

The Monroe Doctrine is not imperialism, and neither was the capture of Maduro. “It’s all about oil,” some claim. Oil is undeniably a factor, and we would be foolish not to take control of Venezuelan oil, but it is not the chief factor. Oil is a means to an end. The end is strategic posturing against Red China in preparation for the war with the Dragon that everyone knows is coming. The Monroe Doctrine is nothing more nor less than the mechanism by which the United States may preserve a hemisphere of Freedom and a true bulwark of security and prosperity against a hostile world that seeks our destruction and wants to impose totalitarianism.

The Venezuela strike was a step in the right direction, though the mission is not over. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the Venezuelan Defense Minister, has seemingly taken command and is urging armed resistance. Armed militias have been seen in some locations. No interim government has formally been set up, nor have free and fair elections yet been scheduled. However, despite the remaining challenges, and the pro-Maduro bureaucrats remaining within the Venezuelan government and military, many of which must be hunted down if a proper transition is to be effected, the Venezuelan people are in the streets cheering.

Venezuelans have been videoed tearing down Maduro posters and running in ecstasy through the streets. Venezuelans have taken to social media to express their joy and to denounce their now deposed “outlaw dictator,” as President Trump referred to him in his announcement of the operation. Even anti-Trump Venezuelans are uploading videos at record pace applauding Trump’s decision to oust Maduro. Yet, Maduro’s Marxist allies have denounced the move. Iran condemned it, though they should perhaps focus on the revolution happening in their own country. So did Colombia and Brazil, Russia and China. The EU cautioned restraint. Thankfully, if we follow the Monroe Doctrine with purpose and hold the line, the dissenting voices of despots do not matter.

Not only is this move against the Marxist regime in Caracas welcomed by its people and all lovers of Liberty as a good thing, I would champion additional action against certain regional neighbors including Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and a specific action in Panama to take back the Canal and the Canal Zone that we built and that were by right and treaty ours. Panama was de facto created by the United States. It would have never secured its independence without the interposition of Teddy Roosevelt against what is now Colombia, though U.S. control over Panama and territorial rights within it began in the 1840s with the Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty.

And Panama’s claim to fame – the Panama Canal – is properly the American Canal and was built by U.S. personnel and engineers and paid for by U.S. dollars. Hundreds of American workers died in the construction which they oversaw and engineered when France and other powers had failed. Panama was formerly a protectorate of the United States, and we owned outright the Canal and its surrounding zone. We did not give it back to Panama because Panama never owned it. Jimmy Carter and other America-last traitors gave it away; they gave away American territory, property, prosperity, influence, and security. To not return this territory to its proper hands would be criminal, especially at such a precarious time when China is vying for strategic control of the region.

Refocusing on Venezuela, the blitzkrieg against Maduro was a stunning success. The Delta Force operators performed with precision and got their man as he was attempting to get into a safe room. Limited damage was done to U.S. equipment, and we suffered zero loss of our warriors. The United States proved yet again that it possesses the most fine-tuned military in the world. The only thing that could topple the United States is the United States. If America falls, and it is on the brink, it will be because of the ignorance, apathy, and immorality of its people.

This Venezuela operation, especially at the start of a new year, ought to remind us how fragile our world is and how important preparedness is. No nation can merely invade the United States; but the United States can be destabilized in numerous ways. From EMP strikes to civil war to a real pandemic, we can be brought to our knees if our only strength and protection is our human ability, wisdom, and weaponry. If, however, the Lord is our strength, we cannot fall. Thus, the greatest thing we can do to safeguard our future is repent in sackcloth and ashes, turn to Christ, and root out the rampant moral corruption among us.

It is one thing to cleanse a foreign nation of its oppressor, but it is quite another – and vastly more important – to cleanse our own Republic. Several pro-life groups today cheers that drugs from Venezuela have been mostly halted, but then quickly urged the president to also stop the abortion pills which are claiming thousands of American lives each month. Yes, it is good to halt the flow of drugs, but it is better to reform the lives of those who are addicted to them and who provide a market. I applaud Maduro’s ouster – may he face swift and total justice for his murders – but I worry that we will not take this opportunity to look inward and reform our bad habits and the flaws evident in our own nation.

Please pray for the people of Venezuela. Pray that they are given a leader who will root out communism from their nation. Communism is still the greatest Satanical threat in the world. Call it “globalism” if you wish, and emphasize that there are different power centers, which there are (the United States, Russia, and China), yet it is ideologically the same beast with the same devilish goal of global domination and the enslavement of humanity.

Pray that Red China will fall and that this move in Venezuela will weaken the Chinese regime’s ability to do harm abroad. Pray that this action will reduce Russia’s malign influence in our hemisphere. Pray that our soldiers will be preserved and protected, because it is likely they will be forced to carry out additional action in Venezuela. Pray for America. Pray that we will repent and draw close to the Lord – that is our only path forward that does not include cataclysmic horrors and divine wrath.

Before concluding, it is appropriate to highlight Argentine President Javier Milei’s response to the news of Maduro’s capture which expresses the feelings of millions: “LA LIBERTAD AVANZA. ¡VIVA LA LIBERTAD, CARAJO!” This translates to, “Freedom moves forward. Long live liberty, dammit!”

Indeed.

I end with the catchphrase of my Liberty Wolf podcast and offer it as my hope and prayer for America and our world: Sic Semper Tyrannis. Long Live Liberty!