00:00And Elizabeth, what is President Trump's endgame when it comes to Venezuela?
00:05What does he actually want to achieve?
00:08He and other members of his administration have made no secret of the fact that they want Maduro gone.
00:16Now, this is not unique to the Trump administration or indeed to the United States.
00:21Maduro is an autocrat.
00:24He has clung on to power by defying the most recent election results.
00:32So there is a legitimate cause to want to remove him.
00:39And various countries have tried in recent years by imposing sanctions.
00:43That's why Venezuela is using the shadow fleet, because it is under sanctions and can't export its oil using legal means or using the official fleet of oil tankers.
00:59But the international sanctions haven't gone very far.
01:03I think your viewers may remember a few years ago, there was an election and a decision by the international community to recognize the speaker of the parliament, of the Venezuelan parliament, as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
01:19Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on where you stand.
01:23But either way, that move failed, that speaker had to leave the country, the speaker of the parliament, who was the designated president, had to leave the country.
01:37And Maduro remained in power until the election, recent election that he essentially ignored.
01:45So it's not a secret that the international community considers him an illegitimate president, ruler.
01:55But the question so far has been what to do about it.
01:58Now, what's important to remember is that while the United States may be trying to forcefully dislodge him, he has powerful supporters, including, crucially, Vladimir Putin, who has just made a phone call to him to essentially affirm his support.
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