"Just look at the training they did for Maduro's capture."
That made me smile. Thanks.

Too bad the helo's weren't blasting "Fortunate Son" for the Air Assault. Good Times

quote:

https://x.com/BehizyTweets/status/2008710651817116154

Pete on the observation team.

Why Stealth Black Hawks Weren’t Used For Maduro Capture Mission

While stealth helicopters, which may or may not still exist, were central to the Bin Laden raid, the Venezuela operation was different in key ways.

by Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway
Published Jan 6, 2026 6:59 PM EST

By all accounts so far, the planning and preparations for the operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro mirrored, to a degree, that of the raid that led to the death of Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden. However, one asset that featured prominently in the Bin Laden mission looks to have been notably absent in the force that descended on Caracas over the weekend: stealthy Black Hawk helicopters. There are clear reasons why this was not the case, but it also prompts questions about the current status of those helicopters and possible successor platforms.

Videos shot from the ground during the mission to capture Maduro, as well as his wife, dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, show typical special operations MH-60 Black Hawks and MH-47 Chinooks belonging to the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers. Some of the MH-60s were in a unique armed configuration, called the Direct Action Penetrator (DAP), which you can read more about here...

Complete article with photos:

https://www.twz.com/air/why-st...duro-capture-mission

How Chinese-Made Radar Defense Systems Failed in Venezuela
The success of a lightning-fast raid on Caracas raises new doubts about Chinese military capabilities, a military analyst said.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...FSi2vdt8UArRXiZfk%3D

US forces seize rogue oil tanker in daring commando-style raid in mid-Atlantic as Russian navy watches on

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER and MARK NICOL, DEFENCE EDITOR
PUBLISHED: 07:53 EST, 7 January 2026 | UPDATED: 09:29 EST, 7 January 2026

The United States has seized a Russian-flagged tanker linked to Venezuelan oil in a daring commando-style raid, after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the ​Atlantic.

Dramatic photos in Russian media purportedly show a helicopter - believed to be an American MH-6 Little Bird - swooping close to the rogue vessel before it was captured by US forces.

The Marinera ship - originally known as the ⁠Bella-1 - made an abrupt turn to the south and slowed its speed in the hours leading up to its seizure, which occurred around 124 miles south of the Icelandic coast.

The bold move came after the Marinera slipped through a US maritime 'blockade' of sanctioned vessels ​and rebuffed US Coast ‍Guard efforts to board ​it.

Officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation, which has now been completed, was carried out by the Coast ‍Guard ‍and US military.

American officials added that the Russian military were in the general vicinity when the operation took place, including a Russian submarine.

The tanker is the latest to be targeted by the ⁠US Coast Guard since the start of Donald Trump's pressure campaign against Venezuela.

Last month, the US Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean, armed with a warrant to seize the ship over alleged breaches of US sanctions and claims it had shipped Iranian oil.

However, the tanker then abruptly changed course, renamed itself Marinera and was added to an official Russian ship database

At one point while being pursued, the crew of the vessel painted a Russian flag on its hull, claiming it was sailing under Russian protection, and Moscow made a formal diplomatic request that the US stop its chase.

The latest location data from the vessel showed it made an abrupt turn to the south and slowed to just eight knots, starting at 11.26am GMT.

It appeared to be heading towards northern Scotland.

Data from flight tracking sites appeared to show both British and American military aircraft leaving the UK and heading towards the area the vessel is in.

Earlier, the Daily Mail reported that British Typhoons were scrambled to intercept the vessel.

The Daily Mail has contacted the Ministry of Defence for comment.

Downing Street has refused to comment on the matter, or whether British military bases were used in the operation.

Trump last month said he had ordered a 'blockade' of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, a policy the government in Caracas branded 'theft'.

In the run-up to the US seizure of the country's former leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump repeatedly accused Venezuela's government of using ships to smuggle drugs into the US.

Two US officials told CBS News on Tuesday that American forces were planning to board the Marinera and that Washington would prefer to seize the vessel rather than sink it.

Moscow's Foreign Ministry earlier said it expects Western countries to respect principles of freedom of navigation.

The US European Command said the US Department of Justice and Homeland Security have 'today announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violations of US sanctions'.

In a post on X, they added: 'The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.'

They added that the operations supported Trump's 'Proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere'.

'The operation was executed by DHS components with support from @DeptofWar, showcasing a whole-of-government approach to protect the homeland.'

Separately, the US Coast Guard has also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in ‍Latin American waters, ⁠US officials said, as the US continues enforcing a maritime 'blockade' of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela.

Footage posted earlier by Russian television network RT purports to show a US Coast Guard cutter chasing the Marinera, which started its journey in Iran.

The Marinera, formerly known as the Bella 1, had been falsely registered under a Guyanese flag.

It has historically transported Venezuelan crude oil but is understood to be empty at the moment.

Busy day on the High Seas!

https://x.com/DerrickEvans4WV/.../2008915286427316432




https://x.com/Mrgunsngear/status/2008928216333926598

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
https://x.com/BehizyTweets/status/2008710651817116154

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Those soldiers dropping out of that ‘chopper.
That’s what an open can of whoopass looks like.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
That’s what an open can of whoopass looks like.

That is definitely a quotable quotation that I shall try to remember.

The fast-roping we all know they can do, but were they really able to put vehicles like Humvees on the ground to secure the perimeters w/o anyone noticing and challenging them?

quote:

Originally posted by Rawny:
The fast-roping we all know they can do, but were they really able to put vehicles like Humvees on the ground to secure the perimeters w/o anyone noticing and challenging them?

Not sure if that demonstration was the final rehearsal for the Caracus-raid or, a general one.
These demonstrations usually are called a CAPability EXercise (CAPEX), SOF units perform several of them each year for lawmakers, dignitaries & VIP's, mainly to give them a look behind-the-curtain and for those units develop a relationship to help maintain the political-funding support. All the tools come out, lots of noise and smoke, all sorts of aircraft are orbiting around, it's a show for the observer. Did Delta or the Rangers use vehicles on the ground, possible but considering the speed and so little time on the ground I'd guess likely not.

Just to be sure everyone knows the truth those videos were not of the actual boarding of the tanker in the North Atlantic.

The super tanker (VLCC) was empty and was boarded by SF (and possibly other) forces flying in on small helos operated by the 160th…

If you remember there were reports a few days ago of C-17’s landing in the UK and the thought is that is how the small birds were able to conduct the interdiction ( off another military ship nearby).

https://finance.yahoo.com/news...&bt_ts=1767783763961

Venezuela’s New Leader Is the Oil Industry’s Long-Time Ally

As the US threatened Nicolás Maduro’s grip on power in recent months, a cadre of executives, lawyers and investors tied to the oil industry made their case to anyone who would listen — the Trump administration, congressional aides: His familiar No. 2 Delcy Rodríguez should fill his shoes in Venezuela.

An oil minister herself, Rodríguez has long been the go-to contact for senior executives, whom she impressed by navigating Venezuela’s industry through international sanctions, economic pressures and internal mismanagement. Her loyalty to the Maduro regime notwithstanding, she’d be best positioned to shepherd through the US plan to restore Venezuela to its glory days as an oil gusher, argued executives and lobbyists.

President Donald Trump’s inner circle came to the same conclusion, though people familiar with the matter say they did so independently. Both groups believed that the vice president, long seen as a bridge between the government and private sector, could stabilize Venezuela’s oil-based economy and facilitate American business faster than leading dissident María Corina Machado could, said the people.

Administration officials were mindful of the chaos that ensued in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Business interests aside, maintaining a semblance of business continuity will be critical to a successful transition — one that the Trump administration has yet to define. And Rodríguez fits both those bills: she oversees Venezuela’s oil apparatus and has decades of relationships among the remaining socialist stronghold in government.

The advocates for Rodríguez didn’t directly include the biggest US oil majors, who were surprised by the removal of Maduro and are still racing to figure out how to work with Washington on next steps, according to people familiar with the matter. But there’s a wider universe of US and international companies that have operated in Venezuela for years, and many have contacts in the White House and on Capitol Hill, the people said.

A spokesperson for Chevron Corp., the only major US oil company licensed to operate in Venezuela, said it “had no advance notice of the recent operation and did not engage in any discussions with administration officials regarding governance for a post-Maduro Venezuela.” It also said operations in the country were continuing uninterrupted and in full compliance with laws and regulations.

In a triumphal press conference Saturday, Trump endorsed Rodríguez to lead Venezuela for now. Machado, he said, lacked “respect” to lead the country, a stunning blow to the recent Nobel Peace Prize winner and the regime opponents at home and abroad who have pinned their hopes on her.

The White House declined to comment beyond remarks made Sunday by Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, who is playing a key role in managing Venezuela. He said that the US would leverage its oil blockade and regional military presence to further its policy goals. He also said the US would watch Rodríguez’s actions more than her rhetoric.

In a Bloomberg Television appearance Monday, Greylock Capital Management Chief Executive Hans Humes, who is part of the creditor committee of Venezuela’s sovereign debt, reiterated what some global oil executives have said in private regarding Rodríguez: “If you want somebody who can operate in reasonably OK conditions, get the person who operated in the worst conditions,” he said.

He added that Trump was making a big gamble, one that if successful, could “reorder the entire energy configuration of the world.”

That conclusion dovetailed with a Central Intelligence Agency report that one person familiar with the matter said senior US officials had recently commissioned to examine near-term succession scenarios. The document drew on numerous intelligence sources including open-source and human collection, and was meant to give Trump the best information possible as he considered the operation, according to the person.

The assessment concluded that top members of the regime, including Rodriguez, would be best placed to lead the government if Maduro were no longer in power, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Global Oil Interests

Oil companies with interests in Venezuela, home to some of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves, now want to make sure that the Trump administration swiftly eases those sanctions to ensure that Rodríguez can start delivering results. There is no time to waste, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

In late December, Venezuela had already started closing oil wells because it had run out of storage to hold production stranded by the blockade. More shut-ins would make it harder for Venezuela to recover its economy and jeopardize Rodríguez’s hold on power, the sources said.

So far she looks to be consolidating control on the regime’s existing foundations. On Monday, she was sworn in by the National Assembly as acting president. In a fiery speech on Saturday, she described Maduro’s capture as a “kidnapping” and called for his return, but the sources said they believe her rhetoric was meant to shield her from internal reprisals.

On Sunday, she took a more conciliatory tone, inviting the US “to work together on a cooperation agenda, aimed at shared development, within the framework of international law, and to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”

Rodríguez, 56, had been a key figure in Maduro’s tight inner circle, heading a string of key portfolios including the Foreign Ministry that enabled her to build international bridges. She was named oil minister in 2024 after Maduro’s widely contested reelection, putting her in charge of the national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, with the task of cleaning up corruption and bringing more transparency to the bloated firm’s accounts.

An accomplished table-tennis player, Rodríguez regularly fields calls from senior executives at international oil companies, from Houston to Mumbai, and has longstanding relationships in Beijing and Moscow, which she visits on her government jet.

One of the companies with the most to gain from a successful revival of Venezuela’s oil industry is Chevron. ConocoPhillips, a US peer that’s owed some $10 billion in unpaid arbitration awards from the 2007 state seizure of its Venezuelan assets, would gain as well if it decides to implement a proposal to return to the country to recoup its debt. Among non-US companies, Shell Plc has an offshore Venezuelan gas deal on ice that could be reactivated on short notice. Other incumbents in Venezuela include Spain’s Repsol SA, Italy’s Eni SpA and France’s Maurel et Prom SA.

The Revolutionary’s Daughter

Rodríguez began her political career under late former President Hugo Chávez after graduating as a lawyer from the Central University of Venezuela.

Her father, Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, was a prominent leftist in the 1960s and 1970s and a Marxist party founder. He died in 1976 after being tortured in prison by state security forces, a defining feature of Delcy’s political narrative. Her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, is another regime stalwart and was Maduro’s longtime chief negotiator with the US.

Those who have worked alongside the new acting president often remark on her long hours, with Maduro recently saying she responded to messages well into the night and early morning. She was also by Maduro’s side as he ordered the most aggressive wave of repression the country has seen to crack down on dissidents in the aftermath of his contested reelection in 2024.

In meetings with financial advisers in the weeks ahead of Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez was very focused on the status of Venezuela’s debts and relationships with US oil majors, among other international financial matters, according to one of the sources.

Such diligence, together with the absence of a US indictment that had dogged Maduro for years, made Rodríguez the favorite, not just for oil companies, but also some bondholders who are looking to restructure some $60 billion of debt.

The endorsement by the White House is “a very clear-eyed sort of realist approach,” said Kimberly Breier, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs during Trump’s first term.

Rodríguez “liaises with energy companies, and they have been able to deal with her, but that doesn’t mean she is a long-term solution,” Breier added, highlighting her deep association with a regime blamed for widespread human rights violations.

In 2021 Rodríguez showed two Bloomberg News journalists the room at the Economy Ministry in downtown Caracas where she’d practice table tennis, with three of her sparring partners on hand to demonstrate. The cavernous space contained two ping-pong tables. Portraits of Maduro, Chávez and Simón Bolívar, who liberated Venezuela from Spanish rule, looked on.

—With assistance from Erik Schatzker, Maria Elena Vizcaino and Natalia Drozdiak.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

I wonder what Russia is gonna do with that sub now?
They’d be wise to send it home.
You can bet we have a sub killer near that tanker now.

I think the message is loud and clear to our adversaries. We can go anywhere anytime and there isn't a goddamn thing you can do to stop us.

Night Stalker MH-6 Little Bird’s Ability To Appear Out Of Nowhere Highlighted In Tanker Raid

The Little Bird helicopter's small size and incredible transportability means that it can appear from virtually anywhere, on land or at sea.

by Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway
Published Jan 7, 2026 6:30 PM EST

Images showing an MH-6 Little Bird taking part in today’s operation to seize the runaway Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera, hundreds of miles away from the nearest land, were widely met with befuddlement. This is a relatively tiny special operations helicopter that cannot be refueled in flight and has a short range. However, its small size and incredible transportability means that it can appear from virtually anywhere, on land or at sea. These are among the capabilities that have long endeared the type to the U.S. Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers...


Complete article:

https://www.twz.com/air/night-...ghted-in-tanker-raid

quote:

Originally posted by wishfull thinker:
Too bad the helo's weren't blasting "Fortunate Son" for the Air Assault. Good Times

Better still....



If it "scares the hell outta the slopes," imaging what it does to guys riding a ship filled with volatile vapors.

quote:

I wonder what Russia is gonna do with that sub now?
They’d be wise to send it home.
You can bet we have a sub killer near that tanker now.

I'm sure we had our own attack sub trailing the Russian the entire time.

I wouldn't be surprised if we had a SOSUS network monitoring submarine activity coming in and out of the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea.

Interesting video I came across....
"If you really want to get a full assessment of the anger of Venezuelans toward the left, there is this video – an open letter that doesn't hold anything back– needless to say, it comes with a language warning: My Open Letter to Liberals and Democrats about Venezuela:"


My Open Letter to Liberals and Democrats about Venezuela