00:00So I do hear your message of gratitude to the United States, but why give it your Nobel Peace Prize?
00:05Why give it to Donald Trump?
00:08Well, I believe it's fair and it represents the feeling, the profound gratitude of the Venezuelan peoples, not only for
00:17what he has done, but what we believe and trust will take place very soon in Venezuela.
00:24You left Venezuela to go collect your Nobel Peace Prize. Congratulations. You gave your prize to Donald Trump. Why?
00:40Well, first of all, we have to understand what this has meant for the Venezuelan people, what has happened this
00:47year.
00:47It's been 27 years of brutal devastation, not only of our institutions, of our resources, of our families.
01:00I mean, a third of Venezuelan population has been forced to flee.
01:04It is currently the largest migration crisis in the world.
01:09And this has been done by a criminal regime that intentionally wanted to destroy our country and took over our
01:18territory and institutions, allied with the worst forces, criminal forces around the world.
01:27So, during years, we have denounced and proved the world the degree of crimes that were committed in Venezuela and
01:38demanded for international support.
01:42Finally, we are seeing decisive action on the part of the United States government under the leadership of President Trump.
01:51And I have to say something. The only country that has risked the lives of some of its citizens for
02:00the freedom of Venezuela is the United States.
02:02So, we are very grateful because what happened on January 3rd definitely opens the path, opens the way for a
02:12transition to democracy in Venezuela.
02:14That's why we did it on behalf of the Venezuelan people.
02:18So, I do hear your message of gratitude to the United States, but why give it your Nobel Peace Prize?
02:23Why give it to Donald Trump?
02:26Well, I believe it's fair and it represents the feeling, the profound gratitude of the Venezuelan peoples, not only for
02:35what he has done, but what we believe and trust will take place very soon in Venezuela.
02:42In terms of transforming our country from the criminal hub of the Americas into the energy hub and the technology
02:51hub of our continent.
02:54What did you get in return?
02:56Well, I'm not, I'm not expecting to get nothing specific.
03:00What we are determined is to work together, not only with the United States, but also engage other democratic countries
03:11around the world into the first liberation and rebuilding of a nation that has huge potential.
03:20I want to, you know, I want to highlight these Venezuela not only has, you know, incredible natural resources, oil,
03:30gas, gold, minerals.
03:32Venezuelan location is unique from a geopolitical and economic perspective and has huge territory.
03:42It's a million square kilometers with important infrastructure.
03:48So, you know, this is a moment in which we need the world to act, not only, you know, warn
03:56or support in words, but actual action in order to dismantle this structure.
04:03And that's what I believe is going to take place as we move ahead.
04:08And I want, there's many more details I want to get into on the future of Venezuela and what you
04:13would like to see happen and what plans are being made.
04:16Let me just stick for a minute on your plans.
04:19When will you go back to Venezuela?
04:23Well, I will go back as soon as possible when I accomplish actions and objectives that I have in place
04:34right now.
04:34It means engaging with international actors directly, one-on-one, which I had not been able to do because, as
04:42you are aware, I had been banned from leaving Venezuela for over 12 years.
04:48And also because I believe there is a lot of organization that has to be done internationally.
04:54So I'm doing the job abroad, and as soon as I can, I will go back to a country in
05:02which many things are taking place as we speak.
05:06Do you need America to facilitate that?
05:09Do you need American permission to go home to Venezuela?
05:12Oh, no, not permission.
05:14But certainly I would say that we desire and we will have coordination.
05:21And how will you know when you can return?
05:26Well, as I said, many things are happening.
05:29There are a lot of things that I'm in the process of accomplishing.
05:33And when the right moment arrives, I will tell the Venezuelan people that it's time to go back home.
05:40And not only me.
05:42I have to say, Marie-Louise, that you are aware that thousands of Venezuelan political leaders have been forced to
05:48flee.
05:48They want to go home.
05:50And millions of Venezuelans, almost 9 million, are scattered all around the world and have a profound desire to go
05:59back home.
06:00And that will only take place.
06:01All those millions will only go back home when they are sure they have certainty that we're moving into a
06:07transition to democracy.
06:08Because it's not only about economic recovery.
06:12It's basically about having trust that we will have democracy and freedom and opportunities for them and their children.
06:21Maria Corna, I just want to ask the blunt question to allow you to respond.
06:26The state of play is that you are not in Venezuela.
06:31The U.S. is driving the agenda in your country right now.
06:35You're not there.
06:37You don't control the oil.
06:38You don't control the army.
06:41To those who wonder if you have been sidelined, what do you say?
06:45Have you been sidelined?
06:46Well, I've heard that for years.
06:49Because at the end, you usually get profound analysis and scenarios and formulas that have dozens of variables.
07:04But always leave one on the side, which is the most important of all.
07:09And that's the people.
07:11And we've come to this point because the people of Venezuela decided to be free and decided to risk everything
07:20in order to have a democratic country to which their children could come back.
07:25But do you have any leverage from outside the country?
07:29From outside and from inside and from inside.
07:34I mean, I was in hiding during 16 months.
07:37And we never stopped working, organizing, and communicating.
07:44We have a network of citizens organized that were a million volunteers for the electoral process
07:52and that have turned into an order, underground, real-time communication platform of individuals ready to act civically and moving
08:05ahead into a democratic transition.
08:07And to support this process as well.
08:11So, Chris Wright, the U.S. Energy Secretary, was in Venezuela this week.
08:17He is, I believe, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since Nicolas Maduro was ousted.
08:25He met Dulce Rodriguez, the acting president at Miraflores, the presidential palace.
08:30There were photographs of them smiling and shaking hands and a big band playing.
08:34I just wonder what was going through your head as you watched that.
08:38Well, just think where we were five weeks ago and where we are right now.
08:42Everybody thought it was impossible to have Maduro face his international law and where he is right now.
08:50So, what's important to think is what Ms. Rodriguez is thinking right now after what they've said.
08:59They know, the world knows, they are part of a criminal structure.
09:06She's an essential part of the cartel.
09:09She was the one who was the architect and overlooked the torture system and the repressive structure.
09:17And she's the main link with Russia, Iran, Cuba, and so on.
09:22Everybody knows that.
09:23So, we are in a process in which the remains of the regime are following orders from the United States
09:33in a phase where they are being part of the dismantling of this regime.
09:39What we believe now is that we need to move forward into this transition
09:44once the rest of the repressive structure is further dismantled and weakened.
09:50And that's the direction in which we should move ahead now.
09:54But I guess my question again, what is it like to be sitting outside Venezuela watching the U.S. shaking
10:00hands
10:00and making deals and signing contracts with people who you just described as running a cartel and remnants of the
10:07regime?
10:08These are the same, Delce Rodriguez and others, who were leading the country
10:14and crushed the will of the Venezuelan people in the presidential election of 2024.
10:19We all know this is not sustainable.
10:22We all know this is a phase in which the restoration of institutions is just starting.
10:28As I said, it starts with the dismantling of the repressive structure.
10:33But in a country that currently is located in the last place worldwide in rule of law,
10:39the only way you can have long-term massive investments, not only in oil and gas,
10:45but in all other sectors in which Venezuela has unique and huge potential,
10:51requires legitimacy in these institutions, required constitutional compliance,
10:58and certainly the support of the people.
11:00And what we are watching, and we have fought for this very long,
11:05is a process taking place and advancing at a pace that we certainly want to move ahead and to accelerate.
11:13And we're doing our part, outside and inside.
11:16So you mentioned oil and gas.
11:18Let's stay on that for a moment.
11:21The U.S. imposed order that seems to be emerging is oil, gas, business first,
11:29and then we'll deal with democracy and human rights and free speech and all the rest of it.
11:35A, do you agree that that appears to be how things are taking shape?
11:40And B, is that the right order?
11:43Well, we believe that many things have to be addressed simultaneously in Venezuela
11:48because of the degree of destruction and simultaneous crisis we have.
11:53We have a humanitarian crisis.
11:55We have economic crisis.
11:56We have a public service crisis and certainly a security one.
12:00So all these issues need to be addressed simultaneously.
12:03The Secretary of State has been clear in saying that these phases can overlap.
12:09And that's part of the work we're doing right now.
12:12To be sure that...
12:13But in terms of the sequencing, I'm sorry to jump in.
12:15In terms of the sequencing, you're okay with that it's the energy secretary
12:19who's the first senior U.S. official to set foot that we know of in Venezuela since last month?
12:25Well, to be clear, the first actions that actually took place were the initial release of political prisoners.
12:36And that's taken place as we speak.
12:39480 have been released so far.
12:42Still, there are over 800 in prison.
12:46But this is huge.
12:47And we're starting to see that the consequence of this release of political prisoners
12:53is a reaction from Venezuelan society, mobilizing, gathering, demanding in the streets,
13:03something that was unthinkable a month ago.
13:06Unthinkable.
13:07So we are seeing certain progress.
13:10Of course, it's not enough.
13:12Of course, we want this to move further and accelerate it.
13:17And that's precisely our job right now.
13:20The Venezuelan people inside demanding for, you know, civic rights to be totally restored
13:26because at the end, you cannot talk about a transition if you have repression.
13:30And that's what we are demanding right now.
13:32And that's what we demand from the international community to support us at this stage.
13:40Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:45Download the One India app now.
13:48Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
13:49Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
Comments