If True, This Sheds Additional Light on the Backstory Behind the Maduro Kidnapping

I learned today from a reliable source that a member of Maduro’s inner circle betrayed him and facilitated the US military operation that led to the abduction of Nicholas Maduro and his wife… It was not Delcy Rodriguez. Subsequent to receiving that information from my source, one of my readers recommended I watch a video allegedly published by a Mr. Scott Lucas. The following transcript of that video made my ears perk up:

On January 2nd, 2026, Dr. Lee Wei, a senior executive from China National Petroleum Corporation, was forcibly removed from his hotel in downtown Caracas. The Venezuelan government claimed he was involved in illegal financial activities. The Chinese government called it kidnapping. The arrest wasn’t clean. It wasn’t diplomatic.

According to eyewitness accounts, Venezuelan intelligence agents stormed the Marriott Hotel at 3:47 a.m. using electronic jammers to cut off all communications in a six block radius. Lee Wei’s security detail, three former Chinese military officers, were tasered and detained. His encrypted laptop was seized along with documents that reportedly contained financial codes for accessing 15 billion dollars in emergency Chinese credit lines. The operation had all the hallmarks of American intelligence planning. Venezuelan forces used equipment that hadn’t been seen in South America before… Israeli made cell phone jammers, German manufactured restraint systems, and most tellingly, tactical communication devices that operated on NATO frequencies.

I do not know Mr. Lucas and cannot vouch for the accuracy of his claim. I have seen no public source confirming that such an arrest/detention took place. After further checking, this Lucas video appears to be an AI fake, which begs the question: Who made it?

What we do know is that later on the 2nd of January, President Maduro met with Qiu Xiaoqi, a Chinese diplomat who is China’s Special Envoy/Special Representative for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs under President Xi Jinping. The meeting occurred at the Miraflores Presidential Palace, hours before the U.S. military operation that captured Maduro on January 3, 2026. The purpose of the meeting was described as reaffirming strategic ties between China and Venezuela, with other officials present including China’s ambassador to Venezuela, Lan Hu.

If the content of the “Lucas” video is true, then whoever made it was sending a message, i.e., that the Venezuelan intelligence unit was working with US intelligence — and possibly Israeli assets as well — and that the arrest of Lee Wei was timed in anticipation of the US military action that took place less than 24 hours following his detention. If this happened then it is clear that neither Maduro nor the Chinese delegation that met the Venezuelan leader at the Presiential Palace were unaware of the action by the Venezuelan intelligence unit.

Maybe this AI-video is just a clever prank intended to stir controversy on the internet. However, I cannot rule out the possibility that a foreign intelligence service wanted to get this information public without compromising their organization, and that they decided to use the voice and image of Mr. Lucas to send a message.

Here is the Lucas video… Tell me what you think:

The following video is a clip from Randy Credico’s Friday radio show that features Roger Waters asking Ambassador Polyanskiy why Russia did not use its veto in the security council to block the lopsided Trump-brokered ceasefire in Gaza:

Finally, I did my regular Monday chats with Nima and with Judge Napolitano: