13 Comments
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James Butler's avatar

Thank you Tina, this was an extraordinary interview. This man is such a hero. My fear is that we have such incompetence in our government and such corruption ourselves that this will turn out very badly. Trump only sees the oil profits, and as I stated in an earlier comment, he will have the US taypayers fund/subsidize repairing the infrastructure and Trump and his Mar A Lago crowd will hoover up the enormous profits from this "blood oil". I think he left the existing group (Delcy Rodriguez and her crew) in power as "one thug knows another thug" and he can make a corrupt deal with them to steal the oil and have them benefit as well. I place a lot of blame on our Supreme Court as they gave Trump full immunity so now he feels invincible and to our detriment he probably is. He can do this without even consulting Congress but has time to have meetings with the oil companies. That says it all. Hegseth, Rubio, Kristi Noem are all so drunk on power this is what happens. We will pay a terrible price for this. History shows when people feel invincible and are handed ultimate power it never ends well and this will not either. God help us.

mike's avatar
Jan 8Edited

Fantastic interview but maybe not what was expected from a dissident. He believes what President Trump did on January 3 was wonderful by arresting Maduro and his wife, and essential to Venezuela becoming stable and free again. That becomes very clear in the second half of the interview but the first half is equally riveting and as usual Ms. Brown asks crucial questions.

Jackie's avatar

The US President is shooting his own citizens so on what credible platform can we offer help to the oppressed Venezuelans? Once again the American people are left with no answers as we watch our lawless leadership build an authoritarian regime.

Patricia Munn's avatar

Amazing interview - thanks Tina. Am sceptical Trump will do anything to support reinstating democracy but to hear this first hand account is extraordinary

James Rock's avatar

Thanks Tina for a riveting interview that helped us to understand the harsh realities of the Madura regime. I hope change happens, but remain pessimistic. Humpty Trumpty won’t change things as long as he gets the oil and minerals he wants 😢

James Butler's avatar

Exactly right. Trump is looking for a big payday and could care less about the Venezuelan people. So terrible, and our reputation as Americans keeps getting destroyed.

Tod Cheney's avatar

What an extraordinary man, Leopoldo. I wish him and his people well. May the people triumph, somehow. I don't see Trump giving a s--t about their democracy however. At best he's indifferent, so long as the oil flows this way. The whole Mar-a Lago outfit, what a cluster, day after day after day. Thank you for introducing us to Leopoldo, a true hero, Tina.

Lissa Miller's avatar

Great questions, answers all pointing to a vague faith in “the transition “. Or does he know something he isn’t saying?

Krenstly2@gmail.com's avatar

Thank you for this, Tina. I learned so much. What an admirable man.

YuvalB's avatar

Tina. As usual. Uncovering gold. A huge inspiration Leopoldo. A brave thoughtful and beautiful hero. Thank you so much for doing this interview to enlighten and inspire us. And after all he’s been through. Still a smile of light on his face at the end. Amazing.

Furry's avatar

Thanks - I appreciate you taking a stance-you must be unique 👍

Furry's avatar

Possible that shareholders have a say in the oil industry putting big money in Venezuela-shouldn’t they have a vote whether to invest there or not-

Robert Davey's avatar

A very brave man—but he seems to prefer Trump’s approach to Biden’s