Venezuela censored the open TV channels of Globovisión, Televen and Venevisión and urged citizens to follow state news channels, according to an X post by MundoEConflicto shared between 3:15 a.m. and 4:15 a.m. UTC on January 4, 2026. This action occurred over the past hour amid the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the capture of former leader Nicolás Maduro, who was escorted with his wife Cilia Flores to the New York DEA office by DEA SRT operators earlier on January 4, as reported by Archer83Able on X and detailed in previous coverage. The censorship directive follows Venezuelan social media notices of 15 soldiers killed overnight in Operation Absolute Resolve, per JoeTruzman on X, and video footage of damage to a residential complex in La Guaira from U.S. attacks shared by teleSURtv via madeleintlSUR on X. These developments build on President Donald Trump's warning to Mexico, Cuba and Colombia that they could be next, according to an Axios report from January 3 shared by OpenSourceZone on X, and images of Maduro in handcuffs at a New York airport ahead of his presentation before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
