00:00And now, to go deeper into this topic, we welcome international expert Arnold August.
00:06Arnold, it's a pleasure to have you with us, as always.
00:11Thank you very much, TELISUR and Belen, for having me once again.
00:14It's always a pleasure to collaborate with you.
00:18We were saying, so Arnold, we are witnessing the government and the people of Venezuela
00:24once again respond towards a new foreign attempt against the South American country.
00:31For the past year, Venezuela has leaned on the people's structure to counter external pressures.
00:37And they are doing this once again this weekend.
00:40How do you evaluate this way of facing systematic aggression from foreign powers?
00:47I think it is very significant.
00:50I've been to Caracas several times on at least two or three of these occasions.
00:55I spoke directly to militia members.
00:58I interviewed them.
00:59I exchanged with them.
01:01And one thing that U.S. imperialism does not understand, the depth of the civic military union,
01:08which includes ordinary people, workers, peasants, intellectuals in arms, retired folks in arms,
01:19ready to defend the Venezuelan sovereignty against threats by the U.S. and its allies.
01:25So what is happening now in Caracas, it is, you know, part of the tradition that Venezuela has developed since the time of Chavez,
01:35that the people in arms, in addition to the actual armed forces and the police forces,
01:41are ready to defend the sovereignty of the people.
01:45And I think U.S. should not underestimate this.
01:48I remember what's happening now, it makes me, if you don't mind, I'll go back to February, I think it was January, February 2019,
01:55when I was in Caracas and I heard President Maduro speaking right after one of the threats carried out by the United States against Venezuela.
02:06And he said, well, you know, you know, we are ready to be another Vietnam.
02:11You know, you attack us, gringos.
02:12OK, we're ready to defend ourselves.
02:14That was February 2019.
02:16And that is the same spirit, you know, from the time of Bolivar to Chavez and today.
02:20And so whatever happens, Venezuela is ready.
02:24And even more so, people all over the world are increasingly in support of Venezuela.
02:31One has to take into account, if I may mention, the important positions taken by China and Russia in defense of Venezuela.
02:40Spirit of resistance that you were just mentioning has been so important in the past years, particularly in Venezuela.
02:48But now, Arnold, you've been always following this relationship between the U.S. and the South American continent, the Caribbean as well.
02:57And the U.S. has been leading different threats, not only against Venezuela in the past weeks and months,
03:03but also against Mexico, for example, with unfounded negotiations, also the tariff war on Brazil and its upright support with two far-right balls and arrows.
03:14So I wanted to ask you, how are you reading this scenario at this moment of U.S. policy towards the South American region?
03:23Well, of course, it's very dangerous, but I have to smirk a bit and say, you know, thanks to Donald Trump.
03:31What he's doing now, for example, he pushed India into the hands of China only a few days ago.
03:39And he's also pushing Brazil increasingly to align himself with the other Latin American countries.
03:45So this is happening now.
03:46It's very dangerous, but it's already backfiring.
03:51And I saw your report on Telesur on the ALBA-TCP meeting that took place.
03:57And, you know, of course, we had Miguel Díaz-Canel, President Maduro, but also Ralph Gonzalez and others,
04:04Arqui from Bolivia, who spoke out, and other countries, Nicaragua.
04:07There is an increasing unity amongst Latin American countries and in the Caribbean against the latest threats by the United States.
04:17It's a threat against Venezuela's sovereignty, yes.
04:20But it's also against the threat, against the sovereignty of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
04:29Their dignity to have their own way of life, their own way of organizing their own countries.
04:35It's a major issue that's taking place.
04:38But, you know, we see right in front of our eyes, thanks to the reporting of Telesur and others,
04:42that the unity of Latin American and Caribbean nations are up to the task to defend themselves against the United States.
04:52In this context and in the line that you were just mentioning, before we wrap up, I wanted to ask you, Arnold,
04:58what do you think is the best way forward?
05:01We are looking, we are closely monitoring the situation with the threats of the U.S.
05:07and also its deployment across the Caribbean Sea.
05:11What do you think is the best path for all these countries in the region to move forward and defend their sovereignty?
05:19Well, I think I would say the overall main feature, which has been pointed out in the ALBA meeting earlier today,
05:27is the unity of the peoples of Latin America and Caribbean, all the different countries,
05:33irrespective of different political options or whatever.
05:36That is the most important thing.
05:38That is the lifeblood of safeguarding sovereignty, the unity of the peoples of the world.
05:44And we see this is happening right under our nose, the way the ALBA meeting took place today.
05:48You know, the way Bolivia spoke out and Nicaragua, of course, and other countries.
05:53So I think the most important thing is unity, irrespective of different political options.
05:59That is the most important thing.
06:01And that is what will stop the United States from trying to interfere militarily in Venezuela,
06:09which is always a possibility.
06:10We can never underestimate the United States.
06:13They can try anything, but they did not count on the unity of the peoples of Latin America and Caribbean.
06:21Thank you to monitor the situation.
06:24And as precisely as you were saying, these U.S. aggressions are leading to this unity.
06:29And we've seen it from the response from Mexico, from Brazil, from the ALBA countries, as you were just mentioning.
06:35So we will continue to closely follow this and see what happens.
06:39Thank you so much, Arnold, for joining us and to help us better understand the complete context of the situation.
06:47Thank you for having me once again.
06:49That was Arnold August, international analyst here in From the South with us.
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