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On the night of January 3rd, 2026, U.S. special operators breached the fortified residence of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, fought through his Cuban security detail, and extracted him from the heart of Caracas—all while the city lay in engineered darkness.

How did they pull off the most audacious political kidnapping in modern history? I break down the intelligence preparation, the massive military deception that hid the strike force in plain sight, the CIA source inside Maduro's inner circle, and the cyber-kinetic assault that left Venezuelan defenders blind before the first helicopter crossed the coast.Video made in: https://vizzy.io

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Today is a very special episode where I have the amazing History Daily podcast feature two fascinating episodes on the True Life Spy Stories podcast.

First up, The Cold War Spy Swap: February 10, 1962. At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union conduct a spy exchange.

Followed by, The Zimmerman Telegram Pushes America into World War I: February 24th, 1917. The British present the Zimmermann Telegram to US President Woodrow Wilson, an intercepted message that reveals new threats against the United States and persuades the nation to enter World War I.

History Daily will kindly be featuring an episode from the True Life Spy Stories podcast over on their pod the same day of this upload.

Ways to support the podcast:

Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠⁠

Donate via PayPal: 💸 ⁠⁠paypal.me/PhilipT284⁠⁠

Notorious Soviet and Russian spy and former CIA officer Aldrich Ames has died in a US prison on 5 January 2026, aged 84.

This is my report.

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