Politics
Did Jack Ryan predict the Venezuela attack? Why this clip is going viral TenX News
Did the Jack Ryan thriller TV series predict the U.S. attack on Venezuela? That’s the question some social media users are asking after a video clip from the series went viral over the weekend — more than five years after it first aired.
The Trump administration on Saturday conducted a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
This came after several months of the U.S. military launching strikes off the shores of Venezuela, and the previous sinking of multiple regional vessels, which U.S. President Donald Trump and his team alleged were being used to smuggle drugs.
Jack Ryan, a fictional American political thriller series on Amazon Prime, is the most recent version of the title character as written in novels by author Tom Clancy.
In this depiction, which began in 2018, Jack Ryan is played by actor John Krasinski.
During the second season of the show, which was released in October 2019, Krasinski’s character is seen delivering a presentation to a full lecture hall and poses the question to them, “What would you assume is the most major threat on the world stage?”
In response, some actors playing attendees raised their hands and gave responses including “Russia,” “China,” and “North Korea.”
Krasinski’s character then asks: “Venezuela?”
One person raises their hand.
He then proceeds to suggest why Venezuela may be one of the world’s biggest threats above those suggested previously, and especially a threat to the United States, within the narrative of the show.
“The fact is that Venezuela is arguably the single greatest resource of oil and minerals on the planet,” said the character.
The character continues, after describing the resources Venezuela has, that the country was, at the time, considered near “economic collapse,” and doomed to become a so-called “failed state.”
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“Analyst predictions, as of today, have the chances of Venezuela’s total economic collapse at 87 per cent. On the news, they’ll call it ‘a crisis,’ but on the world stage, they’ll call it a ‘failed state,’” said the character, adding, “Other examples of a failed state in recent history are Yemen, Iraq, Syria.”
Finally, the Jack Ryan character explains that the country may be used by other nations for its geographical proximity to the United States.
“Venezuela is also the only one of these places (‘failed states’) within a 30-minute range of the U.S. of next-gen nuclear missiles,” the character went on.
“The biggest players on the world stage … to them, unstable governments are nothing more than the greatest of opportunity. So, Russia and China can never be the most major threat (to the U.S.) until countries like Venezuela leave the door open to our very own backyard.”
Is there any truth to the quotes?
Although the clip may be from a fictional series, several of the sentiments are not entirely untrue, according to at least one expert who responded to the video clip with Global News.
“By some measures, yeah, Venezuela has the largest reserves of heavy crude oil in the world,” says Luis Van Isschot, a history professor at the University of Toronto.
Van Isschot also reflected on the terminology “failed state” as used in the specific scene.
“This is an interesting term — failed state. What kind of a state exists if much of the country is in fact run by illegal armed groups and criminal groups?” he says.
“Venezuela has one of the largest refugee flows out of the country in the last few years, primarily due to the economic crisis that is underway there. But does that constitute a failed state? As a historian, I wouldn’t say so.”
Van Isschot noted, though, that while other international players may have stakes in what happens in Venezuela, their focus is more likely on oil and other resources rather than posing a direct military threat to the United States, like was seen during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The question now is: what happens next?
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Monday about a possible intensification of instability in Venezuela after the capture of Maduro.
“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.
Guterres called on all Venezuelan actors to engage in an inclusive and democratic dialog, adding: “I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at assisting Venezuelans in finding a peaceful way forward.”
Lawmakers aligned with the ruling party, including Maduro’s son, gathered in the capital, Caracas, to follow through with a scheduled swearing-in ceremony of the National Assembly for a term that will last until 2031.
Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vice-president to Maduro and has vowed to work with the Trump administration, was sworn in as interim president.
She was sworn in by her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, who was re-elected as speaker.
Trump had previously warned she would face “a big price” if she did not cooperate.
In an interview on the weekend with Global News, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela James Story said many questions remain unanswered, but the stakes are high.
“The issue here becomes how do you re-institutionalize a country after it has been basically destroyed? Those institutions have been made subservient to a small power base over the last 25 years,” he said, referencing Maduro’s authoritarian hold over Venezuelan institutions.
“How do you get judges to start judging neutrally? How do you make sure that education is being provided to everybody regardless of their political leanings? In a country in which you have to show that you’re a member of the ruling party just to get the subsidized food basket that comes out every month, how do you start over?”
Politics
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday underscored the importance of keeping central banks independent and threw her support behind beleaguered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is facing a Trump administration investigation for renovation cost overruns.
Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that there was ample evidence that central bank independence worked in the interest of businesses and households, and that evidence-based, data-based decision-making is good for the economy.
The IMF managing director said she had worked with Powell and respected his professionalism.
“I have worked with Jay Powell. He is a very good professional, very decent man, and I think that his standing among his colleagues tells the story,” she said, when asked about a letter of support signed by her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, now head of the European Central Bank, and other large central banks.
Powell on Sunday disclosed that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into him over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s Washington headquarters complex.
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Powell denies wrongdoing and has called the unprecedented actions a pretext to put pressure on him for not bowing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.
The probe has sparked widespread criticism from some key members of Trump’s Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, which must confirm his nominee to succeed Powell, along with foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties.
Trump has repeatedly derided Powell’s leadership of the Fed and attacked him, often personally, over what he sees as the Fed chair’s slow moves to cut interest rates. On Wednesday, he dismissed concerns that eroding central bank independence would undermine the value of the U.S. dollar and spark inflation, telling Reuters, “I don’t care.”
Georgieva said the IMF looked carefully at issues such as monetary and financial stability, as well as the strength of a country’s institutions. It was specifically interested in the Fed, given the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
“It would be very good to see that there is a recognition … that the Fed is precious for the Americans. It is very important for the rest of the world,” she said.
Trump has also attempted to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, who has challenged her termination in a legal case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.
B.C. Premier David Eby spoke to reporters on Thursday morning from Mumbai, India, during his six-day trade mission.
He said that mining and energy companies in India are showing an interest in B.C.
“They are looking strongly to LNG as one of their ways of reducing carbon intensity, as well as reducing smog in the country,” Eby said.
“And so B.C. LNG has been an item of considerable interest, especially the projects that are reaching final investment decision over the next year — LNG Canada Phase 2, KSI Lisims LNG — as well as the projects that are under construction like Woodfibre LNG.”
Eby was also asked about the rise in extortion cases in B.C.
He said the province’s extortion task force will provide an update next week.
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“We have assembled a remarkable and historic task force, RCMP, CBSA,” Eby said.
“There are more police in Surrey right now than there have ever been. The RCMP has surged resources into the community.”
Eby said he has not been happy with the fact that there has been no update from the task force and he has asked them to provide one.
“There have been some important developments, people deported, an arrest here in India, cooperation between the Indian government and the Canadian government on this at the law enforcement level,” he added.
“That needs to continue, but, bluntly, we need better results, we need to see more arrests and whatever we can do to support the police to get the job done, we will do so.”
As of Jan. 12, Surrey police said there have been 16 reported extortion incidents in the city since the beginning of the year.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Amid persistent doubts over the future of the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA), Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard insisted on Thursday that the agreement remains firmly intact and that the three countries will close a deal to extend it.
“We’re already in the treaty review phase, and we have to finish by July 1; that’s our deadline,” Ebrard said during Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily morning press conference.
“We have made good progress on all the points that concern each of the parties.”
Ebrard’s comments were his first on the topic since U.S. President Donald Trump again cast doubt on the treaty’s future earlier this week.
“There’s no real advantage to it, it’s irrelevant,” Trump said on Tuesday, as he toured a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan.
The trilateral trade agreement, known as USMCA, replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020 and is a backbone of Mexico’s economy.
The treaty, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term, requires the three countries to hold a joint review this year to extend the pact.
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If extended, the treaty will remain in place another 16 years. If not, it is subject to annual reviews.
Technically, July 1 is a key date in the treaty’s review process, but many analysts expect negotiations to extend late into 2026 and said Trump will likely avoid extending the treaty before the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Trump’s recent threats to pursue military action against cartels have also added a new layer of uncertainty to U.S.-Mexico relations.
“I think Ebrard is betting on a best-case scenario, but the window for a July successful review is closing fast,” said Alexia Bautista, a former Mexican diplomat and lead Mexico analyst at the political risk consultancy firm Horizon Engage.
“Given recent events and statements, the risk is that Trump injects security into the process, turning the trade review into a far more political negotiation.”
Pedro Casas, chief executive of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, said he expects the U.S. will continue imposing tariffs on a wide spectrum of Mexican exports, regardless of the treaty’s future.
The Trump administration has imposed sweeping 50 per cent duties on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S., along with a 25 per cent tariff on cars shipped from Mexico, even when those vehicles comply with the terms of the trade deal.
“I think the most likely scenario is a positive review process where we agree to extend the treaty for another 16 years, but steep tariffs still remain on Mexican exports that undermine the strength of the agreement,” Casas said.
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
B.C. Premier David Eby says province’s LNG, mining of interest to India TenX News
Mexico confident CUSMA will remain as Trump suggests it could expire – National TenX News
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