President Donald Trump proved that the “extraction method” works.
asserted
method → prove → ?
On Jan. 3, 2026, Operation Absolute Resolve lifted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from Caracas and delivered him to American courts.
asserted
Resolve → lift → courts
This surgical strike severed the South American node of the China-Russia-Iran axis.
asserted
strike → sever → axis
Overnight, Cuba lost Venezuelan crude, watched 32 of its bodyguards die in the raid, and realized its imperial reach had withered.
asserted
reach → lose → raid
With Maduro gone, forcing a collapse of the totalitarian Cuban regime requires Washington to confront the remaining hub of this hostile network: Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega.
asserted
forcing → go → network
American statutory law perfectly covers the case.
asserted
law → cover → case
Ortega abolished democracy on July 20, 2026, declaring that Nicaragua would hold no more elections.
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Nicaragua → abolish → elections
The subservient National Assembly then permanently barred political dissidents from public office.
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Assembly → bar → office
This political tyranny mirrors a criminal enterprise servicing Foreign Terrorist Organizations under Executive Order 14157.
asserted
tyranny → mirror → Order
A rogue, murderous ruler who abolishes democratic elections while facilitating designated terrorist cartels meets the exact legal criteria that justified Maduro’s extraction.
asserted
that → abolish → extraction
Geostrategy hardens the indictment.
asserted
Geostrategy → harden → indictment
Ortega’s Presidential Decree 05-2026 authorized Russian troops on Nicaraguan soil, while 22 Chinese firms hold mining concessions across 1.28 million hectares, swallowing one-tenth of the country.
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firms → authorize → country
Indisputably, extra-regional adversaries are actively converting a corrupt dictatorship into a forward military platform targeting America.
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adversaries → convert → America
Indeed, extracting the decrepit Nicaraguan dictator would send a chilling message to Havana.
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extracting → extract → Havana
Cuban intelligence trained Ortega’s Sandinistas in 1979, and he remains Cuba’s most loyal regional ally.
asserted
he → train → 1979
His downfall would undoubtedly signal to Miguel Diaz-Canel and “El Cangrejo” that if they do not seriously change course, they are next.
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they → signal → course
History proves that communist regimes collapse under pressure.
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regimes → prove → pressure
When Washington cleared Grenada in 1983, Castro yanked his personnel within weeks.
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Castro → clear → weeks
Havana always retreats.
asserted
Havana → retreat → ?
An Ortega operation presents far fewer operational risks than a Cuban invasion.
asserted
operation → present → invasion
While Cuba fields 76,000 active troops, Nicaragua commands a mere 12,000 soldiers and possesses no meaningful navy.
asserted
Nicaragua → field → navy
Crucially, land borders with Costa Rica and Honduras provide military planners with geographic flexibility that an island fortress never offers.
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fortress → provide → that
Ultimately, Managua presents a thinner target and a cleaner legal package.
asserted
Managua → present → target
Three immediate policies should lock the deterrent.
asserted
policies → lock → deterrent
First, the Justice Department must unseal a narco-terrorism indictment against Ortega and his wife — a Cilia Flores de Maduro on steroids — the same week the National Security Council pre-positions an extraction package.
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Council → unseal → package
Simultaneously, the Treasury Department must list Chinese concession vehicles on Nicaraguan soil as blocked property, turning Beijing’s mining assets into stranded liabilities the hour the dictator leaves.
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dictator → list → liabilities
Second, the State Department must replicate the Venezuelan transition model by conditioning economic normalization on a sweeping strategic mandate.
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Department → replicate → mandate
Just as the new administration in Caracas realigned to American interests, Washington must compel incoming Nicaraguan leadership to sign a bilateral accord granting the United States direct control over Nicaragua’s massive gold reserves.
asserted
Washington → realign → reserves
Securing this mineral wealth provides a tangible asset class to back and strengthen the U.S. dollar against aggressive adversarial de-dollarization schemes and contain oil prices.
asserted
Securing → secure → prices
Concurrently, Washington should permanently take over, redesign, and construct the interoceanic canal project originally sought by Beijing.
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Washington → take → Beijing
Securing this long-coveted trade bottleneck denies China a maritime chokehold, creates an American-managed commercial highway, and ensures unchallenged U.S. naval mobility through the region.
asserted
Securing → secure → region
Finally, Washington must launch a joint FBI-SouthCom Isthmus Deterrence Channel.
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Washington → launch → Channel
Broadcasting the Grenada precedent to Cuban cadres while recognizing a democratic Nicaraguan government will collapse Ortega’s remnants and sever Havana’s lifeblood without firing a shot.
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government → broadcast → shot
The time has come for a lethargic Pentagon and a paralyzed State Department to stop peddling unimaginative options.
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Pentagon → come → options
Instead, bureaucrats must brief Trump on this bold strategy in plain, unvarnished terms.
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bureaucrats → brief → terms
Only then can Washington finally reclaim America’s backyard, securing our Nation against devastating narco-trafficking and compounding foreign threats.
asserted
Washington → reclaim → trafficking
Jose Lev Alvarez is an American–Israeli scholar specializing in international security policy.
asserted
Alvarez → specialize → policy
A multilingual veteran of the IDF special forces and the U.S. Army, he holds three master’s degrees and is completing a Ph.D. in Intelligence and Global Security in the Washington, D.C., area.
asserted
he → hold → area
