Sky News Crew in Caracas.

A third of the US Navy is sitting just offshore from Venezuela. The huge task force sent by Trump is supposed to be interdicting drug vessels. Trump holds Maduro responsible for shipping drugs like fentanyl into the US. The US Navy has destroyed alleged drug boats, killing the crews, it is alleged, in the water. Certainly, if this is the case, Peter Hegseth is totally unrepentant.

US forces have been seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil. The government of Maduo has called this piracy. Another tanker registered in Panama, owned by the Chinese, was seized yesterday. Although Trump says he is stopping drugs from leaving Venezuela, which others say are fishing boats. It is now well known that Trump wants to overthrow the Maduro regime. By seizing tankers, the US military is cutting off the regime's lifeblood, which props up the regime as well as alleged drug shipments. Trump accuses the Maduro regime of being a narco terrorist regime with Nicolas Maduro at its head.

A Sky News crew visited Caracas, and though the city in some areas is still beautiful, its best days are behind it. In the 1970s, Caracas was a booming city. It was and still is, to a certain degree, the hub of business and commerce. The news crew observed Venezuelans going about their Christmas shopping. And with all the sanctions on the regime, just trying to keep the lights on and food on the table.

Since Chavez came to power and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, the oil industry has faced corruption and mismanagement. Many Venezuelans live in grinding poverty, even though the socialist government has tried to help those in poverty. Since Chavez passed, Maduro has tightened his grip on power. People are only helped if they sign up to the ruling party. Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro has become a police state and a dictatorship. Many say that in elections, Maduro has rigged the results of these elections or ignored them so he can stay in power. Protests have been ruthlessly put down. An element of fear pervades the country since Maduro succeeded Chavez as President.

Sky News, like any news outlet, whether Venezuelan or foreign, will be under scrutiny from the government. The news crew interviewed people who supported the government and those who opposed it. Some of the interviews took place secretly, others were more open. Ordinary people doing their Christmas shopping in Caracas seemed to treat the prospect of war with the US as nonsense. Or if war does come, many of them were more interested in just getting through life. The attitude of many was "Whatever will be, will be". And you can't blame them, when people are living through tough times, their main thought is survival.

Maduro has been a thorn in Trump's side even when Trump first occupied the White House. He tried various ways to overthrow the Maduro regime, but it all came to nought. Now, with much of the American fleet based just offshore, it seems Trump wants to make good militarily on deposing Maduro. Maduro is fully aware of this threat and the pressure being piled upon him, but he is trying to carry on as normal.

Maduro has been prepping the military to face any possible US attack or invasion. On paper, the Venezuelan military, though dwarfed by the US military, has some good equipment on paper. For example, American F-16s, but due to a lack of spare parts and poor maintenance, how many of these fighters are still operational is open to question. Russia sold Venezuela 20-odd something SU-30s, and these jets are also reliable fighters. They carry deadly anti-ship missiles, which some of the pilots, if war comes, will be hoping to bag American warships. Unlikely, given American defensive firepower and its formidable F-35 stealth jets, however, all it takes is a lucky shot, as was shown when the Argentines sank British warships in the Falklands War. Of course, since 1982, defensive and offensive tech has evolved exponentially, but the principle remains the same. Venezuela has the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, it has Russian-supplied anti-aircraft guns, and portable anti-aircraft shoulder-launched missiles. The army has assault helicopters, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery pieces and other equipment. Again, how well all this stuff has been maintained and is battle-ready is open to question. Venezuela knows that in pitched battles, it will certainly lose, even if it can score Pyrrhic victories over the Americans. Maduro, with this in mind, has set up militias for hit-and-run missions on American targets.

Sky News attended a political rally where Maduro was entertaining the party faithful by doing a dance. According to Sky News's reportage, militia, ex-soldiers, and government workers attended this rally. Attendees were interviewed by Sky News and were asked what their thoughts were on a possible war with the US. Many thought they could face down the US threat. That's either a very brave notion, considering the size of the threat Venezuela is facing. Or they are putting on a brave face for the cameras, knowing that any American attack will destroy anything Venezuela has to face the Americans. I'm sure the views of Maduro loyalists are mixed.

Both Trump and Maduro are playing a risky game. For Maduro, it would be better for him if he stepped down and left the country. If he stays and chooses to fight, he will be following in the footsteps of other dictators who tried to fight America. Namely, his moutachieoed look-alike Saddam Hussein. A war with the US will obliterate his armed forces and lead to his downfall. But that is the risk he seems willing to take at the moment. For Trump, everything from political pressure and a huge military would seem to be Trump's favour. If Trump invades, yes, he will win and will be in Caracas in days. Securing the rest of the country shouldn't be a problem either, at least in towns and cities. However, and this is the caveat of the so-called president who wanted peace and wanted to end forever wars, Americans will surely die. Maduro, as Saddam did, could flee into the interior of the country. Like Saddam, he too may be found and brought to trial; on the other hand, he may not. But Maduro loyalist militias will take to the countryside and the jungles and fight on from there.

The US could find itself in another Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan, and we all know how those wars ended. So if such a war happens, Trump will be even more unpopular than he is now. When the US body bags start arriving home, Trump will be accused of hypocrisy. But he probably won't care because he cannot run again. However, it could affect the chances of his Vice President J.D. Vance, who hopes to succeed him.