NewsTracker Answers for week of Jan. 05, 2026

Q: U.S. warplanes bombed Venezuelan military sites last week to clear the way for commandos to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple were taken to New York, where they were indicted on narco-terrorism charges. Where is Venezuela on South America’s Caribbean coast?

Circle the area on this map

Q: It took months of planning and surveillance to prepare for the two-hour-28-minute raid that snatched Venezuela’s president from the nation’s capital. What is the capital of Venezuela?

A. Bogota

B. Caracas

C. Georgetown

D. Quito

B. Caracas is the capital and largest city in Venezuela, with a metropolitan population of 5.2 million people. The nation’s economy collapsed under Maduro, leading more than 7.9 million Venezuelans to flee the country. Elections in 2013, 2018, and 2024 were widely disputed as opposition candidates were arrested or exiled.

Q: President Donald Trump said the United States would “run” Venezuela and may put “boots on the ground” to secure “our oil” that had been “stolen.” Trump criticized regime change and “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq. Which of these nations is the largest?

A. Afghanistan

B. Iraq

C. Venezuela

C. Venezuela has an area of 352,100 square miles, twice the size of Iraq’s 169,200 square miles and larger than Afghanistan’s 251,800 square miles. U.S and allied forces quickly ousted Afghan and Iraqi leaders in 2001 and 2003, but ended up battling insurgents for 20 years in Afghanistan and eight years in Iraq

Q: “We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” Trump said of Venezuela’s oil. Which nation has the largest proven oil reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration?

A. Iran

B. Iraq

C. Saudi Arabia

D. Venezuela

D. There are 304 trillion barrels of oil beneath Venezuela, compared with 267 trillion in Saudi Arabia, 209 trillion in Iran, and 201 trillion in Iraq. Venezuela has four times as much oil underground as the U.S., but we are pumping 12 times as much oil. At present production rates, the U.S. will run out of oil in 15 years and Venezuela in 885 years.

Q: Before Maduro’s arrest, the Trump administration sank Venezuelan boats believed to be carrying cocaine. The huge profits of supplying illegal drugs to the United States have corrupted several Latin American countries. In the early 20th century, some Latin American nations gained notoriety while exporting what to the United States?

A. Bananas

B. Guano

C. Sugar

D. Rum

A. In 1904, American author O. Henry coined the term “banana republic” to describe a politically and economically unstable country dependent upon the export of a single natural resource. With the backing of the U.S. government, large companies like United Fruit controlled governments and exploited workers to grow bananas in Latin America.