TRIGGERnometry - Venezuela Update with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin

00:00:00.000 Want to go electric without sacrificing fun?

00:00:04.020 That's the Volkswagen ID.4.

00:00:06.580 All electric and thoughtfully designed to elevate your modern lifestyle.

00:00:10.520 The Volkswagen ID.4 is fun to drive with instant acceleration that makes city streets feel like open roads.

00:00:16.480 Plus a refined interior with innovative technology always at your fingertips.

00:00:21.420 The all electric ID.4.

00:00:23.200 You deserve more fun.

00:00:24.540 Visit VW.ca to learn more.

00:00:27.080 SUVW. German engineered for all.

00:00:30.680 Got PC Optimum points?

00:00:32.440 Visit Shoppers Drug Mart for the bonus redemption event and get more for your points.

00:00:36.280 Friday, March 6th to Wednesday, March 11th.

00:00:38.340 Valid in-store and online.

00:00:47.980 Hello, everybody, and welcome to the first live episode of the year.

00:00:53.640 As you can see, thanks to President Trump, we've had to come back to work earlier than we planned.

00:00:58.460 So we're not in studio.

00:00:59.540 So welcome one, welcome all.

00:01:01.860 And it seems the pattern of 2026 is to continue the pattern of the previous several years where any country that we have any connection to personally gets invaded.

00:01:11.900 It's your turn, Francis.

00:01:13.480 Congratulations, mate.

00:01:14.320 Yeah, thank you very much.

00:01:16.140 It was a rather surreal experience to wake up on a Saturday morning, turn my phone on, check the football results.

00:01:24.060 And what it wasn't actually the football.

00:01:26.440 What was actually on my screen was something that Venezuelans have been praying for ever since basically Maduro got elected, but also before Maduro in the time of Chavez, which is Maduro has been taken.

00:01:43.660 He and his wife have been taken by the United States and they are going to be facing justice for the crimes that they have committed in Venezuela.

00:01:53.900 There is a word.

00:01:55.720 Well, you say that is I mean, we'll get into that before we go all the way and let's give everybody a little moment to join in.

00:02:02.360 And we'll discuss the idea that he's going to be facing justice for this crime he's committed in Venezuela and the geopolitical implications of all of that.

00:02:11.320 But before we get into all of that, perhaps you can just give everybody a quick breakdown of who Nicolas Maduro is, how long he's been in power and what may have led to this operation, particularly in the light of the conversation we had with Daniel DiMartino.

00:02:27.580 A very timely released episode that's obviously done incredible numbers since it's come out because of this event.

00:02:34.160 So just give us the basic background, first of all.

00:02:36.580 Of course. So it all starts in 1999 with Hugo Chavez being democratically elected by the Venezuelan people in a landslide victory.

00:02:48.320 This is what people always forget.

00:02:50.040 Hugo Chavez won by a landslide with a communist revolution.

00:02:55.740 It was a communist party.

00:02:57.980 He was talking.

00:02:59.180 They were calling themselves Chavistas.

00:03:01.380 And what he was promising in his left wing populist revolution is that the elites, the elites were the ones who were ignoring the Venezuelan people.

00:03:11.760 That's why we saw this horrendous inequality in Venezuela between rich and between poor.

00:03:17.740 He was going to do something about corruption.

00:03:20.480 Venezuela has famously been one of the most corrupt nations on earth since from before my time.

00:03:26.280 And he promised to do something.

00:03:28.360 Venezuela was the fifth biggest oil producer in the world with the largest oil reserves in the world.

00:03:34.380 And a lot of that oil money had not filtered down to the poorest people.

00:03:41.020 Venezuela, and particularly Caracas, one of the most unequal societies in the world, where you had this echelon of very rich, very wealthy people who were living these incredibly luxurious lives.

00:03:52.560 And then you had other people, the vast majority of people in society, living in what was called Los Ranchos.

00:04:00.660 In Brazil, they're called the favelas.

00:04:02.660 They're the shanty towns.

00:04:04.340 So that's the backdrop of a Venezuela.

00:04:07.840 It was corrupt president after corrupt president after corrupt president.

00:04:13.020 Chavez came in, landslide election, and he said, what we're going to see is a left wing populist revolution.

00:04:20.780 What we're going to see is a redistribution of wealth.

00:04:25.380 What we're going to see is a fairer Venezuela.

00:04:28.820 And the thing that's very interesting, and we may come back and talk about this, is he was seen as a symbol.

00:04:35.220 He was seen as a symbol of socialism.

00:04:38.000 This was going to be the new way.

00:04:39.900 This was going to be the new left wing revolution.

00:04:43.480 And the usual suspects got behind it.

00:04:46.560 The Owen Jones, the Jeremy Corbyns, the Bernie Sanders, who unidized Chavez and said, this is the way it should be done.

00:04:54.560 And you know what?

00:04:55.800 For the first few years, it seemed to be going OK.

00:05:00.760 Oil prices spiked.

00:05:03.380 There was some sort of redistribution of wealth.

00:05:07.360 Hospitals opened, new schools, et cetera, et cetera.

00:05:10.700 And people were thinking, actually, could this be a new dawn for Venezuela, a new dawn for a fairer Venezuela for everybody?

00:05:19.560 But unfortunately, what happens with communist parties and communist dictatorships is they start off with a narrative of fairness.

00:05:27.340 And you will know this very well yourself, Constantine.

00:05:29.800 And slowly but surely, the tentacles of power start to go into every facet of society.

00:05:38.400 And we saw this bit by bit in Venezuela.

00:05:41.740 It started off with allegiances with Cuba.

00:05:46.280 So there was allegiances between Venezuela and Cuba.

00:05:49.680 And what that actually was, was Venezuela providing Cuba with cheap oil, cheap petroleum, helping to keep their crippled economy afloat.

00:05:58.600 And Fidel Castro at the time providing Hugo Chavez with the means and the know-how in order to take over Venezuela and turn it from a very corrupt, although capitalist country and incredibly wealthy to what we see now,

00:06:17.220 which is a communist country, which is economically crippled with a population of 9 million people who now live abroad, because the situation in Venezuela for the vast majority is simply untenable.

00:06:33.800 It is one of the poorest nations on earth.

00:06:37.500 Its life expectancy is lower than Syria.

00:06:41.540 Inflation regularly hits around 200 percent.

00:06:44.780 So we talk about unfairness before, but now what we have is a majority of people who struggle not only to make it through a day or a week or a month, but struggle to eat.

00:06:57.360 What Venezuela has become is it's turned in this turned from one of the richest countries in the world to an absolute economic basket case.

00:07:07.340 Now, what happened with Chavez is his power grew, and as his power grew, so did the human rights abuses.

00:07:17.160 So did going after political opponents, imprisoning them, imprisoning journalists, threatening journalists, torturing journalists.

00:07:27.080 There was no such thing as freedom of speech in Venezuela.

00:07:29.920 Venezuela. And that was how it progressed.

00:07:32.780 And then the economy crashed.

00:07:35.980 And then what happened, and no one expected this, is Chavez got sick.

00:07:41.340 He developed stomach cancer and he passed away in 2013.

00:07:45.800 Now, this was a ray of hope for Venezuelans at the time who thought to themselves,

00:07:50.700 ah, now maybe with Chavez gone, there's there's a new hope.

00:07:55.180 Maybe with a new leader, we can have a new dawn.

00:07:58.320 Maybe there's going to be a chance for us to be able to actually start again.

00:08:03.800 Let me guess. It worked out perfectly.

00:08:06.280 Yeah, it worked out perfectly.

00:08:08.840 He elated a man called Nicolas Maduro.

00:08:11.960 Now, this is very interesting.

00:08:13.400 Nicolas. And this was a shock to everyone.

00:08:15.300 Hold on. When you say he elected, who elected?

00:08:17.560 Oh, sorry. He didn't elect. There you go.

00:08:19.300 There was a Freudian slip.

00:08:20.600 He nominated his successor on his deathbed, Nicolas Maduro.

00:08:24.200 And this was a shock at the time in Venezuela because there were other big players who people expected to be the leader.

00:08:32.260 Now, Nicolas Maduro was a former bus driver.

00:08:36.560 He was in a rock band.

00:08:38.880 This was not a man of great intellectual ability.

00:08:42.420 But what he was known for amongst the Chavistas, above all, was his loyalty to the revolution, to the Chavez project.

00:08:49.940 And when he was nominated, people were actually quite shocked.

00:08:55.740 But the thing with Maduro's government is, is that it was even worse.

00:09:02.120 The human rights abuses became worse.

00:09:04.620 The poverty became worse.

00:09:07.080 Everything in the country came to the point where it became a failed state.

00:09:12.060 And Maduro has presided over Venezuela since 2013.

00:09:17.840 And he has presided over a country that lives in fear, that feels unable to not only voice their opinion, but also there's a word in Spanish called esperanza, which means hope.

00:09:34.760 And esperanza, the first part of that word espera, which means to wait.

00:09:41.340 And Venezuelans have been waiting a long, long, long time.

00:09:46.240 In fact, many of them have actually given up hope that Maduro and his ilk were actually going to be gone.

00:09:53.680 So it's been a very, very interesting time for Venezuelans.

00:09:58.780 It's been a real shock for them, what happened a couple of days ago.

00:10:03.320 It's disbelief.

00:10:05.140 There's a little bit of esperanza in there, but there's also fear as well.

00:10:09.640 Because as you know, after the Soviet Union collapsed, what's even more dangerous in an authoritarian regime is a power vacuum.

00:10:18.280 And we can go into what's happening now, the successor who's been appointed, who she is, and all the rest of it.

00:10:26.780 Well, we can.

00:10:28.080 It's really interesting to hear, first and foremost, your background on how the people of Venezuela feel.

00:10:34.260 There are lots of suggestions in the comments that you should be appointed king of Venezuela.

00:10:39.160 One I obviously support.

00:10:41.020 One of the things that I think is interesting, though, is with all respect to Venezuela and people in Venezuela, I don't think this operation had anything to do with the things that you're talking about.

00:10:53.400 Right.

00:10:53.860 And that, I think, is very clear because this is essentially, and we've heard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on this.

00:11:01.500 This was an action that was based on the fact that Venezuela was not just a poor country that was treating its citizens badly.

00:11:09.980 That really, obviously, that those boxes are ticked for lots and lots of countries around the world.

00:11:14.820 The reason this happened was that Venezuela was becoming a hostile force within America's hemisphere, within America's sphere of influence, within America's sphere of dominance, you might say.

00:11:27.800 Can you talk a little bit about the fact that we know, for example, that the Venezuelan government under Maduro was playing footsie with China, was playing footsie with Russia, was hosting, as far as we know, maybe even Hezbollah training camps in Venezuela.

00:11:45.240 Tell us about that.

00:11:46.860 So Maduro and before that, Chavez were always anti-West.

00:11:51.840 They talked about America as this great evil, the great Satan.

00:11:56.000 In fact, Hugo Chavez famously said that George W. Bush was as dangerous as a monkey with a razor blade.

00:12:03.280 It was one of his many sayings about George Bush.

00:12:06.040 But it comes from that hard left communist viewpoint that America is the great Satan, that they, for too long, America has had, or the United States, has had Latin America and its iron grip.

00:12:21.760 And what America has done is use the resources and the country and the peoples of South America for their own gains.

00:12:31.620 And what Chavez and Maduro wanted to do is they wanted to seek alliances with other countries and other nations who are actually the enemies of the United States of America.

00:12:45.740 So the Iran's of the world, the China's of the world, and the Russia's of the world.

00:12:50.720 And these alliances for those countries was incredibly attractive because what you don't know, well, what a lot of people don't know is Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.

00:13:03.060 And as a result of that, for the Chinese, maybe less so for the Russians because they've got their own oil reserves and the Iranians, that meant that it was a very, very powerful ally.

00:13:16.760 And Venezuelan oil is quite unique in that it's actually very diverse.

00:13:21.960 A lot of petroleum, when it's taken out of the ground, the oil that's taken out of the ground, it can only be used maybe for one or two things.

00:13:30.260 But Venezuelan oil can be used for many things, from petrol right the way through to helping to resurface roads, et cetera.

00:13:38.560 So this is incredibly valuable stuff that Venezuela has.

00:13:42.680 And not only that, it's also got reserves of gold, natural gas, minerals.

00:13:48.380 Venezuela is one of the most resourceful countries and rich and resourced countries in the globe.

00:13:58.520 So for those countries to have an alliance with Venezuela is pretty much priceless.

00:14:05.280 Also as well, the fact that they could have relations and close ties with a nation,

00:14:12.220 people don't realize that actually Venezuela is at the very top of South America.

00:14:17.060 It's right on the Caribbean Ocean and it's only a couple of hours flight from there to Florida to the United States.

00:14:30.540 That's one part of it.

00:14:32.160 Another part of it that really frustrates America is in South America, Venezuela is known as El Puente, the bridge.

00:14:42.380 Why is it called the bridge?

00:14:43.520 Well, it's very simple because Venezuela doesn't produce cocaine.

00:14:49.100 Bolivia, Colombia, Peru produce the cocaine.

00:14:53.160 But Venezuela is known as El Puente, the bridge.

00:14:55.860 So people, drug traffickers, take their drugs to Venezuela and then they use it as a bridge to go to different parts of America.

00:15:05.980 And that, again, it's not the main reason by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a huge frustration to American governments that Venezuela was essentially not only turning a blind eye to this kind of criminal activity, but actually profiting from it.

00:15:23.640 And it wasn't only that, it was the way, the brazen way Chavez and Maduro were flaunting this criminal activities, flaunting that they were in league with Russia, with Iran.

00:15:39.000 I remember talking to a cousin of mine, and I was asking how Venezuela is, and he was like, bro, we now have Hezbollah training camps.

00:15:48.020 If you think about it from the Americans' point of view, this is entirely unacceptable.

00:15:56.040 The provocative nature of Chavez and then Maduro thumbing their nose at Venezuela was, for many American governments, untenable.

00:16:07.400 Another example, Guyana.

00:16:08.980 A lot of, so for those of you who don't know, Guyana is a country in South America.

00:16:15.060 It's a former British colony.

00:16:18.140 Next to Venezuela.

00:16:19.540 And there's always been disputes between Venezuela and Guyana.

00:16:24.040 Saying, Venezuela's saying, Guyana, there's a region of it that should be part of Venezuela.

00:16:30.040 The Guyanese dispute this, but it's impenetrable rainforest.

00:16:33.480 Who cares?

00:16:34.020 Until 2015, when some of the largest oil deposits were found in Guyana.

00:16:41.740 At this point, Venezuela decided that they were going to stake a claim to this territory.

00:16:49.980 Maduro redrew the map of Venezuela, distributed it to schools.

00:16:55.880 Some say the bubbles in an arrow truffle piece can take 34 seconds to melt in your mouth.

00:17:00.900 Sometimes the very amount you're stuck at the same red light.

00:17:04.020 Rich, creamy, chocolatey arrow truffle.

00:17:07.400 Feel the arrow bubbles melt.

00:17:09.440 It's mind bubbling.

00:17:11.060 With this new territory as being part of the Venezuelan nation.

00:17:16.380 He then in 2024, I think it was, or 2023, they had an election where he asked the Venezuelan people,

00:17:24.740 should this new territory be part of Venezuela?

00:17:28.080 And apparently, apparently, the Venezuelan people agreed to it.

00:17:34.020 So you see, what they were doing was not only liaising with the enemies of the United States.

00:17:42.740 Not only were they providing and profiting from the drug trade, but they were also saber-rattling right in America's back door.

00:17:52.460 And this came to a point, Biden put a bounty of around $50 million on Maduro's head, and then Trump came to power.

00:18:03.600 And as we all know, Trump and Biden are two very different animals.

00:18:07.600 What Biden may see as acceptable, or even turn a blind eye to, that wasn't going to wash under Donald Trump.

00:18:17.660 In Trump's own words, fuck around, find out.

00:18:20.920 Well, what's interesting as well is, obviously, there's another potential conversation to be had here.

00:18:26.860 And a lot of people are pointing out, you know, calling me and you idiots in the chat, saying,

00:18:32.140 you idiots, this is all about oil.

00:18:33.900 And you mentioned that Venezuela has a lot of oil.

00:18:36.620 To what extent is it fair to say this is just a land grab, oil grab,

00:18:42.860 United States basically trying to control Venezuela's oil supply?

00:18:46.580 I mean, it's an interesting argument, given the fact that the U.S. is the largest oil producer in the world.

00:18:50.740 It's not like it needs loads more oil.

00:18:53.120 What it probably doesn't want is the Chinese and the Russians and the Iranians to be,

00:18:57.920 I mean, Iran has a lot of oil, the Chinese in particular, to control that.

00:19:01.760 What's your view on that conversation?

00:19:04.340 So one of the opinions that people are saying is it's not that America needs the oil.

00:19:11.360 The reality is Venezuela provides around 4% of the oil for China.

00:19:16.580 China is not largely dependent on the oil.

00:19:19.760 4% is still a significant percentage, don't get me wrong, but it's not life-threatening to its society.

00:19:26.560 But a lot of people are saying that what Trump wants to do is he wants to seize Venezuela,

00:19:33.420 then co-op the oil, bring in American companies.

00:19:37.300 They're going to make a lot of money, but it's also going to help to control the oil prices.

00:19:42.600 Because once you start to control the oil prices and if you keep it below $50 a barrel,

00:19:47.940 that is really going to affect your enemies, really going to affect your enemies.

00:19:52.920 So there are a lot of people saying that.

00:19:55.400 And look, we've got to be honest about this.

00:19:57.480 Of course, the oil plays a significant factor.

00:20:00.500 Of course they do.

00:20:01.140 American companies were making billions upon billions from American, from Venezuelan oil.

00:20:07.960 They had contracts in Venezuela with PDVSA, which was the Venezuelan oil company.

00:20:13.560 It was nationalized.

00:20:15.360 Chavez and his cronies tore up all of that.

00:20:18.140 So of course that's going to actually be a very, very significant part of this decision.

00:20:24.340 But I also do think the geopolitical element of it, we talked about this with Mike Baker.

00:20:30.520 We have been talking about this for a while on trigonometry.

00:20:33.320 This plays a very significant part.

00:20:36.060 The fact that this Venezuela is perceived as a security threat.

00:20:40.860 The reality is that this was always going to happen.

00:20:45.360 Well, the surprise came that it happened in the matter, in the manner that it did,

00:20:49.840 which I don't think anyone would have predicted.

00:20:51.640 Well, that's something we should talk about, the manner that it happened as well.

00:20:55.140 I mean, one of the interesting things is this,

00:20:57.300 we really should take this opportunity to give ourselves a huge amount of credit, I feel,

00:21:01.680 in that you've been talking about this for a long time.

00:21:04.920 You've been at me to get guests on to talk about this.

00:21:08.400 Our interview with Daniel DiMartino, which I mentioned at the beginning,

00:21:11.580 we released that, I think, on Christmas Eve.

00:21:14.620 We kind of knew this was coming at some point,

00:21:17.380 because if you were actually paying attention in detail,

00:21:20.640 you knew that it was building up to this.

00:21:23.100 But what has been interesting, I mean, one of the things we haven't talked about,

00:21:26.560 and it's really shaping the way people discuss this issue,

00:21:29.060 because as we know, having talked to lots and lots of people,

00:21:34.560 you know, from different sides of the political spectrum,

00:21:37.660 there's obviously a massive isolationist, non-interventionist wing

00:21:41.960 in American politics in particular.

00:21:43.880 And I think it's fair to say that it's based on the fact that Iraq was a disaster,

00:21:50.300 Afghanistan was a disaster, and before that, Vietnam was a disaster.

00:21:55.120 But what's happened here is a precedent that many people thought would be non-interventionist

00:22:01.680 and isolationist is actually showing that there is a third way in all of this,

00:22:06.860 which is you don't have to withdraw from the world in a way that I think it's reasonable to say

00:22:13.040 America cannot do while remaining a great power.

00:22:16.160 Being a great power means controlling the territory around you,

00:22:19.640 controlling neighboring countries,

00:22:21.360 making sure that other great powers don't encroach on your territory,

00:22:24.520 don't sabotage your operations, etc.

00:22:26.880 But what he's not doing is getting America embroiled in a regime change war in Iran.

00:22:34.460 He just takes out the nuclear weapons in 12 days, job done.

00:22:38.260 Largely using Israeli intelligence and so on.

00:22:41.420 And here in Venezuela, what we saw is an intervention with zero casualties by the Americans,

00:22:49.000 where they effectively go in, extract the leader who they consider a problem,

00:22:54.580 and then leave.

00:22:56.540 We'll talk, obviously, about the implications for Venezuela going forward.

00:23:00.620 But it is quite a remarkable thing.

00:23:02.700 And I think President Trump is single-handedly showing that you don't have to be someone

00:23:09.040 who launches long, costly trillion-dollar wars to deal with specific problems

00:23:15.020 in the way that we've seen in the past.

00:23:18.760 Completely agree.

00:23:19.720 I mean, Trump, in his address to the nation, said that only the Americans could have been capable

00:23:25.940 of pulling off this kind of operation.

00:23:29.160 And he's right.

00:23:30.100 He's right.

00:23:30.680 I couldn't think of a single other nation that would have been able to do this.

00:23:36.160 The way that Delta Force carried this operation out, it was absolutely masterful.

00:23:42.200 So I was talking to my friend, and he was saying that on Friday night, it was around 2 o'clock

00:23:48.160 in the morning.

00:23:49.080 He was an insomniac, so he was playing Sudoku.

00:23:52.000 And he heard planes flying overhead.

00:23:55.060 Now, at the moment, there is a no-fly zone across Caracas, the capital, and across Venezuela.

00:24:00.960 And so he thought that was bizarre.

00:24:03.640 He heard a huge explosion.

00:24:05.820 And then he heard another series of explosions.

00:24:08.940 And then that was it.

00:24:12.440 That was it.

00:24:13.980 Now, I do know one person, a cousin of mine, who lives close to the area that was affected,

00:24:19.500 whose windows were blown out.

00:24:21.480 But that seems to be pretty much all that happened as far as civilians, as civilian casualties.

00:24:29.060 Well, not even civilian casualties, but property was affected, et cetera.

00:24:32.020 So what Americans did with this was completely masterful.

00:24:36.320 But what's really interesting, and I don't think people are talking about enough, is who

00:24:41.160 they appointed as the successor.

00:24:43.700 They didn't appoint Corina Machado, what people widely regard as the leader, the de facto leader

00:24:51.820 of Venezuela.

00:24:53.180 He said about her, she went, she's a nice lady, but she doesn't have the respect of the

00:24:58.440 country.

00:24:58.860 And what people actually think he means by that is she doesn't have the respect of the army.

00:25:05.600 So if we look at it through that lens, it's a very pragmatic choice because he's put in

00:25:12.320 place, effectively, Maduro is one of Maduro's hench people.

00:25:18.440 And this Delcey Rodriguez, by the way, is not a moderate.

00:25:22.840 She was at Maduro's side when he was committing his horrendous crimes, when all of these awful

00:25:30.460 things were happening to the Venezuelan people.

00:25:32.500 What's really interesting as well is her father was a renowned left-wing terrorist.

00:25:38.660 So this is a woman who has extremism coursing through her veins.

00:25:44.900 Is she a communist?

00:25:46.300 Yes.

00:25:47.380 She's a part of the Communist Party of Venezuela.

00:25:50.460 And do we know why it is that they've essentially replaced one communist with another?

00:25:57.080 Well, this is where we get into the realms of conjecture, because the rumours in Venezuela

00:26:04.100 are there have been multiple bounties on the heads of the regime.

00:26:10.080 So in the heads of the regime, there have been multiple bounties.

00:26:13.680 However, with Delcey Rodriguez and her brother, who was the head of the Senate, there was no

00:26:20.120 bounty.

00:26:20.440 So people are going, hang on a second.

00:26:23.780 Why is it everybody else has got a bounty for 10, 20, 50 million dollars on their head,

00:26:29.460 but Delcey hasn't?

00:26:31.000 And the rumour is, is that she was in league with the Americans.

00:26:35.520 She knew what was going to be happening.

00:26:37.980 She was the one who gave the information.

00:26:40.460 Now, this is just conjecture.

00:26:41.660 We don't know.

00:26:42.240 These are just rumours.

00:26:43.100 And that's the reason why she has been, she has stepped in and we have seen this smooth

00:26:49.060 transition of power, because she has said herself, and she's made this public, that she

00:26:54.600 will do whatever the American, the Americans want.

00:26:58.660 She will do whatever.

00:26:59.160 And what do they want?

00:27:00.040 Have we heard what their plan is for Venezuela?

00:27:03.280 Because, I mean, you talked obviously at the beginning about the fact that this is a

00:27:07.540 great opportunity for the Venezuelan people to finally have leadership that actually represents

00:27:12.500 them and their wishes and have a stable economy, et cetera.

00:27:18.140 Well, what you're describing so far doesn't sound remotely like that.

00:27:21.840 No.

00:27:22.480 So what Trump has said is that essentially he didn't use these words, but Venezuela is currently

00:27:28.560 a de facto colony of the United States as of this moment.

00:27:33.200 He says that.

00:27:34.560 Did he really say that?

00:27:35.940 No, he didn't say that.

00:27:37.000 But that's what Venezuela is as of this moment.

00:27:39.360 Venezuela is under the control of the of the American government.

00:27:43.680 How?

00:27:45.540 Because they have a leader in charge who is following the orders of the America of the

00:27:50.220 Americans.

00:27:51.900 That there is there is no question about that.

00:27:56.000 If she and Trump has said this, if she steps out of line, the same thing is going to happen.

00:28:02.080 So she knows that she can't fuck around, to put it bluntly.

00:28:06.360 So what Trump has said is said he wants Venezuela to be opened up to the oil companies.

00:28:12.940 He wants the oil to be started to the infrastructure to be rebuilt.

00:28:18.060 He wants the oil to start pumping.

00:28:20.480 And he says eventually he wants it to be ruled by by a Venezuelan leader who will treat Venezuelans

00:28:28.760 with dignity and respect and be a good ally to America.

00:28:32.380 But at the moment in Venezuela, you might have seen videos of Venezuelans cheering on the

00:28:38.440 streets, Venezuelan flags, hot Venezuelan ladies, you know, dancing in the street, etc.

00:28:44.800 None of that video footage have come from the streets of Caracas, Maracaibo or any other

00:28:50.960 city in Venezuela.

00:28:52.600 Those have come from Madrid, Barcelona, Miami, wherever it may be.

00:28:58.280 When I was talking to my friends and relatives, there is a lockdown in Venezuela.

00:29:04.960 Nobody is allowed to leave their house unless you go to work and it is an emergency or you

00:29:11.280 have to buy food or you have to go to the gas station.

00:29:14.220 That is it.

00:29:15.380 At the moment, the colectivos, which are essentially Maduro's thugs and henchmen, the people who

00:29:22.420 patrol and maintain order, they're currently roaming the streets.

00:29:27.360 If you were found on the streets without papers or without a good reason to be there, you

00:29:33.440 are in big, big, big trouble.

00:29:35.800 Well, this is why I asked you why you say that the United States is in charge, because if Maduro's

00:29:42.120 colectivos are roaming the streets, shooting people who go out, that doesn't sound to me

00:29:47.200 like the US is in charge.

00:29:49.080 But we don't know that they're shooting people.

00:29:51.100 But what we do know is that there is a lockdown and that.

00:29:54.840 OK, but is that lockdown instituted by the Americans?

00:29:58.980 We don't know.

00:30:00.260 We don't know.

00:30:00.940 But what we do know is that it wouldn't surprise me if it is, because there's the most dangerous

00:30:06.780 thing.

00:30:07.140 And we've touched on it before is a power vacuum.

00:30:10.840 And that's what they don't want, because when you have regime change like we've seen

00:30:15.420 in Iraq or in Afghanistan, all of these countries, the moment you have a power vacuum, that is

00:30:21.920 the time when everything crumbles.

00:30:23.600 So it actually makes sense to have a lockdown and to have people in their houses and not

00:30:29.400 leaving only for essentials or emergencies.

00:30:34.720 It's it's an interesting situation because I'm not hearing a lot about the promise of

00:30:38.860 elections or democracy and all of that.

00:30:40.920 Do you think that's on the cards?

00:30:43.000 I think that's going to be a long, long, long time.

00:30:47.540 I think Venezuelans have waited for 26 years to get rid of this government.

00:30:53.600 I think, unfortunately, we there are no promises.

00:30:57.720 We don't know.

00:30:59.040 There have been talks that Delce Rodriguez is going to rule for a 90 day interim period.

00:31:04.520 And bear in mind as well, it's not only Delce Rodriguez at the top, all Maduro's henchmen

00:31:11.160 and some of his most notorious enforcers, the Minister of Justice, the Minister for the Interior,

00:31:19.780 who is also the head of the Colectivos.

00:31:22.140 These people, these men are still in place.

00:31:25.700 They are still in place.

00:31:27.580 So even though they have had bounties on their heads for tens of millions of dollars, they

00:31:32.220 have they're not going anywhere as of this moment.

00:31:35.180 And I think what's really important to talk about is the the level of uncertainty.

00:31:42.960 No one knows where we're where this is going.

00:31:46.360 This is a day to day situation where Venezuelans and other people around the world are waking

00:31:53.200 up and going, what's going to happen today?

00:31:56.500 So it's quite apparent that America is in charge.

00:32:02.660 And they're saying to the Venezuelan government, this is enough.

00:32:06.720 You are going to we're going to now operate and instruct Venezuela how to exist, how to live,

00:32:15.360 how to be a country.

00:32:16.240 But as to the long term future of Venezuela, what happens into the Venezuelan people, it's

00:32:23.720 anyone's guess, to be honest.

00:32:26.700 We haven't really talked about Maduro.

00:32:29.000 I don't know how important it is at this point, but effectively, he has been taken to the United

00:32:33.900 States, he's been charged with drug trafficking, as I understand it, and he's pleaded not guilty.

00:32:41.300 Is it fair to say that while he certainly and, you know, our conversation with Daniel DiMartino

00:32:48.120 touched on this extensively, it's certainly true that his people have been involved in the

00:32:55.600 drug trafficking, including to the United States.

00:32:59.880 That really isn't the reason that this has happened.

00:33:02.620 Is that fair to say?

00:33:03.900 No, that's not the reason that it's happened, because if we look at drug trafficking, we

00:33:08.020 go, well, why not Colombia?

00:33:09.600 Why not Mexico?

00:33:10.880 Mexico, in terms of drug trafficking, dwarfs Venezuela.

00:33:15.100 And it's not only because it's cocaine from Venezuela, but if you look at the fentanyl that

00:33:21.180 comes over the border from Mexico, no.

00:33:23.640 The accusation is that Maduro is part of the Cartel de los Soles, which is a notorious cartel,

00:33:31.720 drug cartel.

00:33:32.420 And these are the accusations being leveled against him.

00:33:35.660 One of the things that actually people have missed is it's also his wife.

00:33:39.960 And people are going, well, why is his wife?

00:33:42.120 And this is where it gets also really interesting, because his wife was a politician or is a politician.

00:33:50.100 And she's known in Venezuela as crueler, more vicious than her husband, somebody who instructs

00:34:00.500 the torture of political enemies, journalists and also takes a real delight in the suffering of other people.

00:34:09.180 And the fact that she was captured, along with Maduro, sent, I can only say, shockwaves of joy.

00:34:17.920 And people in Venezuela were so happy, actually probably even more happy that she was captured than Maduro.

00:34:24.040 She's known as the brains of the operation.

00:34:27.300 There have been several clips have gone viral across the Internet, showing Maduro trying to do even basic mathematics live on air and failing miserably time after time after time.

00:34:40.080 And it goes back to the point I made.

00:34:42.860 This man wasn't picked because he's a brilliant leader or he's strategically ingenious or he's an incredible politician.

00:34:52.940 This man was picked because he was loyal and he followed orders.

00:34:57.260 It's the people below him and around him who are the brains behind the party.

00:35:05.320 So, again, it touches on the fact that if you think or people think that just because Maduro and his wife have left Venezuela,

00:35:13.140 that the problem has been solved, tragic as it is, that is that simply isn't the case.

00:35:20.540 Well, you know, it's interesting that we're talking about this because, you know,

00:35:27.260 just because somebody is part of a regime doesn't mean that they will necessarily continue the same policies.

00:35:31.960 The example I would give is in the Soviet Union, the USSR, the people who led that country to be democratized,

00:35:39.400 Mikhail Gorbachev, Eduard Sharanadze and others who were members of the Politburo.

00:35:45.240 They were senior communists who were effectively a branch of that leadership cadre who saw that the current way of doing things was no longer sustainable.

00:35:57.260 And because of that, adopted pro-democracy policies.

00:36:01.640 So I suppose the question is, you know, are these people hardcore?

00:36:06.100 And also, ultimately, can they be kept in line by the Americans or will they do what often has happened in Latin America,

00:36:14.900 where somebody is established as a leader of the country by the Americans?

00:36:19.380 And when they get the power and they get the money, they turn around and they start having a go at the gringos again.

00:36:26.680 It's a very good question.

00:36:29.160 Very, very, very, very, very good question.

00:36:31.560 And the reality is, number one, we simply don't know.

00:36:34.580 But number two, it's when you have a ruler like Trump, when you have a president like Trump,

00:36:42.940 Trump's great strength is his unpredictability and the fact that you don't know what he's going to do at any given moment.

00:36:52.260 And that includes all of us, probably even Donald Trump himself.

00:36:55.780 Sometimes I imagine when you're dealing with a man like that, you are not going to want to antagonize, provoke or anger him

00:37:05.420 because you have already seen what he's done to your leader.

00:37:09.540 And I can't think of another president in living memory who would execute this type of plan.

00:37:18.380 Trump's strength and his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, in fact, is his boldness.

00:37:23.620 So if you are up against an adversary like that, would you antagonize him?

00:37:27.980 Would you want to play games or would you actually realize that if you want to keep your position,

00:37:33.900 if you want to keep your hold on power, and most of all, if you want to stay alive,

00:37:39.600 probably this isn't the guy to mess around with.

00:37:42.480 Now, only time will tell if what I think will if my position turns out to be correct.

00:37:49.060 But if I was Rodriguez, there is no way in hell that I would be messing around at this point.

00:37:55.600 It's particularly what happens to Maduro.

00:37:58.160 Well, let's turn a little bit to what's been happening in the West and the commentary in our mainstream media here in Britain and in America.

00:38:06.720 It's been it's been an interesting one.

00:38:10.220 So there's been the full range of perspectives all the way from a lot of people in the mainstream media banging on about international law and talking.

00:38:20.520 I mean, I saw one moronic tweet from I think John Simpson from the BBC talking about the fact that,

00:38:25.780 well, this now means that if China invades Taiwan, we don't have the moral legitimacy to criticize them as if having the moral legitimacy to criticize China after invaded Taiwan would stop China invading Taiwan.

00:38:39.380 Or we're going to provoke Russia into Russia's already invading Ukraine.

00:38:43.800 That's on the one hand. On the other hand, you have, you know, the Candace Owens of the world.

00:38:50.060 I can't. They're blaming Israel somehow.

00:38:53.180 And then all the full spectrum of opinion in between.

00:38:55.960 What have you made of the response in the West?

00:38:59.040 The response in the West has been very interesting, particularly when you look at the position of Keir Starmer,

00:39:05.600 who it's rare that I say this, but I actually had a real empathy for him because he knew that he didn't want to antagonize Donald Trump.

00:39:17.580 The last thing he wanted to do was antagonize Trump.

00:39:20.920 This country is struggling.

00:39:23.060 The United States are one of our greatest allies, trade partners.

00:39:26.040 The last thing he wants to do is piss Trump off.

00:39:29.260 And especially when, as we've talked about, Trump is erratic, Trump's emotional.

00:39:34.620 That could damage the relationship.

00:39:36.860 It could damage the economy, et cetera, et cetera.

00:39:39.180 But he also had pressure from the Labour Party, prominent members like Emily Thornberry,

00:39:44.760 who was saying that, you know, that this is unacceptable.

00:39:48.040 The reality is when you look at the rhetoric, it doesn't matter.

00:39:55.040 It really doesn't matter.

00:39:56.900 What we're seeing now with Trump's actions, with his actions in Venezuela, in Iran, is the old order has now changed.

00:40:06.960 This idea of international law, this idea of the, oh, you know, we have to respect, you know, sovereign nations, that's done.

00:40:15.720 It's gone.

00:40:17.900 Russia didn't play by those rules.

00:40:20.440 And you could say that Russia haven't done badly out of it.

00:40:23.980 And you're looking at America.

00:40:27.360 America are going to play by their own rules.

00:40:29.400 And it goes back to what we know.

00:40:32.020 If you, all of us who watch, listen, or read about history, it's the strong who set the agenda.

00:40:40.540 If you've got the might and you win, you're right.

00:40:44.800 And everybody else can talk or they can point the fingers at the blame, point the fingers at blame.

00:40:49.660 But the most powerful are the ones who dictate and set the agenda.

00:40:54.480 And if you're powerful enough, everybody else is going to fall in line.

00:40:57.940 Well, yeah, it does seem like, you know, there's been a lot of talk about the international rules-based system.

00:41:03.760 And it was a system that worked as long as everybody basically agreed to do what the Americans wanted.

00:41:10.800 And then, you know, as I've talked a lot in the past about when you have a lot of people who are very excited about a multipolar world.

00:41:19.400 Well, welcome.

00:41:20.160 This is what it looks like.

00:41:21.220 This is what you wanted.

00:41:22.300 You wanted a multipolar world.

00:41:23.800 Now, all the great powers are going to do what they want to do because multipolarity necessarily means competition.

00:41:30.840 It means fighting and jostling for position.

00:41:33.300 It means fighting for spheres of influence.

00:41:35.900 And that is, of course, what you're now seeing.

00:41:38.620 And what I think President Trump has done is recognized that reality, recognized the reality to effectively say,

00:41:49.260 well, look, maybe, you know, international rules-based system is pretty good, but that is not what we have anymore.

00:41:56.500 And if that's not what we have anymore, America has to look out for the interests of the United States and its broader alliance.

00:42:02.680 And what's interesting for us here in the UK and in Europe, of course, as you mentioned, just how irrelevant Europe has made itself,

00:42:12.700 just how irrelevant Britain has made itself, just how completely lacking in any kind of influence we now are.

00:42:21.620 And it's partly because we are no longer effectively doing what we have to do to fund the military that is capable of pulling its weight.

00:42:32.240 We do not have the resources.

00:42:34.080 We do not have the economies either to be able to contribute and to be able to punch at our weight, let alone above our weight in the world.

00:42:42.680 And that is the reality that is being exposed every single time Donald Trump and his administration do something like this,

00:42:51.780 because people just look at it and go, why would I talk to Keir Starmer?

00:42:56.360 What's he going to do?

00:42:58.380 Right. He's going to give me some nonsense about, you know, diversity is our greatest strength.

00:43:03.580 And then and that's basically all you're going to get.

00:43:06.680 You know, this is not anymore a credible ally for the United States, which is deeply embarrassing and absolutely not how it should be.

00:43:14.560 And if you think about where the United Kingdom has been in terms of its alliance with the US, historically speaking,

00:43:22.100 I don't think we've ever been less relevant.

00:43:26.860 Unfortunately, I agree with you.

00:43:28.980 And it's not just us, Constantine.

00:43:30.880 It's Europe in general.

00:43:32.020 And you and you can see this by the way that Trump talks about Greenland.

00:43:36.680 He's essentially going and saying that, you know, maybe we're going to go after Greenland or maybe not.

00:43:43.220 But we want Greenland.

00:43:45.560 Before, this would have been complete anathema to an American president.

00:43:51.760 They would have never said this in a million years.

00:43:54.480 But the fact that Trump and the Trump administration is talking openly about Greenland and taking Greenland shows not only do they see us as weak, but they see us as utterly irrelevant, utterly irrelevant.

00:44:10.920 Because we all know if they want to go after Greenland and take Greenland, you know, what's Denmark going to do?

00:44:19.520 What's EU going to do?

00:44:21.080 The reality is we are in a new world and we've reverted back to almost to the pre-World War II order, where it was about strength.

00:44:34.240 It was about power.

00:44:36.020 And we can see now that that's where we are.

00:44:38.880 We have the Russians invading Ukraine.

00:44:41.580 We have China glancing covetous eyes at Taiwan.

00:44:45.140 And we have America.

00:44:48.080 Literally taking the Venezuelan leader and his wife openly saying to the Colombian president, you best fix up, mate.

00:44:58.000 Otherwise, I'm going to come for you.

00:44:59.560 And not only that, saying, you know what, we might take Greenland as well.

00:45:06.060 The old world order and the world that we used to live in a few years ago, pre-Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that is gone.

00:45:15.620 That is done.

00:45:16.600 That is over.

00:45:17.560 We're living in a new world now.

00:45:19.900 And as with all of these things, you have two options.

00:45:24.960 We in the West, we in Europe, we in the UK have two options.

00:45:28.200 We carry on and believing in international law and sovereign nations and, oh, you can't do this and you can't do that.

00:45:35.920 And I'm going to wave my fist at this and this and this is unacceptable.

00:45:39.160 Or you get with the program and you start developing policies and implementing those policies that are effective to live in this new world.

00:45:50.040 Well, one of the things, you know, I'm not super excited about living in a world where might makes right.

00:45:57.020 And the fact that we've ended up here is not necessarily a good thing, I feel.

00:46:04.580 But, you know, you and I have talked about this for a long time, which is ultimately, if you are dealing with other people who are willing to cheat, lie, steal, manipulate, attack, invade, etc.

00:46:18.380 You need one of them on your team.

00:46:22.720 If you cannot enforce world order through the United States being as dominant as it has been historically, and you have some kind of stability that is ensured through the mutually assured destruction of nuclear weapons.

00:46:37.520 And we have a great episode with Eric Weinstein coming out about just the exact impact nuclear weapons have had on the safety of the world, but also the risk, of course.

00:46:47.340 What you end up with is this situation where it's sort of every great power for itself.

00:46:52.440 And ultimately, as people who live in the West and believe in the West and want the West to thrive, we were always going to need people on our team, the Thatchers and the Reagans of the world, who fundamentally recognize that the only way the West survives and thrives is if we're willing to be strong and willing to deal with enemies and adversaries when they directly threaten and challenge us.

00:47:16.260 And to the extent that that is what Trump is doing, I think it's a good thing.

00:47:22.180 And, you know, one of the things that we should probably address is that a lot of people will say, well, if you defend this, you then support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

00:47:31.680 No, I don't support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, even if I did defend this, because I want our civilization to be strong and dominant.

00:47:40.680 And my opposition to Putin is based primarily in the fact that what he's doing is not in our interest.

00:47:47.480 It's against our interest, not because it's about international law, which I always thought was a fiction and a ridiculous one of that.

00:47:55.320 It's not something that can be enforced.

00:47:57.180 A law is something that requires submission to an overarching authority that is backed by the use of force.

00:48:03.840 If you don't follow the tax code in this country and you don't pay your fines, ultimately, at the end of the day, men with guns will come to your house and arrest you.

00:48:12.540 That's what will happen.

00:48:13.600 But on the international stage, there is no such mechanism.

00:48:17.140 The UN, even if you believe it is that, is not capable of enforcing any of the international laws it so happily introduces and advocates for.

00:48:27.060 So what you've got, effectively, is something that is not enforceable and is therefore not an actual law.

00:48:33.700 It was a voluntary agreement that has been repeatedly violated.

00:48:38.880 And to realize that and act accordingly seems to me at least effective.

00:48:44.940 The morality and ethics of it, obviously, is a separate conversation.

00:48:49.100 Completely, completely.

00:48:50.300 And I want to make clear as well that there's no glee in me saying this.

00:48:55.940 This is simply stating the fact of where we are.

00:48:59.360 But we also have to acknowledge, Constantine, that we have signed the declaration of our own complete irrelevance.

00:49:09.300 Our behavior, this idea that we had somehow eliminated war, that we had eliminated conflict, that we didn't need armies.

00:49:17.660 What's the point of armies?

00:49:19.560 You know, that's for the barbarians.

00:49:22.960 We don't need that anymore.

00:49:24.580 We're demilitarized.

00:49:25.980 Come on.

00:49:26.580 It'll be fine.

00:49:28.080 We don't need a navy or an air force.

00:49:29.880 Well, it turns out, actually, wars have been consistent throughout the entire history of the human being.

00:49:39.140 And they will be until the day that we go extinct.

00:49:43.880 And that's just an unpleasant reality.

00:49:46.560 And one of the problems with the world that we have been living in is that we haven't been living in the real world.

00:49:53.600 We just haven't.

00:49:54.840 We spend more than we have.

00:49:56.600 We demand comfort and safety.

00:49:59.300 We say that gender doesn't exist.

00:50:01.920 All of these different fantasies that we've been entertaining.

00:50:06.140 You can entertain fantasy, and you can entertain fantasy for a certain period of time.

00:50:13.380 But eventually, you've got to wake up.

00:50:15.960 And the longer you leave the fantasy running, the more harsh the wake-up call is going to be.

00:50:22.080 And to be brutally honest, for us in the West, and particularly in Europe, we're facing a really harsh wake-up call.

00:50:29.060 It started with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and it's going to carry on getting more.

00:50:35.220 Investing is all about the future.

00:50:37.360 So what do you think is going to happen?

00:50:39.280 Bitcoin is sort of inevitable at this point.

00:50:41.780 I think it would come down to precious metals.

00:50:44.380 I hope we don't go cashless.

00:50:46.500 I would say land is a safe investment.

00:50:49.020 Technology, companies.

00:50:50.220 Solar energy.

00:50:51.220 Robotic pollinators might be a thing.

00:50:53.800 A wrestler to face a robot.

00:50:55.520 That will have to happen.

00:50:56.760 So whatever you think is going to happen in the future, you can invest in it at Wealthsimple.

00:51:02.840 Start now at Wealthsimple.com.

00:51:05.120 And we need to see this as a wake-up call, and we need to get our own house in order.

00:51:11.320 What's interesting to me is how ignorant people have become about this.

00:51:16.160 And it sparks the rise of people who simply don't understand.

00:51:20.300 You know, why do we go?

00:51:22.180 Why can't we just have peace?

00:51:23.600 Well, everyone would love peace.

00:51:25.100 But if you look at, you know, Thomas Sowell, I think it's a Thomas Sowell line, that the best way to predict human behavior is to look at human behavior in the past.

00:51:34.520 And if you look at, you know, a friend of ours gave me Winston Churchill's History of the English-speaking People, which I'm reading now.

00:51:42.920 It's a fascinating set of books, which I'm really enjoying.

00:51:45.100 I mean, when you read history, it's almost always all about war.

00:51:49.320 It's defined by war.

00:51:50.400 It's like every English and British king and Saxon king, etc., before that, their entire lives were defined by having to defend their country and or advance its interest against enemies and adversaries.

00:52:06.720 That is what it is.

00:52:08.440 And President Trump is effectively recognizing that reality through his behavior.

00:52:14.540 So I think there's been a lot of naivete, as you say, in the West on all sides.

00:52:19.360 You know, you've got the people who think that if we just sat in our country, whether that country is Britain and America and didn't touch anyone, no one would touch us.

00:52:28.820 Well, that's not how the world works, because when you retreat from the world, the world comes to your borders.

00:52:34.400 And that's ultimately what America has been dealing with when you've got Chinese influence all over its neighboring countries and, in fact, within the United States itself.

00:52:44.380 Likewise, if you want American interests to be well tended to, you're going to have to go out and take care of them.

00:52:52.080 And that does not mean you have to go into Iraq or Afghanistan and stay there for 20 years and lose thousands of people and spend trillions of dollars.

00:53:00.560 You can be smart with it, which I think is what Trump is showing.

00:53:03.600 But what he has done with first with the strikes on Iran and now with Venezuela is give a massive smackdown to anybody who thought that this is their time to challenge American dominance.

00:53:16.420 Completely. And the reason that Venezuela has been the focal point is because of its geographical proximity to the United States, but also how rich in resources it is, not just oil, but all of the rest of it.

00:53:30.480 And if you're talking about power, if you're talking about strength, you can't have a leader like Maduro doing what he was doing, openly flaunting his alliance with your enemies, supporting your enemies, having terrorist training camps.

00:53:49.120 And not only that, but gleefully taking two fingers to you.

00:53:52.580 If you are going to be a nation that is run through strength and power, eventually there's going to be one provocation too many.

00:54:01.380 And that's what happened with Maduro. The rumor is, is that there were months of negotiations where they said, and Trump said this himself, where they actually said to him, we are going to manage your exit.

00:54:13.580 You can leave. You can actually leave and do like a lot of Venezuelan presidents and go and live in Costa Rica or some other country and you'll be safe and nothing will happen to you. We guarantee it.

00:54:25.420 He refused. He carried on flaunting his alliances. He kept giving the two fingers. And in the end, he paid the price.

00:54:33.920 And I think that is just an aperitif for what we're going to see in 2026. It's going to be fascinating to see how the Chinese react. The Chinese are already saying that, you know, that they had agreements with Venezuela. These agreements must be honored.

00:54:50.460 We're going to see if Americans are going to honor that agreement or if they're going to, there's going to be another conflict.

00:54:55.360 Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think that's likely, mate, but we will see what happens. Obviously, it's a fast developing situation.

00:55:05.340 We should say, of course, our hopes are that the people of Venezuela finally have a government that looks after their interests and ensures that they can finally live in prosperity and enjoy all the benefits of the tremendous resources that you've been talking about.

00:55:19.800 Before we wrap up, is there anything else that you feel we didn't mention in this conversation that we should talk about?

00:55:27.140 So. No, I think we have pretty much covered everything.

00:55:32.180 We've smashed it, guys. We've absolutely destroyed this conversation.

00:55:36.540 Thank you for tuning in. Of course, if there is more updates, if there are any significant changes, we will do another one of these streams.

00:55:44.020 In the meantime, of course, we've got amazing episodes coming out over the next few weeks of the new year.

00:55:51.040 Thank you for being here. A lot of you have sent super chats, which we really appreciate.

00:55:55.260 Thanks for your questions, for your suggestions, and thanks for tuning in.

00:55:59.180 When there is more to share with you, we will do so.

00:56:02.560 In the meantime, if you're not already a subscriber, make sure you click subscribe right now so that you're updated the next time there's a conversation or an episode goes out.

00:56:11.360 And we very much look forward to being with you in 2026.

00:56:15.860 It's going to be a great year for us because the world's going to shit.

00:56:20.480 Indeed it is. And there's never been a better time to watch or listen to Trigonometry to keep you company as we all go down the proverbial way.

00:56:27.900 And there's never been a better time to watch or listen to Trigonometry to keep you company as we all go down the road.

00:56:32.400 It's coming to Toronto.

00:56:34.240 The true story of a kid from Brooklyn destined for something more, featuring all the songs you love, including America, Forever in Blue Jeans, and Sweet Caroline.

00:56:43.500 Like Jersey Boys and Beautiful, the next musical mega hit is here.

00:56:47.580 The Neil Diamond Musical, A Beautiful Noise.

00:56:50.380 April 28th through June 7th, 2026, the Princess of Wales Theatre.

00:56:55.320 Get tickets at Mirvish.com.

00:56:57.900 Don't plug home.

00:56:59.560 Take care, everybody.

00:57:02.900 Bye.

TRIGGERnometry - January 05, 2026

Venezuela Update with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin

Episode Stats

Length

Words per Minute

Word Count

Sentence Count

Misogynist Sentences

Hate Speech Sentences

Summary

Transcript