Juno News - The left rallies to defend Venezuela's socialist dictator

00:00:00.000 Several left-wing activists, politicians, and journalists had a meltdown over the arrest of

00:00:09.900 Nicolas Maduro, the socialist dictator of Venezuela. Immigrant groups gathered in Brampton

00:00:14.920 before Christmas calling for those on expired visas or expiring visas to remain in Canada.

00:00:19.720 Some called for revolution. Canada urges the Islamist regime in Iran to respect the human

00:00:24.940 rights of protesters while US President Donald Trump threatens military intervention if protesters

00:00:30.440 are killed. Hello Canada, it's Monday, January 5th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.

00:00:35.340 I'm Isaac Lamoureux. And I'm Oli Temtem.

00:00:37.760 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories

00:00:41.340 of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:47.740 Canadian left-wing activists, journalists, and opposition politicians were in uproar after

00:00:52.660 US forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro over narco-terrorism allegations.

00:00:58.260 The criticism followed a successful operation by American forces that entered Venezuela,

00:01:03.140 conducted airstrikes, and captured Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores.

00:01:07.700 Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, in response to the news, said, quote,

00:01:11.620 Since 2019, when Canada closed its embassy in Venezuela, we have refused to recognize

00:01:16.340 any legitimacy of the Maduro regime and opposed its repression of the Venezuelan people,

00:01:21.140 including the persecution of dissenters and particularly political leaders opposed to the

00:01:25.540 regime. In keeping with our longstanding commitment to upholding the rule of law and

00:01:29.220 democracy, Canada calls on all parties to respect international law and we stand by the people

00:01:33.940 of Venezuela and their desire to live in a peaceful and democratic society. Anand added that Canada is

00:01:38.980 engaging with international partners and monitoring developments closely, and said Ottawa

00:01:42.820 stands ready to assist Canadians through its embassy in Bogota, Colombia. While the statement reiterated

00:01:47.540 Canada's longstanding refusal to recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader, critics on the

00:01:52.580 left complained it failed to explicitly condemn the reported U.S. military action that led to his

00:01:57.380 removal. Journalist and commentator Rachel Gilmour criticized Conservative leader Pierre Poliev for

00:02:02.340 praising the reported arrest of Maduro and warned of broader implications. She wrote on X, quote,

00:02:07.700 Genuinely horrifying take when you consider there's no technical legal difference between kidnapping

00:02:12.020 Maduro and kidnapping Carney, and calling this freedom, Orwell wept. So, Walid, I'm wondering if

00:02:17.620 you can help break down the events for those who haven't been following the story very closely and

00:02:22.340 what the Canadian reactions have been. Yeah, so Isaac, essentially the U.S. early Saturday morning

00:02:27.300 decided to intervene finally after a long period of targeted strikes on off-coast boats in the Caribbean

00:02:35.460 region, primarily linked to narco-trafficking, of course. They finally managed to capture Maduro, who

00:02:42.100 has been appearing, sometimes recorded, sometimes in live events publicly in Caracas in the capital,

00:02:48.820 at multiple rallies with some of his supporters, of course, or at least regime elements, and calling for

00:02:57.060 peace, no war, and for negotiations. Of course, Washington and Donald Trump saw things differently and

00:03:03.220 decided to take a decisive action, removing him from the country. And it is believed, according to

00:03:07.860 reports as of Saturday evening, that he arrived in Manhattan to face, of course, eventual legal

00:03:14.980 proceedings from a Manhattan federal court. And he was, I think, seen at a helicopter landing pad somewhere

00:03:24.020 in New York, where multiple black SUVs were surrounding the institution while waiting to pick him up.

00:03:31.940 He and his wife, of course, he was seen photographed in a full Nike gray jumpsuit,

00:03:38.180 top to bottom, of course, so relatively comfortable wear. Now, in terms of Canada's reaction,

00:03:43.540 the government has been pretty much in line with the European, Western European angle in terms of

00:03:49.380 supporting Venezuelan democracy and cutting off relations with the former Maduro regime and looking

00:03:54.660 for a bright future in terms of a transition to democracy or transition back to democracy in the case

00:04:00.500 of Venezuela that has had nearly three decades of dictatorships, of course. On the right,

00:04:05.780 you have Conservative leader Pierre Paliyeb, who has applauded this action from the US very early on,

00:04:10.900 along with Conservative deputy leader Melissa Landsman, which has drawn intense blowback from the left,

00:04:17.460 from the side of the NDP. Candidates like Avi Lewis and Heather McPherson have made it very clear that

00:04:23.940 they view this as imperial aggression and that they condemn Pierre Paliyeb's sentiment of cheering on

00:04:30.420 President Trump, while you have even members of the Liberal caucus saying the same thing, essentially.

00:04:36.740 So it seems like specifically the NDP, as a more leftist part of the Canadian spectrum,

00:04:43.620 has this narrative where anything done against a country like Venezuela by the United States,

00:04:49.060 in terms of removing the leadership, whether or not it fits international law, they have a little

00:04:54.740 bit of this hearted animosity towards the long-term American efforts against Venezuela. For example,

00:05:02.100 the narratives bringing up the sanctions against the country, of course. Primarily, if you were to ask NDP

00:05:07.780 leaders and members, they would tell you that it was the sanctions that brought down Venezuela's economy,

00:05:13.220 which brought its tremendous suffering, which brought the refugee crisis, and the issues that have called

00:05:18.180 countries into action in the region. Whereas in reality, the actual cause of the economic crisis

00:05:24.180 has come for much more domestic reasons in the country of Venezuela, how the oil industry has been

00:05:29.220 mismanaged and how the government coffins' seizing of private property over decades have essentially killed

00:05:35.700 its prosperity that it once had in the 1950s. I believe Venezuela actually used to be in the top five

00:05:42.500 GDP per capita countries in the world in the 1950s, along with what was happening in Europe in World War II,

00:05:49.380 the lack of development in Africa and Asia, and the challenges seen in North America. Venezuela was

00:05:54.500 once a very wealthy country, and so it will be interesting to see how Canada's relations will

00:05:58.820 reset. Of course, the statement released by the Foreign Ministry, Anand, admits that Canada has broken off

00:06:05.300 relations since 2019. But of course, we can expect a diplomatic shift, along with a future

00:06:11.460 transitional government sponsored by the US, of course, where Canada might have an increasing role

00:06:17.300 in the region with Venezuela and their new government. Marxist agitators and temporary

00:06:26.500 migrant groups are plotting strikes and protests, including suggesting protests at Premier Doug Ford's

00:06:31.380 home to demand permanent residency for those whose legal statuses in Canada has expired. The Najuan 0.99

00:06:37.300 Support Network advertised a town hall-style meeting for all immigrants to fight against provincial and

00:06:42.180 federal immigration changes, which they argue will not fairly force many immigrants to leave Canada.

00:06:47.620 When True North entered the event, held at the Sri Guru Nanak Sikh Centre in Brampton on December 21st,

00:06:52.900 organizers joked about whether attendees had their immigration documents. A key issue for the group was

00:06:58.420 the estimated more than 2,600 applicants whose nominations applications were cancelled from the Ontario

00:07:04.100 Immigrant Nominee Program after the four government returned applications due to alleged mass fraud among

00:07:09.780 applicants. After more than three hours of talks from activists, stakeholders, and concerned migrants,

00:07:14.260 community members suggested several ways to fight for all migrants, including undocumented workers or

00:07:19.620 illegal migrants. Speakers from several groups, including some especially Marxists, called for

00:07:25.220 informational videos, pre-made letters to petition politicians, immigrant worker strikes, and marches to the

00:07:30.740 Ontario legislature. Catherine Gurzhitschak, an executive board member of Coop Ontario, a public sector union,

00:07:37.300 recommended that protests instead march directly on Ford's personal residence. Gurzhitschak made a point

00:07:43.060 to claim she was not at the meeting in her official Coop competency, but advised the migrants to work alongside

00:07:50.100 unions in order to fight to stay in Canada. She said, quote, it has nothing to do with capitalism and it has to do with

00:07:55.940 imperialism. Working people's lives are getting a lot more difficult and so to turn attention away from

00:08:01.300 the wealthy people that are benefiting from that, they're setting us on each other and wanting us to

00:08:06.100 fight each other. In terms of delivering a petition to Doug Ford, I'm just wondering if there'll be any

00:08:11.140 thought given to going to his house instead of the legislature where he'll likely not be there. I'm just

00:08:16.100 wondering if there's been any thought given to going to his house instead of the legislature where he will likely

00:08:21.140 not be there or even if he is there, we will likely not be able to go inside. Talking to Baltic students

00:08:27.220 is important, but the most powerful thing we can do and build towards is actually a strike of immigrants 1.00

00:08:33.060 and a strike of workers. One migrant activist, Bikram Kulalia, who identified as a professional

00:08:39.860 protester, has fought for several years in Canada for post-graduation work permits holders whose permits

00:08:46.500 were set to expire. He proposed that the roughly 12 separate organizations in attendance form a

00:08:51.940 coalition called the United Immigrants Front to advocate for migrants to stay in Canada. However,

00:08:57.460 one speaker objected to the name saying it would make Canadians view the group as militant. So, Isaac,

00:09:04.260 what are some of the other groups saying at this town hall style meeting?

00:09:07.540 Yeah, Waleed, beyond calls for strikes and direct action, several groups, as you mentioned,

00:09:13.540 that include these illegal immigrants at the Brampton meeting, framed Canada's immigration

00:09:17.540 system as part of a broader global struggle tied to capitalism, imperialism and race. One migrant 0.87

00:09:22.660 activist, Bikram Kulalia, argued that different migrant organizations should formally unite into a

00:09:27.700 single coalition to fight recent immigration rule changes. He said such a coalition could still disagree

00:09:33.060 internally on tactics but should align on what he described as a shared struggle against the global

00:09:37.460 capitalist system. Kulalia compared Canada's situation to international protest movements and

00:09:42.980 characterized opposition to permitless migrants, or illegal migrants, as ideologically comparable

00:09:48.660 to political movements he approaches abroad. Speakers from Migrants Ontario, which has links

00:09:53.460 to the International Migrants Alliance, used overly militant rhetoric. The group opened its remarks with

00:09:58.740 what it described as militant greetings and urged collective action to stop federal legislation that would

00:10:03.940 allow Ottawa to cancel immigration documents when deemed in the public interest. Representatives argued

00:10:08.900 that Canada no longer has the moral authority to restrict immigration and claimed the country owed

00:10:13.620 expanded access to residency due to its role in international conflicts. One speaker said Canada

00:10:18.740 could no longer be defined by a single cultural or racial identity and asserted that the country had an

00:10:23.780 obligation to accept unrestricted migration. Another representative said the International Migrants Alliance

00:10:28.740 planned to launch a tribunal aimed at holding Canada accountable for what they described as crimes against

00:10:33.300 migrants and foreign populations. The group concluded its presentation with communist salutes and chants

00:10:39.380 promoting international solidarity and migrant unity, which were echoed by many attendees in the room.

00:10:45.060 Event organizers later described the gathering as an open forum and said the views expressed by

00:10:49.220 speakers did not necessarily reflect the positions of all organizers or participants. However, organizers

00:10:57.460 acknowledged that many speakers viewed work permits and study visas as having been promoted by governments and

00:11:02.500 institutions as pathways to permanent residency and that frustration over those expectations was a unifying

00:11:08.100 theme throughout the event. One more thing I'll just mention will lead briefly to summarize this is that

00:11:12.980 uh many of these groups seem to be presenting that immigration is a right not a privilege and we've seen

00:11:20.100 leftist rhetoric in that regard really say that Canada has a strong history of immigration and a history as a country

00:11:26.260 of immigrants but it's very misleading because that doesn't distinguish the type of immigrants these people are

00:11:31.940 and are talking about from settlers like those who have deep deep Canadian ties and came here to build on land that was

00:11:38.820 essentially barren farmland and build the society that we know and love today.

00:11:45.700 As anti-regime uprisings grip Iran for a sixth day, President Donald Trump had issued a direct threat of U.S. military

00:11:52.500 intervention if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist group in both Canada and the U.S. shoots and kills peaceful

00:11:59.860 protesters. Trump shared a post to Truth Social around 3 a.m. on Friday warning the Islamist regime

00:12:04.980 in Iran not to kill its own citizens. The White House shared the post on X later that morning.

00:12:10.580 Trump said in the post, quote,

00:12:12.180 If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will 0.99

00:12:18.260 come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this

00:12:22.740 matter. Despite originally missing True North's deadline, Global Affairs Canada said it was

00:12:27.300 monitoring the situation and noted concern over the regime's potential human rights violations.

00:12:32.020 According to AP reporting, seven individuals were confirmed to have been shot and killed in Iran as

00:12:37.140 of Thursday night, the fifth day of protests, which have spread to at least 50 towns and cities across

00:12:42.740 the country. The anti-regime and pro-Shah movement in Iran is being hailed as the largest protest

00:12:48.260 since the Women Life Freedom protests in 2022-23. Those protests were sparked when Theocracy's 0.64

00:12:54.020 Morality Police abused and murdered a 22-year-old woman for violating its hijab rules. A number of

00:12:59.940 videos show protesters in large numbers chanting Long Live the Shah or Javid Shah in Farsi and calls

00:13:06.340 for the death of dictator Ayatollah Khomeini. GAC told True North in an email that Canada continues to

00:13:12.260 monitor developments in the country and reiterates that Iranian officials and authorities must uphold and

00:13:17.300 respect human rights, including the right to assemble and express peacefully. So, Waleed,

00:13:22.180 again, hoping you can break down the situation in Iran. Legacy Media is pinning the protests on

00:13:27.700 the economic failures of the regime, but is there more that's going on? Well, I think, of course,

00:13:32.100 there are long-standing grievances between the people and the regime of Iran. I think in terms of

00:13:36.420 the Middle East, there is no greater discrepancy right now between people and the regime than Iran,

00:13:42.740 actually, given the fact that the Iranian regime has failed to operate an economy that is offering

00:13:46.740 prosperity to the country, a stability of both electricity and water supply to the major city,

00:13:52.900 capital city of Tehran, where millions and millions of Iranians call home. And, of course,

00:13:58.180 they are also understanding that a lot of these things are happening at the specific expense

00:14:03.620 of the foreign policy of Iran, of the Middle East, attempting to dominate the Middle East through

00:14:09.620 militant proxies and allied governments that they are propping up in the region. And, of course,

00:14:14.820 that includes the Lebanese group Hezbollah, formerly the Assad regime in Syria, also in Iraq,

00:14:22.340 both the militias and the parliamentarians running part of the government in that country,

00:14:27.620 and Yemen with the Houthis. So, with all that regional equation that Iran has invested in and 0.56

00:14:32.260 is now reeling back under U.S. pressure, primarily in recent years since the October 7,

00:14:38.740 2023 attacks, what we have now is a situation where Iran's influence of the region is pulling back,

00:14:46.180 its domestic situation is deteriorating, the U.S. pressure continues, and this is even after the

00:14:51.780 12-day war last summer. And so, essentially, we're in a situation where we're locking into Iran's 0.96

00:14:57.780 domestic situation, where protesters are seizing the moment of the New Years to continue to express their

00:15:04.820 concerns and rise up and demand a full movement of the regime from power, specifically the Ayatollah

00:15:15.460 and the religious clerics that are running the country by executive authority and through the

00:15:20.500 military, which is essentially the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, that runs the country by

00:15:25.860 brute force and, of course, has multiple times over the course of history suppressed protests through

00:15:32.580 violence, of course, because this is a regime that deems dissent as nothing but foreign intelligence

00:15:38.100 conspiracies and does not exactly recognize the domestic grievances of the people economically

00:15:43.380 and, indeed, socially. So, this is true that this is the largest protest we've seen in Iran since the

00:15:48.260 Masa Amini-inspired revolution, but, of course, this is perhaps a continuation in the same spirit, again,

00:15:56.980 because the majority of protesters we're seeing are people that are under the age of 35, young,

00:16:03.540 educated, looking for jobs, looking for opportunity, looking for a better future. And with the messages

00:16:08.420 coming from abroad with a potential of freedom and allyship, of course, the son of the former

00:16:14.020 ousted king and shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi remains abroad, looking to return to Iran in a future

00:16:22.980 secular democratic transition. Much like Venezuela has its opposition, Iran does as well, primarily

00:16:29.860 outside the country where they are much safer. So, we're looking at an opportunity where, given the

00:16:36.180 fact that Trump has made his words and actions pretty clear and pretty blunt and pretty honest in

00:16:40.900 the case of Venezuela, some suggest that there might be some future action regarding Iran, both on

00:16:46.660 the sanctions front but also on military action targeting perhaps further nuclear facilities, military

00:16:52.180 facilities working in the regime's military capacity as well, which again, in terms of on the ground

00:16:56.900 scenarios, probably the single most important thing keeping the regime in power regionally and

00:17:02.100 domestically is the military force. So, any actions from the US attacking that force could definitely

00:17:08.100 create and open a greater window for future transition into a different regime, but at the time

00:17:14.180 it seems like these protests are very much representative of the spirit of the majority of Iranians.

00:17:18.820 However, it doesn't seem like they have the capabilities or power to bring this regime down alone.

00:17:26.820 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes

00:17:30.980 every weekday by subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also, while you're at it,

00:17:36.260 make sure to hit us with a five-star rating and please leave a review.

Juno News - January 05, 2026

The left rallies to defend Venezuela's socialist dictator

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