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00:18Hello and welcome to Global Eye, a program bringing you the best of the World Services
00:24investigative journalism and unmissable reporting from BBC teams around the globe.
00:29I'm Norberto Paredes, a reporter at BBC Mundo, and this week we're in Venezuela.
00:35On January 3rd, the residents of Caracas walked through a huge explosion.
00:41President Nicolás Maduro had been captured by US forces and was being taken to New York
00:45to face federal drug and weapons charges.
00:48Venezuela is now under the leadership of Delce Rodriguez, Maduro's former vice president.
00:53Under her administration, the country is undergoing a series of reforms that seemed unthinkable
01:00just a year ago.
01:01But she's walking a political tightrope.
01:08Later in the program, we'll bring you the untold story of last year's mass protests in
01:13Nepal that toppled the government there.
01:17BBC's forensic investigators, using thousands of hours of video footage and exclusive eyewitness
01:24accounts, uncover how the actions of the police that day led to the death of 19 protesters.
01:33And I'll be reporting from the Venezuelan city left high and dry by the decline of the country's
01:38oil industry.
01:40Many people there are hoping that the return of US oil firms will bring the good times back.
01:49In the early hours of January 3rd, explosions rocked the Venezuelan capital as US forces launched
01:55Operation Absolute Resolve.
01:58The mission aimed to dismantle national air defenses and capture Nicolás Maduro alongside
02:03his wife, Celia Flores.
02:06While many in the Venezuelan diaspora celebrated a tense call to vote here in the streets of
02:11Venezuela.
02:13Under the Maduro administration, support for foreign intervention had been criminalized,
02:18so people couldn't talk about it freely.
02:22With Maduro now in US custody, Venezuela is in flux, navigating a forced political transition
02:29amidst immense economic pressure and internal instability.
02:34Interim President Delta Rodriguez has introduced a way of new policies.
02:39But so far, although she has instigated radical economic change like ending the state monopoly
02:44in the oil industry, movement on political reform has been slower.
02:50How things by now may well depend on the answer to a critical question.
02:54What truly motivates President Donald Trump?
02:58Is it a genuine commitment to democracy?
03:01A desire to impose US power in his geopolitical backyards?
03:05Or simply a bid to control Venezuela's oil?
03:13I was born and bred up in Venezuela and have come back here to report on this huge moment
03:19for my country.
03:23Venezuela is a land of extraordinary diversity.
03:26From its sweeping landscapes like the Avila National Park you can see behind me to the
03:31warmth of its people.
03:32Sitting at the northern tip of South America, it is just as much a Caribbean nation as it is
03:38a South American one.
03:39The discovery of oil a century ago forged a deep connection with the United States, weaving
03:44American influence into the heart of the country.
03:47You can see this most clearly in its sporting culture.
03:51While its neighbors live for football, in Venezuela, baseball is a national game.
03:57And basketball is nearly as popular.
04:04Maduro may be gone.
04:06But the machinery of Chavismo, an anti-American nationalist ideology created by his predecessor,
04:12Hugo Chavez, remains firmly in control, including in the Venezuelan parliament here behind me.
04:18Within the movement, some hardliners remain deeply hostile to political reform, which explains
04:25why Delce Rodriguez is projecting two very different personas.
04:28To her core supporters, she is still the uncompromising anti-American voice of the revolution.
04:35But to the international communities, she is showing a new willingness to cooperate with
04:40Washington and reform the country.
04:43The question is, how sustainable is this balancing act?
04:47Many Venezuelans fear Rodriguez is simply playing for time in a bid to cement her grip on power,
04:53Venezuela, a tactic used by her predecessor many times before.
04:59Amid U.S. pressure for reforms since the capture of Maduro, the government has released hundreds
05:05of political prisoners, including two prominent pro-democracy activists held in the notorious
05:11Lelicoide prison.
05:13They told me of their hopes for Venezuela's future.
05:17Mira, yo con mucha expectativa, con mucha expectativa, con mucha esperanza de que esto
05:26sea para bien, de que podamos avanzar concretamente.
05:34Yo le tomo la palabra a la presidenta encargada, Delcy Rodriguez, a quien está ejerciendo en este
05:42momento del poder en Venezuela, y no se puede castigar más la pobreza en este país.
05:49Pese a todo ese año que hicieron, perdonarlos y construir el país, construir esa civilización
05:54del amor, que el interés del país sea primero que el interés de cualquier partido político,
06:00cualquier pretensión.
06:02Ir sin odios y sin resentimientos, ir sin rencores a construir esa Venezuela.
06:09Mientras el mundo se concentra en el drama político, para la mayoría de los venezuelanos,
06:14la preocupación inmediata es la sobrevivencia.
06:17Esta es una nación que ha perdido 70% de su GDP desde el año 2013.
06:23Mientras el máximo mensaje es entre 60 y 70 dólares al mes, es una caja en el océano cuando
06:31un básico mensaje de comida al mes, costa más de 500 USD.
06:36Para la mayoría de la familia, los números simplemente no adoran.
06:42Weeks han pasado, desde el ataque de la América en Caracas.
06:46Pero no queda claro si el país está realmente hacia la democracia.
06:51Hasta ahora, los cambios han hecho poco para mejorar la vida diaria, y la oposición
06:56aún se siente silencio.
06:59Bueno, otro país donde el futuro de la democracia es frente y centro es Nepal.
07:05Voters allí decidirán un nuevo gobierno esta semana.
07:08Es seis meses desde una protesta popular, llevada por jóvenes en septiembre del 8 de septiembre,
07:14terminó en violencia y la muerte de 19 personas.
07:17Las muertes han llevado a widespread protesta, destrucción y el fall del gobierno.
07:24Usando evidencia de más de 4,000 videos y fotógrafos, y cuentas exclusivas de la policía
07:30y protestantes, la BBC ha llevado una investigación de la investigación de la protesta de la agencia
07:36sobre cómo las protestas de la agencia se convirtieron a una tragedia, y ha llevado a los protestantes
07:40algunos de los jóvenes como 17, siendo matados por la policía.
08:06NEPAL, SEPTEMBER 8, 2025.
08:09On the streets of Kathmandu, Gen Z protestors call for change and are met with tear gas
08:16and live fire.
08:20Over the next few hours, 19 young Nepalis are shot dead by their own security forces.
08:27Anger at these deaths ignites a second day of protest, and this time, it cannot be contained.
08:41Drawing on more than 4,000 videos filmed on the streets, and an exclusive leaked record
08:47of police radio BBCI pieces together a forensic account of the most dramatic two days in Nepal's
08:54recent history, and reveals who gave the order to open fire.
09:03The anger that brought down Nepal's government began not on the streets, but on social media.
09:11Gen Z, sick of what they saw as corruption and cronyism, used hashtag Nepo babies to deride
09:18the lavish lifestyles of the country's political elite.
09:22Struggling to contain the dissent, the government of Prime Minister Kepioli took a drastic decision.
09:27Now in news from Nepal, the country has cracked down on a number of social media platforms,
09:33including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram.
09:37Undeterred, Nepal's Gen Z protesters regrouped on Discord.
09:44By September 8, they were on the streets of Kathmandu.
09:51The police had expected around 3,000 people, but tens of thousands turned out.
09:58And the police are quickly overwhelmed.
10:06Already, things are getting out of hand.
10:09And the crowd sweeps towards the gates of Nepal's parliament.
10:18By 11.58, protesters face off against armed police.
10:26Some even manage to break into the grounds of parliament.
10:34At 12.30, the authorities impose a curfew.
10:38The gathering is now illegal.
10:45But it seems to make things worse.
10:50Seeing the gatehouse on fire panicked officers radio for help,
10:54asking their superiors for permission to use live ammunition.
10:59We know this because the BBC has obtained a leak of the police radio log that day.
11:05This document has never been made public.
11:08It reveals that it's now, at 12.40, that the permission to use force is given.
11:16It's not long before protesters start to get shot.
11:22The first fatality we see is at the corner of the parliamentary complex,
11:26where a young man called Binod Marjan is carried away with a gunshot wound to the head.
11:32On Discord, news of live fire spreads from phone to phone.
11:38And on the streets, anger escalates to fury.
11:44The police are overwhelmed.
11:46This group was cornered outside the gates.
11:53The assault lasts for four minutes.
11:57At 1.42, our police timeline records the panic among officers.
12:03Police bleeding profusely and about to be killed.
12:06Open fire to establish safety.
12:11Within minutes, another man is shot.
12:1527-year-old Kamal Kimiri.
12:17At 1.48, we find him on the opposite side of the avenue.
12:22This is the view from Kamal's own phone.
12:25He records a group of police officers,
12:28at least two of whom are armed with handguns.
12:36Kamal then walks away from the front lines.
12:39His camera captures this man,
12:43throwing a stone at police.
12:46And then...
12:50Kamal falls.
12:57We have found another view of this incident.
13:01Here is Kamal.
13:03The man throwing the stone.
13:07And the moment Kamal is shot.
13:13His medical report states that the bullet entered beneath his left arm
13:17and exited through his back.
13:21We do not know the precise trajectory,
13:23but we can see the general direction from which this bullet was fired.
13:27It points towards the same group of police Kamal Kimiri had filmed just moments before.
13:35The bullet missed Kamal's spine by millimeters.
13:39He survived.
13:43Watching this scene was another young man.
13:4617-year-old Sriyam Chawlagai, still in his school uniform.
13:52Six minutes later, closer to the junction,
13:57we catch Sriyam again.
14:02Ahead of him, a group of protestors is belting the police with stones.
14:10But Sriyam turns away from the violence and moves back towards the junction.
14:15These are the last steps he takes.
14:19Moments later, another phone captures images which go viral across Nepal.
14:29The police have been shot.
14:35Bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
14:43Bystanders lift him into an ambulance.
14:46But it's too late.
14:48By the time he arrives at the National Trauma Center,
14:52Sriyam is dead.
14:55He's the youngest victim shot outside Nepal's parliament on September 8th.
15:05The next person to be killed, Yoginder Nupani, is shot just a few steps away.
15:11And this time, we have the clearest evidence yet, that as Yoginder fell,
15:17shots were being fired from inside the grounds of parliament.
15:21Just 90 seconds before the shooting.
15:28Vlogger Nishet Dahal turns his camera towards the grounds of parliament.
15:35Pay attention to this group of police officers.
15:40At exactly 2.21, they move towards the wall, separating parliament from the street.
15:50The public police officers.
15:52Department of Terror.sed
15:53-reced. paragraph
15:547, is shot! It
15:55is the woman about all that. Seconds
15:57later… …we
16:06hear seven gunshots. And see
16:13Yoginder pleading to death.
16:16on the ground this camera angle does not reveal who shot him
16:24but we found another clip of the same moment
16:27film from a few steps further along the pavement
16:34at first glance there is no more evidence here
16:42but if we zoom in and stabilize the footage
16:46we can clearly see gunshots
16:59this is the clearest visual evidence we have found
17:02indicating that unarmed protesters were shot dead
17:06by nepali police from inside the grounds of parliament
17:10yogendra died of his injuries he was 24
17:16according to official figures 19 young nepalys were killed in the protest on
17:20september 8th none of those we examined were involved in any sort of violence
17:31so how did the police come to open fire on their own citizens
17:36according to our police sources and the leaked transcript the order came through police radio
17:42from call sign kilo one but permission to use lethal force came from his boss
17:49call sign peter one
17:54curfew already in place no further need to obtain permission deploy necessary force
18:01peter one was chandra guber kapum nepal's most senior officer the inspector general of police
18:08he has denied responsibility nepal police told us the decision to use force came from a committee
18:16made up of nepal's main security forces they said igp kapum did not issue the order to use force
18:25ahead of the committee's decision to do so
18:29the following day september 9th the protesters are back on the streets
18:37a second curfew is imposed but it cannot contain the field
18:43crowds morph into mobs
18:46targeting the police
18:48the homes of political leaders government buildings left undefended nepal's parliament is set ablaze
19:04by that evening fire has engulfed police stations singled about the historic compound housing most government ministries
19:12even the supreme court
19:20you're not a lot of my Leo
19:22you're in a palomo
19:24I'm no you're in a pal
19:26what's okay going on
19:29finally at nine the army steps in
19:32imposing a peace that has held until now
19:37and installing a caretaker prime minister sushi lagarki
19:40her task overseeing fresh elections and an inquiry still ongoing into the events of september 8th and 9th
19:50while police and politicians pass the buck the families of those killed are mourning their loved ones
19:57like shriyam's mother
19:59so
20:13so
20:15so
20:20so
20:27so
20:28so
20:28so
20:28so
20:28so
20:39so
20:43elsewhere in the world service this week the Asia-specific podcast has been shining a spotlight on Rodrigo Duterte the
20:51former president of the Philippines
20:53The International Criminal Court has been considering whether Duterte should stand trial
21:00for crimes against humanity over his brutal so-called war on drugs, which resulted in
21:06the death of tens of thousands of Filipinos.
21:10Underlying the story is a power struggle between the Philippines' two dominant political families,
21:15the Dutertes and the Marcoses.
21:18You can listen to a full podcast on BBC Sounds, or wherever you get your podcasts, or watching
21:25Vision on the BBC World Services' YouTube channel.
21:30The new Venezuelan government's move to denationalize the oil industry is being watched closely in
21:35the country's second largest city, Maracaibo.
21:39The city is at the heart of Venezuela's oil-producing region, and many are hopeful that reforms will
21:45bring prosperity back to a part of the country hit hard by American sanctions, even though
21:51it may seem problematic to some in an era of catastrophic climate change.
21:56But times have been tough in Maracaibo.
21:58I went to that region to find out who the people there blame for their economic stagnation,
22:03and whether the return of big oil really will help the region get back on its feet.
22:16This is Leymar Arcaibo, on Venezuela's north coast.
22:25Here, you'll find local fishing boats, and the heart of Venezuela's oil industry.
22:32The wealth from the earth here, once made Venezuela rich, but now, it's a random reminder of better times.
22:42This is where oil was first discovered in the country a century ago.
22:47You can see the oil right here on the surface, you can't even touch it.
22:50If Donald Trump is really going to make Venezuela great again, as he says, this is where the
22:55impact will be felt first.
22:58Decades of mismanagement on their investment and sanctions have left the oil sector crumbling,
23:04and pollution is affecting one of the last remaining industries.
23:10Every year, fisherman Carlos is pulling fewer fish from these contaminated waters.
23:16Despite the removal of his president by Donald Trump, he is ready for American investment,
23:22and the oil to start flowing once more.
23:24It would be much better, because there is already work.
23:27There is work, and the people of one's not going to take the oil, but also going to take the
23:32future and go ahead.
23:35It would be good to have the oil company here, and to deal with this.
23:43We all help and have a lot of oil.
23:47It would be good to have another change.
23:49We want another change to our lakes.
23:53Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the largest in the world.
24:03Supporters of chavism, like Jose Luzardo, view Donald Trump's approach with suspicion.
24:08Well, I'm going to tell you, put your heart in your hand.
24:11We don't have any problem with that he will come to exploit work, or to exploit wood, and general employment.
24:19But we don't want to be a colony of anyone.
24:21In the mid-20th century, Maracaibo was a symbol of the great wealth of the oil boom.
24:27International oil companies built whole neighborhoods for the workers.
24:32Today, many of those homes stand empty.
24:36But oil did more than power Venezuela's economy.
24:40It helped shape its identity.
24:44In one of those homes, we met Jose Gregorio Martinez, who still hasn't lost hope of seeing the good times
24:50return.
25:15Maracaibo leaves a contradiction.
25:17Despite the region's potential, the city has suffered a severe energy crisis during the Chavista era.
25:24Many trace the industry's collapse to 2002, when strikes against Hugo Chavez led to major reforms at PDVSA.
25:35Chavez, who took power in 1999, responded by dismissing thousands of workers.
25:42Jorge, not his real name, was one of the workers dismissed at the time.
25:48He doesn't want to have his face and name disclosed for fear of retaliation by the Venezuelan government.
25:54When did you start the decadence of PDVSA?
25:58Well, with the leave.
26:00That's to say, you can't lose 18,000 technical people in a company.
26:04And nothing happens.
26:05You needed a company that would serve the political interests that they had planned.
26:10And of course, all the management and most technical staff opposed to that.
26:16That's to say, we're not going to change.
26:17But these have been so geniuses that they broke a petrol company, an excellence, the joy of Venezuela.
26:27They broke it.
26:28I think that didn't happen in any part of the world.
26:30And this is my conviction, very personal.
26:34When this happens, we recover the country and we have a right state.
26:38This will recover very quickly.
26:43Chavismo acknowledges corruption cases that hurt the industry,
26:47but mainly blame the economic sanctions imposed by the United States
26:51during Nicolas Maduro's administration for the decline.
26:55Juan Romero, a member of Parliament representing Zulia
26:58and a local leader of the Fulham Vesuvia Party,
27:01says foreign investment is key to the industry's survival.
27:05This is a legal issue.
27:06In the lake of Maracaibo, there are about 13,000 pools that can be recovered
27:10and there are reserves of 26,000 million barrels of petrol.
27:13What do you need to recover?
27:15Inversions.
27:16Inversions.
27:17The Venezuelan state, by the uninterrupted economic crisis
27:20from 2013 until now, has no capacity.
27:24What we have the capacity is to attract foreign investment.
27:29The recovery economy seems to be a priority for everyone here.
27:34There are also calls for democracy, free elections and reparations
27:38for victims of human rights abuses, though for now,
27:42not many dare to mention this openly.
27:45The government now says that he wants to invest more
27:47to exploit the petrol industry and that it will produce more petrol.
27:52What do you think of that?
27:54It's a better life for us, a better life, and for the future of our children.
28:01We hope that for us, the Venezuelans, it will be better.
28:07Because we are really seeing a situation where there are times
28:12that we don't have good fish and we don't have food.
28:16We're waiting for the next day, with that will,
28:18a little bottle of water to see what God presents us the other day.
28:26Thanks for joining me in Caracas. We want your feedback on Global Eye.
28:31Let us know what you think on social media using the hashtag BBC Global Eye.
28:35Next week, we'll be reporting from Australia. Goodbye.
29:11Bye.