01/18/19 01/18/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democrcracy now! >> we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. amy: as vice president mike pence declares isis has been defeated, four americans are killed in an isis attack in syria. will this change the administration's plans for withdrawal? we will speak with democratic congressman ro khanna about syria,a, afghanistan and the

government shutdown -- which has entered its 28th day. then to venezuela. >> the troika of tyranny in the simas fear -- cuba, venezuela, nicaragua -- has finally met its match. amy: the united states, brazil, and other allied nations in latin america are ratcheting up pressure on venezuela in what appears to be a coordinated effort to oust venezuelan president nicolas maduro. is a coup in the works? we will speak with venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. >> and now they say the elections were a fraud and now they say maduro is not president. that is all part of a coup d'etat in progress, encouraged and funded by the united states government. amy: a all that and momore, comg up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

the trump administration likely separated more children at u.s. mexico border that improves the reported. that is the conclusion of the inspector general of the department of health and human servicices, which h set in a ret ththursday that efforts s to trk those children have been so spotty, that the exact number of family separations is unknown. last summer, a federal judge ordered the trump administration to reunite families separated by trump's zero tolerance policy along the southern border, but the inspector general's report makes clear many migrant families were not identified or reunited as part of the judge's order. president trump canceled a military flight thursday that was set to deliver house speaker nancy pelosi and a congressional delegation to visit nato leaders in brussels and u.s. troops in afghanistan. in a letter to the speaker, trump wrote -- "in light of the 800,000 great american workers not receiving pay, i am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate."

pelosi was leading a delegation that included the chairs of the house intelligence and veterer'' affairs committees. trump's 11th-hour order caused the bus carrying the delegation to t turn around on its way to e airport. trump's ordededrew protetests fm congressional dedemocrats, and even some republicans criticized the move. south carolina senator lindsey graham said in a statement -- "one sophomoric response does not deserve another." the president's retaliation n ce a day after pelosi suggested she -- told president trump to deliver the state of the union address in writing from the oval office or at a later date. she cited security concerns caused by the government shutdown. meanwhile, the government shutdown has entered its 28th day, the longest in history with , state and local governments warning social safety net programs could soon buckle under the strain. new york city mayor bill de blasio warned thursday that if the shutdown stretches into march, some 1.6 million low-income new york city residents will lose benefits

as the city loses half a billion dollars a month in federal aid for food stamps, rental assistance, and school lunches. >> i met with clergy leaders this morning. i asked them to prepare to help members of the congregations in every conceivable way starting with food. but that reality of the loss of half $1 billion a month is just too staggering to miss. we will not be able to make people hold. we just won't. amy: on capitol hill, republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell scheduled a vote thursday, not on a bill toto end the governrnment shuhutdown,utun a legislation to restrict abortion rights s for low-income womeme the no t taxpayer funding for abortion act would have permanently barred federal funds from paying for abortions. it stalled after it failed to muster the 60 votes needed. elsewhere, the interior department has recalled dozens

of federal employees furloughed by the shutdown. the workers from the bureau of offshore energy management will assist in trump's efforts to expand offshore oil and gas drilling in the atlantic, pacific, and arctic oceans. the bureau's offshore wind development program remains idled by the shutdown. buzzfeed newews is reporting president trump directeded his former personal attorney michael cohen to lie to congress about negotiations to build a trump tower in moscow. buzzfeed cites two unnamed federal law enforcement officials investigating the matter, who also said trump supported a plan, set up by cohen, to visit russia during the presidential campaign in order to personally meet president vladimir putin and jumpstart the tower negotiations. two of trump's children, ivanka and donald trump jr., reportedly received regular, detailed updates about the project from cohen. the chair of the house intelligence committee, california democrat adam schiff, tweeted that the president of the united states may have suborned perjury by ordering cohen to lie to his committee.

democrats say such an order would also constitute obstruction of justice, a felony. trump's nominee to become the next attorney general, william barr, appeared to agree with that position during his senate confirmation hearing on tuesday. barr was questioned by minnesota democrat amy klobuchar. >> the president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction. is that right? >> yes. well, any person who persuades another. >> you also set a president or any person convincing a witnesss toto change testimonony would be obstruction. is that right? >> yes. amy: meanwhile, "the wall street journal" reported that donald trump ordered michael cohen to rig online polls in trump's favor during the 2016 presidential campaign. cohen reportedly paid for the service by handing the head of an i.t. firm a bag of cash containing more than $12,000. on twitter, cohen did not

dispute "the wall street journal" report, and tweeted -- "what i did was at the direction of and for the sole benefit of donald trump." campaign finance experts say the payment could be a criminal breach of campaign finance laws because trump failed to report it to the federal elections commission. in bogota, colombia, at least 21 people were killed and 68 others injured thursday after a suicide car bomber targeted cadets at a police academy. the explosion shattered windows of nearby apartments and houses, and rattled a city that hasn't seen a terror attack in years. authorities have identified a suspect, but have not identified a motive. no group has claimed responsibility for the explosion. in sudan, security forces opened fire today on a crowd of mourners outside the home of a man who died after he was shot by authorities during an earlier protest in the capital khartoum. it followed the killing of two other protesters thursday elsesewhere in khartoum -- a doctor and a 16-year-old, who were both shot in the head by government forces. protests erupted across sudan a month ago calling for the overthrow of the ruling national

congress party and an end to the military regime of president omar hassan al-bashir. an american journalist and news for iran's state television network press tv is due in a washington, d.c., courtroom today after she was arrested and detained by the fbi during a visit to the united states. marzieh hashemi, who's a u.s. citizen who lives in tehran, was arrested at the st. louis airport sunday and then transferred to a prison in washington, d.c., according to her son. the committee to protect journalists issued a statement order them to a meet elitist way the reason her detention for the past five days. in brazil, a former rio de janeiro cop with ties to organized crime has been identified as the likely killer of prominent human rights activist and city councilmember marielle franco, who was shot dead along with her driver in rio de janeiro in march. according to a police report reviewed by the intercept, six witnesses have identified the

ex-cop as the killer. the officer, who has not been publicly named, had been kicked out of rio's military force and now works as a mercenary for dirty politicians and others. the witnesses say the gunman did not act alone. no arrests have been made. franco was a longtime critic of brazil's police, who've been linked to hundreds of killings and thousands of incidents of brutality in rio's impoverished favela neighborhoods. back in the united states, a chicago judge on thursday acquitted three police officers accused of covering up the 2014 murder of black teenager laquan mcdonald by a fellow officer. the acquittal came despite discrepancies between the three officers' police reports and dashcam video showing that mcdonald posed no threat and walked away from officers before he was shot 16 times by white police officer jason van dyke. van dyke was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting in october. and in california, contract negotiations between los angeles school district officials and the union representing more than

30,000 teachers are set to resume today after marathon talks thursday failed to bring an end to the strike, now in its fifth day. meanwhile, teachers in oakland are planning a one-day wildcat strike today to protest stalled contract talks. oakland teachers say they're struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living has risen 14% across the bay area over the past five years. teachers are demanding a 12% pay increase over the next three years. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in syria, a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in the northern city of manbij wednesday, killing 19 people including four americans. two of them were u.s. soldiers. the bombing was claimed by isis and came just weeks after president trump declared victory over the group and ordered u.s. troops to withdraw from syria, prompting the resignation of

defense secretary jim mattis. just hours after the attack, vice president mike pence reiterated isis has been defeated. ofthanks t to the leadership the commander-in-chief and the sacrifice of our armed forces, we are now actually able to begin to hand off the fight against isis in area to our coalition partners, and we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. amy: wednesday's attack drew renewed calls from congressional hawks, both republicans and democrats, to reverse trump's syria withdrawal. the u.s. has an estimated 2000 troops stationed in syria, even though congress has never declared war on the country. for more, we are joined in washington, d.c., by ro khanna, democratic congressmember from california. last month, he wrote a piece for "the washington post," "trump was right to pull out of syria and afghanistan. this is what he should do next." welcome back to democracy now!

your response to the attack in manbij and what you think the u.s. response should be? >> first, my heart goes out to the family of the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and to the families for all of those that lost their lives. but i think should double our resolved to remove our troops. they are a sitting target for isis. what is happening syria is isis used to control about 34,000 nowre feet of territory and -- 34,000 square miles and now it is down to 15 kilometers. that is not just because of trump. it started with president obama. isis does not control much territory. we need remove the troops. we need to recognize there is no military solution to a diffuse insurgency. it will require good intelligence or law-enforcement cooperation with regional players to target the remaining

insurgency. amy: and your comments on pence giving the speech, saying isis has been defeated, seemingly not understanding what had just taken place. >> well, that was just foolish and totally out of touch. the reality is, there are still 20,000 to 30,000 isis fighters in iraq and sysyria. the actors didn't would be to say isis no lolonger controls mh territory in syria will stop that was largely because, frankly, the obama administration's strategy. but you cannot fundamentally diffusee isis, which is at 20000 and 30,000 people across iraq and syria. it would requirere a permanent occupationon of those countries, which no american wants. the only way to deal with that is to work with intelligence, with networks to tackle the isis attacks that may emerge. but they do not control

territory. or more than 15 kilometers. and i think that is what pence should have said. and he got an president trump: for the u.s. troops out of afghanistan? i support that if it is done responsibly. i do not support the weight of president approached syria. i want to clarify that because he had no agreement with erdogan to protect the kurds and make sure thehey dinot annex x part f syria.a. we should've had much better diplomacy before withdraw. the same with afghanistan. i think we ought to bring our troops home. when we had the surge in 2008, the taliban controlled about 40% of the territory. today the taliban controls 70% of the territory. it is not possible with 14,000 troops for us to prevent or retake afghanistan and not allow the taliban and. it would take hundreds of thousands of troops to do that.

i don't think the amemerican isple want that, nor is in that in our security. we should have regional diplomacy that involves pakistan and india and involves china and russia and other players to make have some vigilance against emerging terrorism. which, by the way, is not just in afghanistan but much of it is across the border in pakistan. so this idea if we withdraw troops, there may be some other attack -- those attacks are being planned not just in afghanistan, but also pakistan. amy: what about yemen? you have been a leader i'm calling on the u.s. to stop supporting the saudi bombing of yemen. we have new news from yahoo! news, knitters s writes -- join "newly obtained documents revealed the united states has also been turning coalition military personnel from the united arab emirates for the air war in yemen." >> i thought his reporting was brilliant. the first player reporting about

our complicity in that war, not just with the saudis but also with the united arab emirates. the reality is simple, amy. there are 14 million yemenis who face the possibility of famine. this is not because the world does not have enough food and medicine. there are many agencies who want to get food and medicine to the yemenis. it is because the saudis and the coalition, including the united arab emirates, have been bombing the port of hodeidah and not allowing food and medicinene to get in. that is led to extraordinary inflation in yemen, and kids are not getting basic nutrition. there is not basic medicinine. we need to bring an end to this war. fortunately, nancy pelosi and steny hoyer have both given the commitment that as soon as we can vote, the shutdown is over. we will bring the war powers resolution for a vote in the house. it is going to pass. bernie sanders is going to bring a back in the senate

it will pass. it will be the first time a war powers resolution has passed in the house and senate in opposition to o the white house, and it will be a clear signal to end this war. amy: let's talk about the government shutdown and the pain it is causing not just the 800,000 federal workers who are not t being paid -- so many of them being forced to work and work overtime but are not receiving paychecks. i would like your response to that. also, after nancy pelosi told president trump he should not beginning a state of the union address at this time, it is dangerous with the whole government -- many in government in one place, that he should give it in writing, which has received in or at the oval office or at another time. and in response, trump canceling a military flight thursday that was set to deliver the house speaker nancy pelosi and congressional delegation to visit nato and also troops in afghanistan. pelosi leading the delegation that included chairs of house

intelligence and veterans affairs committee. his 11th hour order causing the bus caring the delegation to turn around on its way to the airport. he said she could take a commercial flight to afghanistan. but also in writing that letter, exposed they were going to afghanistan. >> it is outrageous and petty. it may be a turning point in the entire debate. the president is using personal retaliation against the speaker. he is not standing up for a cause. it reminds me of when newt gingrich said he shutdown government because he was not allowed to exit from the front of air force one and a press labeled him a crybaby because he made a something so petty. that is what the president is doing. substantively -- there are those of us in congress who actually want to help the president get out of afghanistan and make the case or a leadership that there is a responsible way of withdrawing troops. let me tell you, he is not

helping himself when he is denying the speaker the opportunity to go to afghanistan. and this is not a tit-for-tat situation. the speaker is that the president can come to the state of the union. stopould be whenever we the shutdown because the department of homeland security personnel are not being paid and it would be unfair for them. the president is doing something totally vindictive and wrong. paid, andry is being this is a time sensitive mission to afghanistan and light of his own calls to withdraw troops. in terms of the broader economic damage, i mean, i meet people all a time for my district and in the community who are really hurting. they're going without paychecks. they are unable to make mortgage payments were unable to pay, in some cases, for their kids college education. ins is having a real impact a real impact on the economy. the president's own economic advisers are saying we are losing .1% of gdp growth every week the shutdown goes on.

we already have had a slowdown potentially in the economy. this may be a policy that, unfortunately, drives us into recession, which would be terrible given that it is totally self-inflicted. amy: let me ask you about a vote that didn't take place this week. the house of representatives voting for hundred 24-1 to condemn white nationalism and white supremacy in a rebuke to iowa republican commerce member steve king. it was not a formal censure of king, who's made similar remarks throughout his 16 year career in congress. can you comment on what he said? appalling, so shouldous that he resign. but i think your point is a very good when that this is not a unique situation. a journalist in steve king's district has a piece where he

chronicled that steve king has been saying the same thing about white supremacy for the past 10 years and there has now been any action. i am glad he has been stripped of the committees, but i just don't see how someone -- his views, which is blatantlyly ract -- and continue to serve in 21st century america. amy: will you be pushing for a censure? >> i will be. tim ryan has been leading the charge for a censure. i hope this will be a bipartisan basis censure. i don'n't seee how anyone can really stand for what steve king represents. amy: i want to thank you for being wiwith us, silicon valley commerce member ro khanna from california. leading critic of u.u.s. militay inteterventions abroad. when we come back, we will be joined in studio by the foreign minister of venezuela. stay with us. is a coup agagainst president maduro in the works?s?

♪ [music break] amy: performing the new single "the flower" featuring vectorial. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. the united states and allilied nations in latin america are ratcheting up pressure on venezuela in what appears to be a coordinated effort to remo venezuelanrereside nicolas maduro frooffice. maduro w sworn ilast weeto second six year term following his victory in last may's election, which was boycotted by the opposition. days before maduro was sworn in,

opposition figure juan guaido became the head of the national a similar, which voted to declare maduro to be a usurper and push him out of office. vice president mike pence tweeted "the u.s. strongly supports the courageous decision by juan guaido to declare the countrtry's presidency vacant." u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo called guaido to congratulate him on his election victory to head the national assembly. then national securirity advisor john bolton announced -- "the united states does not recognize venezuelan dictator nicolas maduro's illegitimate claim to power." brazil, led by far-right president jair bolsonaro, has gone a step further by saying it recognizes juan guaido as the rightful president of venezuela, even though guaido hasn't even claimed that title. a group of latin american

countries known n as the limima group also recently voted to not recognize the legitimacy of maduduro's presidenency. mexico was the sole dissenter. the u.s.-led effort targeting the oil-rich nation of venezuela dates back two decades since the late hugo chavez became president in 1999. in november, john bolton accused venezuela, cuba, and nicaragua of being part of a troika of tyranny. in september, "the new york times" reported the trump administration conducted secret meetings with rebellious military officers in venezuela to discuss overthrowing maduro. in august, maduro survived an assassination attempt when he was attacked by a small drone. he accused the u.s. and colombia of being involved in the plot. in president donald trump said 2017, he could not rule out a "military option" to deal with venezuela. all of this comes as venezuela is facing a staggering economic crisis caused in part by falling oil prices and broad u.s. sanctions. according to the imf, inflationn

was over 1 million percent in the last year, the highest rate in the world. there are widespread reports of food and medicine shortages. the united nations estimates about 3 million venezuelans have left venezuela since resulting 2015, in what the u.n. has described as an unprecedented migration crisis in latin america. as the political turmoil intensifies, venezuelan president nicolas maduro has reached out to the united nations to help establish a peace dialogue in venezuela. venezuela's foreign minister jorge arreaza met this week with u.n. secretary general antonio guterres. on thursday, i had a chance to interview foreign minister arreaza who has served as foreign minister for the past three years. from 2013 to 2016, he served as venezuela's vice president. i began by asking him if he believes venezuela is being set up for a coup. >> of course. this man who nobody knows in venezuela, you ask in the streets who is juan guaido and nobody knows him.

but he has been pushed to say he is the new president by the u.s. he has not said that, but pompeo says it and other presidents say that now he is the president. they are trying to push political conflict in venezuela. there calling the armed forces to make pronunciations against president maduro. they want a coup d'etat in venezuela. they want a war in venezuela. it is not going to happen. amy: let's talk more about what you believe is the role of the united states and coalescing opposition to maduro. >> they are the bosses of the opposition. they tell them what to do. nothing that the opposition does is without the permission or authorization of the state thertment at least, here in united states. they confess this. they say, oh, we have to make consultations with the embassy am a with the department of

state. it happens. they are not free. they're not independent. in spite of all of that, the president is trying to sit with the democratic opposition, not opposition that makes violent demonstrations and burns people alive. that is what he is going to insist -- why he is going to insist on the dialogue. what is happening now, john bolton tweeting and doing communiques and pompeo and everyone saying maduro is not the president, that he is illegitimate, that he is a usurper? , on, that is a coup d'etat. amy: explained that term, usurper. it looks like a case is being billed for an overthrow win when juan guaido announces that maduro is a usurper.

thehey are manipulating venezuela constitution. they say the elections were almost 10 million venezuelans voted and over 6 million voted for maduro, that this did not happen. amy: the opposition boycott. >> not only the opposition. lima in santiago. these governments. neoliberal governments. they said when the elections were conveyed three months before the election, they said they're going to be a fraud. and they would not recognizeze e results. and then they pressed the potential candidates of the opposition not to reregister. when some e did registster, they pressed them to withdraw. they didn't. now they say because the elections were a fraud, there is no preresident of venezuela so that president of the nationalist and we has to be the new president and all of these governments and the u.s. government are encouraging

this. it is very dangerous. amy: i want to continue on what the u.s. is doing. in november, john bolton claimed venezuela was part of a troika of tyranny. >> the troika of tyranny in sms fear -- cuba, venezuela, nicaragua -- has finally met its match. in venezuela, the united states is acting against the dictator maduro, who uses the same oppressive tactics that have been employed in cuba for decades. he has installed and illegitimate constituent assembly, debased the currency for political gain, and forced his people to sign up for a corrupt distribution servivice r face certain starvation. amy: in december, and it was maduro accused u.s. national security advisor john bolton of leading a plan to invade venezuzuela. >> today i come out once again

to denounce the plot set forth the u.s., to destroy venezuela's democracy,y, to assassininate md to impose a dictatorship in venenezuela. mr. john bolton has been assigned, once again, asas the chief f of a plot to steal venezuela with violelence and to seek a foreign milityy intervention -- a coup. assessment president maduro and impose what they call a transitory government. amy: foreign minister, can you elaborate on this? and also this term "troika of tyranny," very much reminiscent of george w. bush access of evil. >> reminiscence of the language , nixon,the cold war mccarthy, all of that dark history. it has no sense. we are in the 21st century. you have to respect the sovereign nations. we have the right to build our own model, democratic model. yes, the united states

government, especially the obsession of john bolton against president maduro him a they are behind everything that is happening in venezuela. did almost killed, cessna president maduro with drones august 4. amy: this was the first drone attack, attempteted assassinatin on a head of state, in history. august 4 4, saturday, , in fronf andnd madurof j justice wawas giving a speech.h. explain exexactly what h happen. >> what happppened is suddddenla dronone a appeared and i it exp. amy: were e you there? >> i was there. most of the ministsters were the and the mililitary forces were there. the other branches of power were there. drones.wo these people were trained in columbia. we gave this information to the colombian government.

we gave the place where they were trained for the people who were involved and names of the people, officials of migration that led them across to venezuela with the drones, we gave the u.s. government the information about these people in miami who met there and also were part of this plot against president maduro. and nothing happened. amy: in april at the latin american summit in lima, peru, saidpresident mikike pence more must be done to isolate venezuelan president nicolas maduro. we must allence: stand with o our brothers and sisters suffering in venezuela. and i can promise you the united states will not rest, we will not relent until democracy is restored in venezuela. and the venezuelan people reclaim their birthright of libertad. amy: so that w was vice presidet mike pence. in june, nicolas maduro called u.s. vicice president mike penca

viper and vowed to defeat what he called washington's attempts to fororce him from power. every time the poisonous viper of mike pence opens his mouth, i feel stronger, clearer of what the road is. the road is ours. it is venezuela. it is not the one mike pence points out, not 20 poisonouous makes, not 20 by per's like mike pence. amy: explain. what is mike pence's particular interest here? you're looking at pence, bolting, and now mike pompeo. >> pence is a religious guy, and extreme right. he is obsessed with the venezuelan revolution. you see they say youou have to restore democracy in venezezuel. we have a democracy. we've had 25 elections in 20 years. we've had elections for 2004,ent in 1998, 2000,

2013, 2018.2012, i mean, our people are used -- and only democracy, because the constitution says you have to elect the president and parliament members and mayors and governors. our society is organizing --every single day they exercise democracy. we have democratize the access to education, which was being privatized before the revolution. access tomocratized housing, which was also exclusive for the rich before the revolution. we of democratized access to health. to be cubans, no venezuelans come all over the country. you walk one block and you have a doctor there. build aeally trying to

route democracy, rooted in the people. that is what they don't like. that is not what they would like from latin america. amy: i want to talk about sanctions and the effect they're having on the venezuelan economy. you have henry kissinger, still an older statesmen, consulted by democrats and republicans alike. let's go back half a century, go back decades. he wanted to make the chilean screen heder allende said. yep a half century embargo against cuba. what does economic pressure, economic sabotage if you will, look like in venezuela? in november, the congressional research service published a short overview of current u.s. inches in venezuela and mentioned the trump administration is considering a new wave of sanctions, but the report also states "although stronger economic sanctions

could influence venezuelan government's behavior, they also could have negative effects and unintended consequences and lesser concern that stronger sanctions could exacerbate venezuela's difficulty he ministered situation which has been marked by shortages of food and medicines, increased poverty, and mass migration. again, this is not the venezuelan president saying this. this is the u.s. congressional research service. can you talk about the effect of your sanctions in venezuela? >> the venezuelan people are suffering because of these so-called sanctions, which are unilateral measures. this is not approved by the united nations security council. it has no legality. these are decisions taken by one government unilaterally to impose a blockade against venezuela, so it is difficult for us to import food, to import medicine. we cannot use the dollar as a

currency to exchange. we have to switch. only this switching from the dollar -- it is more than what we need to invest in in importing the vaccines for our children or the treatment for hiv. the figure i can give you, it is more than 20,000 million dollars that we have lost because of the so-called than year.n more amy: the sanctions are over. are there covert sanctions against venezuela? >> of course. the companies not to work with venezuela. it is threatening to seize a company that we have here in the united states. we cannot repatriate the profit from our company, the united states, to invested in food and medicine in venezuela. amy: citgo, venezuelan state oil

company, has been using for many years and the united states to support for people in their program staff oil in the winter. >> and we intend to keep on using it for this in the united states. but most of the profit annually should b be said to vevenezuela. we cannot do i it. it has to be in the united states banks. because of the sanctions. amy: y you mention russia. on wednesday, sergey lavrov expressed concerns over u.s. meddling in venezuela. >> we heard talk that allows for military involvement in venezuela. talklk that the unitited statesl now recognize as a president of venezuela, not nicolas maduro, but the representative of the

parliament. all of this is very alarming and all this shows is that the approach of undermining governments the united states does not like stays on as a priority of their activity in latin america and other regions. amy: if you can talk about the significance of lavrov weighing in andnd alslso the latest newsn december, russia landing to blackjackpable bombers as part of a joint training exercise. >> r russia has bebeen friends f venezuela for over 16 years. we believe the world has to have several centers, not only in the united states. the united states cut all the military cooperation with venezuela 20 years ago. we have mimilitary cooperation th russia.a. and these aircraft that came, they came in 2013 as well and nothing happened. but this year it was taken like it was -- we werertrying to o bb

the u.s.. that is nonsense. we have the right to have cooperation with russia, with china, with whatever country in the world. what lavrov said is exactly what the united states is doing. he knows they're trying to manipulate the people, the media, the constitution of venezuela even come to impose a man who has not been elected president pulls up amy: venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. we wilill be back with him in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. continue with my interview with the venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. fromave massive flight venezuela, the u.n. commissioner for refugees has called the ongoing venezuelan migration crisis unprecedented in latin america. the u.n. estimates about 3 million venezuelans have lefeft since 2015, another 2 million are projected to leave this year. about one million of them are living in colombia. brazil,illion peru, argentina come all have large numbers. why, foreign minister jorge arreaza, are so many venezuelans leaving? >> first, you know how many: muse live in venezuela? 6 million. over one, ecuadorians, million. spaniards, arabs, over chilean. of course there is migration

because we are blocked because it is difficult to find medicine, defined some products and the hyperinflation process with an exchange rate, amy, that is not set by the natitional authorities in venezuela, but the central bank. it is set by webpages in miami. the extreme select -- the extremes rate before they inauguration was crazy. the day of the inauguration, it duplicated. it was 2000 for one dollar. and that has no economic logic. that is all political. that is warfare. that is using the currency against our own people. so we are worried, of course, because it is not 3 million venezuelans. it is probably one million venezuelans. most of the people that have

gone to columbia are colombians that are leaving and never gone back to their country. back.t them to come amy: but the economy, inflation over 1,000,000% last year, the highest rate in the world? >> that is the figure of the imf. that is not the figure at all. it is probably 10 times less than that. it is very difficult problem. this inflation is induced from abroad. ands produced by webpages all this warfare, economic warfare against venezuela. it is not only because we have not taken some measures in venezuela -- of course, it is not. it makes things difficult for the venezuelan p people. amy: so foodod and medicine shortages, do you feel your government, the maduro government, takes some responsibility for what is taking place? .> we're not perfect

the government here is not perfect at all. ththe government in n argentinis not perfect. of course we have responsibilities, but most of the problem -- the vast majority of the problems in venezuela are caused by the blockade, caused by the warfare, economic warfare against venezuela. and in spite of all of that, we're in the best situation today than we were in 2016. there's more food, more medicine, employment is -- unemployment is under 6%. one schooool,osed one e university, one hospital. we have not expelled the cuban doctors because we have to protect our people. we have delivered more than 25 in the last four years. that is the invesestment we have made in spite of the blockade against venezuela. amy: limning ask a about human rights watch and venezuelan ngo

who recently released a report accusing venezuelan intelligence and security forces of detaining and torturing military personnel accused of plotting against the government. the report claims "some detainees were subjected to egregious abuses that amount to torture to force them to provide information about alleged conspiracy." >> that is psychological warfare against venezuela. of course, warring plot last year to overthrow president maduro. but no one is torturing them. this happened in the last century in venezuela. we were used to torture. we were used to students been killed in the streets every week. used to it. it doesn't happen anymore. say what ththey have to say because they are paid. other want to ask about leaders in latatin america. on the onene hand you hahave brazil's far right president

bolsonaro and argentina's meeting toacri discuss joint opposition to the venezuelan government, and many of the newly elected president of mexico amlo, who is not joining with these other countries who are opposing venezuela. the first, talk about the macri -bolsonaro alliance and what that means joining with the u.s. >> in latin america, it is like a company, a corporation. trump is the ceo of a corporation, and these presidents, who are businessmen come are his directors. they want to be promoted by president trump, so they have to follow the orders. they have been said they have to isolate maduro, not recognize maduro's government, and they have to do what the united states says so in order to overthrow maduro. and that is what they're doing. of course we're worried about

brazil because this man is far on the right. it is fascism again. -- that what we believed to of disappeared from the latin american history, it is happening again. this man hates women. this man hates the black population. this man hates the homosexual community. this man hates venezuelans. he is a racist. we are worried about brazil. he hates the poor. amy: and loves the brazilian -- former brazilian mililitary dictatorsip. what does it mean to you that amlo, the president of mexico, the stance he is taken in support of venezuela? ofi leave the president mexico is right. we have to respect each other. we have to r respect t the prprinciples of international l. if you join the united nations, it is because you respect the internal affairs of the other states, because you expect ash

respect the quality of states. because you don't have the right to interfere in other nations. that is not what the united states does. they have done wars. wars in iraq. president trump said he regrets that the united states invaded iraq because now the situation is worse than it was with saddam hussein. amy: and yet you see the same thing happening. a very serious similarity, you have george w. bush coining the term or his people writing the term and him saying it in 2002, "axis of evil" which set up the foundation for the invasion of iraq. and then you have the u.s. talking about the "troika of tyranny." and the similarities between iraq and venezuela are three letters, oil. many years ago, the original name of the invasion of iraq was iraqito be operation liberation, but they realize the afternoon was oil and then to

change it. acronym was oil and they had to change up. what about this resource, focusing on countries, you know, the world's most important oil providers? >> i am sure that in venezuela if we only had bananas, none of this intervention would be happening. but we have oil, we have gas, we silver, we aref iron, water. venezuela is a rich, wealthy --ion list of that is why they want to rule the country again as they did until 1998. they want to have control of the venezuelan resources. that is why they're so obsessed to overthrow maduro, because they want to have these resources for the development of capitalism here in the united states. amy: what do you think this crew will look like if it takes place? >> first of all, it cannot take

place. we have to defend our constitution and defend the peace of the venezuelan people in the military forces in venezuela are aligned with the constitution, support the constitution. as a consesequence of that, they support it was maduro. what they would like to happen is some militaries say maduro is not the president anymore and they will appoint this young fellow juan guaido as president with no constitutional support. and then they will have control of the oil of venezuela. you said it, the oil. they will have control of the company's, of the resources, the gold and everything. and they believe that is possible. it is not possible. not in venezuela. amy: i'm looking at a tweet that just came over from florida senator marco rubio. he says, "we must support those

members of military in venezuela who have announced they will the constitution and recognize juan guaido as legitimate interim president." that is the president of the national assembly. >> you know, those are supposed to be military peoeople. in peru. amy: you're talking about the picture he tweeted. >> that is a video that last night came. it is supposed to be venezuela military leaving peru. that is part of the show. they were probably paid, maybe by the peruvian government, i don't know. is that happening in venezuela. that is what marco rubio o wants. to happen.oing if it were to happen, a small group, we are ready for any scenario. but they want a coup d'etat in venezuela. that is good proof of what pence

and trump and marco rubio what for venezuela. amy: let me ask about press freedom in venezuela. in the summer, the 75-year-old newspaper published its last issue. it was the largest remaining opposition newspaper publishing in venezuela. the committee to protect journalists reported the closure was due to restrictions the government imposed on access to newsprint. according to see pj, over 20 venezuelan publications have been forced out of print due to government restrictions on newsprint. natalie southwick said "the disappearance of the print edition is the latest casualty of the venezuelan government question is ever-expanding campaign to silence article reporting and limit the voices of independent media in the country." >> before all of this economical trouble and problems we had, we used to subsidize for the newspapers. now it is the private newspapers that have to import their own

newspaper. it is more expensive. that is what happened to the paper. you can check the social networks. you can check twitter. you can put in google, "kill maduro" and it is all over all of the media in venezuela. the radio stations, newspapers, tv broadcasting channels of the opposition -- probably 70% of the media in venezuela, which is private, is against the government and are encouraging all of these situations to happen. because they are owned by wealthy families, traditional wealthy families of venezuela. that is part of the show. saying in venezuela there is no free press -- john amy: what about the shutting down of this almost two dozen papers? >> that is not true. they're bankrupt. they do not sell enough newspapers in order to import their own paper.

amy: for non-venezuelan audience, how would you define bolsonaro revolution? your the foreign minister under maduro. you're also the son-in-law of hugo chavez. talk about that history. >> the history of the bolivian revolution is a process of independence, of giving back the people the rights, of guaranteeing the people have access to health, education, the to theirto culture, national identity, to their sovereignty. that is the venezuelan revolution. democratizing our society, the human rights in venezuela, that is what we're trying to do, using the wealth of the oil and the other natural resources to invest it in the people, for the people, as abraham lincoln said. that is our goal.l. but because e those resources ae not from the u.s. enough or

other interests in the world, they are trying to overthrow president chavez and the president maduro. they will continue. president maduro would like to have a conversation with president trump. and it will probably solve some issues because i am sure if they were to talk and see each other in the eyes, they would see they can coexist and they can fulfill some agreements between them. i have not been able to have a meeting, not with pompeo who is like a minister of foreign affairs, no? with no one in the state department. they don't want to have dialogue with the venezuelan authorities. that is uncivilized. amy: final question, this is about the international criminal court. september september, argentina,

chile, colombia, paraguay, peru called on the icc to investigate venezuela. human rights watch held the move saying into crackdowns in 2014 and 2017, venezuelan security forces committed systematic abuses against critics, including torture. human rights watch research shows they detained more than 5400 people between april and july 2017. members of the security forces have beaten detainees severely and torture them with electric shock, sexual assault, another brutal techniques. >> that is part of the show. you can compare the human rights of with these other countries that are doing manipulation, using them to attack venezuela. toare waiting for bachelet visit venezuela. amy: the former president of chile, a torture survivor herself. >> and we're waiting for to come

to venezuela and see the situation by herself. theourse, this is part of warfare against venezuela. but as i told you, this is going to be part of the past, amy. right-wingnments, governments in latin america, are going to be over. some of them this year, some of them next year. in venezuela is going to be there. amy: how do explain this right-wing wave across latin america, of course, excluding mexico? >> yes, mexico, bolivia, nicaragua, the caribbean nations have popular governments as well. a progressive government as well. but it is part of the cycle. i must say the united states was focused on the middle east after 9/11 and they invested all of this money and suddenly, the progressive governments became a

minority in latin america. when they turn her head they said, hey, what is happening here? we had to do something, could a they'rehonduras because trying to have a progressive government. have to find the candidates of the right. they've had s success until now but t the people of latin ameria are witnessing this and they will change the conditions. they will change because the peoples have the right to be in power in latin america. amy: jorge arreaza, venezuelan foreign minister. he was here in new york to meet with the u.n. secretary-general, former vice president of venezuela and the son-in-law of the late president hugo chavez. that does it for our broadcast. happy birthday, edith penty! democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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