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If you were shocked to learn that 2026 began with the U.S. military sending 150 aircraft into Venezuela and deploying special forces to seize President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, you wouldn’t be alone.
This extrajudicial act of regime change—or at least regime decapitation—set a dangerous precedent and made the world even more complicated than we left it in 2025.
I use the word complicated deliberately, because language matters. Last year included moments that were horrifying, cruel, and absurd—but also moments of community, generosity, and the possibility of redemption. The words we choose shape what people accept and what they resist.
We’re starting off the year with some insightful conversations. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Throughout 2025, we watched language used to obscure harm. Under this administration, ICE—a masked paramilitary force—snatched people off the streets, yet many avoided calling it kidnapping, opting instead for the sanitized term detention. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh authorized racial profiling, now blandly labeled “Kavanaugh Stops.” When citizens and immigrants were sent to foreign prisons without due process, a few named it correctly: rendition.
The same evasions appear at home. DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) became fig leaves for stealing Americans’ private data and slashing the social safety net. The enrichment of Trump, his family, and his allies—worth billions—was waved away as “transactionalism” rather than corruption. Words matter.
And then, this weekend, the U.S. military—not law enforcement—invaded Venezuela and kidnapped the head of state and his wife. Much of the American media chose the safer word capture, citing the absence of a court ruling. But euphemisms don’t change reality. They only make abuse easier to normalize.
This Republican regime operates in service of authoritarianism, loyal to an autocrat who recognizes no limits on executive power. As before, bad-faith actors will seize on language, cry partisanship, and attempt false equivalencies. Don’t fall for it. That kind of verbal sleight of hand turned the January 6th insurrection into a rallying cry. Insurrection, like corruption, like kidnapping, has meaning.
Our task in 2026 is to reclaim the language of accountability and democracy. Words matter. And once we reclaim them, we must demand more—and then do more.
On our first episode of the year, we’re joined by Ricardo Zuniga, founding partner of Dinamica Americas [ [link removed] ], to talk about how the dictator came to power in Venezuela, where the opposition currently stands, and how the country’s oil reserves are inextricably linked to its political fortunes. We also comb through the truths and lies of Venezuela’s role in narco-trafficking, and how Trump’s cabinet members and staff are leveraging foreign policy for personal and dangerous ambitions.
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An essential conversation for anyone who cares about democracy, free expression, and protecting our freedom at a moment of profound national urgency.
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