this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2025
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A reminder that as the US continues to threaten countries around the world, fedposting is to be very much avoided (even with qualifiers like "in Minecraft") and comments containing it will be removed.

Image is a map of the Western Sahara, sourced from this article in the Middle East Eye. Much of the information in the preamble also came from there, as well as this article.


November 6th marked the 50th anniversary of Morocco, under King Hassan II, beginning the invasion and occupation of much of the territory of the Western Sahara. Today, approximately 80% of the territory of the Western Sahara is controlled by Morocco, with the Polisario Front - the government of the Sahrawis - controlling the rest, hugging the border of Mauritania. Between them lies one of the longest walls and one of the largest minefields on the planet, of which construction began in the 1980s.

The legitimacy of Morocco's control over the Western Sahara is one of those long-lasting diplomatic issues which ultimately doesn't seem to matter very much in terms of on-the-ground realities, and reveals the eternal uselessness of the United Nations especially in regard to actually helping oppressed people. Up until about 2020, the US and certain other Western countries did not formally recognize Morocco as having sovereignty over the whole territory, but in terms of providing genuine opposition to Morocco, it seems that Algeria is the major player in the region. While American, European, and Moroccan corporations exploit the fisheries and phosphate minerals of the region, protected by their minefields (and claims of merely advancing the cause of renewable energy development, AKA greenwashing), Algeria provides what aid they can to support the displaced Sahrawi people, many of whom have been forced to live in refugee camps.

On October 31st, the US put forward a resolution in the UN Security Council which was adopted (Russia and China abstained) and provided major support to Morocco, urging the Polisario Front to adopt the 2007 "autonomy plan", which would, despite its name, be synonymous with an end to their independence movement. Such a plan was met with much jubilation in Morocco, with King Mohammed VI remarking "From now on, there will be a before and an after October 31, 2025.” Such a date was also the catalyst for the PF intensifying their guerilla struggle against Morocco, as legal avenues for autonomy and basic human rights are running out as the imperialists grow more desperate.


Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine

If you have evidence of Zionist crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.


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[–] plinky@hexbear.net 56 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

#beanwatch in light of "Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, beef, fertilizers, & more are now exempt from reciprocal tariffs." linky

cocoa has fallen to 5.5k (billions will eat chocolate?), soybean risen to 1150 (probably due to china deal tbh), coffee still at 400.

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 55 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Explosion reported at petrochemical facility in eastern Venezuela - RT Spanish

The flames were brought under control by a specialized multidisciplinary team.

A distillation unit at the José Antonio Anzoátegui Petrochemical Complex, located in eastern Venezuela and operated by state-owned PDVSA, exploded and caught fire on Wednesday afternoon without causing any injuries, according to local media reports.

Apparently, the accident took place near a distillation tower at the complex's upgrading plant, according to Reuters, which cites a worker on a nearby project. Another person indicated that the fire may have spread to a nearby naphtha plant, but this information has not been confirmed.

According to preliminary reports, residents living near the facility alerted authorities after hearing an explosion shortly after 2:00 p.m. (local time). The ensuing flames were brought under control by a multidisciplinary team that included industry experts, civil protection officials, firefighters, and members of the Bolivarian National Guard.

It was also reported that the emergency protocol was activated in a timely manner, allowing for the successful evacuation of all employees.

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[–] Boise_Idaho@hexbear.net 55 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Good deal if China can get the Uyghur militants and ~~liquidate them~~ reintegrate them back to Chinese society:
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/china-syria-discuss-peace-process-amid-uyghur-militant-hando

[–] la_tasalana_intissari_mata@hexbear.net 49 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)
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[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 54 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Hamas:

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) strongly condemns the horrific massacre committed by the occupation today in the cities of Gaza and Khan Younis, which resulted in the killing of more than 25 martyrs of our Palestinian people, including children and women, and we consider it a dangerous escalation through which the war criminal Netanyahu seeks to resume genocide against our people.

We reject the zionist claims regarding its forces being subjected to gunfire, and we consider it a flimsy and exposed attempt to justify its crimes and continuous violations, as more than 300 martyrs have been killed since the signing of the ceasefire agreement. The policy of demolishing and destroying homes and closing the Rafah land crossing has continued, in blatant "israeli" defiance of the American and regional guarantors.

The Movement calls upon the US Administration to fulfill its declared pledges and exert immediate and serious pressure to restrain the "israeli" occupation and compel it to respect the ceasefire and stop its aggression against our people.

We call upon the mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, in their capacity as guarantors of the ceasefire agreement, to fulfill their commitments and compel the criminal occupation to immediately stop its violations that threaten the ceasefire process.

Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas Wednesday: 28 Jumada al-Ula 1447 AH Corresponding to: November 19, 2025 AD

[–] oscardejarjayes@hexbear.net 54 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

https://www.cloudflarestatus.com/

Cloudflare super down, so much of the internet broken.

[–] Parra@hexbear.net 54 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)
[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 53 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (16 children)

The 28 point Ukraine - Russia peace plan has leaked apparently. A journalist from "The Insider" has posted an English translation of all 28 points.

The plan, ignore hyperbole outside of 28 points

The original leaked screenshots:

Now for some of the weirder oddities in the plan, why is there a clause that voids security guarantees if Ukraine launches a munition at Moscow or St. Petersburg? Why not all of Russia, or just omit that clause entirely? That one has an explanation, lots of Russian air defence assets, from Pantsir to Buk to S-400, are holed up protecting those cities, in particular Moscow. Hundreds of systems. Russia is desperate to more evenly distribute these air defence systems across the country, but can't, as Ukraine has the capability to hold Moscow at risk via one way attack drones and cruise missiles. While these Ukrainian attacks are unsuccessful in damaging Moscow, they help shape the battlefield. With all these systems held up in Moscow, it enables Ukrainian attacks on other parts of Russia currently, in particular energy infrastructure (oil, natural gas, power stations) and port facilities. So via outlawing attacks on these cities, Russia could redistribute it's ground based air defence more evenly.

600 000 standing troop limit on the Ukrainian military is a simple one, Russia wants to maintain a numerical advantage.

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 52 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 51 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (11 children)

A Notice To All Airmen (NOTAM) has been issued for the entire Venezuela Flight Information Region (FIR MAIQUETIA), at all altitudes and all sectors. It states:

SECURITY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ADVISORY FOR POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION IN THE MAIQUETIA FLIGHT INFORMATION REGION (SVZM)

OPERATORS ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN OPERATING IN THE MAIQUETIA FLIGHT INFORMATION REGION (SVZM FIR) AT ALL ALTITUDES DUE TO THE WORSENING SECURITY SITUATION AND HEIGHTENED MILITARY ACTIVITY IN OR AROUND VENEZUELA THREATS COULD POSE A POTENTIAL RISK TO AIRCRAFT AT ALL ALTITUDES, INCLUDING DURING OVERFLIGHT, THE ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE PHASES OF FLIGHT, AND/OR AIRPORTS AND AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND.

Source

Update: multiple flights to and from Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia, are avoiding Venezuelan airspace. One from Sao Paulo to Orlando too. But still some planes overflying Venezuela.

2nd update: more flights avoiding Venezuelan airspace now, including aircraft that were previously transiting across it, turning away. Airlines appear to be taking the NOTAM seriously.

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Russian forces have fully liberated the Kharkov oblast city of Kupyansk:

Russian servicemen have liberated the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region, Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin.

"Units of the Battlegroup West have liberated the city of Kupyansk and continue to destroy Ukrainian formations encircled on the left bank of the Oskol River," Gerasimov said.

https://tass.com/defense/2046545

[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 51 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (6 children)

The Obamaing will continue until morale improves. So far all indications are that Mamdani is a good actor and will just be another status quo mayor looking to advance within the Dem party. We will see.

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[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 50 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The US has moved MQ-9A Reaper drones/UCAVs (at least one) from Puerto Rico to El Salvador. Previously, all strikes and reconnaissance carried out in the eastern Pacific were performed by manned aircraft, an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship, and two secretive reconnaissance assets, a P-8A Poseidon aircraft and C-40 that can communicate with each other. Now drones are being moved as well. Strikes on "narco fast boats" will likely continue in the eastern Pacific.

Source

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 50 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Wapo of all places talking about how Israeli settlers have become even more violent in the west Bank.

Describing this kind of fascist violence as "out of control" really does a lot of work though. Is the edge of a knife "out of control" when someone holds the handle and swings it around? The whole point of the Israeli political project in the West Bank is that the state actively supports violent Jewish nationalism/Jewish supremacy and shelters violent fascist settlers from recourse while maintaining a fig leaf of legal process.

[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 50 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (5 children)

Bolsonaro admits that he tried to break his electronic ankle bracelet in an emotional outburst. According to allies, the former president has been taking medication and suffering from anxiety. Bolsonaro used a soldering iron to damage his electronic ankle bracelet in the early hours of Saturday (21), just days after Trump eased tariffs against Brazil. It is believed that Bolsonaro felt abandoned by Trump and tried to flee. He reportedly admitted to investigators that he tried to damage the electronic device. Bolsonaro will appear in court on Sunday (23). He will spend the night in custody in a room at the Federal Police Headquarters in Brasília.

Bolsonaro justifies himself by saying that he was curious to know how an electronic ankle bracelet worked inside, and insists that it is not illegal. The federal police believe that he tried to break the electronic ankle bracelet box to leave it at home while he fled disguised in a crowd (his son allegedly organized a supposed protest in front of Bolsonaro's house today). His destination would be either the American embassy or the Hungarian embassy.

The initial information received by the government was that “the monitored individual [Bolsonaro] had knocked the device [ankle bracelet] on the stairs.” However, this version was not confirmed by analysis of the equipment. "The equipment showed clear and significant signs of damage. There were burn marks around its entire circumference, at the point where the case fits/closes,“ the document states.

The ankle bracelet alarm went off at 12:07 a.m. Bolsonaro's defense is expected to claim that the former president attempted to break the electronic ankle bracelet during an emotional outburst. Allies admit that the former president tried to violate the ankle bracelet, but want to assert that the action is related to sleep deprivation or the interference of medications. An ally claims that the former president believed there was listening equipment in the device. The goal is to dissociate the fact ,which must be proven by the Federal Police's forensic experts, from an escape attempt.

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[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 50 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)
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[–] SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net 50 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

US removes memorial for black WW2 soldiers from US cemetery in the Netherlands, Dutch TV show places them back next to the cemetery

Source (Dutch)

TranslatedThe TV program Even tot hier has reinstalled two information boards about black soldiers from World War II next to the American cemetery in Margraten. The American administrator had previously removed the panels, which led to much criticism.

Presenters Niels van der Laan and Jeroen Woe announced during Saturday's broadcast that they had given the information boards a new location, just outside the cemetery grounds. They are still visible from the American memorial site.

Around them, they have built an “additional” exhibition, which was shown during the broadcast to relatives of black soldiers who fought in Limburg during World War II.

The exhibition has been given the satirical name MAGA haten bij Margraten (Hating MAGA at Margraten). The MAGA movement is the support base of US President Donald Trump. With the reinstalled panels, Even tot hier wants to tell “the honest story about the black heroes and about Trump.”

The removed panels contained information about the role of black liberators during World War II. The American administrator ABMC had removed the signs. The stories about the struggle for equality of black American soldiers “no longer fit within the memorial mission,” ABMC told the NOS earlier this week.

'No criticism of America'

The panels about black liberators were only added to the permanent exhibition in the Margraten visitor center in 2024. One panel was about black American conscripts during World War II.

It stated, among other things, that these soldiers fought on two fronts: against the German occupiers and against racism. Due to discrimination, they often did not fight on the front lines, but were assigned to support duties.

The second panel was about George H. Pruitt, a black American who served in the army. On June 10, 1945, he was working on a telephone line across a river near the German city of Bremen. One of the other soldiers fell into the water and Pruitt tried to save him. In doing so, he himself died.

It is unclear when ABMC removed the information boards. It may have been months ago, NRC wrote earlier. Both relatives and politicians from the province of Limburg reacted with indignation and called on US Ambassador Joe Popolo to have them reinstalled.

But Popolo defended the decision to remove the panels. “The exhibitions in Margraten are not there to promote an agenda that criticises America,” he responded on social media.

amerikkka

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[–] unaware@hexbear.net 50 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Following his release after only three weeks in prison, former French president Sarkozy announced the publication of a new book, The Journal of a Prisoner, to come out on 10 December i-cant. Article (in French). It will be published by Fayard, a major publishing house owned by far-right billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

Fayard has also notably published far right politician Jordan Bardella's latest book a short while ago, while using the TV & radio outlets and newspapers that Bolloré also owns (CNews, Europe1, le Journal du Dimanche… among many others) to continue propping up Bardella and the far right. I imagine he will likely use the release of Sarkozy's book in the same way, in order for it (and the far right talking points of "journalists" that defended Sarkozy) to be the next "big thing" in the TV news/commentary cycle.

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 49 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Merz, Germany's prime minister, said that he and the journalists accompanying him were happy to leave Belém do Pará (Brazil, where COP 30 is being held). He compared Brazil to a place and said that Germans should be grateful for living in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

  • Telegram
[–] john_brown@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago

It is very difficult for Germans to be confronted with sunshine, good music, friendly people, and good food. Please try be considerate in this trying time for the poor Germans.

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[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 49 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Ukraine is currently under the biggest cruise missile attack of the entire year. Russia had 10 strategic bombers airborne (6x Tu-95MSM and 4x Tu-160) for this attack. That is a maximum potential salvo of 96 Kh-101 cruise missiles (12x per Tu-160 and 8x per Tu-95MSM), though it's unlikely we'll see that number, but we'll still see a large salvo of cruise missiles. I can't remember the last time Russia had 10 bombers airborne for a single attack, I think that's noteworthy enough for posting.

Amk mapping, English translation of Ukrainian and Russian sources

Ukrainian air raid monitoring channel

Alerts in Ukraine website

NATO is conducting combat air patrols and defensive counter air operations in Polish airspace on the Polish border visible on public flight trackers (for AWACS and mid air refueling aircraft, not fighters), as contingency if any missiles or drones enter Polish airspace.

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[–] Tervell@hexbear.net 48 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

https://archive.ph/J611R

U.S. Ran a War Game on Ousting Maduro. Venezuela Fell Into Chaos.

An official U.S. government exercise during President Trump’s first term forecast turmoil and potential violence in a post-Maduro Venezuela.

wow, who could have predicted this after the incredibly successful Western efforts in the Middle East and Libya! dead-dove-3

more

As President Trump pressed during his first term to oust President Nicolás Maduro, U.S. officials ran a war game to assess what the Venezuelan strongman’s fall might unleash. The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt within Venezuela, as military units, rival political factions and even jungle-based guerrilla groups jockeyed for control of the oil-rich country. Those unclassified findings, supported by other expert analysis, underscore the risk associated with Mr. Trump’s second-term push against Mr. Maduro. While Mr. Trump has not explained his precise goals regarding Venezuela, he has described Mr. Maduro as an outlaw and an enemy of the United States, and has moved troops, warships and aircraft within striking distance of the country. On Monday, Mr. Trump said he was open to speaking with the Venezuelan leader but would not rule out a ground invasion to support his stated goal of stopping the Maduro government’s complicity in drug trafficking into the United States.

Since early September the U.S. military has conducted at least 21 strikes on boats near Venezuela’s coast, killing at least 83 people who the Trump administration says were carrying drugs toward the United States. Venezuela’s Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader, María Corina Machado, stands ready to replace Mr. Maduro, who is widely seen as having stolen a 2024 presidential election that Ms. Machado’s movement easily won.

"widely seen" "easily won"

the-podcast it-is-known

Ms. Machado says that she would assume power with a popular mandate and a transition plan ready to implement on Day 1.

"popular mandate" is when, uh, a country is invaded and the occupation government installs you? seriously what the fuck

But analysts warn that the troubled recent history of U.S. regime-change interventions in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya could play out again in a post-Maduro Venezuela. “The thing that really worries us is that they don’t appear to have any serious plan for what happens afterward,” said Phil Gunson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group and the author of a new report on the subject.

yeah, almost as if the empire isn't actually doing it out the goodness of their hearts and dedication to freedom, but because, you know, they're fucking evil

“The idea that you’re going to be able to slot in a government and everything else will just fall into place, I think is just fantasy,” added Mr. Gunson, speaking from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The U.S. government war games — exercises in which officials and experts convened to plot out the possible consequences of Mr. Maduro’s fall — were recounted by Douglas Farah, a national-security consultant who specializes in Latin America and who joined several such exercises while a fellow at the National Defense University. Participants included officials across the U.S. government, including ones from the Pentagon and State Department. Mr. Maduro’s overthrow — whether by military coup, popular uprising or U.S. military action — would shatter Venezuela’s brittle authoritarian government and produce “chaos for a sustained period of time with no possibility of ending it,” Mr. Farah wrote in an unclassified report to Pentagon officials after an exercise conducted in 2019. Mr. Farah first spoke about his participation in the war games in an interview earlier this month with the SpyTalk podcast.

Officials in the Trump White House believed in early 2019 that Mr. Maduro was vulnerable, in part because of popular protests that Washington had encouraged. Mr. Trump considered military options but decided against that approach, then watched in frustration as Mr. Maduro quashed the protests. Mr. Farah, a former journalist, said that Venezuela would be better off without Mr. Maduro but warned in an interview that “you can’t have an immediate seismic shift” in the country’s government without dire consequences. “You would have no command and control over the military and no police force,” he said. “You’d have looting and chaos.” Any U.S. military deployment meant to stabilize the country would probably require tens of thousands of troops, he said. Those conclusions were echoed in the Crisis Group report, which found that a new government installed in Caracas with U.S. and regional backing might face “a potentially protracted, low-intensity conflict.” Asked for comment, and whether the United States had planned for Mr. Maduro’s potential exit, a senior administration official said only that the Trump administration “is well aware of all outcomes that would occur as a result of any actions that may or may not happen.”

Ms. Machado has said publicly that she has a plan for a smooth transition to power and can assert full control of the country if Mr. Maduro exits. On Tuesday, she released a “Freedom Manifesto” pledging to defend basic rights and to hold Maduro’s “criminal regime” accountable for “crimes against humanity.” But the opposition would face huge challenges in asserting authority over legislators, governors, bureaucrats, security officials and soldiers chosen or cultivated for years by Mr. Maduro, particularly among those who fear retribution. “Many senior military officers could resist regime change,” the Crisis Group report warns. Even if Mr. Maduro agreed to transfer power to a U.S.-friendly successor, some security forces could still rebel “and even wage a guerrilla-type war against the new authorities,” the report says. A spokesperson for Ms. Machado did not respond to a request for comment.

? Other armed groups in the region might oppose a transition or exploit a power vacuum. Thousands of battle-hardened fighters who belong to neighboring Colombia’s National Liberation Army, or ELN, are based in jungles along the border. The group has pledged to defend Maduro’s government and to fight any foreign forces in the region; its arsenal includes explosive devices and some armed drones. Disorder and conflict could trigger an exodus of Venezuelans, swamping neighboring countries that already struggle to handle millions of migrants who have fled Mr. Maduro’s rule in recent years. Maintaining order across the country would be a huge task, especially without the full allegiance of heavily pro-Maduro security forces. A 1994 U.S. military mission in Haiti that deposed a military junta and stabilized the country required some 25,000 personnel. Venezuela is about 33 times larger than Haiti, or roughly twice the size of California. The 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, a country less than one-tenth the size of Venezuela, involved about 27,000 U.S. forces. That operation led to the quick capture of the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega — who, like Mr. Maduro, was indicted on U.S. drug-trafficking charges and considered an illegitimate ruler by Washington. Months earlier, Mr. Noriega had nullified the apparent election of an opposition leader, Guillermo Endara, as president.

U.S. officials pushed Mr. Endara to assume power, despite his deep reservations about the American invasion. He was sworn in as Panama’s president on a U.S. military base. But amid resentment over the circumstances of his installation, Mr. Endara faced street protests, uprisings and plunging popularity. Mr. Endara even staged a hunger strike just over a year after the invasion to pressure the George H.W. Bush administration into sending aid it had promised to Panama — a reminder that Washington can quickly lose interest once the shooting stops. Asked during a visit to Canada last week whether Mr. Noriega’s capture might serve as a kind of model for the Trump administration’s current planning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio deflected, saying he had been in high school at the time. The U.S. goal in Venezuela, he added, is “to stop these terrorist organizations from flooding our country with drugs. And that’s what we’re in the process of carrying out.” What exactly that means remains unclear.

Mr. Maduro has so far refused to leave power and go into exile — perhaps understandable, Mr. Gunson of the Crisis Group said. Mr. Maduro faces an International Criminal Court probe that could make him an internationally wanted man. Nor does exile assure physical safety. In 1979, Nicaragua’s anti-communist strongman, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, surrendered power and took refuge in friendly Paraguay — only to be ambushed and killed the next year by leftist militants armed with machine guns and a bazooka. “The Trump administration premise is that if you just ratchet up the pressure sufficiently, then Maduro will get scared and decide to leave,” Mr. Gunson said. “But you can’t do it just by dropping a few bombs and hoping that Maduro will surrender.”

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[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 48 points 3 weeks ago

In positive news, Ecuadorians rejected Noboa's proposal to change the Ecuador constitution to allow US military bases in the country, including in the Galapagos.

Ben Norton on the above

https://www.geopoliticaleconomy.report/p/noboa-ecuador-vote-foreign-military-bases

[–] sisatici@hexbear.net 48 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Trump has approved Saudi Arabias weapon purchase. At least everything inside f 35 is as good as open source now.

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[–] miz@hexbear.net 47 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Japan's shellfish farmers are in crisis as harvest collapses

Japan fisheries minister pledges support for oyster farmers hit by poor harvest

Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, boasts the highest production of farmed oysters in the country. But the shellfish have been dying in large numbers this season. Fisheries minister Suzuki Norikazu has pledged support for oyster farmers who have been struggling with a poor harvest.

Suzuki inspected oyster farms in Higashihiroshima City on Wednesday. He was briefed on the extent of damage, and was told that some farmers lost about 90 percent of their shellfish.

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 47 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Reddit is going crazy at this news, what a snub for Trump! This obviously makes Trump look bad in the eyes of the everyday person. Everyone else involved with this news is the good guy tho.

Trump and Vance not invited to Dick Cheney’s funeral, but all four living former vice presidents attending

Former presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden will pay their respects, along with former vice presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle. There are also expected to be a number of Supreme Court Justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan. A large number of past and present Cabinet members from both Republican and Democratic administrations will also attend, as well as congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle.

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 47 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (11 children)

How do we solve this? My idea: A government law that mandates that all devices older than 24 months are remotely bricked, resulting in line go up.

Edit: 24 months after the device is released, not after purchase. Obviously.

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Russian forces liberated 16 settlements this week (most notably, the city of Kupyansk):

https://tass.com/politics/2046965 (here is the full list of settlements, along with the rest of the weekly summary)

Plus, a little combat footage showing the liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic settlement of Stavki:

https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/stavki.mp4

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 47 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (5 children)

'British intelligence has a saying that if there is a left-wing movement in Britain bigger than a football team our man is the captain or the vice captain, and if not, he is the referee and he can send any man off the field and call our man on at any time he likes'

  • Gordon Winter, former apartheid South Africa intelligence forces, specifically the Bureau of State Security, or BOSS

I wonder who this applies to today. Events in the British left over the last few years has me wondering. Starmer is obvious given he has a history as a literal cold war spy but I dunno about others in marxist groups.

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[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier has been located south of Puerto Rico, on satellite imagery, both ESA and Sentinel 2, November 17th. Contrails from flying aircraft are also visible.

Source, MT Anderson on Twitter, xcancel mirror link

Viewable here on Sentinel 2, managed to find it

Contrails, they're iridescent if you zoom in. Don't show this to chemtrail conspiracy theorists...

More on the US Military buildup towards Venezuela. KC-135R Stratotanker mid air refueling aircraft, callsign "DREW11", was seen with it's transponders on off of the coast of Venezuela. Apparently it's mission was to provide refueling for an RC-135 Signals intelligence/reconnaissance aircraft.

Source

[–] jack@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Warning signs appear on Mexican beach declaring area restricted by U.S. as Mexico rejects Trump offer to strike cartels

On Monday, men arrived in a boat at a beach in northeast Mexico and installed some signs signaling land that the U.S. Department of Defense considered restricted.

The signs read in English and Spanish, "Warning: Restricted Area," and went on to explain that it was Department of Defense property and had been declared restricted by "the commander." It said there could be no unauthorized access, photography or drawings of the area.

Has anyone in history respected national sovereignty less than Trump? Yes, of course, but he's also still quite terrible about it.

"Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary's location," the statement said. "Government of Mexico personnel removed 6 signs based on their perception of the international boundary's location."

bullshit, obviously

Meanwhile, Sheinbaum on Tuesday again rejected Mr. Trump's offer of military intervention against cartels.

"It's not going to happen," Sheinbaum said.

"He (Trump) has suggested it on various occasions or he has said, 'we offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico, whatever you need to fight the criminal groups,'" she said. "But I have told him on every occasion that we can collaborate, that they can help us with information they have, but that we operate in our territory, that we do not accept any intervention by a foreign government."

"Would I want strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs," Mr. Trump said Monday, adding that he's "not happy with Mexico."

I suspect Claudia has some powerful magicks she can wield to fend off Trump here

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[–] mkultrawide@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (13 children)

The US won't attack Venezuela until the Ukraine war has been effectively wound down, because the MIC can't sustain Ukraine plus another war along the lines of what the US intends to do in Venezeula. Hence the push to make Ukraine take a deal.

Thoughts?

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[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (12 children)

https://archive.is/W5FM1

Zelensky getting pressured by the US to surrender via accepting a peace agreement that accepts most Russian demands

According to people with knowledge of a document about the draft plan, it would require Ukraine to cede the remainder of the eastern Donbas region — including land currently under Kyiv’s control — and cut the size of its armed forces by half.

Crucially, it also calls for Ukraine to abandon key categories of weaponry and would include the rollback of US military assistance that has been vital to its defence, potentially leaving the country vulnerable to future Russian aggression.

Additionally, no foreign troops would be allowed on Ukrainian soil and Kyiv would no longer receive western long-range weapons that can reach deep inside Russia.

The plan would also stipulate that Russian be recognised as an official state language in Ukraine and grant formal status to the local branch of the Russian Orthodox Church — provisions echoing long-standing Kremlin political objectives.

Axios's Israel shill, Barak David broke this story and his version includes this note:

"The Qatari and Turkish mediation helped in ending the war in Gaza and could help in ending the war in Ukraine," one of the sources said.

A senior Qatari official participated in the talks between Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's national security adviser Rustem Umerov last weekend, the sources said.

Perhaps some quid pro quo for Russia abstaining on the recent Gaza security council resolution

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[–] SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

Source (Video)

Trump on Bolsonaro's arrest:

I don't know anything about that. That happened?

Too bad.

bolso-pain

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[–] plinky@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Denmark's ruling Social Democratic Party suffered big losses in municipal elections, official results showed on Wednesday, less than a year before a national vote, amid public discontent with the cost of living and eroding welfare services. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's SDP, long the dominant force in Danish politics and the architect of its cradle-to-grave welfare state, retained its position as the largest party with 23% of votes, down from 28% in the last municipal election. But it lost mayoral seats in at least a quarter of constituencies, most strikingly in Copenhagen after an unbroken 87-year tenure, exposing the party's increased vulnerability ahead of a national election due by October 31, 2026.

But her 2022 decision to form a centrist coalition with the centre-right Liberal Party and Moderates fractured party unity, alienating some traditional Social Democratic voters. The coalition partners also performed poorly in Tuesday's elections. The government has also faced a backlash for scrapping a public holiday to boost defence spending, which resonated poorly with voters wrestling with rising living costs.

https://www.reuters.com/world/danish-social-democrats-lose-ground-local-polls-cost-of-living-welfare-concerns-2025-11-19/

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[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (5 children)

Increasing sophistication of Ukrainian missile attacks with Ukrainian made stand off weapons:

An hour or two ago, Ukraine launched a ballistic missile attack on Voronezh, Russia. Video of the attack shows the aftermath of the interception or interception attempt of 5 ballistic projectiles in the lower atmosphere.

Video

Russian sources report that these missiles were not US made ATACMS, but rather Ukrainian made Grom/Hirm-2 ballistic missiles:

The old ladies at the entrance say that this afternoon the Ukrainians tried to attack Voronezh with ballistic missiles. Most likely, they were OTRK Grom-2 missiles. There were 5-6 missiles. Other old ladies claim that there were three missiles. (type be specified) That's quite a lot. As far as I know, this is the first time since the start of the special military operation. Previously, this type of missile did not reach this far. We fought them off normally.

Fighter-bomber telegram

Update: Ukrainian sources are saying that it was an ATACMS ballistic missile attack, and successful. ATACMS are US made ballistic missiles. A significant escalation if so.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have successfully employed ATACMS tactical missile systems to carry out a precision strike against military targets on the territory of Russia. This is a significant development that underscores Ukraine's unwavering commitment to its sovereignty.

Despite the ongoing pressure of Russian offensive actions, Ukrainians remain resilient, demonstrating determination and consistent resolve in defending their homeland.

The use of long-range strike capabilities, including systems such as ATACMS, will continue.

Facebook link to official Ukrainian military page

Specifications for the Hirm-2 are unknown in terms of range. Current range estimates are based on limits set by the INF treaty (500km) ot MTCR (300km). Like almost all ballistic missiles, it probably travels at hypersonic speeds at some point in flight, usually at burnout or the start of entering the thicker air of the atmosphere. It is said to employ a 1000lb class warhead. It's unknown if it can conduct terminal maneuvers, photographs of mock-ups show a unibody missile with a similar construction to Iskander or an Oka missile with solid control surfaces instead of lattice fins. Given that the Ukrainians are saying this was ATACMS now, I guess Hirm-2 is not an actual capability and only exists as mock-ups and test articles.

This attack appears to have been unsuccessful, the vast majority of ballistic missiles intercepted. If a valuable target was hit, it could still be successful despite interception. However, Ukraine did launch a significantly more successful attack using Long Neptune subsonic cruise missiles and one way attack drones a few days ago. This attack involved severely damaging an S-400 battery/battalion, taking out multiple launchers, and likely the search and fire control radar, along with damaging port facilities at Novorossiysk.

This was a sophisticated attack that involved directly targeting air defence systems to enable cruise missile attacks on other targets immediately afterwards, namely port facilities. A first for Ukraine. Usually when Ukraine targets Russian air defence systems, it's part of a seperate operation aimed specifically at those air defence systems, in Crimea via the use of human in the loop guided one way attack drones piloted by specialised units. A combined operation to enable attacks on other targets is a first. Neptune cruise missiles continue to be the most significant Ukrainian made long range threat/strike capability against Russia, as they have been since the start of the war.

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[–] CarmineCatboy2@hexbear.net 46 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (5 children)

Bolsonaro under arrest by Federal Police crab-party

(it happened like 6 minutes ago so i have nothing else to add)

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