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A clip from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, in which John Krasinski's titular character predicts the future of Venezuelan politics, is going viral
The clip, from a 2019 episode, is circulating amid the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores
On Jan. 3, President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. would now "run" Venezuela
A clip fromTom Clancy'sJack Ryan,in whichJohn Krasinski's titular character delivers a stirring speech about the geopolitical landscape of Venezuela is going viral, with social media users calling the moment "prophetic" amid the recentU.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
In the clip from the Amazon Prime Video show's second season, which aired in 2019, Krasinski's character poses a question to a group of CIA personnel. "What would you assume is the most major threat to the world state?" he asked
"Definitely Russia," one replied, before fictional CIA analyst Jack Ryan asked, "Who else?"
"China. Stop yelling at me, but China's a good answer... Venezuela? Anybody? Everybody's cool with Venezuela? No threat? Okay. Which one of these places can claim to have the largest oil deposit on the planet? More than Saudi, more than Iran. Wow," he said while gesturing to a chart illustrating Venezuela's vast natural resources.
Krasinski's character continued in the now-viral clip from theJack Ryanepisode, "Okay, what about things like gold? More than all the mines in Africa combined? Venezuela is arguably the single greatest resource of oil and minerals on the planet. So, why is this country in the midst of one of the greatest humanitarian crises in modern history? On the news, they'll call it a crisis. But on the world stage, they'll call it a failed state. Other examples of a failed state in recent history are Yemen, Iraq, and Syria."
"And if that's not bad enough news for you, well, Venezuela is also the only one of these places within 30 minute range from the U.S., of N-Gen nuclear missiles. You will not hear about any of this on the news, because the biggest players on the world stage do not want you to. Russia, China, can never be the most major threat. Until countries like Venezuela leave the door open to our very own backyard," he concludes.
As the video began circulating on social media, a number of users described the clip as "prophetic,"CNNreported.
On Jan. 3, PresidentDonald Trumpannounced that he launched military strikes in Venezuela in an effort to dismantle the regime of Maduro, 63.
Having accused the Venezuelan president of drug-related crimes, Trump, 79, confirmed the order of "large-scale strikes" in the region and the capture of Maduro, 63, in a statement onTruth Socialon Jan. 3.
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The political thriller is based on Tom Clancy's series of novels, which began withThe Hunt for Red Octoberin 1984. Clancy, who died in 2013, published his final installment in the series,Command Authority, that same year, which he co-wrote alongside Mark Greaney. Other authors have continued to publish books within the series, including Greaney, Marc Cameron, Brian Andrews, and Jeffrey Wilson. The action-packed franchise covers numerous fictional geopolitical crises.
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryanmodernized the content of Clancy's 1980s novels for a contemporary audience. Speaking withDeadline, series co-creator Carlton Cuse reflected on the speech's newfound relevance.
"What always surprises you as a storyteller is how often real-world events catch up to fiction," Cuse told the outlet. "The goal of that season wasn't prophecy — it was plausibility. When you ground a story in real geopolitical dynamics, reality has a way of making it rhyme."
"Graham Roland and I weren't making a statement — we were telling a fictional character-driven thriller rooted in Venezuela's long-standing strategic relevance," Cuse said, referencing Roland, his co-creator on the show. "Our job was to make the situation feel credible. We approached Venezuela as a country where democratic ideals, economic reality, and geopolitical interests have been in tension for a long time — and where choices are never simple."
Cuse added that "the season came from our desire to tell a fictional story about the forces at play, not from imagining an outcome."
Speaking from his Palm Beach, Fla., residence,Mar-a-Lago, on Jan. 3, Trump said the U.S. is now going to "run" Venezuela.
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"No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved, successfully capturing Maduro in the dead of night," Trump said. "We're going to get the oil flowing the way it should be...we're gonna run it properly. We're gonna make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of."
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