Venezuelan strongman Maduro seized in daring US operation.” That’s how our ABC led the coverage. But what we witnessed was an illegal military invasion of a sovereign nation dressed up as law enforcement. This is the anatomy of an imperial project: demonisation, sanctions, crisis, military intervention. We’ve seen it in Iraq, Libya, Syria. Now Venezuela. The pattern is identical. The oil is the prize. The “narcoterrorism” is just marketing. And Australian media are selling it with a straight face while we’re complicit through intelligence sharing and lockstep UN votes. Part One of an investigation into how empires manufacture consent—and why we keep falling for it.