Caracas, August 7 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says that with the KKK in the White House, the U.S. doesn't want dialogue, they want violence. The Venezuelan leader sat down with Grayzone journalist Max Blumenthal for an interview on Monday, where he was asked about a number of issues, ranging from the devastating effects of U.S. sanctions to some of the challenges facing the Bolivarian Revolution.
During the interview, Blumenthal brought up the two major international conferences held in Caracas recently, the ministerial meeting of the Non-aligned Movement, and the Sao Paolo Forum. President Maduro pointed about how these two meetings with representatives from around the world have been crucial in building solidarity with Venezuela at a time when the U.S. is attempting to isolate the country. Maduro said: “We received great support against the aggressive measures, sanctions and blockade by the government of the United States against Venezuela, we received great solidarity. I believe it has been very successful from a diplomatic perspective.”
Nicolas Maduro also pointed out the important roles these international gatherings played in developing multilateral discussions. Both searched for solutions to urgent issues such as climate change, noting that "climate change affects every region of the world, but Donald Trump refuses to recognize it.” And the Venezuelan president said that with both the NOAL ministerial meeting and the Sao Paulo Forum, the success of these meetings shows that “Venezuela is a meeting place for dreaming about the future.”
The interview then turned into a discussion of the brutal sanctions faced by the Bolivarian nation. “Experts call this unconventional war. It is an economic and financial war. The U.S. government persecutes us so that we can’t buy medicine, so that we can't buy food, not even supplies or basic commodities."
Maduro also pointed out that deposits of gold reserves in central banks have special immunity under international agreements, yet “the U.S. government, colluding with the British government have stolen over a billion dollars worth of our gold [held in the Bank of England].”
“Donald Trump, John Bolton, the KKK extremists who govern the U.S. today... like the KKK who attacked the home of civil rights activists, they are now attacking our home, Venezuela.”
The sanctions on CLAP, Venezuela’s food relief distribution system were also discussed, with Blumenthal raising concerns about the devastating effect this could have since the program serves around 80 percent of the country’s population.
The Venezuelan head of state struck a defiant tone, saying that ensuring the viability of the CLAP was a priority, and that “whether there's rain, thunder or lightning, the CLAP will continue and we will continue serving those 6 million households. "With production and hard work, we will defeat the criminal plan carried out by Donald Trump, John Bolton and the KKK that governs the White House.”
When asked about the sequence of events that culminated in the attempted coup, President Maduro spoke about the one year anniversary of the assassination attempt against him, and the evidence his government had uncovered.
“I have proof that the assassination attempt was ordered by John Bolton,” he said detailing information arising from the arrest of those involved within Venezuela who had uncovered how John Bolton and former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos had colluded and assigned the operation to Venezuelan opposition figure Julio Borges. The president added that he could not point finger at Trump, because there isn't yet evidence for that, but that the involvement of John Bolton is clear.
“What was going through my head at the time? I was focused on the speech I was giving, I didn't think it was an assassination attempt, after my security personnel protected me, and the second drone exploded, that's when I realized it was an assassination attempt. At the time, I was worried about the safety and life of the families there, of the soldiers there.”
As the interview came to a close, Blumenthal asked the Venezuelan leader to speak about some of the challenges ahead, especially the issue of corruption and the ongoing peace negotiations. The Grayzone journalist asked about corruption and concerns held among Chavistas that some public officials are harming the revolution through corruption.
President Maduro said clearly that any corruption is harmful to the Bolivarian Revolution. The president also opened up about the corruption of former Minister Rafael Ramirez, a former ally who fled the country when evidence of embezzlement came to light.
Maduro now calls him a ‘mafioso’ -- saying that the events had hurt him deeply because Ramirez had been with the Revolution, “Chavez trusted him, and he mocked and betrayed Chavez’ trust.” “Now he lives in a massive palace in Italy, protected by the U.S. government.”
On the issue of the peace negotiations, the president reminded viewers of the failure of the last round of talks, in which both sides were ready to sign an agreement, but that it broke down at the last minute as then-U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ordered the opposition to pull out. He reiterated his government's commitment to making the talks a success, but feared that the U.S. would attempt to sabotage the talks again, as at each phase of the dialogue they impose “brutal sanctions, full of hate." And he concluded: "The KKK that govern the White House don't want dialogue, they want violence.”
