The US ran a war game on the aftermath of Maduro’s fall – it predicted chaos episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 7, 2026 · 27 MIN

The US ran a war game on the aftermath of Maduro’s fall – it predicted chaos

from The Global Story · host BBC World Service

When the US government captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, on Saturday, most of the world was shocked. But US officials had for years been gaming out different scenarios, including predicting what would happen if Maduro was ousted. According to one man who took part, each ended in disaster. On today’s episode, we speak to the former Washington Post journalist Douglas Farah, who participated in war games on Venezuela during Donald Trump’s first term, as well as during the Obama and Biden administrations. Producers: Hannah Moore and Lucy Pawle Executive producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: A protest against US strikes on Venezuela and the capture of President Maduro, in Brazil. Tuane Fernandes/Reuters

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 7, 2026

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The US ran a war game on the aftermath of Maduro’s fall – it predicted chaos

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