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Republished from The Grayzone The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal sits down with Venezuelan President Nicola's Maduro in Caracas. We discuss the plots to kill him, US sanctions on food distribution, corruption allegations, and the corporate media's industrial grade demonization campaign against him and his elected government. Video by Ben Norton
MAX BLUMENTHAL: Six months ago, the United States government recognized an unknown opposition leader as interim president of Venezuela. But here in Caracas today, it's pretty clear who's in charge.
I've just concluded a conversation with the elected president, Nicolas Maduro. We talked about the US government's attempts to delegitimize him as leader, to destroy his country's economy, and to even end his life.
Mr. President, the last US journalist you spoke to I believe was Jorge Ramos, of Univision. And when I actually was leaving Venezuela I was on the same flight as Jorge Ramos, and I confronted him and challenged him on his reporting. And he told me that he was informed that Mike Pence and Marco Rubio were very happy with what he had done down here in his interview with you. What he did with you, in the first question, was to call you a dictator, in an attempt to delegitimize you, to take away your legitimacy as the president.
But since that time a lot has taken place. In the last weeks you've hosted the Non-Aligned Summit, where representatives of over 120 countries have come to visit and endorsed your rule as the elected president. You also hosted the Foro Sao Paulo, a gathering of the left across the hemisphere, where you gave a major speech walking through the four stages of the fight against imperialism.
My question is how do these two events, particularly the Non-Aligned Movement, confirm that the coup has failed and that you are indeed the legitimate president?
NICOLAS MADURO: Welcome, this is a conducive environment for reflection. This is a beautiful mountain, you can see all of our lovely Caracas.
If you ask me, that journalist came here to provoke. I gave him an opportunity. I knew he was a provocateur. He's one of those journalists that's an agent for US intelligence agencies.
He's an agent. Jorge Ramos is a US Intelligence agent and he plays a role. They've tried to turn him into an anti-Trump journalist, but the Hispanic, the Latino community in the US should know that he's a paid agent.
He came with a plan, and he failed. It's not worth talking about him. It's in the past and his provocation went badly for him.
Regarding the second part of your question, we had the ministerial summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Venezuela has presided over the Non-Aligned Movement for the last three years, since the September 2016 Margarita Summit.
It was our responsibility to hold the ministerial summit. We held it. It was successful. Representatives from governments of 120 countries attended. We approved fundamental documents for strengthening the United Nations system, advancing important causes such as climate change.
As you know, climate change is affecting all the regions of the world. President Trump refuses to acknowledge climate change. It's craziness! Climate change is affecting warming, it's harming the planet.
The Non-Aligned Movement ratified the Paris Accord and every commitment on climate change.
We also ratified the 2030 agenda, that's what it's called, the 2030 agenda for social equality, for investment in public education, public health, housing, in work the entire 2030 agenda for development and other key issues.
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