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[00:00:00] All right, so we're switching gears now [00:00:02] to another flash point, which is [00:00:04] Venezuela. Now, it's no secret that the [00:00:06] Trump administration is pushing for what [00:00:08] the US wanted to do in Venezuela for [00:00:11] over a quarter of a century, which is [00:00:14] regime change and to completely quash [00:00:17] the Bolivarian revolution inside of [00:00:20] Venezuela. But Latin American countries [00:00:22] are not quietly accepting this. Trump's [00:00:25] Summit of the Americas has been [00:00:26] cancelled this week due to stiff [00:00:29] opposition, primarily from Mexico and [00:00:32] Colombia to Washington's regime change [00:00:34] plans and its military actions inside of [00:00:38] the Caribbean. And Russia has said it's [00:00:40] open to arming Venezuela with hypersonic [00:00:42] missiles. These could carry nuclear [00:00:44] warheads that are uninterable. Russia [00:00:47] has already provided Venezuela with [00:00:50] Pantisir S1 and BU-M2E [00:00:54] missiles already. So, President Nicholas [00:00:57] Maduro has given the order to arm the [00:01:00] country's patriotic militias totaling [00:01:03] some 8 million people and the government [00:01:06] is handing out rifles. Now we have the [00:01:09] recent Nobel Priest Peace Prize winner [00:01:12] Maria Corina Machado who just can't wait [00:01:15] to be the next dictator of Venezuela to [00:01:18] sell her country to the highest bidder. [00:01:20] And she's already claiming that Hamas is [00:01:23] operating inside of Karakas, paving the [00:01:26] way for US intervention. So joining me [00:01:29] now to talk about the situation inside [00:01:32] of Venezuela and this military buildup [00:01:34] are journalists Camila Escalante and [00:01:37] Alan Mloud. Camila is an editor at [00:01:40] Kawasachan News, an alternative media [00:01:43] outlet based in Bolivia reporting on [00:01:45] Latin America. And Alan Mloud, of [00:01:48] course, is our senior investigative [00:01:50] journalist and staff writer and producer [00:01:52] of this show. He published a very [00:01:54] important book, Bad News from Venezuela: [00:01:57] 20 years of misreporting. Make sure to [00:02:00] check that out. Thank you both for [00:02:02] joining me today. [00:02:06] >> Thanks for having me, Minar. And good to [00:02:08] see you as well, Alan. [00:02:10] >> Good to be back with you. [00:02:13] >> So, Camila, I want to start with you. [00:02:15] Um, right now the United States has a [00:02:18] massive military buildup in the [00:02:20] Caribbean pointing to Venezuela for this [00:02:24] regime change operation. I think a lot [00:02:26] of people are curious to know the [00:02:29] military capabilities and arsenal um [00:02:33] that Venezuela has considering it's been [00:02:35] a sanctioned nation, but it's also been [00:02:37] a nation that has been preparing itself [00:02:39] for this very moment of a US military [00:02:43] operation. [00:02:46] Right. Well, Russia and Venezuela [00:02:49] recently signed some agreements to [00:02:51] strengthen cooperation in the area of [00:02:53] security, and we don't know what exactly [00:02:55] that entails. I don't think they're [00:02:57] going to be going around bragging about [00:02:59] it because the intent of the Bolivarian [00:03:01] government of Venezuela is not to [00:03:03] provoke anything beyond what's already [00:03:06] taking place in the Caribbean Sea. They [00:03:09] want peace. They've been living in peace [00:03:11] for a very long time. uh free of a lot [00:03:14] of these attacks and destabilization [00:03:16] attempts that we saw during the years of [00:03:18] Guyaido and prior to that. And they want [00:03:21] to maintain uh Venezuela as a peaceful [00:03:25] country and of course they're [00:03:27] prioritizing dialogue and diplomacy when [00:03:30] possible and they're not in any sort of [00:03:34] conflict with the United States as far [00:03:36] as Venezuela is concerned. It's purely [00:03:38] an aggression that's coming from the [00:03:41] United States. any attack that takes [00:03:44] place is coming unilaterally from the [00:03:46] United States and all the aggression [00:03:48] that we're seeing in the Caribbean Sea [00:03:50] is a one-way thing. Venezuela is not [00:03:52] doing anything. Uh but Venezuela is [00:03:56] counting on the military technology of [00:03:59] Russia. So, you know, we're not going to [00:04:01] know quite all the details of that, but [00:04:04] we know that Venezuela does have S uh [00:04:07] have SU30s and S300 missiles and that it [00:04:10] can defend itself and also shoot down US [00:04:14] fighter jets and even strike uh aircraft [00:04:17] carriers if necessary. But they're [00:04:20] hoping that it doesn't get to that. [00:04:22] They're conducting drills on all of [00:04:25] their massive borders and they also have [00:04:28] the millions of people that make up the [00:04:30] Bolivarian National Civilian Militia [00:04:33] which are uh just regular people who are [00:04:36] now or some of them have previously [00:04:39] received training from the Bolivarian [00:04:41] National Armed Forces on how to do [00:04:44] things like operate guns. And in fact, [00:04:48] the Bolivarian government of President [00:04:50] Nicholas Maduro is arming these people [00:04:52] so that they can also fight to defend [00:04:54] their country. Something you don't see [00:04:57] in other countries. And this is only [00:04:59] possible, of course, because Venezuela [00:05:02] refounded its military and has a [00:05:05] revolutionary armed forces that it can [00:05:08] count on and which has stood by the [00:05:11] president throughout all of the [00:05:14] harassment, threats, and attacks that [00:05:16] have take play taken place over recent [00:05:18] years and in particular since 2019 when [00:05:22] the United States tried to install Juan [00:05:24] Guaido and tried to force a coup during [00:05:28] Trump's first administration. [00:05:30] Now, we're seeing these um these strikes [00:05:35] on vessels in the Caribbean Sea as well [00:05:38] as in the Pacific Ocean, which is not uh [00:05:42] surrounding Venezuela necessarily, but [00:05:44] these are very hostile attacks, but [00:05:46] they're actually just terrorist attacks [00:05:48] that we're seeing by the US regime that [00:05:51] threaten Venezuela's sovereignty and the [00:05:53] sovereignty of all countries of Latin [00:05:55] America and the Caribbean. and it's [00:05:57] being widely rejected uh which I'm sure [00:05:59] we'll talk about a lot more uh as as our [00:06:03] conversation progresses. [00:06:04] >> All right. So one of the important [00:06:06] developments of the week is that during [00:06:08] the summit of the Americas which is a [00:06:11] you know US dominated regional gathering [00:06:14] of leaders has been cancelled or [00:06:17] officially delayed until uh next year it [00:06:20] looks like due to the widespread [00:06:22] opposition from Latin American nations [00:06:24] to Trump's interventionism in Latin [00:06:27] America. I mean, we're definitely seeing [00:06:29] um a change of tone when it comes to the [00:06:32] United States um United States [00:06:35] aggression here towards Venezuela. So, [00:06:38] Alan, if you can tell us more about why [00:06:40] it was cancelled and why this is [00:06:42] actually a really big deal. [00:06:47] >> United States calls Latin America its [00:06:50] own backyard and it has done for 200 [00:06:52] years, but that doesn't mean that [00:06:54] everyone in the entire region agrees [00:06:56] with that. And when the United States [00:06:58] just openly and blatantly talks about [00:07:00] regime change in another country, [00:07:02] invading another country, even [00:07:04] right-wing nationalists often in Latin [00:07:07] America get the hump with this. They [00:07:09] don't like to think of their uh entire [00:07:12] nations as being the playthinks of [00:07:13] Donald Trump. So when Trump goes around [00:07:16] uh just insinuating that he might invade [00:07:19] Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, who [00:07:22] knows, they don't really like that. And [00:07:24] not only that, the regional situation is [00:07:26] pretty interesting that there is a split [00:07:28] of uh quite um powerful and influential [00:07:31] anti-imperialist blocks in the region. [00:07:33] I'm thinking specifically about the [00:07:36] governments of Mexico and Colombia led [00:07:38] by Claudia Shinbomb and Gustavo Petro [00:07:41] respectively who have really come to [00:07:43] Venezuela's aid and put a principal [00:07:45] stance on this saying we do not accept [00:07:49] uh uh interference in foreign countries. [00:07:52] We do not accept the bad old days of the [00:07:54] 20th century. We don't want to go back [00:07:56] to that when the United States would [00:07:58] just invade countries at will. And so [00:08:00] Mexico and Colombia, two of the most [00:08:02] powerful, most populous, uh, largest [00:08:04] countries in the region, have put up [00:08:06] some significant um, opposition to this, [00:08:09] telling Trump in no small terms that [00:08:11] they will not be heading to this summit [00:08:14] if uh, this continues. And so ultimately [00:08:17] Trump, Marco Rubio, and the clique [00:08:19] around um around Washington has uh [00:08:24] pulled back and decided to officially [00:08:26] delay this um summit. um as he said it [00:08:30] was supposed to be going on uh very soon [00:08:31] but um it's simply not going ahead [00:08:34] because Trump knows that it's going to [00:08:35] be a huge PR disaster for him getting [00:08:38] lectured by certain countries saying we [00:08:40] don't want regime change and also from [00:08:42] the prospect of sort of mass resignation [00:08:45] where uh heads of state simply don't go [00:08:47] to this um to this event. So they [00:08:50] decided to uh take the easy way out and [00:08:53] um just cancel it or officially delay it [00:08:55] for a little while. And Alan, could you [00:08:57] just go over some of these neocon war [00:09:00] hawks that are based here in the United [00:09:02] States and how they're using uh US [00:09:05] media, even Maria Machado, the Nobel [00:09:08] Peace Prize winner, to really push for [00:09:11] this US uh war of aggression with [00:09:13] Venezuela. [00:09:16] >> Yes. Well, we're speaking in the wake of [00:09:18] the passing of the uh not so great Dick [00:09:21] Cheney, one of the greatest uh hawks [00:09:23] we've seen in Washington's uh uh recent [00:09:26] history. Unfortunately, the neocons have [00:09:28] found themselves uh a comfortable space [00:09:31] in the Trump administration. Perhaps [00:09:33] most importantly of all, Marco Rubio, [00:09:35] who is Secretary of State, head of USID, [00:09:38] he's got so many titles, it's it's [00:09:40] really unbelievable the amount of power [00:09:42] Rubio has. Rubio himself is a [00:09:45] CubanAmerican and has made Latin America [00:09:48] his particular interest for his entire [00:09:50] political career. Uh he has typical [00:09:54] Cuban American views which are um deeply [00:09:57] conservative, one might say reactionary. [00:09:59] In fact uh when we look at Latin [00:10:01] America, he has pushed for uh more [00:10:04] intervention, more wars, more US [00:10:06] involvement in uh so many countries. He [00:10:09] is constantly uh agitating for the [00:10:12] overthrow of the Cuban government, the [00:10:14] Nicaraguan government, the Venezuelan [00:10:16] government, before it the Bolivian [00:10:17] government under EO Morales. And you [00:10:20] know, they they they start thinking [00:10:22] about some sort of ridiculous um excuse [00:10:25] for this. And right now it's the drug [00:10:27] war, which has never really been fought [00:10:29] against drugs, of course, because [00:10:31] everybody knows the best way of dealing [00:10:33] with drug wars with education and [00:10:35] counseling in your own country. you [00:10:36] don't go to other countries to bomb the [00:10:38] crap out of these places to um actually [00:10:41] prevent drugs coming in. But, you know, [00:10:44] Rubio has used this excuse to try to [00:10:46] push his decadesl long agenda of [00:10:49] overthrowing socialist or [00:10:50] anti-imperialist governments in uh Latin [00:10:53] America. and he's found a willing ally [00:10:56] in some Venezuelans like you said Maria [00:10:58] Karina Machado who is a far-right [00:11:01] opposition leader who her entire career [00:11:04] has basically been spent at the knee of [00:11:06] Washington learning from before Trump [00:11:09] and Biden it was George Bush you know [00:11:11] she went to uh the Oval Office in 2005 [00:11:14] to meet George Bush that's how far it [00:11:16] goes back and since at least 2002 her [00:11:19] organization her political group Sumate [00:11:22] has been sponsored by the NE [00:11:24] which is a cutout organization of the [00:11:27] CIA. And this is really how so many [00:11:29] people in the right of Venezuelan [00:11:31] politics actually work. They don't have [00:11:33] that large a political base, but because [00:11:36] they have access to enormous amounts of [00:11:38] wealth and also the prestige and the [00:11:42] power that uh American politicians and [00:11:44] American media can um can give them. [00:11:48] They're really given ideas above their [00:11:49] station. Like for example, Juan Guyaido [00:11:52] who proclaimed himself president and for [00:11:54] years walked around the country, you [00:11:56] know, insisting that he was the real [00:11:58] president and the United States would [00:12:00] take this seriously and even give him [00:12:01] billions of dollars to try to fund this [00:12:03] dream. And Machado is the last uh the [00:12:06] latest in this uh succession. It seems [00:12:09] very likely that this is not going to [00:12:11] work given her tanking numbers in [00:12:14] Venezuela. Certainly last year she was [00:12:16] uh perhaps the most powerful opposition [00:12:18] leader, but her constant calls for uh [00:12:21] the United States and sometimes indeed [00:12:23] Israel to attack, bomb, and um invade [00:12:27] the country has really lost her support [00:12:29] even among right-wing Venezuelans who [00:12:32] don't like the idea of their country [00:12:34] being turned into the next Libya or the [00:12:36] next Gaza or the next Afghanistan [00:12:38] because they've seen for decades now [00:12:41] what neoon uh US intervention does [00:12:44] around the world. And you know that's [00:12:46] Dick Cheneyy's legacy. A legacy of [00:12:48] millions of lives destroyed, millions of [00:12:50] people killed, tens of millions of [00:12:52] people forced to flee their homes, [00:12:54] entire regions of the world being [00:12:56] destroyed. That is the reality of the US [00:12:58] empire. And that is what Venezuelans [00:13:00] absolutely don't want to see. And [00:13:01] certainly governments around Latin [00:13:03] America don't want to see another failed [00:13:05] state in their region because they know [00:13:07] uh what what might happen because of [00:13:08] that. So, I'm very happy to see that [00:13:11] regional governments are pushing back on [00:13:13] this and um yeah, long may it continue. [00:13:16] >> Yeah, I mean we I just did an explainer [00:13:18] on uh Sudan, [00:13:21] you know, breaking down and dissecting [00:13:23] the architecture of US imperialism and [00:13:26] how it targets countries that push back [00:13:28] against uh the US dollar [00:13:31] and seek independence and how the export [00:13:35] of US imperialism is very simple. It's [00:13:37] just creating a failed state, dividing a [00:13:39] nation, creating civil war, strife, [00:13:41] starvation, genocide, just like what we [00:13:43] saw in Sudan and what we saw in Gaz. And [00:13:47] I just want to point out for those who [00:13:49] are watching that Allan has gone viral [00:13:51] so many times for using the Juan Guyaido [00:13:56] uh as the interim president. Um such a [00:13:58] brilliant meme that you've helped [00:14:00] establish. But Camila, I want to turn to [00:14:02] you. [cough and clears throat] Excuse [00:14:04] me. [00:14:05] Um, you are reporting on the SEALC EU [00:14:09] summit this week which is an alternative [00:14:11] to the summit of the Americas. So, can [00:14:12] you speak about this please? [00:14:16] Well, I wouldn't say it's an alternative [00:14:18] or that's one way to say it, but another [00:14:20] way to say it is that it's becoming the [00:14:22] main regional integration uh mechanism [00:14:25] or the mechanism through which seac [00:14:28] governments which is the governments of [00:14:30] the Caribbean and Latin America can [00:14:32] speak to one another, cooperate with one [00:14:35] another uh without the presence of the [00:14:38] US, Canada and Europe or any other [00:14:40] foreign arbiter. is just this region. [00:14:43] And so it's really important what [00:14:45] happened as Ellen said is that we saw [00:14:48] this week the failure and collapse of [00:14:51] the Summit of the Americas. It is the [00:14:53] OAS Summit of the Americas. It's hosted [00:14:56] by the Organization of American States, [00:14:58] an organization which is failing, dying, [00:15:02] soon to be defunct largely because it [00:15:05] lost legitimacy when Luis Almagro, the [00:15:09] former secretary general, interfered in [00:15:12] the elections in Bolivia and which led [00:15:15] to a coup to overthrow President Evo [00:15:18] Morales. And so that was a huge turning [00:15:20] point. It was already a delegitimized [00:15:23] organization because Cuba was not a part [00:15:26] of it and because in 2017 Venezuela [00:15:29] announced its intention to leave the OAS [00:15:31] and since then Nicaragua has also left [00:15:34] and Bolivia should have left. [00:15:36] Nevertheless, a lot of members of the [00:15:39] Latin American and Caribbean uh members [00:15:42] of OAS had denounced the OAS's [00:15:45] involvement in Bolivia and now that um [00:15:48] organization doesn't really serve any [00:15:50] purpose except to largely to intervene [00:15:52] in the countries of our region. Um and [00:15:55] again uh it deres the majority of its [00:15:58] funding not only from Washington but to [00:16:01] a lesser degree but more so than the [00:16:04] amount of money that's coming from Latin [00:16:05] American and the Caribbean uh states. [00:16:07] It's deriving its funy funding from [00:16:09] foreign European countries. Those [00:16:12] governments are what's funding the [00:16:14] organization of American states. It [00:16:16] doesn't make any sense. Why do we have [00:16:18] foreign governments? they actually have [00:16:21] seats as observers in the process that's [00:16:24] supposed to be for Americans. That is [00:16:26] people from our Americas that goes from [00:16:29] uh you know Canada all the way to Chile [00:16:31] and Argentina. It's absolutely absurd. [00:16:34] So as Ellen said, it's really important [00:16:36] to say that that was a huge failure that [00:16:39] they tried to exclude these countries [00:16:41] and that we saw other uh leaders [00:16:44] boycotting it outright. In contrast, [00:16:47] President Pro is going to be hosting the [00:16:50] Silac EU summit in Santa Marta, which is [00:16:53] on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. And [00:16:57] it's expected to uh see the attendance [00:17:00] of presidents and heads of state from [00:17:03] all over the Caribbean, Latin America, [00:17:05] and also uh from Europe because it's uh [00:17:08] it's a joint seac EU summit. So, it's [00:17:12] going to be a very important forum. At [00:17:14] the same time there's going to be a [00:17:15] business forum and at the same time [00:17:18] there will be uh the [00:17:21] de los pueblo [00:17:23] the summit of the peoples of Latin [00:17:26] America and the Caribbean which will [00:17:28] also be hosted in Santa Marta that will [00:17:31] host something like 1,200 [00:17:34] uh representatives of social movements [00:17:36] and political parties uh and and and [00:17:39] different organizations from Colombia [00:17:41] and from all around Latin America. [00:17:43] America and the Caribbean. And this is a [00:17:45] really important time for this to be [00:17:47] happening. If you heard the statements [00:17:50] of uh President Lula, [00:17:53] who a lot of times has been uh at best [00:17:57] wishy-washy or unclear about his [00:17:59] position on Venezuela, he said yesterday [00:18:03] that this slack EU summit only makes [00:18:07] sense and it should only be held if [00:18:09] we're going to deal with the issue of [00:18:12] the strikes by the United States at sea, [00:18:15] which represent a threat to our [00:18:17] sovereigny. [00:18:18] and the peace of this region. And I have [00:18:21] to concur with that that it absolutely [00:18:23] doesn't make sense to be meeting all of [00:18:25] these countries, the 33 members of SEAC [00:18:29] as well as um the countries of the EU [00:18:32] and not deal with the biggest issue [00:18:35] today. This is what happens a lot of [00:18:37] times when these countries and these [00:18:39] governments meet. They avoid the [00:18:41] elephant in the room absurdly uh to an [00:18:44] absurd degree. They they sit there and [00:18:47] talk about all these different things [00:18:49] which at other times might be important [00:18:51] such as trade, such as other forms of [00:18:53] cooperation. But the big news right now, [00:18:56] which is headlining and dominating [00:18:58] around the world for the last two [00:18:59] months, is that a terrorist entity, the [00:19:02] United States, is going into the [00:19:04] Caribbean Sea, and shooting down vessels [00:19:08] without any sort of due process uh in [00:19:11] violation of international law and the [00:19:13] human rights of those people who are on [00:19:15] board those vessels. We don't know what [00:19:17] they're precisely being accused of, and [00:19:20] we don't know their identities. This [00:19:22] information is not being released to any [00:19:25] US media outlets or journalists through [00:19:27] the government. And so we don't actually [00:19:30] know. We just have to take them for [00:19:32] their word. But we know that at the same [00:19:34] time it's being accompanied by all of [00:19:36] these threats to overthrow the [00:19:38] democratically elected leader of a [00:19:41] country which is President Maduro. And [00:19:43] so this is what needs to be dealt with [00:19:46] at this slack EU summit. And I'm sure [00:19:49] that President Petrol will put it on the [00:19:52] agenda because he's been very outspoken [00:19:54] about it. Outspoken to the point where [00:19:56] now he too is uh a sanctioned leader. Uh [00:20:00] he has sanctions on his person. There's [00:20:03] not sanctions uh necessarily on [00:20:05] Colombia, the way in which we see [00:20:07] economic sanctions placed on the the [00:20:09] different countries, Venezuela, Cuba, [00:20:11] and Nicaragua in particular. But he and [00:20:14] members of his family and his interior [00:20:16] minister have now been sanctioned for [00:20:18] some of the positions he's taken and [00:20:21] some of the ways in which he's spoken [00:20:22] out against so-called Israel in favor of [00:20:26] Palestine uh and its liberation of its [00:20:28] peoples and also for the way in which [00:20:32] President Pro came into office and [00:20:35] immediately reestablished diplomatic [00:20:37] relations with Venezuela, reopened the [00:20:40] border and made it so that there could [00:20:43] um a stronger state presence in that [00:20:47] area which was an area of the Venezuela [00:20:49] Colombia border of complete lawlessness [00:20:52] where the paramilitary groups and drug [00:20:54] cartels were actually uh doing quite [00:20:57] well during Yvon Dukay's years the [00:20:59] former president of Colombia. Uh so this [00:21:01] morning I attended a press conference of [00:21:04] uh one of the major unions of Colombia [00:21:07] uh the coup and uh some of the sort of [00:21:12] leading or convening organizations of [00:21:14] the social movement uh summit that's [00:21:17] going to be taking place parallel to the [00:21:19] SAC EU summit and they made it very [00:21:21] clear that they are going to pressure [00:21:23] these governments to ensure that the [00:21:26] social movements and the organizations [00:21:28] voice is heard by the summit. to ensure [00:21:31] that they deal with this issue which is [00:21:34] the attack on the sovereignty of of [00:21:37] these countries of the region and the [00:21:40] attack on the Bolivarian revolution and [00:21:42] process there by the United States that [00:21:45] this is the most pressing issue uh right [00:21:48] now that needs to be dealt with at this [00:21:51] um at this summit and we're going to see [00:21:54] leaders from the Caribbean of course uh [00:21:56] some of them have already uh confirmed [00:21:59] including Mia Mley This will be taking [00:22:01] place on uh Sunday and Monday [00:22:04] uh the heads of state summit that is and [00:22:07] uh they a lot of a lot of these leaders [00:22:09] have already condemned the US uh [00:22:12] terrorism that's taking place. So it [00:22:14] will be very interesting to see the way [00:22:16] in which they actually deal with this [00:22:17] because right now it is the [00:22:19] responsibility of Salac to make sure [00:22:22] that they stand up to this gross [00:22:25] hostility and this rogue uh action of [00:22:28] the rogue uh US state [00:22:31] >> and you mentioned just this [00:22:33] transformation of Gustavo Petro. I think [00:22:35] right now uh Trump has even expressed [00:22:38] that he's super frustrated that Gustavo [00:22:41] Petro, Colombia's president, will not [00:22:43] allow Washington to use the Colombian [00:22:45] military to participate in any sort of [00:22:48] regime change. And so what have you made [00:22:50] of this development? And what is the [00:22:52] mood like in Colombia specifically in [00:22:55] terms of this new leadership and this [00:22:59] buildup to uh you know this US war to [00:23:02] Venezuela? Considering that Venezuela or [00:23:05] Colombia has been a client state of the [00:23:07] United States in the past and now [00:23:09] Gustava is kind of transforming it to [00:23:11] more of a resistance state. [00:23:16] Well, President Pro characterizes [00:23:19] himself as a progressive and that's also [00:23:21] how he's being characterized by a lot of [00:23:24] his base, a lot of his followers. uh not [00:23:27] so much as um someone who is prepared to [00:23:30] lead a process the way in which [00:23:33] President Maduro has led the Boloulevard [00:23:36] uh revolution alongside its other [00:23:38] leaders Jo Cabo, Jorge Rodriguez and so [00:23:42] forth in Venezuela. But they have made [00:23:45] important changes from the very outset [00:23:48] when they came into power and decided to [00:23:50] go after the heads of the criminal [00:23:53] organizations in this country and deploy [00:23:57] the uh or deploy the armed forces of [00:23:59] Colombia to make it increasingly [00:24:02] difficult for these criminal cartels to [00:24:05] operate here and to use their [00:24:07] traditional uh drug shipping routes. Now [00:24:09] they have to go through uh lawless [00:24:12] places like Ecuador uh under the US [00:24:15] puppet Danielle Nooa to be able to ship [00:24:17] those drugs all around the world um [00:24:20] through every other uh path but not [00:24:23] through Venezuela. Just to just to touch [00:24:25] on Venezuela again, um the Boulevard [00:24:29] National Armed Forces have made uh [00:24:32] progress as well because it is a very [00:24:35] large and porous border between [00:24:38] Venezuela and Colombia. Uh you know, [00:24:42] people in the US might know the distance [00:24:46] uh between the US and Mexico and that [00:24:50] border. Uh, Venezuela has much larger [00:24:52] international borders to deal with on [00:24:54] multiple sides. And in recent weeks, the [00:24:58] armed forces of Venezuela were able to [00:25:01] uh dismantle what appeared to be ELN [00:25:04] camps in the country. uh on uh in more [00:25:08] than one location. [00:25:10] They showed pictures through their [00:25:13] Telegram accounts of what appeared to be [00:25:17] uh weapons and uh uniforms and other [00:25:20] things that pertain to the ELN. And they [00:25:24] of course do so uh citing the [00:25:26] constitution of the bulan republic that [00:25:28] says that the territory can never be [00:25:31] seated, transferred, leased or any way [00:25:34] alienated even temporarily or or [00:25:36] partially to foreign states or other [00:25:39] subjects of international law. And that [00:25:43] the Venezuelan geographic space is a [00:25:45] zone of peace. No foreign military bases [00:25:48] or installations with any military [00:25:50] purpose which these are armed groups may [00:25:53] be established [00:25:55] uh therein by any power or coalition of [00:25:58] powers that threatens the Venezuelan [00:26:02] state. So without any distinction of who [00:26:06] the groups are or what their political [00:26:08] ideology is, Venezuela has the [00:26:11] responsibility [00:26:12] of uh making sure that there are no [00:26:15] foreign groups or armed groups operating [00:26:19] in its territory and it's doing that [00:26:21] right now and that's really important. [00:26:23] So on both sides of the border there [00:26:25] have been advances in taking control of [00:26:29] their uh respective territories and on [00:26:33] the Colombian side Gustavo Petro has a [00:26:36] lot of support uh to the point where his [00:26:39] possible successor Ivan Seped who will [00:26:43] be running as the presidential candidate [00:26:46] for the BTO Historico next year seems to [00:26:49] be the frontr runner and this is a big [00:26:51] reason why Colombia is now in the [00:26:54] crosshairs of all of this is because [00:26:56] approval for President Pro throughout [00:26:59] his administration has maintained uh for [00:27:03] the most part and he is going to be [00:27:06] succeeded by a very popular leader in [00:27:10] this country who has also stood up to [00:27:13] this narco right-wing paramilitary like [00:27:17] political oligarchical alliance in the [00:27:19] country and in in that case it seems [00:27:22] seems as if they have a very strong [00:27:24] chance of winning the presidential [00:27:26] elections in 2026. And that is a [00:27:28] complete nightmare for the United [00:27:30] States. They know that in order to [00:27:34] revert the country to the hands of the [00:27:37] oligarchs who are very closely linked [00:27:40] with Marco Rubio, with the right-wing uh [00:27:44] Florida lawmakers in the United States [00:27:46] and others in Washington, that they're [00:27:49] going to need to really expand this [00:27:52] campaign against President Pro and [00:27:55] against the left here in Colombia to [00:27:58] ensure that they don't hold on to power [00:28:01] for another period. And so that's what [00:28:03] we're seeing right now here in Colombia. [00:28:04] There's a very strong propaganda [00:28:07] campaign against the president in every [00:28:10] way conceivable. The sort of anti- prop [00:28:13] the anti- Venezuela propaganda that you [00:28:16] see on the news and the mainstream [00:28:17] media, we see tons of it here in [00:28:19] Colombia. They are attacking President [00:28:22] Pro in every way possible, trying to [00:28:24] delegitimize even the hosting of the [00:28:26] Slack summit, saying that all of the [00:28:28] foreign leaders are cancelling, which is [00:28:30] not true. They are going to attend. they [00:28:33] are going to participate. um and [00:28:35] spreading all sorts of false rumors and [00:28:39] of course trying to uh uh trying to use [00:28:43] this claim that has been used forever [00:28:46] and ever that the left and socialists in [00:28:48] Latin America and Colombia in particular [00:28:51] is tied with narot trafficking uh which [00:28:54] is absolutely categorically false uh to [00:28:58] try to delegitimize uh the president and [00:29:01] make it more difficult uh including with [00:29:03] the sanctions what they want to do with [00:29:06] the sanctions uh which make it very [00:29:09] difficult for banks here in Colombia and [00:29:12] internationally or anyone to uh uh have [00:29:16] any sort of contracts or any dealings or [00:29:20] financial transactions with the [00:29:22] president even after he he's completes [00:29:26] his uh his mandate as president is they [00:29:29] want to make it so that people distance [00:29:31] themselves out of fear [00:29:34] for, you know, secondary sanctions or [00:29:36] any other repercussions on themselves [00:29:38] and make it so that they can eventually [00:29:41] try to uh cause uh some sort of uh [00:29:45] factioning or splinters within the [00:29:48] left-wing movement uh and the left-wing [00:29:51] uh political parties here in Colombia. [00:29:53] Hopefully, it's not going to work. And [00:29:56] hopefully people see the similarities [00:29:58] between the attacks on President Pro and [00:30:00] the left in Colombia now and the years, [00:30:03] if not decades of slander and propaganda [00:30:07] against our leaders in other countries. [00:30:09] It's the same sort of propaganda [00:30:11] campaigns that Nicaragua, Cuba, and [00:30:13] Venezuela have been subject to, but even [00:30:15] Rafael Korea in Ecuador and other [00:30:18] countries. And another just to end on a [00:30:21] final point, a really important thing [00:30:23] that President Pro said yesterday was [00:30:25] that part of why this is happening to [00:30:28] him that the US has become so hostile [00:30:30] with him is because he refused to uh [00:30:34] purchase US uh aircraft, military [00:30:38] aircraft from the United States and he [00:30:40] went with um some European ones and he [00:30:43] said that's exactly what happened to [00:30:45] Lula. I believe he was referring to [00:30:47] that's what happened to Dilma and that's [00:30:49] what that's why Dilma and the PT [00:30:51] government uh fell to a coup in 2016. [00:30:56] But that is precisely the case that the [00:30:58] United States doesn't like when a [00:31:00] country makes its own sovereign [00:31:02] decisions, its own economic decisions, [00:31:04] buys military aircraft from other [00:31:06] countries and things like that. And so [00:31:08] this is all part of why uh he he's on [00:31:10] their blacklist now. [00:31:12] >> Oh, absolutely. I mean, you break the [00:31:13] dollar, you break our military, we break [00:31:16] your country. I mean, that's should [00:31:18] become the the new motto of uh the [00:31:20] United States military and government. [00:31:23] But, you know, it's really interesting [00:31:24] to see this transformation of Colombia [00:31:26] with this new leadership because we have [00:31:29] um Gustavo Petra who just returned from [00:31:32] DHA where he met with Palestinian [00:31:35] amputated Palestinian children. But it [00:31:37] wasn't just too long ago where Colombia [00:31:39] was actually described as the Israel of [00:31:42] Latin America. And you talked a lot, [00:31:44] Camila, about the borders between [00:31:46] Colombia and Venezuela. And obviously [00:31:49] Colombia has been this uh land bridge [00:31:52] where the United States has conducted [00:31:54] military drills. They've I'm you know, [00:31:57] I'm going to assume that that's where a [00:31:59] lot of the money and weapons went to um [00:32:02] opposition forces. it was through [00:32:04] Colombia to topple the Maduro [00:32:06] government. Um maybe even where the [00:32:09] United States orchestrated some of the [00:32:11] coups against the Venezuelan government [00:32:12] and now that land bridge is being [00:32:14] closed. Um so you know Colombia played a [00:32:18] really crucial role for US for the US [00:32:21] military and the US government to uh [00:32:23] conduct these sabotages [00:32:27] um these sabotaging plans inside of [00:32:29] Latin America. And now Gustavo Gustavo [00:32:32] Petro is putting a stop to that. And so [00:32:36] um you know all of all things Colombia [00:32:38] have changed. Um so could you Allan tell [00:32:42] us more about Colombia's transformation [00:32:44] um over the years and what do you think [00:32:46] will happen next with uh excuse me [00:32:48] [clears throat] with my throat is so [00:32:50] dry. Excuse me guys. Um with um Gustavo [00:32:53] Petro I don't know. I'm smelling some [00:32:55] sort of coup or regime change op coming [00:32:58] to Colombia very soon. [00:33:03] >> Yeah, sure. Um well, I'll answer the [00:33:05] first the last question first, which is [00:33:07] yeah, the United States Pro's actions [00:33:10] and his um and his thoughts and his [00:33:13] outbursts and his uh statements and what [00:33:15] he's done over the past few years has [00:33:17] definitely put him in the firing line in [00:33:19] Washington sites. As you said, Colombia [00:33:22] has changed incredibly over the past [00:33:24] decades. [00:33:26] We were talking about a country that for [00:33:28] the longest time and you know to a [00:33:30] certain extent still is called the [00:33:31] Israel of Latin America. President Hugo [00:33:33] Chavez of Venezuela called them that. [00:33:36] And what he meant by that was that [00:33:37] Colombia serves uh the United States [00:33:41] Empire's uh role in Latin America very [00:33:43] much like how Israel serves its uh role [00:33:46] in the Middle East being a regional [00:33:48] outpost of empire. Colombia was the [00:33:52] staging ground for uh many coups and uh [00:33:56] different uh military operations in uh [00:33:59] in South America. Colombian mercenaries [00:34:02] are con who are, you know, linked to the [00:34:05] drug trade, as Camila was talking about [00:34:07] earlier, are constantly used for a lot [00:34:09] of the dirty work in Latin America. And [00:34:12] Colombia and Israel have had very close [00:34:14] ties uh throughout the 20th and early [00:34:16] 21st centuries. So much so that somebody [00:34:19] like Juan Manuel Santos, who was [00:34:21] president of Colombia, can appear in an [00:34:23] Israeli an ad for an Israeli mercenary [00:34:26] company in Colombia while he is still [00:34:29] president. And that is just seen as [00:34:31] normal in the country. That's because [00:34:34] the Colombian military uses Israeli [00:34:36] weapons. They drive around in Israeli [00:34:38] tanks. Uh they use Israeli armor. They [00:34:41] are trained by former IDF and um Mossad [00:34:45] agents, people like um Ya Klein, the [00:34:48] very famous um Israeli uh mercenary who [00:34:52] was crucial in training up all of these [00:34:55] um Colombian farright paramilitaries [00:34:57] like the AU and the Black Eagles and uh [00:35:00] yeah and other ones. So Colombia and um [00:35:04] Israel have these longstanding ties. A [00:35:08] lot of the previous governments in [00:35:09] Colombia had shared um very similar [00:35:11] outlook on how the economy and how [00:35:14] society should be organized. It was one [00:35:16] of Israel's key defenders in the region [00:35:18] in a region which has generally been [00:35:21] very pro Palestine. [00:35:24] And all that's really changed in the [00:35:26] past few years because Gustavo Petro is [00:35:28] the first left-wing president in [00:35:30] Colombia's history and has flipped that [00:35:32] on his on his head. And instead of [00:35:34] taking a consiliary a consiliary tone as [00:35:38] many uh as many soft left um presidents [00:35:42] do when they get into power, he's [00:35:44] actually really stood up for what he [00:35:45] believes in and has fought the power. [00:35:47] And he is seemingly unwilling to go [00:35:50] quietly and uh make peace with these [00:35:52] sorts of uh powerful forces. He seems to [00:35:54] really want to stand up for what he [00:35:56] believes in and the public is going with [00:35:58] it. And you see in um in opinion poll [00:36:02] after opinion poll, despite the enormous [00:36:04] propaganda campaign that Camila was [00:36:05] talking about against pro, his opinion [00:36:09] uh ratings in Colombia continue to rise [00:36:12] well into the 60s. I mean, you can only [00:36:14] imagine an American president with a [00:36:17] permanent 60 to almost 70% approval [00:36:19] rating. is almost impossible to think [00:36:21] of. But that's the sort of um [snorts] [00:36:24] uh coalition he has been managing to [00:36:26] muster and to uh bring about and part of [00:36:29] that is because of his principal stance [00:36:32] against intervention. He doesn't want to [00:36:33] see a US intervention in Venezuela. He [00:36:36] doesn't want to see lawfare being [00:36:38] carried out across the continent uh [00:36:41] replacing democratically elected [00:36:43] governments with uh USbacked ones. And [00:36:46] so proh continues to his uh popularity [00:36:50] continues to increase and as Camila said [00:36:53] he can't become president next time [00:36:55] because of the term limits in Colombia [00:36:57] but his uh successor looks to be even [00:37:00] Ivan Cipeda who might even be more [00:37:02] radical than him. So Colombia is a [00:37:05] country in serious flux and serious [00:37:07] change and it's one that many people [00:37:09] around the world are looking at uh as an [00:37:11] inspiration [00:37:13] >> and I do think that uh Mexico is seeing [00:37:16] also a bit of a transformation with the [00:37:18] last two leaders. Um, currently we have [00:37:21] Claudia Sheenbomb of I think I'm [00:37:23] pronouncing her name correctly of Mexico [00:37:25] is also pushing back against um, Trump's [00:37:28] policies both against her own Mexican [00:37:31] nation and in the region. Um, she [00:37:34] refused to attend the summit for the [00:37:37] Americas because of the United States [00:37:39] buildup inside of the Caribbean. What [00:37:41] can you tell us uh Camila about Claudia, [00:37:44] President Claudia of Mexico and um you [00:37:48] know the push back that Mexico is [00:37:51] showing in the face of US imperialism in [00:37:53] the region. [00:37:57] >> Well, Mexico is continuing its [00:38:00] transformation process and they have [00:38:03] really important infrastructure projects [00:38:07] underway. a lot of just important [00:38:09] transformations and that is that is at [00:38:13] the center of why these last two [00:38:15] administrations of uh of Amllo and now [00:38:20] Shine Bomb are so popular. And so there [00:38:22] have been extreme attempts to try to [00:38:25] delegitimize these governments for uh [00:38:29] their very uh first of all their very [00:38:32] diplomatic uh approach to the region and [00:38:35] the way in which they have not gone [00:38:38] along with the hostile attacks against [00:38:41] Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and they [00:38:45] are now finding themselves in the [00:38:48] crosshairs of US hostility because of [00:38:51] these position s uh there's a lawmaker [00:38:55] named uh Himenez. I can't think of his [00:38:58] his first name in the United States, but [00:39:00] he is uh introducing legislation right [00:39:03] now against uh Mexico for aiding Cuba [00:39:07] and for maintaining and legitimizing [00:39:10] that uh relationship with the Cuban [00:39:13] government. So the United States is [00:39:16] absolutely desperate right now to try to [00:39:20] uh you know undermine any government or [00:39:23] attack any government which is friendly [00:39:26] or in any way just neutral on these [00:39:29] different governments of the region that [00:39:30] it's trying to overthrow because [00:39:33] ultimately the US is trying to attack [00:39:36] not just Venezuela but also as Alan said [00:39:39] earlier Cuba that's you know at least [00:39:41] part two uh if not uh one the points [00:39:44] along uh you know the the agenda that [00:39:47] that Marco Rubio has as Secretary of [00:39:50] State right now and so they're going to [00:39:53] be going after uh President Claudia for [00:39:56] uh not going along with uh these US [00:40:00] objectives in the region but they find [00:40:01] themselves in a very difficult place [00:40:03] because they are a US neighbor and they [00:40:06] also have the presence of the United [00:40:08] States within their own borders and also [00:40:10] represented the US rep uh interests are [00:40:13] represented ed through some of the [00:40:15] oligarchs and right-wing parties in [00:40:18] Mexico which are operating with foreign [00:40:20] funding as well. Something that Claudia [00:40:23] has tried to crack down on. [00:40:25] >> And I just want to end the conversation [00:40:27] with one last question here which is [00:40:29] there seems to be significant opposition [00:40:31] to any sort of US invasion uh of [00:40:35] Venezuela. So I do want to bring this [00:40:36] conversation back to Venezuela. Um right [00:40:39] now we have Admiral Alvin Holsey who has [00:40:43] resigned from his post as head of the US [00:40:46] Southern Command. Uh this happened last [00:40:48] month amid widespread speculation of his [00:40:51] reluctance to you know carry out Trump's [00:40:54] plan. That's why we believe that he [00:40:56] stepped down. And um you know we've been [00:40:59] sitting kind of at the edge of our seat [00:41:01] right now. The Trump administration last [00:41:03] weekend said, you know, the US military [00:41:05] could strike Venezuela any minute now. [00:41:09] So Allan, um, maybe, you know, well, [00:41:12] I'll ask both of you guys this question, [00:41:13] but we'll start with Allan. How likely [00:41:14] do you think a full US invasion would [00:41:17] be? I mean, would air strikes be a more [00:41:20] believable option right now? [00:41:25] >> Um, yeah. Well, the Trump administration [00:41:28] has moved thousands of troops to the [00:41:30] Caribbean and is currently moving its [00:41:34] largest aircraft carrier in its fleet [00:41:36] over to uh that region as well. However, [00:41:39] that's clearly not enough uh soldiers [00:41:42] and forces more generally to actually [00:41:45] mount uh an invasion of such a large [00:41:47] country, especially one with such a [00:41:49] large military and millions of people in [00:41:52] militias as well. So I think right now [00:41:56] the way that they are being so [00:41:58] aggressive and so strong kind of um it [00:42:02] likely um suggests uh a sort of strong [00:42:05] while weak, weak while strong, the sort [00:42:06] of thing a dumb guy does in poker when [00:42:08] he, you know, pretends he's very uh [00:42:10] strong. My sense is they're probably [00:42:13] trying to probe Venezuela for cracks, [00:42:15] trying to find fissures among the [00:42:16] military, hoping that perhaps forces [00:42:19] inside Venezuela or perhaps uh in their [00:42:22] neighbors will do their uh job for them. [00:42:27] Um, I'm certainly thinking that uh [00:42:29] strikes against Venezuela are a distinct [00:42:31] possibility because we've already seen [00:42:34] that uh the Trump administration has no [00:42:36] problems and no qualms whatsoever about [00:42:38] firing on civilian vessels with zero [00:42:41] evidence that they are involved in [00:42:43] anything shady uh even as even if that [00:42:46] would be a justification. So clearly the [00:42:50] Trump administration is trying to [00:42:51] provoke something and in fact recently [00:42:54] Maduro came out and said that the [00:42:55] Venezuelan uh government the authorities [00:42:58] there had actually prevented a false [00:43:00] flag operation uh against American uh [00:43:03] shipping um presumably in a sort of Gulf [00:43:07] of Tomkin incident. I remember the main [00:43:09] incident trying to get the United States [00:43:11] into its next forever war. Um Trump, as [00:43:16] you said earlier, has um authorized the [00:43:18] CIA to carry out lethal operations [00:43:21] against Venezuela. So, the situation is [00:43:23] absolutely serious and absolutely [00:43:25] perilous. But if Trump thinks that this [00:43:28] is going to be uh another Iraq and it's [00:43:30] going to be an easy win or another Libya [00:43:32] where the government will fall quickly, [00:43:34] uh that's not going to be the case. the [00:43:36] Venezuelan public only 3% of them in a [00:43:39] recent poll suggest uh said that they [00:43:41] favor an invasion and the vast majority [00:43:44] were categorically against it. So if the [00:43:48] United States does invade Venezuela, it [00:43:50] might turn into their next Vietnam, [00:43:51] another quagmire where [00:43:54] huge numbers of Americans and countless [00:43:56] Venezuelans uh will die and it might [00:43:59] take years and years and they'll achieve [00:44:01] absolutely nothing. So, uh, we can only [00:44:03] hope for peace, but we do have to [00:44:05] prepare for war knowing what Washington [00:44:07] is capable of because we're analysts and [00:44:10] we've watched this for our whole lives. [00:44:13] >> The difficult thing that Salac will have [00:44:15] to take on this weekend when they meet [00:44:18] is addressing the fact that the United [00:44:20] States continues to have its proxies, [00:44:23] its agents, its puppets here in the [00:44:25] region. And that's really a big part of [00:44:29] the question here. uh this military [00:44:32] buildup is only possible in this [00:44:36] extensive form that we're seeing right [00:44:38] now because the governments of Trinidad [00:44:40] and Tobago, the governments of Guyana [00:44:43] and Panama right now uh and even Jamaica [00:44:47] are allowing the United States to use [00:44:49] their territories as military bases uh [00:44:53] for extended periods of time if not uh [00:44:56] for year round use. but in particular [00:44:59] right now with uh all of the uh [00:45:02] equipment and troops that we're seeing [00:45:04] as as Alan has mentioned. And so they're [00:45:07] going to have to uh deal with that [00:45:09] question. Not only how do we address the [00:45:12] United States who which is trying to [00:45:15] wage another imperialist war and attack [00:45:18] an innocent country which doesn't have [00:45:20] any real problem, doesn't have any beef [00:45:23] with the United States. they just want [00:45:24] to be left alone and allowed to carry [00:45:27] out their own uh sovereign project, [00:45:31] but also that there are so many willing [00:45:34] uh allies of the United States in this [00:45:36] region who are lending themselves to [00:45:40] this and providing the space for this to [00:45:42] take place uh without any question. And [00:45:45] as Ellen mentioned, the false flag that [00:45:50] was uh being planned by uh this US [00:45:54] intelligence by the CIA uh on Trinidad [00:45:58] uh and Tobago's territory uh was, you [00:46:02] know, done so because they have [00:46:04] permission to do what they want to [00:46:06] there. They are trying to create a [00:46:08] scenario in which uh they make it seem [00:46:11] as if uh some attack happens or some [00:46:15] some sort of uh attack on a US uh you [00:46:20] know military asset there and blame it [00:46:23] on Venezuela and use that as the [00:46:26] justification for a strike on uh [00:46:30] Venezuelan land despite that. By the [00:46:33] way, people in the United States, [00:46:34] according to the Yuggov survey, which [00:46:36] was just carried out, uh overwhelmingly [00:46:40] do not support uh strikes on land [00:46:43] targets in Venezuela, an invasion of [00:46:45] Venezuela, or anything of the sort. Uh [00:46:49] neither Democrats or Republicans. And [00:46:52] so, [00:46:53] uh they're supporters, that is voters, [00:46:56] not uh not to not speak of, uh [00:47:00] politicians themselves. [00:47:02] >> [clears throat] [00:47:02] >> And so, uh, you know, this is going to [00:47:05] have to be addressed because, uh, if [00:47:07] you, if you see what people are saying [00:47:10] online, uh, the people of Trinidad and [00:47:13] Tobago, they're not happy with the way [00:47:15] in which their country is being used to [00:47:18] wage a war against a neighboring country [00:47:20] that is just, uh, kilometers away from [00:47:23] them. and other other people from the [00:47:25] rest of the Caribbean and Latin America [00:47:27] are saying the same thing that our [00:47:29] countries should not allow um our our uh [00:47:33] our territories to be used for war. [00:47:35] They're saying that in Jamaica. They're [00:47:36] saying that in uh Barbados. They're [00:47:39] saying that in St. Vincent and the [00:47:40] Grandines, etc. And so these are some of [00:47:43] the questions that are going to have to [00:47:45] be uh put on the table and discussed [00:47:47] this week in Salac is how do we protect [00:47:49] ourselves from a new war coming to our [00:47:54] region? We've already seen uh this [00:47:57] military foreign occupation in Haiti [00:47:59] which has been going on some time and we [00:48:01] see the United States uh you know put [00:48:04] down its tentacles and Southcom occupy [00:48:07] different areas of Latin America [00:48:09] including Colombia but we haven't seen [00:48:12] an actual land invasion and bombing uh [00:48:16] for some time. the last being the [00:48:18] bombing of Panama City um in 1989 and [00:48:21] previous to that uh the invasion and [00:48:24] attack on Grenada. And so um that's [00:48:27] what's being that's what needs to be [00:48:29] discussed right now. Uh all of this has [00:48:32] nothing to do with uh with what they're [00:48:38] saying now, drug trafficking or the [00:48:40] fight against uh fentinel. Clearly it [00:48:44] has everything to do with oil. It has [00:48:46] everything to do with gaining access to [00:48:49] the natural resources of our continent. [00:48:52] First being the oil reserves of [00:48:54] Venezuela and Guyana and Surinam and [00:48:56] Trinidad. and then um and then the rest [00:49:00] of the resources and also making sure [00:49:03] that Alba, the Bullwarian alliance, no [00:49:05] longer has any capacity to influence uh [00:49:09] this region of the world and also [00:49:12] conduct its own relations with or carry [00:49:14] out its own relations with other [00:49:15] countries of the global south. Something [00:49:18] that uh President Maduro has been [00:49:20] advocating for. He is a strong proponent [00:49:23] of a multi-polar world um and a world in [00:49:27] which uh you know the United States does [00:49:29] no longer dominates. They are fighting [00:49:31] against neoc colonialism against [00:49:34] imperialism and for the right for each [00:49:37] country and people to be able to decide [00:49:39] how they want to uh live their lives, [00:49:42] how they want to organize their society [00:49:44] and their economy. In the case of [00:49:45] Venezuela, it's towards socialism. [00:49:47] They're building Bolivarian socialism, [00:49:50] you know, led by previously uh Ugo [00:49:54] Chavez, now uh the the Chavistas, and [00:49:57] that's all they want. They just want to [00:49:59] be left alone, but the United States [00:50:01] will not allow it. [00:50:03] And it's so important to hear um [00:50:05] someone's perspective like yours uh [00:50:08] based on your experience living in the [00:50:10] global south, living in these South [00:50:12] American countries and seeing firsthand [00:50:14] uh Camila, you have seen firsthand the [00:50:16] just the devastation of US imperialism [00:50:19] on these nations. It's so refreshing to [00:50:22] hear um you know your reporting and you [00:50:25] educating us about the true realities on [00:50:28] the ground because you know we are [00:50:29] bombarded with US corporate media [00:50:32] propaganda that paints this really bad [00:50:35] picture about what socialism is um in [00:50:38] South America. I mean we have headline [00:50:40] after headline always saying you know [00:50:42] look at look at Venezuela the people are [00:50:45] starving there because of socialism look [00:50:47] at you know the the food shelves are [00:50:48] empty all of these things. Of course, I [00:50:50] traveled to Venezuela. I've seen with my [00:50:53] own eyes that the people there are [00:50:54] living a good life under the uh [00:50:56] Bolivarian revolution, but what I did [00:50:59] see is a devastation of the economy [00:51:01] there, not because of socialism, but [00:51:03] because of um the uh because of US [00:51:07] sanctions and sabotage. And so that's [00:51:09] really the the context that's really [00:51:11] missing from this conversation when it [00:51:13] comes to like US corporate media [00:51:15] coverage. But anyways, thank you both [00:51:18] for being here. Alan Mloud is also an [00:51:20] expert on US propaganda against uh [00:51:23] Venezuela. He wrote a whole book about [00:51:25] it. So, everyone needs to check that [00:51:26] out. I mentioned it in my intro. And [00:51:29] it's just really an honor to have you [00:51:31] both here educating us about this [00:51:33] situation. So, thank you so much.