by Jacob G. Hornberger

January 9, 2026

In the aftermath of President Trump’s deadly military attack on Venezuela and his abduction and rendition of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia, Trump is now giving the Venezuelan Chavista regime a simple choice: Obey my commands and give me your oil, or die from death by starvation and illness.

According to an article in the Washington Post, “Trump administration officials say the Venezuelan government only has a few weeks before it would ‘go broke’ if it doesn’t ‘play ball.’” Playing ball obviously means obeying Trump’s commands and giving him some of Venezuela’s oil.

In what amounts to a siege military strategy, Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment (i.e., the Pentagon and the CIA) have essentially imposed a total blockade on oil shipments out of Venezuela, including the piratical seizure of ships containing Venezuelan oil destined to other countries, such as Cuba, Iran, and China, which are considered to be official enemies, adversaries, or rivals of the U.S. Empire.

Since Venezuela depends entirely on oil revenues, Trump’s siege strategy is obviously designed to plunge the nation into a graver economic crisis involving massive chaos, starvation, illness, and violence as people scramble to survive — unless the Venezuelan Chavista regime decides to “play ball” by obeying Trump’s commands and giving him some of the country’s oil.

Might some Venezuelans die in this chaos? ? Sure, but who cares? After all, who cares about the U.S. assassinations of those hundred defenseless people in those little boats who were accused of violating U.S. drug laws hundreds of miles away from American shores? Who cares about those 100 people who were killed as part of Trump’s abduction raid against Maduro? Who cares about the 8 million Venezuelans who have fled the country in the effort to survive the vise of Chavista socialism and brutal and deadly U.S. sanctions?

Moreover, if any Venezuelan citizen tries to save his life by entering the United States without the official permission of the U.S. government, all that U.S. ICE agents and Border Patrol agents have to do is take these tattooed gang members and invaders into custody and force them back into Venezuela to die — or maybe just send them to El Salvador for torture, indefinite incarceration, or execution — or maybe even just murder them in cold blood on the streets of some American city.

What difference does it make? No difference at all. American citizens can just keep nonchalantly going about their lives — going to work, going on vacation, going to their weekly religious services, and, of course, thanking the troops and CIA officials for their service.

I can’t help but wonder whether Trump’s, the Pentagon’s, and the CIA’s siege strategy is inspired by the same siege strategy that was regularly employed by the Roman Empire against its enemies, adversaries, and rivals. Whenever a recalcitrant opponent — that is one that refused to submit to Rome’s commands — would ensconce itself in a well-fortified castle, Roman imperial forces would simply surround the fortress and prevent any relief from being brought into the castle. The idea was to give the enemy a choice, the same choice that Trump is giving the people of Venezuela: Submit to our control or die from starvation and illness.

It proved to be a very effective strategy. Faced with food shortages, contaminated water, and epidemics, most defenders would surrender before the walls of their fortress were breached. The Romans would give them an incentive to surrender sooner rather than later by imposing penalties for waiting too long — e.g., execution of leaders, survivors sold into slavery, and a certain number of resisters killed.

And then there is the famous story of the Roman siege of Masada, an impenetrable fortress that was inhabited by around a thousand Jewish men, women, and children who refused to comply with Rome’s commands. Employing their siege strategy, the Romans completely encircled Masada and prevented any relief from entering the fortress.

The leader of the resistance gave a speech arguing that death was preferable to slavery, torture, or execution. When the Romans ultimately breached the walls of the fortress, they found most everyone dead.

Will Venezuelans decide to “play ball,” obey Trump’s commands, and give him Venezuela’s oil? Or will they follow in the footsteps of the Masada resisters? My hunch is that they will decide to “play ball,” and who can really blame them? But remember what is ultimately important about all this death, suffering, mayhem, violence, and coercion: It’s all making America great again.