QAA Podcast – Episode 354: "Black Bag, Inc." feat. Abby Martin

Release Date: January 8, 2026
Hosts: Jake Rockatansky, Julian Feeld, Travis View
Guest: Abby Martin

Episode Overview

This episode, opening QAA’s 2026, confronts one of the most extraordinary news events in recent memory: the U.S. military’s capture and rendition of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve." With celebrated journalist and documentarian Abby Martin, the hosts dissect the operation itself, its dizzying implications, the subsequent information war, and broader lessons about U.S. power, media propaganda, and imperialism. The episode blends reporting, analysis, and dark comedy while drawing on the personal histories of the hosts and their guest to shed light on the deeper context around U.S. interventions in Latin America.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Opening Reflections & New Year's Resolutions

• [00:44–03:42] The hosts riff on the wildness of current events and their own attempts at optimism. Julian, Travis, and Jake exchange New Year’s resolutions, with humor on “becoming more autistic,” Travis getting into Filipino martial arts, and reflections on reading people and internal anxieties.
• Quote:

  “If the last year has taught me anything, it’s like, how tame my expectations were for this second Trump admin.”
  — Jake [01:34]

2. The Operation: What Happened in Venezuela

• [06:30–09:37] Travis summarizes the facts: on Jan 2/3, 2026, the U.S. executed airstrikes and a special forces raid to seize Maduro and his wife from a secure compound in Caracas. Official death toll: at least 56. Both are now in U.S. federal custody in New York.
• The operation involved 150+ aircraft, months of preparation, and intelligence from CIA assets.
• Quote:

  “As of this recording, Nicolás Maduro and his wife are in US Federal custody ... while the case proceeds. Now, all that's very insane, but what really helped escalate the insanity is Trump's remarks after it...”
  — Travis [08:34]

3. Escalating Presidential Rhetoric & Doctrine

• [09:37–12:25] The hosts detail President Trump’s open celebration and the announcement of the “Don Row Doctrine”—a reassertion of “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.”
  • Trump signals possible interventions in Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and even hints at “taking back” the Panama Canal and eyeing Greenland.
• Quote:

  “He’s trying to become, like, the leader of Gastown from, like, the Mad Max universe.”
  — Jake [11:45]

4. Information War & Disinformation Blitz

• [12:25–18:18]
  • Rapid flood of AI-generated fakes: doctored photos/videos of Maduro’s arrest and celebrations in Venezuela.
  • Most viral: A video of supposed “jubilant Caracas crowds” that was actually shot in Santiago, Chile.
  • Elon Musk even boosted some of these AI fakes.
  • Propagandists both for and against the U.S. try to jam the “information zone.” AI “flood the zone with shit” techniques are rampant.
• Quotes:

  “It takes zero effort to make a fake. So you could just make 20 of them ... and overwhelm the information space.”
  — Travis [14:13]

  “Propaganda for the Empire would be like: ‘We black bagged him. Here’s the perfect black bag photo. AI, please help.’”
  — Julian [13:38]

5. Resurgence of Election Conspiracy Theories

• [19:45–24:49]
  • Far-right and QAnon circles claim Maduro’s capture is “Trump’s revenge” for 2020, linking back to false narratives about Smartmatic/Dominion manipulating U.S. elections—a claim lacking all factual basis.
  • Trump himself amplifies these rumors on social media, leaning into the conspiratorial base.
• Quotes:

  “Benny Johnson claimed that, quote, Nicolás Maduro might be Trump’s final revenge for the election theft of 2020.”
  — Travis [22:27]

  “They’re still talking about 20 fucking—speechless.”
  — Julian [24:15]

6. Absorption of QAnon Language by the State

• [25:37–26:39]
  • Official government social media (e.g., Dept. of Labor) starts posting QAnon slogans (“Patriots in control”) alongside Trump’s own posts, further blurring the line between conspiratorial propaganda and state messaging.
• Quote:

  “If you opened a movie about a dystopia, this would read as overwritten.”
  — Julian [26:26]

7. Interview with Abby Martin: On-the-Ground Context & Media Myths

7.1 Media Propaganda vs. Reality

• [28:29–34:23]
  • Abby describes her experience reporting from Venezuela, how even seasoned media critics are not immune to propaganda, especially when anti-Maduro/anti-Chavez claims are repeated by both mainstream outlets and NGOs (e.g. HRW, Amnesty).
  • The narrative of “starvation, dictatorship, and repression” is nearly uniform in the West—even among "liberal" media.
  • She critiques the “humanitarianism” paradigm as another form of soft imperial power.
• Quotes:

  “Being there on the ground gives you a much different clarity ... before I went, even I believed some of the propaganda. And I’ll explain why.”
  — Abby [34:23]

  “Humanitarianism is an inherently colonial idea…”
  — Julian [40:36]

7.2 Deep Context: Personal Stories & Power Structures

• [45:39–72:56]
  • Both Julian and Abby share first-hand and family connections to Venezuela, explain class politics, diaspora dynamics, and how elite/expat anxieties become “the” news in the West.
  • Abby details opposition violence in the streets, media cover-ups, and exposes how many deaths in protests were wrongly ascribed to Maduro’s forces.
• Quote:

  “You have the right to not like a leader … The point is, if you’re spending half your tweet—or even part—saying this after a Geneva Convention war crime, you are part of the problem.”
  — Julian [38:43]

  “It was so specific who you talk to, if you talk to a woman covered in jewelry, screaming she has nothing in her fridge... another block away, a young Chavista saying: ‘No, it’s an economic war.’”
  — Abby [79:48]

• Abby surfaces the reality of opposition violence:

  “When they found out Mike and I were working for Telesur, they sent a virtual lynch mob...thousands of people telling me ‘You will be lynched. We will lynch you.’ Who talks like that if you’re not a fascist psychopath?”
  — Abby [64:37]

8. History of U.S. Intervention & Chavismo Explained

• [85:03–99:06]
  • Abby and Julian detail the neoliberal collapse (“Black Friday” 1983), oil shock, and U.S.-backed regime change efforts. They explain the Bolivarian Revolution, Chavez’s rise as a response to mass immiseration, and decades of U.S. meddling to prevent redistribution.
  • Venezuela’s unique direct-democracy innovations (frequent referenda, constitutional rewrites, grassroots assemblies, food distribution projects) are contrasted with Western “managed democracy.”
• Quote:

  “People think Cuba has a one-party system because they’re under siege, but they have a huge democratic base of governance.”
  — Abby [92:02]

  “The PSUV [Chavez/Maduro’s party] was an embodiment of the sovereignty and independence movements originating from Simon Bolivar...throwing off the shackles of colonialism in Latin America.”
  — Abby [55:33]

9. Back to the Raid: What Now?

• [100:09–104:14]
  • Discussing the details known about the U.S. operation, Abby emphasizes the scale of force, possibility of local collusion, and the 20-year buildup of pressure on Venezuela. Trump’s global message: open pursuit of resource extraction by any means.

10. What’s Next? Spiral of U.S. War, Escalation, and Accountability

• [104:30–106:44]
  • Abby warns of the “open season” this precedent sets for future interventions (Colombia, Mexico, Greenland), and laments the normalization of war crimes by bipartisan U.S. regimes.
• Quote:

  “Where does it stop? That's what I’m wondering. Is this not grounds for impeachment? ... He’s drunk with power and impunity, and if no one stops him, he’s going to do Colombia. He’s already talking about Mexico, Greenland, annexing...”
  — Abby [104:30]

11. Earth’s Greatest Enemy: U.S. Military as Global Threat

• [108:28–115:43]
  • Abby discusses her latest documentary, “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,” which uncovers how the U.S. military is not just an apparatus of violence but the world’s largest single institutional polluter, fundamentally linked to global ecological destruction.
  • Every international climate treaty, she notes, explicitly exempts military emissions.
• Quote:

  “US imperialism is Earth’s greatest enemy, because what it is, is a protection racket. The US military is a protection racket for resource extraction. That’s what it always has served as, and that’s what it continues to serve as.”
  — Abby [109:04]

12. Media, Movies, and Narrative Control

• [113:09–114:44]
  • Abby reveals direct censorship and editorial influence from the Pentagon on Hollywood and even documentary representations of the military.
• Quote:

  “Anytime you see the military in TV or documentaries...they have final say and editorial rights on the script.”
  — Abby [113:38]

13. Closing Thoughts & Call to Curiosity

• [116:00–117:17]
  • The hosts and Abby reflect on how, despite grim events, trying to “do their best” and remain curious—and skeptical—is essential to resisting propaganda and learning the truth.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Propaganda:

  "We are being asked to look at a larger structure and take it all into account ... attempt to figure out what does it mean to be human on Earth in 2026."
  — Julian [42:08]

• On Direct Experience vs. Received Narrative:

  “When I was there ... the government actually had extreme restraint ... opposition guarimbas were very violent ... Half the deaths were caused directly by protesters.”
  — Abby [59:28–60:38]

• On U.S. Power:

  “This is an ongoing genocide ... 500,000 people every single year die due to sanctions and embargoes alone.”
  — Julian [42:08]

• On Democratic Innovations in Venezuela:

  “... Meetings of thousands from local barrios ... mass discussions and democratic meetings ... they can continuously vote on a new constitution, on new referenda that get included.”
  — Abby [92:49–93:57]

Summary Table – Important Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Topic | Timestamps | |---|---|---| | 1 | Episode/Political climate intro | 00:44–06:13 | | 2 | Venezuela operation facts, press complicity | 06:30–09:37 | | 3 | Trump’s post-raid announcements & doctrine | 09:37–12:25 | | 4 | Information war, AI-generated disinfo | 12:25–18:18 | | 5 | Election conspiracies recycled | 19:45–24:49 | | 6 | QAnon language in official comms | 25:37–26:39 | | 7 | Interview: Abby Martin, ground reality vs. propaganda | 28:29–44:44 | | 8 | Context: Media, opposition, and U.S. patterns | 45:39–72:56 | | 9 | History of intervention, Chavismo, democracy | 85:03–99:06 | | 10 | On the raid itself, what’s next | 100:09–104:14 | | 11 | Escalation/future threats | 104:30–106:44 | | 12 | Abby Martin: "Earth’s Greatest Enemy" doc | 108:28–115:43 |

Further Resources

• Abby Martin’s “Earth’s Greatest Enemy”: Find screenings, streaming info, and resources at earthsgreatestenemy.com.

Final Takeaways

This episode serves as both a real-time primer on the Venezuela raid’s meaning and a critique of U.S. imperialism, media complicity, and the difficulty of sorting truth from spectacle in the digital age. Through Abby Martin’s reporting and the hosts’ personal histories, the show counters dominant establishment narratives, urging listeners toward skepticism, curiosity, and structural analysis—rather than falling for personality-driven propaganda or AI-fabricated “celebrations.”

"Get curious. Question which Venezuelans you’re seeing, whose interests are being served, and who is narrating the events for you—and why."
— Julian Feeld [33:50]

For more: visit QAA’s Patreon and check out additional deep-dives and related mini-series on Cursed Media.