Transcription
We begin today's show looking at the US attack on Venezuela and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. On Tuesday, President Trump announced on Truth Social the interim leaders of Venezuela had agreed to turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. In his message, Trump wrote, quote, "This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me as president of the United States of America to ensure it's used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States."
This follows earlier remarks by Trump that he plans to quote, "take back Venezuela's oil." In recent days, Trump's also threatened other Latin American nations, including Colombia, Mexico, and Cuba. Speaking to reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One, Trump specifically targeted Colombian President Gustavo Pro and claimed without evidence that pro is trafficking cocaine into the US.
"We have a a very sick neighbor. It's not a neighbor, but it's close to a neighbor, and that's Venezuela. It's very sick. Colombia is very sick, too. Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you."
"What does that mean? He's not going to be doing it very long."
"He's not doing it very long. He has uh cocaine mills and cocaine factories. He's not going to be doing it very long."
"So, there will be an operation by the US and"
"it sounds good to me."
"Rubio mentioned yesterday kill a lot of people. Yeah."
In a series of posts on X, Colombian President Gustavo Pro blasted President Trump saying, "Stop slandering me, Mr. Trump." Pro called on Latin America to unite against the US, saying the region risks being treated as a servant and a slave.
We go now to Koka, Colombia, where we're joined by Dr. Manuel Rosenthal, Colombian physician and activist with more than 40 years of involvement in grassroots political organizing with youth, indigenous communities, and urban and rural social movements. He's been exiled several times for his political activities. Manuel Rosenal is part of the organization Pueblo and Camino or people on the path. Welcome back to Democracy Now, Manuel.
Um so if you can start off by responding to these developments over the weekend, President Trump uh and the administration sees the president of Venezuela and his wife uh bring them to New York uh bomb uh both Karakis and other cities. 80 people are killed. Um, and then says he's setting his sights on pro, the president of Colombia. Your response and how people are responding on the ground.
Well, first of all, Amy, thank you for having me. Uh, the situation is evolving, but what is clear is that uh it's not only Colombia or Cuba. The entire world should be very worried, scared about what is already happening. Not what might develop but what is happening. And what is happening is first of all uh Trump with his national security policy that he launched in December. He has announced the takeover of the entire continent. This is his region. He's appropriating this region. And as you stated and he has stated what Venezuelan oil belongs to him and that he's made that very clear uh Mexico is under threat. The entire continent is under threat and as you all know he liberated a drug trafficker from prison in the US and the former president of on of Honduras Hernandez at the same time seizing Maduro as a drug trafficker uh bombing. So whatever's in his head, whatever impulse comes to him and the people that surround him and feed his impulses, which include Steven Miller, uh Vance, Rubio, Hexet, etc., are already and have already committed crimes against humanity and war crimes like bombing uh boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. So there's a a war launched in the world and the US has announced our territory is not only not the western hemisphere even but the entire Americas. Then at the same time h the China launched an an exercise a military exercise against Taiwan and Trump's response was I'm not worried about that and we have the background of what happened before with Syria and what is happening in Ukraine. So right now what we're seeing is three contending forces huge Russia, China, the US and others allies and not that are actually taking over what they seizing what they feel is their territory for pillage and the risk is for everybody within that context.
One, President Pro is not a drug trafficker. President Petra has been a victim of drug mafias and their allies not only in Colombia but all over the world. President Trump and the people around him are closer to the money laundering machine and the transfer of funds to the north from drug trafficking than is pro. Petro in fact has denounced and opposed them. And pro yes is at risk based on a lie. And the lie is exactly what you shared with us that pro is a drug trafficker. That is the global image. But then also and I have to say this that does not mean I am defending or one should defend the Venezuelan regime. The US had no right to seize Maduro to attack Venezuela. No right whatsoever. That doesn't mean that there was an autocracy in Venezuela and that what is happening within Venezuela at the moment is that neither Mariaina Machado nor the Chavista Maduro regime represent the majority of the people of Venezuela and a new government is being established by Trump from Trump which is oil companies rule the country and the economy on the one hand and on the other hand Rodriguez and the other ones uh maintain stability and peace by repressing the people of Venezuela. The victims of all these for the moment are the people in Venezuela of Venezuela and the majority of the people in the continent.
And uh Manuel Roso this these threats of um of Trump against Colombia, the the actually the third largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, far bigger than Venezuela in population. Colombia has over 50 million people. Uh and uh could you talk a little bit about Petro as the president uh his history and and how uh contradictory uh his trajectory is to what uh Trump is alleging against him?
Absolutely. Juan, that has to be clarified. One may agree or disagree with his policies, but President Petro for 30 years he left the uh an armed insurgency that he was part of and actually a commanding part of that actually was forced into existence because uh of a the robbery of an election in in the 1970 by the elites of Colombia. They took an election that was won uh by a popular party and then enforced people with the views that pro shared into an arms struggle, the M19. But then he promised he would never take arms again. He would fight for peace and he has been consistent with that. Nobody can say anything else about Petro. But then as a member of Congress, Gustavo Petro was the single most leader in exposing the connections between Colombian governments. H the Colombian army, paramilitaries and the drug trade. And his voice will never be forgotten for that. His dignity, the strength of what he stated and actually the evidence he presented to the Colombian people. He was then attacked. His life has been threatened because of his defense of peace, democracy and his struggle against mafias, paramilitaries, etc. And then he becomes a mayor of Bota and he's removed from power by an elite machinery of mafias that he was actually proven to be that this was the case and he was innocent from what he was accused for. He was the mayor of the of the largest city in Colombia. After that and after proving that he was innocent, he uh has the largest electoral base ever in the history of Colombia. And with that base, from that base, he becomes the president of Colombia. And he has seized more cocaine than any other government in the past. But not only that, and this is more important than how much cocaine he has seized, he has exposed the fact that New York City, Paris, Dubai are the centers of global mafias that are transferring millions and millions of dollars of money through drug trafficking uh from all over the world and that they are the ones that control drug trade, including the Colombian production, transformation or export. port of cocaine to the world. So money laundering is the key here and these mafias are there. So he has stated clearly to stop drug trade. You don't attack boats in the Caribbean, peasants in Colombia and the presidents of Colombia or Venezuela. You find them the center of command up there in the US in uh Paris in Dubai and also in the C CubanAmerican Florida allied representatives and Republicans allied with the Colombian elites that are attacking pro.
And also uh most Americans are not aware that pro is about to leave office. He's term limited and the elections in Colombia are just in two months. Uh why do you feel why do you think that Trump has has taken this this point uh uh to target a man who was about to leave office?
Well, Juan, thank you for reminding me. That's a very important point. The fact is at the end of his presidency the majority of people in Colombia love pro still with mistakes with disagreements with contradictions but most people love Petro that is not the case with Maduro. Maduro pretends to be loved but there's an autocratic regime there here. No, Petro has defended democracy. There are no human rights violations from the government. There is not a repressive regime and social change in many areas has been at least attempted by the government as I say with mistakes and disagreements and in a state in the of a growing war. But why is he being attacked now? Because Ivan Seeda, the son of a murdered member of Congress and a a lawyer, sorry, a philosopher, an activist, a member of parliament, a fighter for human rights. Uh he is a candidate or pre-candidate for the left in Colombia. If there were elections today, Ivan Peda would win in the first round. and he has vowed to uh continue with President Petro's legacy so uh we would even have a stronger leftleaning social democratic government in Colombia and that is what's behind this attack on pro to the only way one can stop Sepeda and the left from winning again in Colombia it seems would be to do something dirty which is condemn pro, attack him of being a narot trafficker and destroy the electoral process. This serves right into Alvar's mafias and all the the former Colombian elites linked to US power.
Manuel Rosenl, can you describe as we begin to wrap up what's happening on the border between Colombia and Venezuela right now? the tens of thousands of Colombian troops that have been deployed there.
Yes, absolutely. Like that border is uncontrollable and this has to be said that all kinds of trades happen through there including uh cocaine passing through that border into Venezuela and from there to the global markets. That is a fact. but also uh armed factions such as dissident from FARC and ELN cross that border back and forth involved in drug trade. And the Colombian government broke a peace negotiation with ELN, the second largest gerilla in Colombia before, now the largest one. And so tens of thousands of troops are in that border because one, there could be an aggression from the Venezuelan side. Two, there could be a massive refugee crisis of people crossing from Venezuela into Colombia. And third and mostly because there is a war now between the pro government and the ELN that is has been involved in drug trade and the ELN has vowed to uh launch an anti-imperialist they call war against the US and in that context the Colombian army has to stop ELN and has to stop has to protect support it. That's what's going on.
And we're going to end with the Colombia's foreign minister speaking Tuesday.
"We have said that every country in the international order has the right to its defense, its legitimate defense. And our army has the president of the republic as its commander. And its mission is to defend the country's sovereignty."
"If that aggression were to come, the army must defend the national territory and the sovereignty of the country."
That's Colombia's foreign minister, Rosa Via Visencio. Manuel Rosenl, I want to thank you so much for being with us. Longtime Colombian physician, activist, exiled several times for his political activities, part of the group People on the Path, Pueblo Camino. We'll also do an interview with Spanish in Spanish with him after the show and post it at democracynow.org. Thanks for watching Democracy Now on YouTube. Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to make sure you never miss a video. And for more of our audience supported journalism, go to democracynow.org or where you can download our news app, sign up for our newsletter, subscribe to the daily podcast, and so much.