WEBVTT - 1/3/26: BREAKING: Trump Says US Will Run Venezuela, Boots On The Ground 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:04.440 I just finished listening to President Trump's press conference down 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:09.360 at mar A Lago describing the bombing and the kidnapping 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.880 of President of the Venezuela Nicholas Maduro, and it was 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.320 so much more insane than I even could have imagined 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.560 that we had to do another breaking news segment to 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.639 break down what was said and what was announced in 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:28.360 this press conference. The TLDR here is that he announced we, 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.000 as in the United States of America, are going to 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:36.000 be running Venezuela at least for a time. He did 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.400 not rule out that that time period could be years, 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.239 did not rule out that could involve direct boots on 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:47.360 the ground. Additionally, threatened other countries to include Cuba and Colombia, 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.560 just absolute insanity. Talked about the way that our oil 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.760 companies are going to exploit the resources in Venezuela. Talked 0:00:54.760 --> 0:01:00.200 about how we are going to rebuild Venezuelan infrastructure. To 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:02.280 go ahead and bring you a series of these clips. 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:04.560 Our friend from drop Site maybe joining us as well 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.360 at some point if he's able, but let me go 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:10.880 ahead and pull up these first couple where he is 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:15.520 talking about how we are going to run Venezuela. Take 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:17.800 a listen we're. 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:22.640 There now, but we're going to stay until such time 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.880 as the proper transition can take place. So we're going 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.640 to stay until such time as we're going to run it, essentially, 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:33.399 until such time as a proper transition can take place. 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.640 And in case you didn't think that, you know, in 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.160 case you thought, oh, maybe he's just speaking off the cuff, 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.240 he doesn't really mean it. No, Kiri is repeating the 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.840 same thing even more clearly, that we are going to 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:50.640 run the country until some sort of power transition occurs. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:52.600 Here you go, we're going. 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.960 To run the country until such time as we can 0:01:56.000 --> 0:02:01.720 do a safe, proper and judicious transitions. We don't want 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.400 to be involved with having somebody else get in and 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.040 we have the same situation that we had for the 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.560 last long period of years. So we are going to 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.600 run the country until such time as we can do 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.520 a safe, proper and judicious transition. 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.720 Now what does this actually mean? No one really knows. 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:27.239 He was asked a series of questions about Okay, who 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:29.800 what are we talking about? Who was going to be 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.000 Are there going to be boots on the ground, what 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.560 is this going to look like? Not a lot of 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:39.160 answers were forthcoming, However, he did seem to indicate basically, 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:46.680 Marco Rubio and Pete hag Seth and the US military 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:51.679 are effectively going to be in charge of running Venezuela 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:56.560 for the immediate future. Also, no India. I mean it's possible, 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:58.480 we still have assets on the ground there. I don't 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.160 think that any of that is really clear. But here's 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.040 what he had to say in response to the question 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.800 of like, Okay, what do you mean we are going 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:08.840 to be running Venezuela. 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:10.200 Country are designated. 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.959 It's all being done right now. We're designating people, We're 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.120 talking to people. We're designating various people, and we're going 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.919 to let you know who those people are that would 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.640 run Venezuela. Well, it's largely going to be for a 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.880 period of time. The people that are standing right behind me, 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:29.359 we're going to be running it. 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:30.959 We're going to be bringing it back. 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:32.800 It's a it's a dead you know, I talk about 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:34.920 a dead country. A year and a half ago, we 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:36.080 were a dead country. 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:41.280 So people standing behind him being Marco Rubio and Pete 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:46.480 hag Seth and military leader General Kine was that raising. 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:50.000 Kine was there as well, So that seems to be 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.400 who he is indicating would quote unquote run the country. 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.480 There was also a question that was asked about, well, 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.760 right now, Maduro's vice president has been sworn in as president. 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:05.640 She is in charge, like you kidnapped Maduro, but his 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.000 vice president and the rest of his administration is still 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.800 there and still in charge of the country. So what's 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:17.599 going on with that? And he seemed to indicate that 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:22.400 Marco Rubio had spoken with her and that she was 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.760 open to working with the US and serving effectively as 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.760 our puppet or easing the transition or something of that nature. 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.560 Let me go ahead, and let me go ahead and 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.600 pull this one up for you, because this is a 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:42.520 significant piece. Let's see, uh here, here's the one. 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.560 Weren't going to back Machado to come back and get 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.000 the opposition later in your Box and Friends interview and 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:49.360 then you also mentioned. 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.040 By the way, at another point, he was asked about Machado, 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.920 who was just giving them no belt piece prize unbelievably, 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.200 and who was seen as a potential puppet leader. And 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.000 he poured a lot of cold water on the idea 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.640 as saying she didn't have support of the people. So 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.240 now he's going to be asked about the vice president 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:06.680 who's currently in charge. 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:07.799 Vice president of Venezuela. 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:09.960 Are you gonna work with vice president of Venezuela or 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:10.640 how do you course. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:11.320 See the relationship. 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.440 She was just sworn in, but she was, as you know, 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:18.400 picked by Maduro, So Marco's working in that directly. He 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.520 just had a conversation with her, and she's essentially willing 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.680 to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.240 great again, very simple. 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:34.760 So indicating that she's willing to collaborate with the Trump regime, 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.400 with Marco Rubio and Hegseth and whoever else we're going 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:42.560 to install there as transitioner transitional rulers of this country. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:45.800 I don't even know what to say, guys. I mean, 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.800 this is actually even more insane than Iraq. And if 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.200 you thought it was some kind of a weird leftist 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.880 conspiracy theory, that what we're really after is the oil. 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.960 Trump talked about that quite explicitly as well, which is 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:03.560 not a new thing. I mean, he and other administration 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:08.640 officials and other Trump allies have been talking about the 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:14.559 oil resources as a major motivator for this illegal offensive war, 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.359 and he spoke to that as well. He talked about 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:20.880 how our oil companies are going to go in and 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.120 they're going to spend billions of dollars, and they're going 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.640 to make all kinds of money here. So let's go 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.719 ahead and take a listen to what he said about 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.560 the oil companies and how they will profit from this action. 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.200 As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:40.400 a bust, a total bust for a long period of time. 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.120 They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:49.800 could have been pumping and what could have taken place. 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:56.640 We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:00.960 the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:06.400 of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.440 and start making money for the country. 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.600 And we are He was asked at one point also 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.239 about how China and Russia would feel about this, given 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.280 that they have interests in Venezuela, and he said, oh, well, 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.840 we'll sell them oil. I think it'll be fine, no problem. 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.640 He was also asked about what's going on with Russia 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.840 and Ukraine and indicated that he was frustrated with Putin. 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.680 But that's where we are. Trump has said, we are 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:37.080 running Venezuela. So this was a direct regime change operation, 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.200 that we may well have boots on the ground, that 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.880 this could last for years, That we are going to 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:51.440 rebuild Venezuela's infrastructure and quote unquote make Venezuela great again. 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:57.320 That we may take similar actions in other countries in 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.720 the region, specifically Cuba and Columbia. He spoke about, which 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.160 no one should be surprised about, since not only is 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:08.880 this about seizing the resources and exploding the resources of Venezuela, 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:14.440 this is also a frankly multi decade project to destroy 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.880 any sort of left wing government in the region, and 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.800 Venezuela being a key part of that fantasy, which is 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:27.520 now becoming reality with Marco Rubio there as Secretary of State. 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:31.840 MI go ahead, Jose Luis Garnado Seja has joined now 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.040 from drop site. Let me go ahead and let him 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:38.360 into the room and we can get his reaction as well. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.839 Jose louis great to have you again. Welcome, Thank you 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.319 very much. Yeah, so I played some of the clips 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.800 of Trump saying We're going to run Venezuela, seeming to 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.920 indicate specifically like Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth apparently saying 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:53.800 we may have boots on the ground, saying that this 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:58.840 could last years, saying also that Rubio had reached out 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.520 to the vice president, Doro's vice president, who has now 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.160 been sworn in as president of the country, and that 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.520 she seemed open to some sort of collaboration. I mean, 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:07.679 what is your reaction to all of this? 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.280 The first one is quite a surprise there. I had 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.920 speculated earlier that they would use this as an opportunity 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:18.160 to kind of move away from this engagement with Venezuela, 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.760 to finally put an end to this most recent round 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.319 of escalations. But those words from Trump and this press conference, 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.559 I think are very very clear. They intend to occupy 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.200 the country of Venezuela. That's obviously going to require a 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:35.120 huge mobilization of troops. I think Trump is being deliberately 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.199 vague or even misleading, and his response is suggesting that 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.440 it wouldn't take a lot, that it's just about protecting 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.800 oil infrastructure. I don't think that's the case whatsoever. I 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.280 think they're in for a conundrum. The Venezuelan armed forces 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.400 have talked about Venezuela becoming a new Vietnam for the 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.920 United States if they chose to invade. If they try, 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.080 if they're going to do what Trump just said in 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.480 his press conference to try to administer the country as 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.440 an buying power, it's going to require an extraordinary amount 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.800 of US forces. This is going to be a very serious, 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:09.439 major US operation right here in the Western Hemisphere. I 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.320 imagine his comments around oil are a bit of an 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.120 echo of their strategy that they've used in Iraq and 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:17.520 in Syria to try to take control of the oil 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:21.679 fields directly. But these are not similar situations when we 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.920 think about Venezuela. Like I said earlier, Venezuela is a 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:28.640 country that has undergone a very long political process. And 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:32.360 even if there are elements of the existing state that 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:36.160 maybe break away or align themselves with the US administration occupation, 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.319 which I find hard to believe given that essentially you're 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:43.000 a trader to your homeland, there are still going to 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.840 be guerrilla struggles, sabotage. This is not going to be 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.960 an easy ride whatsoever. I think the United States and 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:51.520 the people of the United States need to be aware 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.080 of what he's actually talking about, A very serious military 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.920 mobilization to occupy a sizable country, far larger than what 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:02.959 we in Panama. You know, there's been some military analyst 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.959 speculating that at least one hundred thousand troops at least 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:09.559 to be able to try to actually invade and occupy Venezueline. 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:12.680 Of course, it's going to be a huge conundrum for 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.280 them because there it won't be easy. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.040 I mean, is this just cope on my part? Is 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.240 it possible? This is just some sort of a weird, 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:23.400 you know, chest move threat bluster kind of a situation, 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.240 because I mean, and do we know are there assets 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.160 on the ground right now that have remained in country? 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:30.920 You know, do we have any any sense of that 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:31.520 right now? 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.280 It doesn't appear that there are US troops on the 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.520 ground right now. He talked about in the past tense 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.760 there were boots on the ground in order to carry 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:42.920 out this kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro. But we do 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.320 know that there are at least twenty thousand troops nearby, 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:48.840 either in Puerto Rico or and then all those ships 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:50.880 that are stationed off the coast. So I don't think 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:52.800 that's enough to invade the country, but that is a 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:57.079 say up sizable amount of manpower there that could easily 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:01.040 be mobilized and used as part of another Asian Trump 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:03.720 talked specifically about a second round of attacks, that they 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:05.559 were actually prepared for a second one, that they actually 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:07.120 didn't carry it out, but they were. 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:07.640 Willing to do it. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.960 That they're willing to kidnap any Venezuelan leader who rises 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:14.720 to fill the power vacuum. 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:16.520 We could say that is situation. 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.880 Right now, given that we now know that Nicolas Maduro 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.959 is indeed in US custody, a board that Yuajima and 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.160 Trump also said that he would be sent to New 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.400 York to face these federal indictments. So that means that 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.920 obviously there has to be at least for the time being, 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.439 some kind of transition inside of Venezuela, given that the 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:34.800 president cannot. 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:35.560 Rule if he's detained. 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.360 It looks like that's going to be Delsi Rodriguez, the 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.040 executive vice president. But it's very very odd comments from 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.760 him saying that she's essentially going to play along, which 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.200 is very surprising with people who are familiar with on 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.400 his own politics. Desid Rodriguez is a very powerful figure 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.720 inside of Venezuela, a close ally of confidant of Maduro. 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.760 For there's a reason why she was named directly by him. 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.720 The vice president is not elected in Venezuela to be 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.400 the executive vice president, that she would allow herself to this, 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.560 to lend herself to this, I don't find very credible 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:08.400 that aspect. 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:11.439 Oh absolutely yeah. And not to mention, I mean what. 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.280 She may have said on the flone to Marco Rubio 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.480 exact moment versus what the actual. 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.040 Void another strike from her location, because it's clear that 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.800 they do have some intelligence terms of where people are moving. 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.320 You know, Trump even mentioned that they had images of 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:27.719 Doodle making it to the door of a safer room 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.400 but unable to actually be able to seal himself in. 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.600 I mean, this is this is pretty serious in terms 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.120 of what we're talking about. What the amount of forces, 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.480 the amount of resources that the US appears to have 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.080 used in this in this operation quite quite well could 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.280 have been her just trying to protect herself, to try 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.120 to ensure that there is a succession. I don't think 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.040 that she's going to play US imperialism's game. Not to 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.760 mention the fact that she has been on the air 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.200 all day talking about the need to resist this. So 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:55.680 I don't think that's the case. But even if she did, 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.040 she would be pushed out by the revolutionary forces. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.120 No, no one died of Venezuela is. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.560 Going to tolerate anybody who's going to be a traitor 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.000 to her homeland, and somebody else would rise to fill 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.240 her shoes if that is the case. So it's a 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:12.120 very unpredictable, unstable situation as of now, and really really 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.640 quite surprising. But I will say I think at the 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:16.679 point but I want to emphasize, is that what Trump 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:22.520 is talking about is a large scale military operation or mission. 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:23.680 In South America. 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:26.920 I guess you know, I heard that one of the 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.480 the reporters asked, how is this America first? I mean, 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.360 it's apparently that word can that phrase can be used 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.040 for anything, because in no way is this America first. 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:40.120 This is another US military adventure without a clear outcome 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:41.760 in terms of how they're actually going to be able 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:42.240 to get out of this. 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.040 Let me play a little bit of this where Trump 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:49.000 is talking about the Monroe doctrine and they now call 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:53.080 it the Donro doctrine. American dominance in the Western hemisphere 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.240 will never be questioned. Again. Let's listen to this. 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.400 All of these actions were in gross violation of the 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.680 corporate incibals of American foreign policy dating back more than 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:10.560 two centuries and not anymore, all the way back dated 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:16.520 to the Monroe doctrines. And the Monroe doctrine is a 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:21.440 big deal, but we've superseded it by a lot, by 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:25.160 a real lot. They now call it the donro Document. 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:31.200 I don't know, it's Monroe doctrine. We sort of forgot 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.480 about it. It was very important, but we forgot about it. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.760 We don't forget about it anymore. Under our new national 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:41.840 security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.160 be questioned again, won't happen. 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.520 What do you make of those comments? And it's consistent 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.720 with some of the things that have been laid out 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.880 in his national security strategy previously. 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:54.600 Now listening to him talk, I'm not sure he actually 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.360 understands what the Monroe Doctrine was or how it could 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.960 be applied in twenty twenty six. You know, the Monroe 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.600 Doctrine was a policy of the United States that was 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.320 aimed at Europe of the law to dissuade them from 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.320 engaging in any champ of colonization or recolonization here in 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.360 the Western hemisphere. He seems to understand it as the 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.920 United States can do whatever it wants in the Western hemisphere, 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:20.800 that this is its exclusive sphere of influence. Obviously, in practice, 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.880 that is what the Monroe Doctrine ultimately became. But that's 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.280 not really what it was intended as. And certainly, even 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.520 if we accept the you know, the principles behind the 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.080 Monroe Doctrine, what the United States did is not about, 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.440 you know, containing the influence of foreign powers inside of 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:39.160 the Western hemisphere. This is US military adventurism. It's the 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:44.480 US imperialist policy of imposing its will on countries through might. 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.320 You know, it's interesting we heard the comments there from 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.840 US officials about how peace through strength. There's nothing peaceful 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.280 about what just happened. You know, this is a very 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:57.960 violent act. You know, there's already reports of casualties as 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.440 a result, and of course, you know, the kidnaping of 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:04.480 a sitting president is it's just absolutely extraordinary, extraordinarily violent act. 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.120 And so this is not piece whatsoever. And I hope 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.640 that there's pushback from US policy makers, from lawmakers, from 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.560 the US public around this. That's not what's happening here. 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.919 The US once again has reminded us because this is 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:20.919 something that the peoples of Latin America are very much 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.880 aware of that. They are willing to engage in these 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.800 kinds of illegal actions to impose its will. And like 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:28.440 I said in the other segment that we talked about, 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:29.720 you know, I hope this is a wake up call 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:30.560 because we really have to. 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:31.840 Understand who we're dealing with here. 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:34.920 And there's already as I mentioned earlier, there's already him 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.040 talk of him talking about something. 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.760 Similar in Mexico. Now he was asked directly about this. 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.840 Yeah, and you know this is the problem is that 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.400 you know, this could lead to a sort of domino 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.159 effect where the US says, look what we're. 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:49.240 Willing to do. You want us to do that to 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:50.640 you do exactly as we say. 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.600 Let me go ahead and play to bolster your point 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.879 portion where he's talking about Cuba and Columbia, I believe 0:17:57.920 --> 0:17:59.840 in this particular response, let's listen to that. 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.600 Go ahead as a messagere for Cuba and Canal Well, 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.560 Cuba is an interesting case. Cuba is, you know, not 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:11.000 doing very well right now. That system has not been 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:12.760 a very good one for Cuba. The people there have 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:16.040 suffered for many, many years. And I think Cuba is 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.000 going to be something we'll end up talking about because 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.600 Cuba is a failing nation right now, very badly failing nation, 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.359 and we want to help the people. It's very similar 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:26.800 in the sense that we want to help the people 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.600 in Cuba, but we want to also help the people 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.639 that were forced out of Cuba and living in this country. 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:33.920 Do you want to say something about that? 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.240 In markup, I'm sure Marco does want to say something 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.720 about that, doesn't he? And another part though he did, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.360 he was asked about Columbia as well. You talked about Mexico. 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:47.919 I mean, that's just a whole other, wild level of insanity. 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:49.679 It's hard for me to wrap my head around all 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:51.359 of this. And you know, I mean, I guess the 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.800 best case scenario is this is all like blustering threats 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.000 and him acting like a mad man to try to 0:18:56.040 --> 0:19:00.199 coerce these various countries and leaders. But I mean, part 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:04.919 of this is incredibly deadly real, not only the regime 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.480 change in Venezuela, but now the promise that we are 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.119 directly going to govern in even if it takes boots 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:12.720 on the ground, even if it takes years. And I 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.359 think this also just improcess upon everyone and for you know, 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:18.600 those who had any doubt that this is part of 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.520 a long time project to destroy any sort of left 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.240 wing governance in the region. 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:26.960 Absolutely. You know. 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:29.120 One of the terms that I've been using more recently 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.879 is the strategic retreat of the United States, you know, 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.359 and I think it's actually the national security strategy as 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.000 a confession that they are very much willing to admit 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.879 that the struggle for total spectral dominance, which is what 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:41.639 they used to talk about of the end of the 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.000 Cold War, has largely been lost. That they do have 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.600 a pure rival in China, and I think there is 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.040 an acknowledgement that they need. 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:50.240 To kind of rebuild their forces. 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:52.600 The United States is not in a position today to 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.480 be able to dispute hegemony at a global level, you know, 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.000 and actually be able to kind of keep up with 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:57.760 this pure rival. 0:19:58.040 --> 0:19:59.400 And so that's why we see. 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:01.719 This pivot toward traditional spheres of influence and why we're 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:03.960 seeing what's happening here in Latin America. This attempt to 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.639 try to secure access to cheap resources, cheap labor, to 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:10.000 client governments that are willing to do whatever the United 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:11.919 States is willing to do, and those that aren't are 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:13.800 going to face these kinds of threats, and that helps 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:16.320 us understand what he's talking about when they talk about 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.920 Cuba and Colombia and Mexico. And like I said, this 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:23.439 is pretty serious because of the precedent it sets, you know, 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:25.880 and that they are willing to put boots on the ground. Now, 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.520 can the US really engage in military conflicts in several 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.600 countries at once? I think that's quite difficult. So if 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:35.879 they really do intend to occupy Venezuela, that's going to 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.080 be a very long distraction and could ultimately define the 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:40.200 Donald Trump presidency. 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:44.280 Oh, absolutely, no doubt about it. Yeah, I mean, it's 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:48.040 it's absolutely wild to see. And to your point about 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:52.840 hoping that some media outlets and some you know, political 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:56.639 leaders stand up, there have been some, but the Washington 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.959 Post editorial board has come out in support. I just 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:04.600 was reading Haquem Jeffrey's statement, which was incredibly weak and 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.480