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[00:00:08] The Trump administration has just [00:00:10] violated international law, specifically [00:00:12] article 2, section 4 of the United [00:00:14] Nations Charter, by kidnapping the [00:00:17] sitting president of Venezuela, Nicholas [00:00:19] Maduro, and placing him on trial under [00:00:22] drug trafficking charges that critics [00:00:24] across the global south and [00:00:26] international legal scholars describe as [00:00:29] political ally motivated and fraudulent. [00:00:32] Now ask yourself this. Can you imagine [00:00:34] if Russia or China sent a helicopter [00:00:36] into the US, turned off all electricity, [00:00:39] and the lights just went off in [00:00:41] Washington DC and kidnapped the American [00:00:43] president, [music] there would be [00:00:45] wallto-wall coverage, emergency UN [00:00:48] sessions, sanctions, and threats of war. [00:00:51] But because the United States did [00:00:53] [music] it, corporate media is treating [00:00:55] this not as an act of war, but as a [00:00:58] political development. Now, under [00:01:00] international law, the forcible seizure [00:01:02] of a head of state [music] is a grave [00:01:04] breach of sovereignty in an act of [00:01:07] aggression. But we're once again [00:01:08] reminded that international law does not [00:01:12] exist, [music] and this is a rogue state [00:01:14] committing a crime. Yet, instead of [00:01:17] reporting on that fact, Western [00:01:19] corporate media is pushing the same [00:01:21] script across all platforms. [00:01:23] >> Venezuela has a lot of bad people in [00:01:25] there, a lot of bad people that [00:01:26] shouldn't be leading, we're not going to [00:01:27] take a chance at one of those people [00:01:28] take over for Maduro. [00:01:30] >> And that's the problem with a lot of [00:01:31] these nations where a dictator takes [00:01:32] over is that once they get in power, as [00:01:33] soon as it's time for them to die or [00:01:35] leave, they will put other people in in [00:01:36] the place that are part of their either [00:01:38] their power uh vacuum or their criminal [00:01:40] enterprise. The operation to topple [00:01:41] Nicolamaduro, the dictator of Venezuela, [00:01:44] began in the early hours after days of [00:01:45] waiting for the right weather. [00:01:47] >> It's absolutely incredible, isn't it? [00:01:48] >> And we would continue to reserve the [00:01:49] right to take strikes against drug boats [00:01:51] that are bringing drugs towards the [00:01:52] United States that are being operated by [00:01:54] transnational criminal organizations, [00:01:55] including the cartel deol. Of course, [00:01:57] their leader, the leader of that cartel, [00:01:58] is now in US custody and facing US [00:02:00] justice. [00:02:01] >> We're going to do something about drugs. [00:02:02] He's acting. We're acting with striking [00:02:04] drugs. This is a president of action. [00:02:06] We're going to have our very large [00:02:08] United States oil companies, the biggest [00:02:11] anywhere in the world. We're in the oil [00:02:12] business. We're going to sell it to [00:02:13] We're not going to say we're not going [00:02:14] to give it [00:02:18] [snorts] right now. From CNN to the BBC, [00:02:21] we're also being flooded with footage of [00:02:23] wealthy Venezuelan expatriots in Miami [00:02:26] celebrating, cheering, waving flags, and [00:02:29] calling this liberation. And across [00:02:31] social media, many of these viral videos [00:02:33] of Venezuelans celebrating Trump [00:02:35] abducting their leader are actually AI. [00:02:38] They're fake, and they're being shared [00:02:40] by right-wing influencers like Nick [00:02:42] Shirley to their millions of followers. [00:02:45] What you're not being shown are the [00:02:46] millions of Venezuelans in the streets [00:02:48] [music] of Karakas protesting foreign US [00:02:51] intervention, denouncing sanctions, and [00:02:53] rejecting US interference in the [00:02:56] kidnapping of their elected president. [00:02:58] [music] [00:02:58] Because at the same time that these [00:03:00] images and the same script are repeated [00:03:02] and amplified, corporate media is [00:03:04] recycling the same narrative to justify [00:03:07] a socalled humanitarian intervention to [00:03:10] justify regime change. We've seen this [00:03:12] script before in [music] Iraq, in Libya, [00:03:15] in Syria, and across the global south. [00:03:17] First, the leader is dehumanized. Then [00:03:20] the country is morally simplified and [00:03:22] legitimate frustration [music] with [00:03:24] economic issues is weaponized to be used [00:03:27] for calls for regime [music] change. [00:03:29] Then before you know it, international [00:03:31] law disappears. Luxury watches, starving [00:03:34] people, brutal police committing rape. [00:03:37] [music] This is manufactured consent. [00:03:39] And as Nam Chomsky famously stated, any [00:03:42] dictator would admire the uniformity of [00:03:44] the US [music] corporate media. And [00:03:46] while of course there is legitimate [00:03:48] concern for the economic crisis in [00:03:50] Venezuela, [music] [00:03:51] mainstream media is leaving out the [00:03:53] important context that the US maximum [00:03:55] pressure sanctions regime, one of the [00:03:57] most aggressive economic sieges imposed [00:04:00] on [music] any country not at war is to [00:04:03] blame. US officials including figures [00:04:05] like John Bolton have openly [music] [00:04:07] stated that the purpose of economic [00:04:08] sanctions is to create enough suffering [00:04:11] that people turn against their own [00:04:13] government. And that suffering is not a [00:04:15] mistake. [music] [00:04:16] It is the policy. US sanctions against [00:04:19] Venezuela have [music] blocked essential [00:04:22] medicines including cancer treatments, [00:04:24] diabetes medication, diialysis supplies, [00:04:27] [music] food imports, hospital [00:04:29] equipment, and industrial machinery. [00:04:31] Multiple humanitarian studies link US [00:04:33] sanctions to hundreds of thousands of [00:04:35] people dying in Venezuela because of US [00:04:38] sanctions preventing these lifesaving [00:04:40] medicines from entering the country. Yet [00:04:43] CNN and the BBC rarely lead with this. [00:04:46] Instead, they tell you Venezuela [00:04:48] collapsed because of one man, and that [00:04:50] man is Nicholas Maduro. This is the part [00:04:52] corporate media almost never tells you. [00:04:54] As Venezuela was being strangled by US [00:04:57] sanctions, it actually turned to another [00:04:59] sanctioned country, which was Iran. Two [00:05:01] countries under economic siege began [00:05:04] cooperating to keep people alive. Iran [00:05:07] sent in food, fuel, medicine, and [00:05:09] humanitarian supplies. [music] [00:05:11] And this was not an act of charity. It [00:05:14] was solidarity between two countries [00:05:16] punished [music] for resisting US and [00:05:18] Israeli imperial power. And how did the [00:05:20] US respond? They seized Iranian ships [00:05:23] carrying [music] hundreds of tons of aid [00:05:25] to Venezuela in international waters. [00:05:29] This is state piracy. When Venezuela [00:05:31] tried to feed [music] its people, the [00:05:33] ships were seized by the US Navy. When [00:05:35] Iran tried to help, the cargo was taken. [00:05:39] And [music] then corporate media blamed [00:05:41] who? Venezuela for the shortages. And of [00:05:44] course, Venezuela holds the largest [00:05:47] proven oil reserves in Latin America [00:05:50] alongside vast gold and mineral wealth. [00:05:53] But US sanctions have actually prevented [00:05:56] Venezuela from importing refinery parts, [00:05:59] drilling equipment, mining, machinery, [00:06:01] and [music] other things to be able to [00:06:04] access their own resource wealth. So [00:06:07] despite enormous resources, the country [00:06:09] is prevented from accessing its own [00:06:12] [music] wealth. This is not [00:06:13] mismanagement. This is economic [00:06:15] strangulation. And this is where US [00:06:18] intentions become very [music] clear. [00:06:20] The head of the US Southern Command, [00:06:22] Laura Richardson, has openly stated that [00:06:24] Latin America's oil, gold, lithium, and [00:06:27] rare earth minerals are vital to US [00:06:30] military and technological dominance. So [00:06:33] this is about supply chains for weapon [00:06:35] systems, surveillance tech, artificial [00:06:38] intelligence, and electric vehicles. [00:06:40] [music] And it explains why governments [00:06:42] that refuse to open resources to Chevron [00:06:44] and Exon Mobile are targeted. Within 12 [00:06:47] hours of capturing President Maduro, [00:06:49] Trump went on Fox News to say that the [00:06:52] US is now ready to take over Venezuela's [00:06:54] oil industry. Corporate media also [00:06:57] insists Venezuela's elections are [00:06:59] corrupt. Well, I was in Venezuela in [00:07:02] 2021 as an [music] independent [00:07:03] international election observer. I saw [00:07:06] the process with my own eyes along with [00:07:08] hundreds of other observers from around [00:07:10] the world to monitor the elections. [00:07:12] [music] [00:07:12] And here's what we found. Venezuela's [00:07:15] elections are among the most transparent [00:07:17] and heavily audited [music] in the world [00:07:19] with biometric verification, paper [00:07:21] trails, public audits, [music] and [00:07:23] international observers. But when [00:07:25] elections produce outcomes Washington [00:07:27] dislikes, they are declared [00:07:29] illegitimate. Not because of fraud, but [00:07:31] because of politics. Meanwhile, US [00:07:34] elections dominated by corporate [music] [00:07:36] money, lobbying, and even foreign [00:07:39] influence by countries like Israel are [00:07:41] never sanctioned or delegitimized. The [00:07:43] double standard is obvious. [music] And [00:07:46] notice something else. Corporate media [00:07:48] has largely abandoned the drug [00:07:49] trafficking [music] narrative. Why? [00:07:52] because it collapsed under scrutiny. If [00:07:54] Donald Trump and Marco Rubio really [00:07:57] cared about drug trafficking, they would [00:07:58] examine political protection and pardons [00:08:00] at home, like the fact that Trump just [00:08:03] pardoned one of the world's biggest [00:08:05] cocaine [music] [00:08:06] traffickers, former Honduras President [00:08:08] Juan Orlando Hernandez. [music] But the [00:08:11] truth is, it doesn't even matter. For [00:08:14] decades, the US [music] has funded and [00:08:16] legitimized Venezuelan opposition [00:08:19] groups, including factions that engaged [00:08:21] in extremely violent destabilization. [00:08:23] [music] [00:08:24] Public records show tens of millions of [00:08:26] dollars funneled through US aid and the [00:08:29] National Endowment [music] for Democracy [00:08:31] or the NED. During the Guarim bus, [00:08:35] opposition linked groups used firearms, [00:08:37] Molotov cocktails, and improvised [00:08:39] explosives, [music] killing civilians [00:08:41] and attacking public institutions. But [00:08:44] when violence by opposition failed, US [00:08:47] pressure on the Venezuelan government [00:08:49] escalated. They increased sanctions, [00:08:51] blockades, and blackouts, and extr [00:08:54] territorial threats. But history seems [00:08:57] to have repeated itself. In 2002, the US [00:09:00] backed a coup against revolutionary [00:09:01] leader and Venezuelan President Hugo [00:09:04] Chavez. Chavez was detained, removed, [00:09:06] and flown out in a helicopter by the [00:09:09] CIA, replaced by a USbacked regime that [00:09:12] immediately dismantled democratic [00:09:14] institutions. What stopped it was not [00:09:17] international law. It was the Venezuelan [00:09:20] people. Millions that supported Chavez [00:09:23] and the Bolivarian revolution flooded [00:09:25] the streets. The military fractured and [00:09:28] the coup collapsed. [music] Chavez was [00:09:31] returned because popular resistance made [00:09:33] regime change impossible. [music] [00:09:35] And of course, we can't talk about the [00:09:37] US plot to overthrow the Venezuelan [00:09:39] government and topple the Bolivaran [00:09:41] revolution without talking about Israel [00:09:43] and Palestine. The USbacked opposition [00:09:46] leader, Maria Korina Machado, has openly [00:09:48] pledged to open oil to US corporations, [00:09:51] reverse nationalization of resources, [00:09:54] and establish an Israeli embassy inside [00:09:56] of Venezuela. That would end Venezuela's [00:09:59] historic solidarity with [music] [00:10:01] Palestine, which Hugo Chavez made a [00:10:04] national cause that Maduro carried on. [00:10:07] Now, in the days leading up to [00:10:08] intensified pressure on Maduro, Israeli [00:10:10] officials were engaging regional [00:10:12] partners, including in Paraguay, to [00:10:15] discuss removing Maduro. And leading [00:10:17] Israeli newspapers have called Venezuela [00:10:19] a problem that needs to be solved for [00:10:21] decades for its alliance with Iran and [00:10:24] support for Palestinian liberation. [00:10:26] [music] Now, Venezuela's resistance to [00:10:28] US and Israeli imperialism is not [00:10:31] incidental. It is one of the main [00:10:33] reasons it is being targeted. All of [00:10:36] this leads to one unavoidable [00:10:39] conclusion. This is not a campaign [00:10:41] against a president. It is not even just [00:10:44] a campaign against a government or drug [00:10:46] trafficking. This is a war on the [00:10:49] Bolivarian Revolution itself. The [00:10:51] Bolivarian Revolution represents [00:10:53] something Washington cannot tolerate. [00:10:55] workingclass independence, national [00:10:58] sovereignty, public control of [00:11:00] resources, and a political project that [00:11:02] openly rejects capitalism, US domination [00:11:06] and Israeli imperialism. It is a model [00:11:09] rooted in the idea that a country's [00:11:11] wealth should serve its people, [music] [00:11:13] not multinational corporations, not [00:11:16] foreign militaries, and not global [00:11:18] elites. [music] It is a model that has [00:11:20] inspired countries across the global [00:11:22] south to seek independence and resist [00:11:25] [music] [00:11:25] US imperialism. That is the real threat [00:11:29] and that is why Venezuela [music] has [00:11:31] faced sanctions, economic siege, media [00:11:34] demonization, violent opposition [00:11:36] funding, attempted coups, and now the [00:11:39] normalization of abducting its leaders. [00:11:42] [music] [00:11:42] What all of this proves is simple. [00:11:44] International law does not stop the US [00:11:47] and Israel from committing war crimes. [00:11:49] These socalled rules-based international [00:11:52] order is selectively enforced, used [00:11:55] against the global south, and discarded [00:11:58] when inconvenient. The US asserts the [00:12:00] right to [music] sanction populations, [00:12:02] starve economies, remove governments, [00:12:04] and criminalize sovereignty. Corporate [00:12:07] media exists to normalize this. But [00:12:10] history shows us something else. The [00:12:12] Chavez coup failed because the people [00:12:15] refused it. Venezuela's resistance [00:12:17] continues [music] because the people [00:12:19] refused it. When international law is [00:12:22] ignored, only popular resistance [music] [00:12:24] remains. And that, not media scripts or [00:12:27] propaganda, is what decides the future. [00:12:30] I'm Adi and this is Behind the [00:12:32] Headlines. [00:12:37] [music]