00:00Our goal is regional stability and security in the national interest of the United States.
00:03The national interest of the United States, specifically when it comes to Venezuela, is as follows.
00:08We have a regime that's illegitimate, that cooperates with Iran, that cooperates with Hezbollah,
00:13that cooperates with narco-trafficking and narco-terrorist organizations,
00:17inclusive, not just protecting their shipments and allowing them to operate with impunity,
00:21but also allows some of them to control territory, the ELN and the FARC-D.
00:25The ELN and the FARC dissidents operate openly.
00:28They have, like, open camps that they control territory inside of Venezuela.
00:32That is our national interest, and that is what this is focused on.
00:36And that's what the president's been focused on.
00:38Let's be mature here.
00:39Yes, there are issues where we want to pursue peace, if that is possible.
00:42But we also have our national interest.
00:44If our national, like, we're not going to reach a peace deal with narco-trafficking bans.
00:48We're not.
00:50We can't reach a peace deal with MS-13.
00:53We can't reach a peace deal with Train.agua.
00:55We can't reach a peace deal with the ELN or the FARC that are still pumping drugs into the United States
00:59or any of their cartels in Mexico.
01:01You can't do a peace deal with these people any more than you can do a peace deal with a mafia.
01:05So I think it's important to understand that that's different between warring factions and nation-states around the world
01:10where we feel like maybe we could act as a bridge to bringing about the differences.
01:14But when you're talking about things that directly implicate the national interest of the United States
01:18and no one can argue that transnational criminality and terrorism in our hemisphere
01:23is not a threat to the national interest of the United States,
01:26we have to use, we reserve the right and have the right to utilize every element of national power
01:32to defend the national interest of the United States.
01:34And no one can dispute that.
01:35And every country in the world reserves the same option.
01:38We just simply have more power than some of them do.
01:40And we'll see you next time.
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