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President Trump says US captures Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro

21m 2s

President Trump says US captures Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro

The BBC podcast discusses the significant U.S. intervention in Venezuela orchestrated by President Trump. President Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the U.S., emphasizing the deeper motives behind the intervention beyond drug trafficking charges. There is uncertainty regarding the future leadership in Venezuela following Maduro's removal, with concerns about potential repercussions and the need for a well-planned transition to avoid chaos. The involvement of neighboring countries, such as Colombia expressing concern and Russia and Cuba condemning the attack, adds complexity to the situation. The podcast highlights the historical context of previous U.S. interventions in Latin America and the implications for Venezuela's political landscape. Additionally, the role of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and the reactions of different governments, including European allies and regional powers, contribute to the multifaceted dynamics surrounding the Venezuelan crisis.

Transcription

3486 Words, 19891 Characters

Täs BBC Podcast, esi Putty by Ads, outside the UK. Että omaa kuin hommaan, olikysymä sitten omasta tai kaverin projektiista. "Iltauutisten ja meriseen velissä, alkui Paulone ja jannen välissä, keki kevon kukkoon." "Tas ku!" "Panerotu kkanaville piivi, salattiuus ja kuuti oita!" "Vekee, majoneisia!" Juuri sitä mitä Paulon hamburlaisinde välissäkin oli. Tähän väliin, kkanaville hamburlanen kuus 30. Tämä on näyttää, että se on käsiväniä, että järjestelmä on järjestelmä. Tämä on oonnus, että on järjestelmä, että on järjestelmä, että on järjestelmä, että on järjestelmä. Tämä on järjestelmä, että se on järjestelmä, että vennaisuilun preysin Niklas Maduro, voidaan kirjakaiset ja seuraavaksi. Venezuela hauskaan kylsiä ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä. Kirjakaiset ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä. Kylsiä ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä. USA hauskaan kylsiä ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä. USA hauskaan kylsiä on todella kylsiä ja kylsiä on todella kylsiä. USA hauskaan kylsiä on todella kylsiä. Uuskaan kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä. USA hauskaan kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä. USA hauskaan kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä on todella kylsiä. ja että Veneresweilin President Niklas Maduro - ja saavat viennävähtävästi ja viennävähtävästi. Veneresweilin kandaminen ottaisiin kologin ja kologin. Veneresweilin ja kologin ja kologin kologin viennävästi, - ja kologin viennävästi, että viennävähtävästi, että viennävähtävästi, - että viennävähtävästi, että viennävähtävästi, että viennävähtävästi, - ja kologin ja kologin ja kologin ja kologin. - In the face of this brutal situation - and in the face of this brutal attack - we have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the President Niklas Maduro - and the First Lady, Celia Flores. We demand from the Donald Trump government - immediate proof of life for President Maduro and the First Lady. We demand our international rights be respected. We condemn this brutal savage aggression against our country - that has taken the lives of military officials who will now become martyrs of our country - and that have taken the lives of innocent civilian Venezuelans - in all the different attack locations. - Nana, Vanessa Erero, - is a journalist in Caracas and she sent us this report. - He started hearing the planes around 2 a.m., local time - and I heard a huge sound, a loud bang that moved all the windows - and in my place, but around the area. Immediately after I saw a huge smoke, - a cloud of smoke, and that almost blocked the entire view - and a lot of detonations. Immediately after a lot of people started reporting - from different parts of Caracas, the capital of Caracas, - the same things that I was waiting to see, the same reports, - the same explosions, the same sounds of planes and helicopters flying - all over the city. Now, we do know that the government confirmed - that this attack was not only in Caracas, but in Miranda and Arawa - and also in La Guaida. So Arawa and La Guaida are in very important locations - in Venezuela. Military, they're very important for the military, of course. But in La Guaida, it's where the port and the airport are. And apparently their report of the port of Venezuela being absolutely destroyed. There are several videos shared on social media that show a very popular street - in La Guaida in the port of Venezuela. And you can see the devastation - all the building from the port of La Guaida. Absolutely destroyed in the middle of the street. I can't confirm that that image corresponds to La Guaida, but I cannot confirm - that the extent of the devastation in the port of La Guaida. Ana Vanessa Erero in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. So what should we make of these extraordinary developments? I asked our America's correspondent, Will Grant, who is currently in Washington. It is really genuinely nothing less than historic it. It is an extraordinary moment in U.S.- Latin American relations - obviously in U.S.- Venezuelan relations. But it has implications that go beyond the borders of Venezuela. First and foremost and most immediately, the Colombian president has said - that he is sending troops to the Colombian Venezuelan border. Let's not forget that there are left-wing armed groups, armed rebels - that still operate in Venezuelan soil and move back and forth - through that porus border and he fears that they would become drawn into - whichever conflict, further conflict that may take place in Venezuela. There are also implications for Cuba, which is thoroughly dependent on Venezuela and crude oil - for its revolution to be continually propped up. So it is a very, very unique situation in modern Latin America - and of course we don't know where quite simply the rest of the conflict will go - we know of course that Mr. Maduro and his wife - that President Trump has said they are no longer on Venezuelan soil - and that they are being brought to the United States - we believe to face charges here. But we have only heard from the Venezuelan side noises of sort of digging in further - from the defence minister, from the vice president. There has been a state of emergency - what they call a state of commotion has been declared - and a message has gone out to all of the socialist allies - within Venezuela in militias and civil militias and grassroots organisations - as well as putting the military on a war footing. So the picture for ordinary Venezuelans is deeply worrying. How was this operation possible? How were U.S. troops able to fly in to Caracas - presumably and capture the Venezuelan president? Well, we can only speculate at this stage - there is a press conference in Mara Lago, President Trump's Florida residents - due in a few hours and hopefully we'll hear more information there - but we speculate that there must have been - we believe there may have been some kind of inside information - making its way directly to Washington in secure channels - that may mean that somebody quite close in Mr. Madoldo's inner circle has turned on him. That is the plausible explanation for how this could have unfolded quite so - cleanly and quickly. Marco Rubio apparently spoke to a senator in the United States - and made those sorts of explanations. It was Republican Senator Mike Lee - who said that Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, had told him - that Nicolas Madoldo has been arrested by U.S. personnel - to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States - and that as he put it, the kinetic action we saw tonight - was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant - and further down he added in a comment to that post on social media - he anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Madoldo is in U.S. custody. Again, we are yet to get, as it were, more detail - the full story of these points being raised on social media by senators - and by other members of the administration. But we do know the U.S. has been massing military forces off Venezuela - for months and threatening military action. What more do we know about the sites that were targeted overnight? Well, two of them are military installations inside Caracas. The first is called La Calotta. It's a military airstrip, very central, really, in Caracas. You drive past it as you take one of the most important thoroughfares through the city - and it's just there. The other is called Fwettetuna. That's the most important military base. One of the most important military bases in the country - certainly the most important in Caracas. Very large, important military base. We don't know what the damage, the full extent of the damage - has been to those two sites. We do know that power went out to both of them - and to surrounding communities when those strikes took place. You're in Washington. What will Americans make of this after President Trump - promised not to get involved in foreign wars? Well, I think there'll be a mixed picture. I mean, of course, the Venezuelan American, the Cuban American community - who are conservative, the conservative part of those communities - will be welcoming the idea of Nicholas Mathero being removed - and his wife being brought to the United States to face charges. However, if the polling more broadly in the United States - is anything to go by, only around 30 percent of voters - seem to back the idea of U.S. military action in Venezuela. So President Trump has a lot of his constituency still to win over by the idea of this. Now, that polling was taken before there had been any military action - and before it could be deemed as it were successful - or painted as being successful by the Trump administration - one will be interested to see exactly what the reaction is - now that Nicholas Mathero has been removed - and if the Trump administration can show that was done - with no harm to civilian population or to U.S. service personnel - then he will be able to more easily portray it as a victory. We'll branch in Washington. With the capture of Nicholas Mathero, attention will now turn to - who will take over in Venezuela - and what will be the role of opposition leader Maria Gaurina Machado - who has been living in hiding but who recently left Venezuela - to receive her Nobel Peace Prize. I spoke to our Global Affairs reporter Mimi Swaby. The idea of one leader being removed - and another stepping in is a deceptively simple question. He has Mr Mathero a very loyal circle around him. Four key players, one of which is the Vice President - Delsey Rodriguez. Another is the Minister of Internal Affairs. He's kind of the second in command. The Ostele Gaurio. Now, those individuals are already making public appearances - really galvanizing the idea that Venezuela will fight against any - individual opposition coming in and taking power. We understand that according to the Constitution - it will be the Vice President who kind of fills that power vacuum. However, we really are in uncharted waters in the opposition - who are heavily backed by the U.S. - although they have said and made no kind of comment - about this operation, they haven't been part of it. They'll be wanting to maximize and really take advantage of this situation - which is incredibly uncertain. I think the idea that we'll know who will be the next leader of Venezuela - is not going to be one which will be immediately answered. This is probably a question and an answer for days ahead. Right now we're seeing police on the streets kind of cascading - anybody who's showing any idea of celebrations. We know that there are armed militias, civilians who've been armed - under the order of Nicholas Maduro - who are going to be looking for anybody celebrating - and going against the state of commotion. Not meaning people have to stay indoors, but the idea that the opposition - are going to swoop in and assume power of Venezuela is one which is false. This will be a long, long journey. And that was our Global Affairs reporter Mimi Swaby. Colombia has expressed profound concern about the U.S. raid - and sent troops to the Colombia-Venezuela border - while Venezuela's allies, Russia and Cuba have condemned the attack. But Argentina's president welcomed the U.S. intervention - posting on social media, liberty, advances. So how might others react? Dr. Christopher Sabatini is an expert on Latin America - at the International Think Tank Chatham House. It's going to be interesting. So let's try to break this out of it. I think for European allies, many of whom had opposed - Nicholas Maduro had denounced the elections. This is still coming as somewhat of a surprise. Some is a step too far. I think many of them will welcome the fact that there could potentially - be a democratic transition. We'll re-emphasize the fact that Maduro was an illegitimate - president in Venezuela. But of course, what comes next is really going to be the key - because everyone has been saying, including the Trump administration - and this they get right, this is a deeply criminal corrupt regime. So if there's going to be a regime change from within - and some people are alleging right now that the Vice President - Delce Rodriguez is somehow preparing to assume - some sort of interim role, that will not be palatable - to many governments, even within the European Union. So we'll have to see how this shakes out. I think we'll see, again, denunciations of Nicholas Maduro - but some trepidation concern even about U.S. tactics to get there. But in particular, what will happen in the next few days - is going to determine how many governments will respond. If it's, by some miracle, a successful operation - that leads to a democratic transition in peace in Venezuela - then perhaps the norm violating actions of the Trump administration will be forgotten. But if it suddenly turns south, I think we're going to see much more criticism. For other governments within Latin America, we are going to see - from the left-leaning government, such as in Mexico, Brazil - and Colombia, severe denunciations of this intervention - from the other governments that are closely aligned with the Donald Trump administration - I think they'll remain quiet. And the truth is, is that Maduro remains a deeply unpopular figure - across Latin America because of his transnational criminal ties - and because of the massive wave of refugees that have left Venezuela - more than 8 million people and are placing severe difficulties - on public safety, but public safety net programs - such as in education, healthcare and the like - among many of Venezuela's neighbors. So they will welcome this change. But the governments themselves, especially of the left - will feel a duty to denounce this as a violation of national sovereignty. Christopher Sabatini of Chatham House. When Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago - he promised to be a president of peace, vowing not to start any new wars. So what should we make of his attack on Venezuela - the biggest U.S. intervention in Latin America for decades? A question I put to our chief international correspondent, Leastu Set. So it certainly does harken back to those decades - which were described as gunboat diplomacy - where the U.S. felt it at every right to medal - often through the CIA in toppling regimes - fermenting dissent. And when President Trump entered the White House for a second term - as you've been mentioning, he was very clear that that era was over - that he would no longer, as he said in a major policy speech - and in re-out, be intervening in countries - where the United States had little understanding - it would not be taking part in nation-building. He would be letting countries determine their own future. A speech that received tremendous applause on his first foreign trip - across the Gulf of region, many capitals beyond, also welcomed - this new approach by President Trump, who had promised - in his inauguration speech to be a unifier and a peacemaker. Well, what has been happening this morning has certainly upended that - and confirms what, as always, with President Trump - you're never quite clear where he stands - because from one week to the next - and sometimes one day to the next, he seems to take wildly - different approaches on key issues of our time. And even though he never has used the phrase "regime change" - with Venezuela, casting it, as well as along with his - top officials as being a national security threat - that President Maruro was an illegitimate president - it is clear that this is "regime change" in all but name. Yeah, now according to comments attributed to the U.S. Secretary of State - Marco Rubio, President Maduro will be pushed on trial - on criminal charges. I mean, that will be quite a sight. All of the world's cameras will be on that - if they are planning to make a show of this - to make an example of the President Maduro - on drug trafficking charges. We heard from a U.S. senator. He has confirmed that he is going to stand trial on criminal charges. He said he received that information from the Secretary of State - Marco Rubio. It is, of course, not the first time that the United States - puts Latin American leaders accused of drug trafficking on trial - and it's not escape notice that a key Honduran official - who had been in jail on drug trafficking - job was recently pardoned by President Trump. He wasn't a President but he certainly was a key figure in the economy of Honduras. So, contradictory moves by President Trump, who says it's all about - fighting the scourge of drugs and narcotics, which are entering the United States. But I think this morning has really pulled back the curtain on this - and that it is about something much deeper. And indeed, in the eyes of many, more dangerous. Yeah, what next for Venezuela? I mean, it's had years of authoritarian rulers, Nicholas Maduro - and before him, Hugo Chavez, we recently saw the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado - winning the Nobel Peace Prize, yet to flee Venezuela to get it. We don't even know if she's gone back yet, but where do you see things going from here? It's not simply removing one person where President Trump has said - that Nicholas Maduro and his wife are now on the way to the United States - as we've been reporting, but he is part of a criminal network, which is well known - right across the region and beyond what will they do, how does the United States deal with them - and will the United States deal with them? We're again hearing from the U.S. senator that he heard from Marco Rubio - that there would be no more military action. But it's the same as when you saw the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in Syria a year ago. What about all the people around him? Will they try to flee? Where will they flee? Will they also be put on trial in Venezuela or beyond? This question, which seems deceptively simple, but we have seen time and again through history, is very, very complex. And indeed, fraught with peril is what next? What about the day after? And there are all too many memories, very bad memories. From what happened after the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq, what happened in the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan, that there was insufficient preparation for the day after. And therefore, when you saw the Gaza War erupting in October, when President Joe Biden at the time flew to Tel Aviv, it was said at the time that already the U.S. was saying to the Israelis, "Learn from us, learn from our mistakes, you have to start thinking about the day after already." We have seen that the United States has month on month intensified its military pressure on Venezuela. But have they, in secret, been making plans? We simply don't know. But in the days to come, it will certainly become abundant, they clear. Archive International correspondent Lee's do set. And as we record this podcast, the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that the Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the southern district of New York. And that's all from this special podcast. We'll have further updates in later editions of the Global News podcast. This edition was mixed by Gabriel Oregan and produced by Daniel Mann, Ella Bicknell and Chaz Geiger. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye. Available now on The Documentary from the BBC World Service. South Africa has one of the highest tuberculosis infection rates in the world, but it's also built a sophisticated scientific ecosystem to study the disease. I'm Sandra Cantha and I'll be finding out how funding cuts are affecting this globally important work. Listen now by searching for The Documentary, wherever you get to your BBC podcasts. [Muuttu]

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. U.S. intervention in Venezuela led by President Trump.
  2. President Maduro and his wife indicted in the U.S.
  3. Uncertainty about the future leadership and situation in Venezuela.

Summary:

S. intervention in Venezuela orchestrated by President Trump. , emphasizing the deeper motives behind the intervention beyond drug trafficking charges.

There is uncertainty regarding the future leadership in Venezuela following Maduro's removal, with concerns about potential repercussions and the need for a well-planned transition to avoid chaos. The involvement of neighboring countries, such as Colombia expressing concern and Russia and Cuba condemning the attack, adds complexity to the situation. S.

interventions in Latin America and the implications for Venezuela's political landscape. Additionally, the role of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and the reactions of different governments, including European allies and regional powers, contribute to the multifaceted dynamics surrounding the Venezuelan crisis.

FAQs

Yhdysvallat puuttui tilanteeseen presidentti Trumpin antaman mukaan, koska Maduroa pidettiin laittomana presidenttinä ja kansallisen turvallisuuden uhan. Hyökkäyksen tarkoituksena oli saattaa Maduro oikeuden eteen syytettynä huumekaupasta.

Tilanne Venezuelassa on epävarma, kun Maduro on poistettu vallasta. Kysymys siitä, miten Yhdysvallat ja muut maat käsittelevät Maduron rikosverkostoa ja mitä tapahtuu maan johdolle, on keskeinen.

Yhdysvaltojen toiminta Venezuelassa viittasi selkeästi 'hallinnonvaihtoon' Maduron poistamiseksi vallasta. Toiminnan taustalla pidettiin Maduron hallintoa korruptoituneena ja rikollisena.

Muut maat reagoivat Yhdysvaltojen hyökkäykseen vaihtelevasti. Esimerkiksi Kolumbia ilmaisi syvää huolta ja lähetti joukkoja Venezuelan rajalle, kun taas Argentiinan presidentti tuki Yhdysvaltojen interventiota.

Yhdysvaltojen tavoitteena oli poistaa Maduro vallasta ja asettaa hänet syytteeseen. Hyökkäyksen seurauksena Maduroa ja hänen vaimoaan syytetään huumekaupasta New Yorkin eteläisessä piirissä.

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