however politicians in some of those countries have called for military intervention in venezuela to protect so they say its citizens. but we have troops all over the world that places a very very far away venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering and they're dying we have many options for venezuela including a possible military option if necessary. i'm always careful when we talk about south and central america and the cia there's a lot of stories. we are very hopeful that there could be a transition of venezuelans i was just down in mexico city and in bogota week before last talking about this very issue trying to help them understand the things they might do so that they can get a better outcome for c.n.n. can now confirm the president trump asked a number of his top foreign policy advisers last summer about the possibility of

invading venezuela cuba. and now opposition needs you on one has declared himself the country's new president have you also the president of the united states for any military support in your struggle by i saw it on the market as he's going up as i would in terms of taking decisions that even though this is a dictatorship the venezuelan people want to advance with whatever pressure is needed this is no time for dialogue this is time for. any negotiations with nicolas maduro. no.

the strange thing about the coup and threat of invasion is that they didn't just come from the usa. supporters of the right wing opposition asked for a foreign country to invade theirs. and i made the mistake of answering one of them . i told him it had happened in greece back in the days of nazi collaborators. i hadn't noticed that the person had hundreds of thousands of followers on twitter . dozens of them offered to teach me new expressions in english and spanish. using teaching methods from the t.v. series norco's. call.

that. easy who day. key. was when i received an interesting message. i had just been given my next mission my dear twitter friends explained that if i was a real journalist and wanted to understand venezuela i had to go to the border with colombia. they were absolutely right. that's not what i boarded a bus with dozens of venezuelans leaving the country. just a nation the border crossing out in colombia. the place where the local mafia

random to members of colombia's civil war paramilitary groups me to operate only. for breakdowns one flat tire and an attack with stones flying past my head resulted in a nineteen hour journey. and plenty of time to read international press articles on venezuela's immigrants and refugees. from writers to the daily mirror dozens of stories repeating that the case here resembles syria and people of my own. they compared an economic crisis to a civil war and genocide. in

the news i mostly saw people leaving the country here i could see a few returning to venezuela even within a day. the import. those many the study based. on. at the colombian border i experienced one of the many side effects of economic collapse but i learned nothing new about what caused it. surprisingly i found more answers in a town just forty kilometers east of san cristobal.

hundreds of. hours of gas stations. this was another artificial shortage caused by private. smugglers collaborating with local offices buying gas and other government subsidized commodities in colombia. taking advantage of that as well as price controls contraband goods have become a lucrative business in neighboring colombia where these products can sell for prices at least ten times more it is estimated that almost forty percent of them this will is food is illegally transported across the border. hiding food away in storage for political and economic purposes is bad enough.

not being able to find gasoline when you have the biggest oil reserves is a real. especially when the government provides gas almost feel free. to understand what was going on i have to return to caracas where the gasoline flows generously. as i couldn't reconcile the oil production in my mind i decided to walk somebody who's been. following venezuela's energy policy professor carlos mendoza patella.

a consultant on energy issues for the central bank of venezuela. we begin. the series duncan has. been there as well you never see me or nah. you know again not a moment there ain't don't think the reasons and it breaks your way. but i thank you oh. god. according to international media of venezuela failed even though it's been proved to have the world's biggest oil reserves. is that really true.

in facias. king. showing these. relief and i know you know. also. is ahead of the game. last year on their patrol you know. where that. thing. is it will. give us a feel. for me. the length this. local de lay has said even willing to put on that island. but up those who don't.

push will include going to. embarrass you or me so you know. what politicians do. they put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president and she. want. you to go on to be press this is what before three of the more people that i'm interested in the waters out. there should. have.

been on the phone line smoke why don't they couldn't put them in the muslim on muslim for appointments you know members got a lot of photos and stuff to get a. lot of thought up was. just i think. she was you make your. jungle. book you go to the british. band. i mean you got. to. listen to. join me every week on the alex simon sure and i'll be speaking to guest of the

world of politics sport this list i'm showbusiness i'll see of that. i mean more to get in is an outstanding person because he took on the most powerful agency in this county for you to state if you look at some of the analogies. marc was. the day that he was. going to has been the most contentious critic for a year is the first time i noticed something wasn't. pretty much when i first started the corruption in palm beach county is not something that you can smell it . it's. a wing it wasn't what i wanted to do. in this county. and went to his website began featuring comments about

his family the sheriff might. you know i wish you'd stop then you should stay on the left and stuff i believe what i'm doing ok you know it's your funeral. did p.b.'s a critic. of the united states. into russia. political. men they know. even with. venezuela has a lot of oil. so how did it get into its current situation. many people told me

that it suffers from a strange disease. because it's called the disease. i thought i should go to whole and. sadly we see that many of these countries and up with much worse economic performance much worse in a call to you much more poverty than before the end or well for the gas wealth or the mineral wealth so that's been cold i'm dutch myself that's me call the dutch disease. the dutch

disease is something which is taught in the middle of sneddon schools home of the main gas exports he had all this gas he holding up the north part of holland. as a result of the gas being exported it was a lot of extra mom for the guild or for the dutch currency that pushed up the value of the guild and the made him very strong currency but as a result of that the rest of the industry than it was became less competitive found a more difficult to export to bowl so although we were well through in terms of gas our industry was suffering and my to be causing on the point. venezuela has suffered from the dutch disease since the nine hundred thirty s. when oil income was converted into holidays clothes and mentions for the elite. say economy so. but.

these are friends who will. see a bank will get but if the moon. it is wouldn't kill the dutch disease. but for the first time revenue wasn't going to the elite well what's a foreign multinationals. let's look first at the old times and chavez falls to the life vest put

a lot of the money over the oil the huge oil money even sure that gets to helping the people of venezuela so he put it into the education system and put it into the health care system and if you can poverty. whatever bad things he can see a bunch of his death most true. his successes. is a different story now we do have a story about the old price which didn't high but more money went to the needs of the poor people who are suffering the most by the people who go dryads rest and then they go to hit by the bush administration to any old rich country that the old price collapsed. along with the oil price collapse came a financial and from the usa. to stephen for this purpose we're going to announce sanctions against petroleum to venezuela associate the name were paid if they says it's known by its spanish

acronym the state oil monopoly we're looking at the oil assets that's the single most important income stream to the government of venezuela it will make a big difference to the united states economically if we could have american oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in venezuela. and i reached the. source of the absurdity in venezuela's economy. then when i tried to exchange the dollars i had with me. as well as the official exchange rate for the dollar as a parallel black market right. merchants could find the prevailing black market exchange rate from a facebook page. now things have changed they can find it on instagram.

the administrator is. going to look. maybe an opponent of the regime in the usa or maybe. one thing was certain by controlling that exchange rate anyone could citizens against their government. a little. more make. a fake. saw.

two opposing sides have been trying to explain the crisis in venezuela. for government supporters the suffering is caused by american sanctions and internal economic sabotage. that theory is based on reality but can't explain everything and is often used as an.

this is not a. this is the socialist dilemma. because actually during the. you know the. fifty five. years. even when. companies.

when its economic growth rate was. fifty percent. media attributed the gross to capitalism. when the crisis struck socialism was blamed. see. the two made narratives putting the blame on sanctions or on socialism the reality i saw in venezuela was much more complex. and maybe both dull.

chavez's bolivarian revolution inherited all the structural problems that the economy had faced in the twentieth century. the dutch disease the destroyed production high inflation and huge inequalities. but for the first time while revenues did not flow into the hands of the few and foreign oil companies. that were distributed to the people. then under constant economic war huge mistakes were made mainly in monetary policy. when oil prices collapsed all those problems old and new came to the surface. the ball was still poor and the rich who was still rich decided to take revenge.

i. travelled far trying to understand why when my country and europe was sinking in a crisis some was concerned about toilet paper in venezuela. there was something.

george w. bush the president of the united states government of iraq and the future of your country. along to you. in the battle of iraq the united

states and our allies have prevailed. what we can do and will do is support the aspirations of the libyan people. you saw i. i might perhaps the vice president of the united states. on behalf of president donald trump and all the american people. let me express the unwavering support of the united states is you the people of venezuela raise your voices in a call for freedom.

as an officer of the code to get up off the ground the officer began to pet him down. and then freeze on the sounds of kind of fighting into the grown man like wrestling essentially the officer who. drew his or her own. wish to go away from the officer. out of his group. the obvious or did they kind of lunge

for the weapon once missed and then what happened on three swung at the observations didn't hit him i never saw any contact with. any kind of went back to where they were so the officers back here there try again fifteen feet apart at this point and that's when the officer pulled out his gun and he did it on three. when lawmakers manufactured him sentenced him to public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the famous merry go round of lives only the one percent. to ignore middle of the room sick. the real news is really. desperate for a single family so. they have

a superman. they start training very young. eight months of intensive schooling. rats. and they save lives. not. enough. i. am. new to.

britain's a bricks at night bad prime minister to resign maisie you divorced and is defeated. fourth time leading to fears of a disorderly exit from the block in just two weeks from now. ready troops reportedly shoot for palestinians dead tens of thousands rally along the perimeter fence between gaza and israel. since the beginning of the great protest. of the united states threatens russia with further sanctions if moscow refuses to pull its troops out of venezuela. why this is r.t. and.