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In reply to the discussion: Nobel winner dedicates prize to Trump [View all]chowder66
(11,428 posts)The timing was meaningful. Hours after the Trump administration rescinded the oil license that allowed Chevron to operate in Venezuela, Donald Trump Jr released an episode of his podcast, Triggered, with María Corina Machado as its guest. Don Jr presented Machados story of persecution under the chavista regimes as a more acute version of what Trump suffered under Biden, according to himself, and labeled her a guardian of Western civilization like Trump, Milei, Meloni and Bukele. María Corina started by defining the Maduro regime as a gang linked with enemies of the U.S., such as Hezbollah and Iran (she did not mention Russia), the criminal hub of the Americas, a safe haven for all the enemies of Western democracies, a true threat for the safety and prosperity of the United States.
She went on to assure that all the income the State gets from very obscure oil licenses goes to propaganda and repression, that thousands of Venezuelan passports were delivered to Islamic terrorists, and that Cartel de los Soles is linked to Tren de Aragua. María Corina said that Maduro is the head of Tren de Aragua, and that he promoted the migration of honest, good people to destabilize the region.
When Don Jr asked her whether Maduro opened the prisons to invade the U.S. with criminals, Machado answered tangentially. She repeated that Tren de Aragua has operations in several countries, including the U.S., that it funds the government, and added that Diosdado Cabello received Tren de Aragua members like heroes, referring to the Venezuelans deported by the Trump government (its unknown if they belonged to the gang) after the visit of special envoy Richard Grenell. Don Jr said that he has met Venezuelans in Florida who escaped from Maduro, and that it was Biden who allowed illegal and dangerous Venezuelans to enter the country. Machado said that most of the Venezuelans abroad are good peopleand Don Jr agreed, aware that many of them voted for his father, after which Machado agreed that Bidens was a weak government that allowed Maduro to survive.
While Don Jr kept turning the conversation back to criticizing Biden and celebrating his father, Maria Corina was attempting to present him the wildly optimistic pitch that Venezuela just needs decisive, urgent help from the U.S. to end, peacefully, the rule of Maduro, for the benefit of both Americans and Venezuelans. She deliberately omitted mentioning Russia as a backer and insisted that the military is against Maduro, but under surveillance by Chinese technology.
A lot more.....
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2025/03/16/the-making-of-maria-corina-machado/
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