02/25/19 02/25/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> e every day we are dealing wh a lot of conflicts and challenges in the planet. made a statement regarding the situation that we hope violence will end in that respect for human rights will be part of the solution. amy: as the united nations calls for a peaceful resolution to the

crisis in venezuela, the venezuelan opposition is openly asking the united states and our light nations to consider using military forces to topple the venezuelan president nicolas maduro. this comes as at least four people died as violence broke out on the venezuelan borders colombia in brazil. government bringing so-called to military and aid into venezuela. we wilill spend ththe hour with venezuela'a's foreign minister jorge arreaza. >> venezuela is a peaceful country and we have to stop in the war in our hemisphere. we can find our own sovereign solutions in venezuela, and u.s. government and no other government has notothing to do with our internal affairs. we can guarantee there will be respect venezuela if we the charter of the united nations and the venezuelan constitutions of law. amy: all that t and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace reportrt. i'm amy goodman. venezuela's opposition is calling on the united states and allied nations to consider using military force to topple the government of venezuelan president nicolas maduro. this comes as u.s. vice president mike pence heads to bogota, colombia, today to discuss next steps with regional leaders and venezuelan's self-proclaimed president, opposition leader juan guaido. the meeting comes after a dramatic weekend which saw the venezuelan military blocking the delivery of so-called humanitarian aid from entering venezuela at the colombian and brazilian borders. several people died after clashes broke out between forces loyal to maduro and supporters of the opposition. the united nations, the red cross, and other relief organizations have refused to work with the u.s. on delivering aid to venezuela, which they say is politically motivated.

over the weekend, u.s. officials ramped up pressure on the maduro government. on secretary of state mike sunday, pompeo said maduro's days in office are numbered. republican senator marco rubio tweeted the violence on the border "opened the door to various potential multilateral actions s not on t the table ju4 hours ago." senator rubio also tweeted images of libyan dictator will market off it, including -- muammar gaddafi including one of him after he was killed following the u.s. bombing campaign. we'll have more on the situation in venezuela with foreign minister jorge arreaza after headlines. meanile, in w w yorkity,y, protteters tk toto t streeee saturdayor a "noarar on venezuel d demonratition >> t e entirpuerertoican tion w w taken over by the unitedtatates,nd n nowheyy want to dththe sa thing to

venezuel t to ma venezuela a colo of the united states because they're not intesested in the freedom of vezuzuela r noing.g. they w wt to get the natural resources of venuela, ju like tir doing to puerto rico and other countries in the world. amy: on friday, president trump issued a rule barring abortion providers or groups that refer patients for abortions from federal funds known as title x. planned parenthood would be one of the main groups affected by the new gag rule. title x covers non-abortion services like std prevention, cancer screenings, and contraception, and provides over $280 million in funding for 4 million, mostly low-income women every year. dr. leana wen, the president of planned parenthood, tweeted in response to the news -- "the trump-pence administration knows what it's doing. in a country where racism and

discrimination have caused rampant inequities and disparities, an attack on title x -- a program for patients with low incomes -- is an attack on poor women and people of color." a number of states, including new york and california, have already announced plans to sue the trump administration over the rule. president trump is set to meet with north korean leader kim jong-un in vietnam this week for their second summit. in a direct contradiction of previous statements by the president, secretary of state mike pompeo said sunday that north korea still poses a nuclear threat. while trump is attending the highly anticipated summit, his former lawyer and fixer michael cohen will testify in front of three house committees about his work for donalald trump. also this s week, the house is scheduled to hold hearings onn the trump adadministration''s family sepeparation policycy. the house oversight cocommittee will vote tuesday on authorizing subpoenas for the departments

responsible for implementing and responsible for implementing and overseeing the separation policy, which has separated thousands of children from t thr families. house democrats are set to vote tuesday on a resolution blocking president trump's national emergency declaration to construct a u.s.-mexico border wall. it's unclear though if such a measure would pass in the republicican-controlled senanat. trump has vowed to veto the bill. meanwhile, "the washington post" is reporting a bipartisan group of 58 former national security officials will publicly rebuke the president's national emergency declaration today. in sudan, president omar al-bashir declared a one-year, country-wide state of emergency friday after over two months of widespread anti-government protests calling for his resignation. he also dissolved central and state governments. rights groups say more than 50 people have been killed by sudanese security forces since the protests started. the government has also been

accused of jailing hundreds of activists, opponents, and critics of al-bashir and of shutting down press outlets and barring foreign reporters from covering the uprising. protests continued through the weekend, defying the president's order. in nigeria, civil society groups reported nearly 40 people were killed across the country in election-relateded violence e or ththe weekend. nigerians headed to the polls saturday, one week after elections were delayed due to logistical reasons. the nigerian president muhammadu buhari is seeking a second-term , running against dozens of challengers amid a spate of recent violelence and insurgent attacks by boko haram. a newly released united nations report found a record number of afghan civilians were killed last year due to an increase in air strikes by u.s. and afghan forces and on-the-ground suicide bombings by insurgentsts groups, primarily the tababan and the islamic state.e.

the now more than 17-year-old conflict claimed over 3800 civilian lives in 2018, over 900 of which were children. the numbers represent an 11% increase in civilian deaths from the year before. the report comes as peace talks between u.s. and the taliban resume in qatar today. in gaza, mourners gathered saturday after a palestinian teenager was shot and killed by israeli forces friday. israeli soldiers shot 15 year-old yusif said hussein al-dayeh as he attended the weekly great march of return demonstration at the separation barrier with israel. around 40 others were wounded. in israel, embattled prime minister benjamin netanyahu has made a pact with several far-right parties to form a new coalition ahead of elections in april. one of the groups, otzma yehudit, or jewish power, has been compared to the kkk for its racist, anti-arab, and

homophobic beliefs. the party has called for annexing the occupied palestinian territories, expelling israeli arabs, and a ban on relationships between jews and arabs.. the group was formed by supporters of the fundamentalist rabbi meir kahane. an earlier iteration of otzma yehudit was banned by israel and designated a terror organization in the 1990's by both israel and the united states. the move was swiftly condemned, including by pro-israeli government groups such as aipac and the anti-defamation league. president trump announced via twitter sunday he is increasing tariffs after "substantial progress" was made on the ongoing trade discussions between washington and beijing. a trade truce between the two countries was initially set to expire on march 1 and would have increased tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion of chinese goods. california senator dianne

feinstein is coming under fire after a video showing her interaction wiwith a groroup of young, activists, some as young as seven years old, went viral over the weekend. in the video, feinstein dismsmisses the studentsts demas to t take action on climate change, including supporting the green new deal -- which was recently introduced as a resolution by new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez and massachusetts senator ed markey. >> scienence has saiaid we have2 years to turn this around. >> well, it is not going to get turned around in 10 years. don >> can do -- senator, if this does not get turned around and 10 years, these are the faces of the people who will be living with these consequences. the government is supposed to be for the people, by the people -- >> what is interesting about this group, i have been doing this for 30 years. i know what i am doing. you c come in here and you say t

has to be my way or the highway. amy: president trump announced via twitter friday he will nominate kelly knight craft, the current u.s. ambassador to canada, to be the new u.s. ambassador to the united nations after heather nauert withdrew from consideration earlier this month. craft's husband is the head of the coal company alliance resource partners, and together the couple donated around $1.5 million to republican campaigns in 2016, including over $270,000 to then-candidate trump. they reportedly also are regulars at the trump international hotel. craft has previously denied climate change by declaring "there are sciences on both sides that are accurate." r. kelly is expected to appear in a chicago court today after he was arrested and charged friday with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. the charges involve four women and girls, three of whom were under the age of 17 at the time

of the alleged crimes. a judge set bail at $1 million, which r. kelly has not yet been been able to make and forced the singer to surrender his passport. lawyer michael avenatti, who is reportedly representing an r. kelly whistleblower, says he gave prosecutors a tape showing the singer engaging in sexual acts with a 14 year-old girl. the arrest follows two decades of accusations against r. kelly, who has never been criminally convicted. last month, the explosive surviving r. kelly" thrust the case back into the spotlight. activists have been calling for justice for the black girls and women preyed on by r. kelly and for the music industry to disassociate itself from the musician with the #muterkelly campaign. to see our interviews on "surviving r. kelly," go to democracynow.org. the billionaire owner of the new england patriots owner robert kraft was charged friday for

soliciting sex as part a sting operation investigating prostitution and sex trafficking at day spas in florida. hundreds of others have been charged in the case. police officers say many of the women involved in the case came to the u.s. from china on temporary visas and some reportedly had sex with 1000 men a year. prosecutors say they have video evidence of kraft engaging in the criminal acts. super bowl sunday is believed to be one the biggest days of the year for sex trafficking. massachusetts senator and 2020 presidential hopeful elizabeth warren announced her campaign will not fundraise through donor calls or holding dinners and other events with wealthy supporters. warren previously announced she would reject any corpoporate pac money for her campaign. she challenged other democratic party candidates to do the same. of the recent announcement, senator warren said -- "my presidential primary campaign will be run on the principle of equal access for anybody who joins it." in hollywood, the 91st academy

awards were held sunday evening, celebrating a diverse range of awardees and a number of firsts, including director spike lee's first competitive academy award for best adapted screenplay for his film "blackkklansmsman." >> the 2020 presidential election is around the corner. let's all mobilize. let's all be on the right side of history. make the moral choice between love andnd hate. let's do the right thing. amy: said spike when he received the award. "green book" won for best picture at the end of the evening, despite facing criticism for historical inaccuracies. spike lee, who reportedly attempted to walk out of the theater when "green book" was named the winner, said -- "i thought i was courtside at the garden and the ref made a bad call." rami malek won best actor for his portrayal of lead singer of

queen freddie e mercury.y. , in his acceptance speech, malek said -- "we made a film about a gay man, an immigrant, who lived his life just unapologetically himself. we're longing for stories like this." "roma" won best foreign language film and its director alfonso cuaron won best director. "black panther" won three oscars, including two that marked the first african-american winners in their categories -- production design and costumes. and in more entertainment news, awawardsendent spirit were held in santa monica, california, saturday, right before the oscars. "if beale street could talk" baseonon the974 4 jas baldwi nonol took he best director anbest feare. "sorry tbobotherou" " wobest rst fefeure. this is rerectorootsts riley acceptinthe award.

>> this film that takes place an offi p place and is the fit one th i i knothatat -- incls strugg in and it. evennonow itappepensvery d d whenenou're on yourur jobs. or some reason, we thoughwewe had to edit that out oouour storores amy: boots riley went on to call viewerso speak t against u.s. ierventioin venezuela. >> the cias tryingo have a coup in venezuela. since iot been watching have been here, so they might be doing it whilile we are here. we should all be putting our voices out to stop the u.s. from having regime cnge for oil in venezuela.a. was after boots riley's mic cut off on sgege, heontitinu to talk about it asked age raising the u.s's story of , regi change d intervtion in cle, iraqand guatala. and thosare somef the helines. th is demoacy now!

demoacynow.o, the waand ace repo. i'm amy odman. juan: weome to a of our listens and viers from aroundhe count and arod the world. venezuela's opposition is calling on the united states and allied nations to consider using military force to topple the government of venezuelan president nicolas maduro. this comes as u.s. vice president mike pence heads to bogota, colombia, to meet today with regional leaders and venezuelan's self-proclaimed president, opposition leleader juan guaido.o. a top venezuela opposition leader named julio borges told "the wall street journal" -- "we will present firm positions which are an escalation of diplomatic measures, and political measures including the use of force for blocking the humanitarian aid and generating an unprecedented violence." the meeting comes after a dramatic weekend which saw the venezuelan military blocking the delivery of so-called humanitarian aid from entering the country at the colombia and brazilian borders.

at least four people died and hundreds were injured after clashes broke out between forces loyal to maduro and supporters of the opposition. according to some reports, supporters of the opposition threw rocks and molotov cocktails. the venezuelan security forces, and civilian groups known as colectivos, responded with force, including tear gas and rubber bullets. two trucks carrying aid were set on fire. the united nations, the red amy: cross, and other relief organizations have refused to work with the u.s. on delivering aid to venezuela, which they say is politically motivated. venezuela has allowed aid to be flown in from russia and from some international organizations but it has refused to allow in aid from the united states describing it as a trojan horse for an eventual u.s. invasion. over the weekekend, u.s. officis ramped up pressure on the maduro government. on sunday, secretary of state mike pompeo said maduro's days in office are numbered.

he also threatened more sanctions are coming. republican senator marco rubio of floridada tweeted the violene on the bordeder "opened the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the ble just 2 24 hours agago." in what seen as a cryptic threat to maduro, rubio tweeted images of a bloodied muammar gaddafi as he was being killed following the u.s. bombing campaign. rubio also tweeted photos of former panamanian leader manuel noriega, who was removed from power during the u.s. invasion in 1989 and remain in the u.s. jail for years. we are joined now by venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. welcome to democracy now! it is good to have you with us. can you start off by talking about what happened on the least foury did at people die? >> thank you very much, amy and juan.

it is a pleasure and honor to be here. it is important for the american people to listen to us as well because we have what we believe is our truth come or in any case, the other version that you will not here in the traditional mainstream media. saw lasty that what we saturday in both borders with , this was a brazil spectacle. it was a show. there were hundreds of journalists, of tv stations both broadcasting-- live. we believe it is a trojan horse. it was to break our sovereignty with so-called humanitarian aid, which it is not. theeminds us, for example, dominican republic in 1965 where behind -- after the so-called humanitarian aid, 8000 koreans came in, overthrew the --ernment and took power

8000 marines came in, overthrew the government and took power. the collective was entered with rubber bullets. no, it was the national guard and the police. the frontline was the police. the second line, the national guard. and of course, there were people that wanted to defend our sovereignty and were there also. on thewas killed colombian side, which was the real problem. brazilnts happened in and the brazilian border, where there is another story. there is something related to the indigenous groups of my country, which we defend a lot but there is a mayor that has been elected and he is from the party of guaido. they tried to get into a military unit. and something happened there. it is still not clear how these four people died. it is under investigation. we do not know where the fire

came from. but when you see the tv, it seems maduro gave the order to his military to fire on the people, and that is not true. we were very, very prudent. we resisted innovation somehow, and it stopped -- i know they are frustrated. now they're going to bogota. group, which is mike pence. he will dictate instructions and orders today for this group. amy: did the soldiers have live bullets? >> know, they didn't. what you saw on the bridge is what we saw every single day during four months in caracas and elsewhere in 2017. even worse then because it was every single day of people actually died and the people from the o opposition had fire weapons as well. smooth it was something if we compare it to what we have

suffered in the past with all of this while opposition we have in venezuela. juan: you mentioned mike pence being the real boss of the lima group. to me, it is astonishing that guaido declared himself to be president the day after speaking on the phone with the vice president of the united states. the idea that a vice president would have a conversation with an opposition leader and immediately after the opposition leader declares himself president, then come out publicly with a video backing him. >> this was the plan. it was activated last year when they decided not to recognize the results of the presidential elections. then they had to wait for the day of the inaugurion of president maduro, and this plan was activated. it cannot be a coincidence after this man goes to the rally and in the middle of the street in a public square, he raises his hand and self proclaims as president of venezuela with no

formality or provision to support what he was doing, immediately my prince recognizing him and then the presidents of these other countries that are against the venezuelan and following u.s. orders. that was the plan. well organized from much before. we have to understand this. nothing is a coincidence when it comes to venezuela and the u.s.. amy: this is the venezuelan opposition leader, the self proclaimed president juan guaido , said to have his first meeting with vice president mike pence, speaking and colombia. >> i will take part in this group on this memeeting of the lima to meet with everyone,, foreign ministerers from the region as well as ununited dates vice president mike pence, to discuss possible diplomatic

discussions to advance on this issue. amy: if you can respond to this. guaido is apparently meeting vice president mike pence today. and also, will you let him back into venezuela? >> i don't know if he is coming back, if he is willing to come back to venezuela, maybe, or what his plans are. in any case, he is going to meet with his boss, with mr. pence, and he is going to ask them for a military intervention in venezuela. he already said it. it is sad. it is sad, but also in same. you could not believe or tell the people that you are the president, so-called president of your country, and ask for foreign intervention against your people, against your family, against your friends. bombs will not differentiate a twin who is chavista and who is not chavista. juan: i want to ask you about

guaido in an article written a few weeks ago called "the making of juan guaido." he says basically many of the opposition groups, including guaido, were groomed and trained specializes in regime changes around the world and also by the intelligence group strafor. i'm wondering if you could talk about guaido's history? he was virtually unknown, even in venezuela, until a few weeks ago. >> i believe 99% of the people did not know him before. january the fifth he was sworn the nationalnt of assembly, which was correct, then he went on with his plan. this generation of youngsters in venezuela, they were trained by

intelligence groups of the united states and of other countries in order to make this regime change. what we saw in ukraine, what we saw in some countries in the north of africa, it is the same people training with all of these revolutions and whatever. it is a generation that was prepared for this. they know how to make violence, protests,, they know the words to use. nothing is coincidence. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to this discussion. our guest is venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. back with him in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we continue to look at the

crisis in venezuela with u.s. pressure to topple president maduro's government that has been building for years. former fbi director andrew privatelyeals trump discussed going to war with venezuela as far back as 2017. in his new book, mccabe writes -- "then the president talked about venezuela. that is the country we should be going to war with, he said, to have all of that oil and they're right on our back door." in september, "the new york times or in secret meetings with rebellious military officers in venezuela to discuss overthrowing maduro. in november, john bolton accused venezuela, cuba, and nicaragua being part of a choice of tyranny. amy: the is intensified its efforts. -- efforts once juan guaido became head of the national assembly and led an effort to declare maduro a usurper, in an effort to remove him from office. on the day of maduro's inauguration, january 10, u.s.

secretary of state mike pompeo called guaido to congratulate him on his election victory to head the national assembly. then national security adviser john bolton announced -- "t"the united states does not recognize venezuelan dictator nicolas maduro's illegitimate claim to power." vice president mike pence then spoke to guaido on the night before he declared himseself toe prpresident t of venezuela on january 23 to offer u.s. support. then on january 24, bolton openly admitted the u.s. actions are motivated by venezuela's massive oil reserves. he told fox business it would be good for the united states if american companies produced the oil in venezuela. still with us, venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. i wanted to go to the latest areats over the weekend, both clip and a tweak. i wanted to turn to the role of marco rubio, bubut first, let'so to jake tapper from cnn

questioning mike pompeo sunday. close how does -- how much does venezuelan oil capability factor intoto what the united states is doing in venezuela? >> we are e aimed at a single emission, answering the venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve. i am confident the venezuelan people wilill ensure that madu's daysys are numberered. amy: pompeo also said the united states would pursue further sanctions on venezuela. meanwhile, florida's republican senator marco rubio tweeted the violence on the border "open the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the table just 24 hours ago" and -- many saw

foreign minister jorge arreaza, can you talk about these latest threats? >> i don't think that this man marco rubio can represent the american people. the values by which the american people is known, because how can you threat a president, a threat openly?his life, so what kind of representative busy for the people? not even for the people of florida. there's a lot of domestic politics here because trump needs to win florida. i believe trump's days are numbered because i truly believe the american people will not realized trump. that is the president that has days numbered, really. it is an of session, the tweet.

on saturday, i don't know it was 14 tweets or more from bolton -- sorry, from marco rubio, about the situation in venezuela, and telling lies, it was fake news. so how can the voters that elected marco rubio stand this? he has to be stopped as the war has to be stopped on venezuela. juan: i want to ask about the situation inside venezuela. the opposition has grown. there are some accounts that even the president maduro won the most recent election, that he is deeply unpopular because of the economic crisis in the country, hyperinflation. could you talk about the economic crisis? has urban mismanagement and has their been -- has there been mismanagement and a move to greater authoritarianism under maduro then there was under chavez? >> my country in the moment is calmed. .eople are going to their jobs

students are going to school. people are going to the beach on the weekends. next weekend there will be a holiday. and all of thehe pressure comes from outside the country. juan: but there is a large number of people leaving venezuela. >> those figures are not clear, but of course there is migration. in order for us to pay for what we need to produce food or for medicine we need, we have to -- a transaction that should take 48 hours takes 48 days, if it ever happens. of course there are some shortages, but we are better off we were a year ago and much more than 2016 or 2017. we have done it effort to not sacrifice one dollar for social policies in which we invest a lot of our budget. we have done an effort to try to manage the economy despite of the blockade.

if you were to sit mr. stiglitz inthe director of the imf the chair of the minister of finance and he would say, you have to do this, this, and this, and if you take those decisions, nothing is going to happen or something very different is going to happen that this person expected because our economy is perpetrated all over from abroad. i must say at this moment in time, we are better off. there's more food, more medicine. and even some prices are lowering for the first time in two or three years. amy: even with the crippling u.s. sanctions, with the amount of money that is being held in british banks in the u.s. saying they are giving the money like the venezuelan company citgo to guaido with the imf reporting that inflation is over 1,000,000%, many are suffering enormously. millions have left, according to the u.n. >> more than one million, maybe,

but not millions have left. million, the inflation. those figures are crazy. we have an economic crisis. has there been mismanagement? may be. we are not a perfect government. it is very difficult to take when you're economy is under aggression, when there is an economic warfare against your economy, but i can say the main reason why our economy has struggled is because of the international attack -- specifically, this blockade and sanctions from the u.s. if we did not have the sanctions in the blockade, we could manage. if we had the $30 billion that has -- this blockade has cost over a year and a half and $15 billion that our company citgo represents as a value of the assets, things would be very different. we have to understand this. being translated into the suffering of many

venezuelans, and this has to be stopped. juan: i would ask about the international community because in all the commercial press here in the u.s., the sense is that the overwhelming of countries has now declared venezuelan president maduro illegitimate, but that is not the reality. the reality is there a are about 60 countries recognizing guaido but an equal number of countries, and some of the biggest in the world, still recognize president maduro and that the united states, neither the united states government nor guaido has sought to go to the general assembly to take a vote because they would lose the vote in the general assembly. can you talk about the dynamics of the line up in the international community on this issue? is 52ust say it governments that have said to recognize mr. guaido as the so-called president of venezuela. this is part of the plan. what governments? the u.s., canada, the governments from lima, the

right-wing governments supporting washington, the european union, and two or three more countries in the world. i had a meeting last friday with over 60 delegations from all over the world, the five continents. we had a meeting. we were very satisfied when we listened to countries from latin america, from the caribbean, from africa, from asia, even some from europe, giving support to the venezuelan constitutional government. doespart from that -- it the aim is not to defend maduro. the aim is to defend the right to any nation to protect its sovereignty and not to interfere in the internal affairs. it is to predict the charter -- protect the charter of the venezuela. we are creating a group. not we. it was not our initiative. some countries without participation are greeting the

group which i believe will have protectn 18 members to the charter of the united nations. we are taking actions with the secretary-general, in the in the assembly, even security council with this group. amy: what is happening at the united nations? unit with the un's secretary-general three times. we just played a clip of michelle bachelet, former president of chile. what do you want to happen right now and you want involvement of the pope, of mexico, with the new president will but your? >> in the united nations, there is a member of the united nations, venezuela, being under attack. the countries that are attacking venezuela are violating every single principle of the charter of the united nations. we expect for the general assembly to raise the voice and condemn this intervention in venezuela and not to be silent when the charter is being violated. what we're trying to do also in

the united nations is to let them know the truth, what is happening. that is why i have met three times with them, as well we want the organizations of the united it iss to help us because their duty as well. because what is the real problem? banks don't want to work with venezuela, so anything that happens through new york or through london -- which are most of the sanctions in the western world -- are stopped, are blocked. so we are working with some agencies of the united nations in order for them to buy what we need in venezuela -- medicine, food. and we will pay these once it is in the venezuelan territory, the financial root because we have to look for ways -- we have done it. we are working with turkey very closely, but it has not been enough.

also we need the support of united nations o organizations. but of course we want -- we are sitting around the table. we are waiting for the opposition to sit again because they usually said and they stand up and they leave. we are sitting and waiting for mr. whomever to sit down and have dialogue. support or the countries of the caribbean, it is welcome. i believe we don't even need it because we can solve this as venezuelans, but if they are helping, their welcome. whichever country wants to help for a sovereign solution amongst the venezuelans, they are welcome in the country. juan: while this is playing out, as you said, you are willing to pay for the supplies you need but you've got to have the revenue or the sale of oil. would the u.s. market cut off, have other country step forward? i know china has long been fine venezuelan oil as well as

india. are these countries saying we will fill the vacuum and by mortar oil? >> we are ready have contracts with other countries. i'm not went to name them because the mr. bolton threatens them. immediately when he knew we had negotiations with a country, he threatened that country and said they would not be forgotten. are already selling our oil that was meant to come to the u.s.. it is being sold to other countries in the world. amy: former president hugo chavez survived a coup attempt in 2002. you're not only the foreign minister, you're also chavez's son-in-law. do you think maduro will be able to survive this coup attempt? >> he has already survived the coup because the coup was meant to happen between february 23 in the first days -- i'm sorry,

generally 23rd in the first days of february. it did not happen. the military stood loyal with the constitution. what is happening now is because the coup failed, now they're looking for what they call other options. i believe the american people have a word here. tellan stop the war if you your congress and your government and your people and all over the streets, you raise your voice because that is going to be a war on venezuela, against the venezuelan people. venezuelan people are going to die. there will be bloodshed, but also american soldiers will die. marines will die in venezuela because we know how to resist. we are ready to defend our homeland. but that is not what we want. i believe the american people and the american institutions can stop this from happeningng, of invadingproposal

venezuela. and this is the right time to do a. amy: we are one to go to break and come back to this discussion. we're talking to the foreign minister of venezuela, jorge arreaza. he is here in new york meeting with the united nations. in venezuela, clearly, a coup attempt is under way, if not inside venezuela, outside because today the secretary of state pompeo is in colombia meeting with a self claimed -- rather, the vice president mike pence is in colombia meeting with thelima group and the supper claimed venezuela president juan guaido. we will talk morore abouthis in a mite. ♪ [sisic brk]

amy: "stand up straight and tall" by jackie shane. shane was a pioneering black transgender singer-and-songwriter who died last thursday at her home in nashville, tennessee. she was 78 years old. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodmaman with juan gonzalez.

we are spending the hour with the venezuelan foreign minister jorge arreaza. juan: on friday, democracy now! lander who wasrdo also against u.s. regime change. he is a member of the citizen's platform in defense of the constitution and has bacack the national referendum on the future of venezuela. >> the citizen's platform on defense of the constitution as well as other groups main from the left but not only, have been arguing that we need this referendum in order to have the venezuelan people decide if they want to have new authorities overall in the country. that is, all of the national powers, including the executive, and the national assembly. but that requires an agreement because we need a new national electoral council. the current electoral council is completely controlled by the

government, and it is not trustworthy for the majority of the venezuelan population. juan: that was edgardo lander, venezuelan sociologist. minister,nts, foreign about the possibility of a referendum as a way out of the crisis that exists now? >> first of all, i have a lot of respect for edgardo lander. company -- a to a company us, but now he is changed position. he is a coherent man. what i do believe is that this constitution has many solutions that can be started, but it has to happen in the dialogue process. you cannot impose a solution. or cannot say a referendum -- as they say, you have to repeat the presidential elections. we have to sit down with the opposition. we have to reach political agreements and analyzed each

option, but not war. the local options. .ind our way as venezuelans because we are brothers and sisters with the opposition as well. we are waiting for the opposition. even the pope has called the opposition, and we wish that secretary-general good terrorists would call the opposition -- the terrorists -- gutierrez would call the opposition. the opposition sits down and then stands up but at the moment they have the order from the pentagon or the white house telling them, do not sit around the table with the people of maduro because you're not allowed by us. so we hope there is some rectification from the opposition but in the u.s. government, in order to give them permission to sit down with the venezuelan government. amy: you have this very unusual situation. president trump is flying to vietnam to meet with the north korean leader. you have the vice president pepence, who issued this statemt

in support of guaido, spoke to him before he announced himself he was president -- not pence but guaido. so you have them in colombia meeting with the lima group to get these countries to invade venezuela. ant countries would fend off invasion, would fight alongside venezuela? >> we have not even thought about it. we are not considering war. defend ourared to sovereignty, but we're not thinking about coalitions or these things. this that is happening between trump and chairman of north korea, it could happen with president maduro. why don't they meet? this would solve everything. maduro is the boss of the government in venezuela and trump is the boss of the opposition in venezuela, so that

would be the correct way. but even apart from that, we must sit with the opposition as well. this thing in colombia, i believe not -- most of the countries are the group of lima would not support a military intervention, although they are helping to create the conditions with all of this trying to isolate venezuela and the venezuelan government and people. they have helped, but i don't think they would support a military intervention. there are two countries that should be denounced all over the world, the u.s. and colombia. u.s. useis letting the their territory to attack venezuela. said -- terms of -- you comments you made a few minutes ago that the president has already survived, president maduro has already survived a coup attempt. there were some articles in the financial press where the business community and the financial community is precisely

worried about a drawn out affair thatse there is a reality there is a huge debt that worldela has to o the financiers in terms of its bond debt. there is the issue of the disruption, further disruption of venezuelan oil could mean to the world financial community. ,o that the business community even if the united states does not want a drawn out, ongoing battle with -- between the u.s. government and venezuela. i am wondering the discussions ththat your government has had with some of the oil companies dust invested in venezuela and some of the bankers that have been lending money to venezuela about the current crisis? if you're able to talk about that. >> even american companies working in venezuela, european companies, asian companies, they

are working at the moment. they are producing and exporting oil. they are worried because they want to keep on doing it, doing this will production. so even the financial markets are worried because they don't want the war. they want everything to be calm. and we can pay for our debt if we are not under sanctions, if we are not blocked, if there are no aggressions against venezuela. that would be best for the international markets. that is the reality. we have paid thousands and thousands and millions of dollars, billions of dollars with our debt in the past and we would be able to do so if they would stop attacking venezuela. amy: i want to go to fox business were john bolton recently spoke, openly saying u.s. oil companies c could benet from what is happening in venezuela. >> we are in conversation withh major american companies now that are either in venezuela, or

in the case of citgo in the united states, i think we're try to get to the same and results here. venezuela is one of the three countries i call the truck of tyranny. it will make a bigig differenceo the e united states economically if we could have american oil companies really invest t in and produce ththe oil capabilitieien venezuela. it would be good for the people of the united states. amy: that is john bolton on fox's nest. >> bolton is like a gangster. when it is about venezuela, he really is harsh. there is no sense in what he says. but he has that something that is true. all of this is about oil. they want maduro out because they want to regain the control they had ovever the venezuelan economy, especially over the bowl ofmpany before the very and revolution.

it is the largest reserve of oil and all of the world, and it is free close to the u.s. territory. that is not going to happen with this. we will defend our territory. our people will be defended. we have to sit down -- if they want to invest in venezuela. chevron is in venezuela. if other companies want to invest in venezuela, they have to talk to us and respect venezuelan law, and that is everything. you could not be top link government's, ousting presidents that you have control over the natural resources -- although that is what trump said recently about if you were to intervene in other countries, he needed the loot in order to be paid for what they are doing. this cannot happen in venezuela. that is why i'm telling you this can be stopped in the u.s. if you do the right things. juan: i want to ask you about the lima group. it would have been inconceivable 10 years ago that so many latin american countries would have lined up with the united states

condemning venezuela because there was taking tied throughout pink titieca of -- a throughout latin american america. we have a conservative tide now with bolsonaro in brazil and duque. can you talk about the changes in latin america on venezuela's ability to reach withstand this type of aggression? this was not for free. the united states, ca, suddenly i believe that everything was concentrated in the middle east when barack obama turn his face ad saw what they considered backyard he said, hey, look at what is happening. this chavez fellow and lula and people in argentina and nicaragua, we have to do something about this. and they began to send resources to support candidates to do -wingigns against the leftft

candidates, and they regained government -- which respond exclusively to the orders of the united states. that is why the lima group exists. but this will change again. the peoples of latin america are watching and they're analyzing the situation, and they feel these governments do not represent them. governments that want war, government that impose neneoliberalism and the countris against them. this will change. we have to have some strategic patience to see how things will change again and latin america. amy:y: what is the role of ellit abrams? he is clearly trump's point person, chosen as the envoy to venezuela, flew down and a military transport last week to colombia. ofant to go to a clip elliott abrams recently speaking. >> maduro has proven he will manipulate any calls for negotiations to his advantage. he has often used so-called

dialogue as a way to play for time. we are all involved to deal solely with legitimate guaido government. the time for dialogue with maduro has long passed. amy: that is elliott abrams. "the time for dialogue has long passed." vice president pence in colombia right now. i think a lot of people will be surprised to hear you being so calm at this point as this weekend they announce that the u.s. military action is now a possibility, a very serious intervention. >> too many contradictions. i have met two times with elliott abrams during the last month. we have had meetings that have lasted more than two hours with lots of differences, but we have maintained respect between us. we have set our truths. they are negotiating with us. theave just extended

presence of diplomats from the u.s. in caracas for 15 more days will step this was agreed with the american delegation. cans elliott abrams and really buyer, the undersecretary. we have to keep until they say the opposition cannot have dialogue with the government, but they are having dialogue with us. it is real politics here what is happening. and we hope this channel with mr. abrams or whoever is appointed by president trump is always open and we can have contact because that is the civilized things to do amongst countries that respect the sovereignty and international law. amy: that does it for the show. for today. jorge arreaza, venezueuela's foreign minister. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate thehe 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!]