Front Burner (CBC) — "What will follow Trump’s Venezuela attack?"
Episode Date: January 5, 2026
Host: Jayme Poisson
Guest: Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker

Episode Overview

In this urgent episode, host Jayme Poisson speaks with veteran journalist Jon Lee Anderson about the aftermath of the unprecedented U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, which saw President Donald Trump order a raid that seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. They discuss the dramatic operation, its international legal ramifications, and the profound implications for Venezuelan society, the broader region, and global politics at large. The episode probes whether the U.S. is reasserting its dominance in the hemisphere and what, if anything, might follow from this bold and controversial move.

1. The Shock and Scale of the U.S. Operation

Key Points

• The U.S. raid on Caracas resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro, who was quickly flown to the U.S. and charged with narco-terrorism.
• Venezuelan authorities reported at least 40 deaths during the operation.
• The attack marks a significant escalation in Trump’s hardline policy against Maduro and is being likened to previous decisive American interventions.

Memorable Moment

• [00:47] Jayme Poisson recounts:
  “That was the extraordinary moment from a Mar A Lago presser Donald Trump gave on Saturday where he flat out said the US Would be running Venezuela for the time being.”

Anderson’s Reaction

• Expresses both disbelief and inevitability:
  [02:22] “There’s an element of suspended belief … it was a chronicle foretold ... The invective and rhetoric against Maduro and his regime increased ... it’s a little bit like the narco boats. We see them blown out of the water, but no evidence that they were actually carrying drugs, and none is provided by this administration.”

2. Narco-Terrorism Charges: Rhetoric vs Reality

Key Points

• Maduro and associates were indicted on narco-terrorism charges, supposedly justifying the U.S. action.
• Anderson, drawing on decades of reporting, doubts the veracity of these claims.

Notable Quote

• [05:13] Anderson on evidence of Maduro’s culpability:
  “There has never been proof of any sort that Nicolas Maduro himself is involved in drug trafficking … There may be military men within the superstructure of the Venezuelan state that are involved … but maybe [Maduro] doesn’t have the proof or for that matter, the power or the clout to go after.”

3. International Law and Legitimacy

Key Points

• The legality of the raid is widely questioned; many experts see it as a violation of international law.
• U.S. Vice President JD Vance claims legality based on U.S. indictments.

Anderson’s Response

• [07:47] “I find very little that JD Vance says that I take very seriously ... the fact that, you know, it’s legal because we said so, that doesn’t really cut it in the world of rule of law.”

4. How the Operation Unfolded

Key Insights

• CIA reportedly had insiders close to Maduro for months.
• The possibility of backchannel deals between elements of the Venezuelan government and U.S. forces is discussed.
• The fate of Vice President Dulcie Rodriguez (left in place as transitional leader) and other power centers is highly uncertain.

Notable Discussion

• [11:14] Anderson considers the likelihood of Rodriguez having enabled Maduro’s capture:
  “Publicly, she’s heatedly denouncing his capture. Maybe she has to for public. We won’t really know ... Trump in his press conference said, we’re willing to work with the Vice President, but if things get out of hand … we’ll come in hard again, a lot harder than we did.”

5. What U.S. “Running” Venezuela Might Look Like

Key Points

• Trump declared the U.S. would "run" Venezuela; Secretary Marco Rubio later softened, suggesting economic and military leverage would drive policy.
• Anderson predicts limited direct occupation but likely U.S. control of oil assets, use of private military contractors, and ongoing threats to keep the remaining Venezuelan state in check.

Notable Quote

• [15:42] Anderson:
  “Trump speaks in a cartoonish way ... My expectation ... they will likely do is where you will see American personnel on the ground may be private military contractors ... then using that idea of rebuilding Venezuela’s oil potential and wealth potential to ... mitigate or to use as leverage.”

6. Risks: Civil War, Fragmentation, and Political Calculus

Key Points

• The “rump regime” left in place is fragile, propped up by U.S. threats and lacking legitimacy.
• Exclusion of genuine opposition opportunities for leadership is a dangerous move.

Notable Exchange

• [19:21] On opposition leader Maria Corina Machado:
  Poisson: “He kind of like was very dismissive of her.”
  Trump (clip): “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect to be so.”
  Anderson: “[Opposition figures] must be very disconcerted right now. They must feel betrayed and worried as hell ... Liberation Day hasn’t come to Venezuela. Something else has.”

Potential for Violence

• [17:52] “You have four, possibly five, possibly more potential power centers, some armed, some not armed, that could begin to go to battle with one another ... There are many scenarios where this could really go pear shaped.”

7. Parallels to Past U.S. Actions

Key Points

• 2026 raid compared to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama (Noriega).
• U.S. is sending signals of reasserted hegemony in the hemisphere, akin to a modern Monroe Doctrine (“John Roe Doctrine”).

Best Quote

• [27:32] Anderson:
  “Trump represents … the end of an era and the beginning of another ... what he has clearly made very clear in his inaugural speech and now ... with the invasion of Venezuela, is that the U.S. will be the hegemon in the Western Hemisphere. It is ours. We do what we want with it. Its resources are also ours.”

8. Where Next? Regional and Global Implications

Key Points

• Rubio and Trump have signaled Cuba could be next; symbolic threats even extend to Greenland and Canada.
• Anderson expects further punitive actions, possibly against Cuba, as well as escalation in rhetoric and action against countries seen as "communist threats."
• The move is viewed as a message to Moscow and Beijing as well, potentially accelerating a new era of global lawlessness.

Memorable Moment

• [28:46] Trump (clip): “Greenland is going to be ours.”
• [29:06] Anderson: “He mentioned manifest destiny and territorial expansion. So they’re doing it.”

9. The Global Message: New Rules for a New Era

Key Points

• Anderson and Poisson conclude the episode by exploring how this sets a precedent of impunity, encouraging other world powers to follow suit in their spheres.
• The dismantling of post-WWII norms threatens to destabilize the international order.

Final Analysis

• [31:00] Anderson:
  “Trump’s invasion of Venezuela, his dispensing with the norms and protocols that were built up to contain one another and maintain a kind of global modicum of peace and mutual respect, national sovereignty, he’s thrown that out of the window. And … it’s as if he said to China, go for it. That bit’s yours, Putin. That bit’s yours if you can grab it. I may meddle, but hey, … this whole region, from the Arctic to the Antarctic is mine.”

Selected Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:47] Trump’s Mar-A-Lago announcement and capture of Maduro.
• [02:22] Jon Lee Anderson’s initial reaction and the surreal lead-up.
• [05:13] Lack of evidence for Maduro’s drug trafficking charges.
• [07:47] Legality and U.S. narrative of the raid.
• [11:14] Theories about Rodriguez’s involvement and elite maneuvering.
• [15:42] Likely future of “U.S. running Venezuela.”
• [17:52] Dangers of civil conflict and exclusion of opposition.
• [23:40] Parallels with Panama and Noriega.
• [27:32] U.S. hegemony and a return to the Monroe Doctrine.
• [28:46] Trump’s overt territorial ambitions.
• [31:00] The global implications and unraveling of international norms.

Takeaways

• The U.S. has executed a drastic, destabilizing intervention in Venezuela under Trump, with little concern for international law or local legitimacy.
• U.S. officials openly envision further reassertions of dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
• The podcast draws sobering parallels to past interventions and presents this as an inflection point, both regionally and for the global order, as authoritarian models gain new ground.
• The future for Venezuela and the region is deeply uncertain, with possibilities for both civil conflict and further American-directed regime management.

Memorable Final Line
[33:09] Poisson: “I feel like that’s a good place for us to end today, John. Thank you. Yeah, not a good place, but a place to end today.”

For the next episode:
Poisson promises to explore implications for Canada and the oil market in tomorrow’s show.