Maduro with the BBC: "The Ku Klux Klan who governs the White House wants today to seize Venezuela"

No early presidential elections, nor permission to enter the humanitarian aid promised by several countries that do not recognize him as legitimate president of Venezuela.

In an exclusive interview with BBC journalist Orla Guerin, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was determined to resist all pressures, both external and internal, and showed his most provocative face towards the US government, that He accuses himself of being a leader. behind the attempts to overthrow him.

"The Ku Klux Klan that governs the White House now wants to seize Venezuela," said Maduro, who also insisted that the image of a Venezuela that is hungry and has seen millions of its citizens emigrate because of the brutal economic crisis that has been going on for several years and is part of the same coup plan.

"Venezuela is not a country of famine In the West, the situation in Venezuela is distorted to justify any intervention," he said.

Below, a full transcript of the interview conducted by Guérin Monday evening in Caracas.

– While you and I are talking here, there is American help waiting at the border with Colombia. I've met a lot of people who desperately need it. Why not let that happen?

It is a spectacle that the United States government has organized with the complaisance of the Colombian government to try to humiliate the Venezuelans.

Venezuela has the problems that any other country can have. We have spent many years struggling successfully to reduce poverty and misery, improve the quality of employment, protect our retirees, build a public health system, and provide education for more than 90 percent of Canadians. our children.

Venezuela is a country with dignity. The United States has attempted to trigger a humanitarian crisis to justify military intervention. We say no to the crumbs that they intend to bring, a drunken meal that they have left. Venezuela produces and works, and our people do not have to be beggars.

– Affirms that the help is a show, but will he also say that hunger is a show? I saw it with my own eyes. I met a woman with five children who told me that she was sending them to bed every night with nothing to eat. On the way, we saw people picking up food with their own hands. Are you really telling me that there is no hunger in Venezuela?

– You have a stereotype about the BBC and the US media, with a Venezuela that does not exist. We have problems We have extreme poverty of 4.4%. Of course, it remains to overcome. But we come from 25% and we have reduced all indices of inequality.

We have recognized indexes by international organizations of the highest level in terms of social investment equality. Do we have problems? Of course But Venezuela is not a country of famine. It has very high levels of nutrients and access to food. This stigma, this stereotype that we wanted to create has only one objective: to present a humanitarian crisis that does not exist in Venezuela for an intervention.

Donald Trump 's government has taken $ 10,000 million in bank accounts and other billions of gold from us, money with which we would buy food, medicine and supplies. It's very simple. If you want to help Venezuela, let them release the resources that have kidnapped us and do not come up with an inexpensive, unworthy and humiliating show, in which they offer $ 20 million US. Contaminated and rotten food.

– If there is no humanitarian crisis here, why have more than 3 million people left the country? It's about a tenth of the population.

– In the Western media, you have a problem, they take for granted any widespread lie. The entire campaign on migration in Venezuela has been exaggerated. We are a country that welcomes immigrants. You do not know it or do not spread it.

We have 5,800,000 Colombians who emigrated because of the war, because of the violation of human rights, because of poverty. We have more than 300,000 Italians, more than 300,000 Portuguese, more than 300,000 Spaniards, more than 300,000 Ecuadorians, plus one million Arabs. More than 10 million immigrants come to Venezuela each year.

The economic war undeniably provoked a new phenomenon of emigration. We have official figures and do not exceed 800,000 Venezuelans who have gone in the last two years looking for alternatives. Many of them crashed into situations where they did not expect to find xenophobia, discrimination, work slavery and thousands of people coming back.

Venezuela is a country that offers opportunities for social development and that is why it continues to be a country that welcomes migrants. In December 2018, we closed with 120,000 Colombians who arrived. This is the truth that is not said. In the west, the situation in Venezuela is distorted to warrant intervention or aggression similar to what is happening now.

– We see every day at the Colombian border a lot of people leaving. Even giving good numbers out of 800,000 people means that nearly one million Venezuelans are gone. Do you still maintain that there is no humanitarian crisis?

– We must see the economic war and the financial persecution to which we have been subjected. All the accounts we had were continued and this had an impact on the economic reality. In addition, some Venezuelans have thought of campaigns in networks looking for an alternative abroad.

The level of education of those who left is high, skilled labor has been left behind. By looking for alternatives abroad, they have found more difficult situations. Rest badured that most of those who are gone will come back. Venezuela has the problems that any country in the South, Third World, Latin America can have.

We have come a long way in the social indices and we are the country with the greatest progress in social indexes across the continent. What do we have problems? Of course. If we have the most powerful empire in the world, blocking all our accounts and badets abroad, looking for all the ships delivered with products … Of course, this created a rather important shift. Rest badured that we will overcome it.

– Venezuela is experiencing hyperinflation of 1,000,000% per year. No country in the world suffers from the same thing. When he came to power, he was only 20%. Do you mean that the total economic collapse has nothing to do with you?

– I repeat. You take as reference all that is published in the Western media. I invite you to know Venezuela deep. Of course, we have problems, especially that of an economic aggression. An inflation of 1,000,000% would not be supported by any country in the world. You are not questioning any numbers as long as it is against Venezuela.

They are not critical with the lies about Venezuela. It's the BBC, CNN, all the Western media, because they are involved in the scenario to intervene in our country. Why is Venezuela so interesting for the West and the United States? If we produce potatoes, parsley or apples, we may not exist on the geopolitical map.

But as Venezuela is the world's first oil reserve, it is the fourth gas reserve. As we certify the first gold in the world, Venezuela is important.

We are now chairing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and it is important to launch all kinds of attacks on Venezuela, to attack it, and then to bring about a result, as they did with Iraq and with Libya. But Venezuela is neither Iraq nor Libya.

We will face all these problems and be badured that this whole series of media campaigns and lies will be progressively overcome by reality.

– He says that we came to Venezuela with a preconceived idea, but in fact I arrived two weeks ago and saw the conditions of life with my own eyes. For example, we found a young man with cancer. Her mother was told that she had to pay for the treatment and she told us that it would take two years to collect the necessary money. Another patient told us that he was not receiving his treatment because he had no drugs, another patient with a brain tumor told us that he was waiting for an operation for a year because he had to rent surgical equipment. They are people who told us their stories. What do you have to tell them?

– We are giving a great battle. Of the US $ 1,400 million they took from us at Euroclear (an badet disposal system), they had to bring drugs against diabetes and cancer. They were frozen there. Then we looked for Portugal and froze more than 2 billion US dollars with which we bought the substitutes of these drugs.

And we always bring the drugs to the country. It is an immense effort. No country is subject to the same thing as us.

– Maybe there are some but people can not afford them. I found people who told me that what they needed was a month's salary.

– You speak of cases of people operated, treated. Rest badured that the health system will reach them. We have a main system for measuring drugs that no country in the world has. We have family doctors and more than 30,000 community-based doctors who also do home visits.

In them, he carries directly the medication that the patient needs. This allows us a fairly wide coverage. Despite the financial persecution and the economic blockade, we have, with great effort, regularized the domestic pharmaceutical industry and the sale of medicines in the private system.

– But I myself was hospitalized in Caracas, not far from here, where they had neither equipment nor medicine.

– I do not speak of the interior nor of Caracas. The whole country is affected. They hang on you and then tell you why you are drowning. You ask … You do not doubt the financial persecution, the blockade.

The mental schema you bring from the West, from London, is simply trying to kill the drowning person and get kicked to the ground. Our scheme is different. That's the resistance. You come to justify all this persecution and its social consequences.

I guaranteed the country's money on an account and that money, which was to bring the drugs that they kidnapped me, and then you go out to say that it was missing drugs. Why was it missing? It should be asked. Try to change the mental scheme.

Why is Venezuela the geopolitical center of the world and is not another country? Ask yourself it's because they want to conquer us. They will not get it. We have strong legitimacy and popular support. People who suffer suffer from the protection we give them.

We won 23 out of 25 elections. We need to ask ourselves why the mental patterns you bring from the north do not work in Venezuela.

– Many people question their electoral victory last year and more than 50 countries in the world recognize Juan Guaidó as president …

– Fifty? Where do you find this number? You bring a mental schema that you should review. I do not tell you anything else. It's already on your side. Are you a real journalist or are you just going to check your war campaign, the West War Campaign and the BBC London vs. Venezuela?

We are a noble country and we have the right to peace. Venezuela does not want that, because of all this campaign that you lead, troops arrive one day to try to conquer our country. He wants peace and respect, and you stop lying, please.

– But are you talking about the number of countries that recognize Juan Guaidó?

– That's what you're lying. You are a person who expresses dogmatism of the West against Venezuela. They are dogmatic, they are not critical. Unique thought is called that.

– With all due respect, these are facts. These countries have recognized the leader of the opposition as president. What is your message to them?

– First, there are 50. There are a dozen governments, not countries, that are aligned with Donald Trump's policy. What you need to ask is where does the badembly of this coup d'etat come from, the attempt to impose on Venezuela a government which does not elect anyone, who self-posits in a public place, this which is absolutely unconstitutional.

Where does it come from? From the white house. Who directs it? Donald Trump. The extremists of the White House want to impose a coup d'etat in Venezuela. The whole world rejected him. Now, the West is going abruptly, I would say in a ruinous way, Donald Trump's policy.

I would say to Europe and the UK, check. Donald Trump has led the failure of an extremist and illegal policy that violates the UN Charter and enjoys no support in Venezuela.

Today, this policy has already failed. In Venezuela, he chooses the city and, according to the Constitution, only the people puts and takes.

– If it's up to the people to decide, why not call a new credible presidential election? It seems that his country is very divided on who should be president.

– There can be a debate in any country on who should be president, but they all have a timetable and electoral rules. Venezuela over the past 18 months has been running elections to elect its 23 governors; we have won 19, or 335 municipalities, including 307.

We went to the elections six times during those 18 months. In May, I won with 68% of the votes the presidential votes. Since then, the US government has had a policy of boycotting the elections because they knew that no opposition candidate could win us elections.

Already then they have positioned all this coup d'etat. The pending election and that will surely run is the election to Parliament. This is the only institution that has not been legitimized again.

Look, our Constitution includes the referendum figure on revocation, which almost no country has. The opposition has the option of activating a recall referendum in 2022.

Respect the rules of the game. Do not let anyone impose blackmail in Venezuela so that he ignores his electoral rules.

– Can I win a presidential election now?

– I already won them. And today, all the popular polls, the Bolivarian forces that I represent, have the majority. In 20 years, we won 23 out of 25 elections.

– But many say that these elections, especially the last ones, were not clean. There were allegations of pressure in polling stations, opposition candidates who were not allowed to participate … If you are confident that you will get another victory, why not organize it? new elections?

– What is the logic of repeating an election? That there is a legal questioning. There was not a single internal court challenge before the National Electoral Council or the judiciary.

What has been there are political issues of the United States Government. Four months before the elections, the Trump government had declared that it would not recognize any election results in Venezuela. And the date had not been fixed yet.

Please, I ask God to enlighten you and enlighten the public opinion of the BBC. It's a political war of the American empire, the far right and the Ku-Klux Klan, which rules today in the White House to seize Venezuela.

They have positioned a political, communicative and warlike strategy in this regard. We, with the truth of our country, dismantle so many maneuvers, so many lies, that it is repeated day after day.

– Do you really think that the Ku Klux Klan rules the United States?

– I think that the extremist sector of the white supremacists of Ku Klux Klan is at the top of the United States. It's a gang of extremists.

– Do you think President Trump is a white supremacist?

– That is, publicly and openly. And this stimulated neo-Nazi fascist currents in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. It is an extremist sector that despises the world, not only us, Latin Americans, but also those who see us less. They despise the whole world because they believe only in their own interests.

The battle we are undertaking for Venezuela goes beyond our country. Donald Trump threatened us with a military invasion a few days ago, he said that he was going to send the army. On which account? What is the reason for declaring war on a pacifist country like Venezuela?

I call on the people of the world to wake up, to open their eyes, to find that it is an aggression, that Venezuela has problems similar to those of many countries of the world. world, but that we can only solve it by peace.

If you want to support Venezuela, say no to the intervention, support the peace, tell the United States to take control of Venezuela.

– He tells the United States to keep his hands out of Venezuela. D & # 39; agreement. It's your country, but why do you think it's also criticized by many Latin American countries, their own neighbors? This is not just Washington.

– Unfortunately, some far-right governments have come forward in some countries. Colombia, Chile … In Chile, President Piñera comes from the Pinochet tradition. There is also Macri in Argentina.

A group of far-right governments has been formed to replace the international policy of respect, tolerance, ideology that imposes a great deal of intolerance. And we have very crossed relationships. Well, they are a group of eleven countries.

We have permanent relations with other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. A very important meeting has just been held in Montevideo under the auspices of the governments of Mexico, Bolivia, Uruguay and the 14 governments of Caricom (Caribbean Community).

There are 17 countries in the region working on a dialogue process that I support widely. A dialogue without constraints, open, which allows the Venezuelans to treat problems in peace and solve them.

– Not only the United States, not only many Latin American countries, but also the major European countries discuss their legitimacy.

– It is unfortunate that some European governments, after being struck by their policies, end up in Trump's tail in a totally illegal and groundless policy. I have met many ambbadadors of the European Union, I read to them the Constitution, I showed them that they do not respect the international rules of the game.

I expect more from all the countries of Europe, both those who have made a misstep and those who are in the expectation. I hope you hear us. They only listen to one version. The EU press releases are a complete reproduction of postulates of the Venezuelan far right.

This is not possible. We are really. We are a force of truth, powerful that deserves to be heard. I tell Europe to listen more and follow the path of respect.

– How much gold have you frozen at the Bank of England and what are your chances of getting it back?

– In general, in England, there may be more than 80 tons of Venezuelan gold, the latter belonging to the Central Bank of Venezuela. I hope that international legality and the Central Bank of Venezuela will be respected. Let us hope that justice will prevail and that Venezuela will not be expropriated of something that belongs to it.

– What would you say to the British government of Theresa May?

– In fact, we did not have a lot of relations with Prime Minister May. If she listened to me, I would tell her to open her ears, to see the aggression, not to be complicit in what could be a war, an aggression in Latin America, that the extremist group of the White House wants to do everything, they have seen the reality beyond the campaigns that are repeated day by day.

I hope that the United Kingdom and Europe in general can promote a respectful dialogue between Venezuelans. Peace is threatened in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Venezuela will fight if it touches us. In the past, we did it and many English and Irish were on the battlefield. I'm calling on the British people to make John Lennon's song a reality, to give peace a chance.

– He says that they are ready to fight. Are you ready to take up arms against the United States Army if you cross the border?

– They would not leave us another alternative. We had to go to great lengths to defend the right of our country to existence, to peace. Let us hope that this will not happen and that the world public opinion of peace will prevail and will see in the nobility of the Venezuelan people the right to settle our affairs in peace.

That no one enters Venezuela and that the extremist group at the White House is defeated by a strong world public opinion. I have faith in that. I am a believing man and I always ask God to enlighten us to protect us.

– The opposition has called for volunteers to help help cross the border. If they do, will their troops fire on their own people?

– We never did it and it would never happen. The opposition has its tactics, she invents her shows. Well … they are free to do what they want in the country, but there has never been and there will never be any repression of these features.

– But the UN said that at least 40 people died during the demonstrations, including about 26 at the hands of security forces.

– What protests? They did not show a single test in a campaign that lasted nearly a fortnight. I watched international TV and showed a Venezuela that was not on the streets. Of course, on January 23, there were big marches. The opposition mobilized a lot and we made ours.

With these pictures and these images of street confrontation, they spent 15 days saying that there were big protests in Venezuela. To justify the coup d'etat and seek great support from the international community, they planned to burn the main cities of the country.

They did not do it. Only a group of petty criminals went to the streets and were captured in their acts of violence.

We have seen big street demonstrations and many of his supporters. Do you not dispute the fact that the opposition has led many people to the streets and that these people are asking for a change?

I saw them They had all the guarantees and there were big demonstrations. Venezuela has a mobilized democracy, a democracy with the people. There are people who support us and people who oppose the revolution. When they want to leave, they have all the guarantees. I always tell myself that I hope that they will do it in peace.

Because they have violent groups who, when the demonstrations are over, are still looking for a confrontation with the police to try to disturb them. The opposition has the freedom to parade as many times as it wants to demand its slogans and its proposals. We will also keep our people mobilized.

– Are there any circumstances in which you would consider leaving power?

– This is not about a person. I'm not in power because I do not want to be able to leave power as an individual decision either. I am part of a social, political, historical, revolutionary movement. And this great popular movement has entrusted this responsibility, respecting all the stages and the constitutional and electoral requirements.

The mandate they entrusted me with is very powerful and I have to fill it. I swore with my life itself. I have sworn before the Supreme Court to give my life to enforce and enforce the Constitution and I will do it beyond what can be said and done.

– Do you trust that you still have the support of the army? We have heard that there is now a lot of intimidation in their ranks and that they are imprisoning people if they raise their voices against you.

– This is another myth that has been created throughout this campaign. The Bolivarian national armed forces are structurally humanistic, democratic, institutionalized. And it is wrought in values, in a new doctrine, in a new concept, with a permanent formation.

This is a new type of armed force, it is not an army of montoneras or conspirators. This is not an army of pinochetistas, and it will not be. So that this armed force is firmly faithful to the Constitution, mobilized, preparing the defense of the country. With a lot of morals and a lot of conscience. And loyal to Commander-in-Chief, Nicolás Maduro.

This is not an armed force that will be put at the service of the United States. Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton ordered the Venezuelan armed forces to rise up against the President of the Republic. They have reached an extreme which, I am sure, has never been reached with any country in the world.

Are you going to put the armed force in the service of Donald Trump? Noooo The armed forces are loyal. I have a level of relationship that I inherited from Comandante Chávez. I build deep and sincere relationships with the officers, which is a great strength for our country.

– How do you think Hugo Chavez would feel if he saw Venezuela today?

– He would feel motivated to fight for our country, as he always did. Commander Chávez had to live under similar circumstances, when George W. Bush gave him the coup of April 2002. They kidnapped him, they were going to kill him. And Chávez did not hesitate a second to defend his principles, to fight, to stay alive for the people.

He is always a great inspiration for us. I still think what would Chavez do under these circumstances? It helps me a lot to look for the correct directions of what to do every day.

– If President Trump puts 5,000 soldiers on the border with Colombia. How would you answer?

– You can put a million if you want. If it is in Colombia, there is no problem; You can put a million planes, tanks, soldiers. Venezuela we defend and we will respect it.

With the conscience of the honest people of the world, we must tie the hands of Donald Trump, prevent him from starting a war in Latin America and attack Venezuela. I ask for active solidarity with all people aware of the world, beyond ideological differences. No to the war in Venezuela, not to the invasion in Venezuela. Let's say to Donald Trump: "Let go of Venezuela."

– If a rescue convoy enters without authorization. Will they shoot him?

– Send a convoy with the dollars and the gold they stole us. With this money, we are able to solve the problems of our country.

– What about people who are hungry now, those who do not have food or medicine?

– More than say it, I do it: create jobs, protect the pension system and the six million Venezuelan families, continue the process of reducing critical poverty. Nous avons fixé l'objectif de zéro misère pour la période 2019-2025 et nous y parviendrons. Vous verrez que nous allons y arriver.

– Pouvez-vous me dire combien coûte un kilo de fromage au Venezuela?

– Il a des prix différents selon les régions.

– On nous a dit qu'un kilo de fromage coûte l'équivalent d'un salaire mensuel.

– Nous avons différentes échelles de salaire. Mais ce sont des questions très vénézuéliennes. Je ne pense pas que cela intéresse votre public. Si nous comparons l'emploi, la protection sociale, la santé et l'éducation publique des Vénézuéliens dans une badyse complète, votre auditoire comprendra certainement.

Oui, je peux vous dire qu’au Venezuela, nous avons une politique de protection sociale et de création d’emplois et que notre peuple résoudra progressivement les problèmes. Rien ne manquera. Je peux vous dire ça.