{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"A Shocking U.S. Attack and "a Transition Without a Transition" in Venezuela","description":"After midnight on January 3, 2026, the Trump administration bombed Venezuelan military sites and extracted the country\u2019s authoritarian leader, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. President Trump declared that the United States is now \u201crunning\u201d Venezuela and emphasized access to its oil reserves. The rest of Maduro\u2019s government\u2014the key political figures, the generals, the intelligence chiefs, the colectivos\u2014remains in place. In this episode recorded January 6, as shockwaves from this historic intervention spread across the hemisphere, host Adam Isacson speaks with WOLA President Carolina Jim\u00e9nez Sandoval and Venezuela Program Director Laura Dib about what just happened, the serious risks ahead, and what comes next. The conversation covers: The immediate humanitarian situation: continued repression, a looming economic crisis, and uncertainty about who is actually in charge. Why Washington appears ready to work with Chavismo\u2014the same authoritarian structure it claimed to oppose\u2014while sidelining Venezuela\u2019s democratic opposition. The dangerous precedent this sets for U.S. relations with the rest of Latin America, where the Trump administration\u2019s new security strategy presents governments with a stark choice between alignment with Washington or being labeled a threat. What solidarity with the Venezuelan people actually looks like when their agency has been pushed aside by both their own government and the intervening power. \u201cInternational law exists precisely to limit the naked power of states,\u201d Jim\u00e9nez Sandoval says. \u201cTo have one of those superpowers, under President Trump, disregard those basic rules of engagement is very alarming.\u201d \u201cHuman rights standards provide us with lenses that are universal,\u201d Dib adds. \u201cThat means going beyond condemnation\u2014thinking about what can be done to stand in solidarity with Venezuelans, reclaiming their agency, and providing support to democratic forces.\u201d ","author_name":"Latin America Today","author_url":"http:\/\/www.wola.org\/podcast\/","html":"