larry johnson has some ideas about the orange man's journey into venezuela;

There are a lot of theories circulating on the internet trying to explain why Trump ordered the capture and abduction of Nicholas Maduro last Saturday, e.g., grab control of oil, loot Venezuelan silver, or boot Russia, China and Iran from Venezuela. But there may be another reason, which does not exclude some of the other theories, that involves billions of dollars and a donor to Donald Trump… Meet Paul Singer.

Paul Singer, the billionaire founder and co-CEO of Elliott Investment Management (a hedge fund known for activist investing and distressed debt strategies, often labeled a “vulture fund”), has significant economic interests in Venezuela tied to the country’s long-standing sovereign debt defaults and oil assets. Singer, a major Republican donor (including millions to Trump-related causes), has been linked by critics to influencing US policy toward Venezuela, though his interests are primarily financial through distressed sovereign debt and assets.

In November 2025, an affiliate of Elliott (Amber Energy) won a US court-mandated auction and purchased Citgo Petroleum—the US-based refining and marketing subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA—for approximately $5.9 billion. The Citgo sale stemmed from a long-running Delaware court case initiated by creditors (starting with Crystallex in 2017) seeking recovery for Venezuela’s defaults on bonds and expropriations. PDVSA’s “alter ego” liability made Citgo’s parent company (PDV Holding) seizable. Singer’s strategy mirrors past successes, such as his 15-year litigation against Argentina’s debt default, which yielded billions for Elliott..............more............