A political cartoon from 2007 has gone viral after “predicting” the US strikes against Venezuela. The cartoon was re-shared by Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff following the attack, with many hailing his accurate prediction of events nearly 20 years ago. The sketch appears to foreshadow the ongoing political and military tensions in the country.
The United States led “large-scale strikes” against Venezuela on Saturday, forcibly removing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country. President Donald Trump claimed during a subsequent press conference that the US would now “run the country” and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations. The escalation is being viewed as a possible violation of international law and sparked condemnation from several quarters.
Viral political cartoon
“Cartoon prediction, 2007,” wrote Latuff while sharing the cartoon with the hashtag “Venezuela”.
The cartoon shows a US president sitting at his desk with his back to the viewer, wearing an Uncle Sam hat and speaking on the phone in the White House. On his desk is a file rack labelled “To Do,” containing folders marked Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia.
Another section of the rack labelled “Done” includes files named Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan.
Check out the cartoon below:
Cartoon prediction, 2007.#Venezuela pic.twitter.com/hPTRi3J9cF
— Carlos Latuff (@LatuffCartoons) January 3, 2026
US attacked Venezuela
The United States carried out a military operation against Venezuela on Saturday, January 3, and captured its President, Nicolas Maduro and his wife in its operation dubbed “Absolute Resolve”. The operation lasted 30 minutes and ended in the capture of the president. Over 150 US aircraft entered Venezuelan airspace after US forces neutralised the country’s air defences.
After the operation, Trump shared a post on Truth Social confirming the operation. He wrote, “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.”
“This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement,” he added.
Trump also said that the United States will “run” Venezuela until a “judicious” transition takes place. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
President Maduro and his wife have arrived in New York City with Maduro in handcuffs and a blindfold.
Venezuela’s ruling party leader, Nahum Fernández, described the incident as a “kidnapping” in comments quoted by the Associated Press. He claimed that US forces stormed the president’s residence, telling AP, “That’s where they bombed… And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.”