New year, new politics

As the new year begins, there are already fresh events to keep an eye on. Stay aware and notice how fellow FGCU students are being affected.

Politics pushes forward and every day there are key updates. Here are a few major topics students will be hearing about this month, with developments in progress.

Venezuela

Venezuela is undergoing a “maximum pressure” campaign led by the U.S.Last month, the CIA conducted its first strike on Venezuelan land. It was a drone strike on a port facility in Maracaibo, allegedly used by drug cartels. The beginning of this affair is due to the sitting president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who came into his second term under an allegedly rigged election. 

Story continues below advertisement

Maduro has been accused of criminal activity, such as leading drug cartels. Maduro is also blamed for the crash of the Venezuelan economy because of the fallout of oil pricing, which they relied heavily on. 

President Donald Trump has recently signed a directive authorizing the Pentagon to use military force against select Latin American drug cartels. At the same time, he doubled the U.S. bounty on Maduro to $50 million, alleging the Venezuelan leader’s direct role in smuggling operations. 

Shortly afterward, the U.S. deployed a fleet of naval warships carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines toward Venezuelan waters, according to the Council on Foreign Affairs. 

With this, tankers carrying sanctioned Venezuelan oil are being seized to choke off the regime’s primary revenue source. However, on Jan 3, Trump announced the capture of Nicolás Maduro. 

Travel to Venezuela and around the area might still be affected. Personal friends have cancelled plans to go see their families. This also bleeds into summer travel destinations, as cruises often travel through the surrounding area. 

Yet, with the capture of Maduro, things might change.

Epstein files

A bill called the Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in November 2025. This caused the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release unclassified files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The deadline for the first release was set for December 2025. The legislation passed in the House (427-1). This release of the files is important because of the people who are involved. Epstein was an incredibly influential person in terms of high power. This is not only because of his wealth, but also because of the crimes he committed. 

Epstein was friendly with scientists, past and current presidents, billionaires and professors.

If he was friendly with all of these powerful figures, then that would reveal a possible connection with them and the crimes he committed, which were sex trafficking of minors. 

Every week, new information is being released, but as this happens, there are complaints across the media pointing out the fact that the information that is being released is already common knowledge. 

It is important to note that Epstein was not particularly affiliated with any specific party but rather with both. With this, everyone is coming to an agreement and facing this issue as a united front to uncover the truth of what happened. 

People want answers, and it is morally necessary, as those who participated in crimes will face justice.

Kennedy Center

In February of 2025, Trump fired the preexisting chairman of the Kennedy Center and installed himself as the standing chairman. The Kennedy Center is America’s national cultural center. It serves as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy by appreciating a diversity of arts and education for the youth of America.

The Kennedy Center website and building are now titled as the “Trump Kennedy Center. This development came after a board vote, which claimed to have no objections to Trump’s suggestion of the name change.

 Yet, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty sued President Trump to stop the unlawful renaming. As Beatty participated in the recent Board meeting and alleged, she was prevented from speaking when she attempted to object to the renaming. (Washingtonlitigationgroup.org)

Now, there have been cancellations of performers who refuse to perform in an act of protest. There seems to be no fundamental reason to add Trump’s name to the memorial, and the title “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial” is redundant.

Adding his name is simply self-indulgent.