Crisis in Venezuela - Maduro's ongoing power struggle | DW Documentary
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조회수 2,207,407회 2024. 10. 24. #dwdocs #dwdocumentary #documentary
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Nicolás Maduro has been president of Venezuela since 2013. He rules the country, which faces grave political and economic problems, with an iron fist. Despite massive criticism from home and abroad, Maduro is clinging to power. Successfully, so far.
Venezuela experienced many dramatic events in recent decades. There was the "Bolivarian Revolution" started by Hugo Chávez, who was elected president in 1998 and introduced a socialist system to the country. There were also attempted coups, violent protests, and severe economic crises — despite the fact that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.
After the illness and death of Hugo Chávez in 2013, Nicolás Maduro succeeded as president. The former bus driver and socialist set himself the goal of continuing Venezuela's socialist revolution, at any cost.
His rule has been authoritarian. Corruption within Venezuela's state elite and mismanagement are widespread. Years of poor economic decisions have driven the country to ruin under Maduro's presidency. Millions of people in Venezuela are impoverished, and many have fled to neighboring countries.
Yet despite opposition attempts to force him out, Maduro has survived. He was declared the winner in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential elections in July - this, although the parliament had tried to remove him from office in 2017 already. People took to the streets to demand his resignation back then and this year again.
However, none of this seems to have affected Maduro - and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting rift between Russia and North America and Europe, the international geopolitical situation has changed. The world is more desperate for oil than ever; and a vast quantity of oil is lying dormant underground in Venezuela.
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This story begins just 9 days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an
American delegation makes a discrete landing at the airport in Karacas, the capital of Venezuela.
They have a face-to-face meeting with the president, Nicolas Maduro.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Nicholas Maduro used oil to gain new influence on the political world stage.
In publicizing this meeting with the United States, Maduro wanted to show that Venezuela could replace the supply
from Russia. Russian oil had just been embargoed by
the West. The universal concern is that the cost of oil will skyrocket as a result.
What was really on the mind of the White House was they wanted to get oil prices
down. their point of view with uh the war
against Ukraine already underway. If they could get more Venezuelan oil onto the market before the 2022 election,
Biden would not suffer politically. It was a historic diplomatic U-turn for
US diplomacy. For almost 25 years, the US and
Venezuela were foes. The tone was unrelenting. [Music]
Virtually everywhere socialism or communism produce suffering, corruption and decay.
Donald Trump hunts at Venezuela.
The US put a price on Maduro's head. They were hellbent on ousting this hero of the socialist revolution.
But Maduro's grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken.
Maduro's opponents consider him the gravedigger of Venezuelan democracy.
Soldiers stopped me from going into parliament. I had to climb the gate.
His country is bankrupt. There were assassination attempts, but he held his grip on power.
We all underestimated him. He's very astute, as is shown by the
fact that he's still in power, sanctioned by the international community. All he has had to rely on are
his allies in Russia, China, and Iran, and his immense oil reserves. But when
he appears to be vanquished, [Applause] [Music] he rises like a phoenix from the ashes.
[Music]
In 1970s Venezuela, the American dream was in full swing. The country was then
the richest in all of Latin America thanks to its oil reserves.
People nicknamed it the Saudi Arabia of Latin America. Venezuela was the biggest exporter of oil in the world. Everyone
lived off oil as in all the big oil powers. It was the driver of the country's economy at the time.
Remember, before 1976, most of Venezuela's oil production was
controlled by the major international oil companies, Texico, Exxon, Chevron.
When I was in Venezuela for the first time, I could sit in my apartment building and and and watch the oil
tankers coming in and out. Venezuela produced 3 million barrels of oil a day.
It it was a tremendous money-making operation uh for the Venezuelan government.
For the United States, the country was invaluable as an ally. And all the
while, Venezuela drilled more and more wells. The country had immense wealth, but its distribution was profoundly
unequal. [Music]
Karakas was a big thriving city as were Marakbo and Valencia. But next to them was a large number of favllas in very
poor areas. The immense wealth wasn't reaching the population.
For the majority of the people, poverty was overwhelming. This deeprooted inequality would prove to be fertile
ground for an uprising that would bring the system to its knees. The hour of revolution had come
and leading the charge was Colonel Ugo Chavez. [Music]
[Applause] [Music]
[Applause] After an aborted coup attempt, Ugo
Chavez won the presidential election in 1998 and launched his socialist revolution.
And beside him, out of the limelight, stood his future right-hand man, Nicolas
Maduro. [Music] Chavez wanted to transform the country
and he was counting on oil to fund his ambitious social projects. He installed one of his close associates
at the top of the oil industry. Rafael Ramirez would become one of the most powerful people in the country.
[Applause]
Thanks to oil money, more than 9 million families had access to social housing built by Chavez. Going to university was
within reach for workingclass people. For the first time,
we brought the poverty rate down from 70 to 7%. These were incredible social
advances. Ugo Chavez turned global politics upside
down. Nicolas Maduro became his minister of foreign affairs, orchestrating close relationships with Cuba,
Russia, and Iran. [Music]
I knew Nicholas Maduro when I was a young officer in the security detail of Ugo Chavez.
At that time Nicholas Maduro was elected as a member of the National Assembly. Then he became president of the assembly
and finally he was appointed as minister of foreign affairs. For Chavez he was his errand boy.
But Ugo Chavez's health was failing. In December 2012, his illness, cancer,
pushed him to name a successor.
Around the table, he assembled his closest disciples. Next to Chavez and Maduro was oil
minister Rafael Ramirez. [Music]
Republic.
[Music] [Applause] [Music]
A few days later, Ugo Chavez got on a plane to Havana, never to be seen in public again.
[Music]
3 months later, his state funeral became an election campaign platform.
Venezuela. [Applause]
Nicolas Maduro won the election by a hair's breadth with 50.6% of the votes.
In a twist of fate, he defied his detractor's predictions and became president of the republic.
Mr. Maduro, a man who was selected to be vice president because he did not have
the intelligence uh the ability, the talent, the skill to be a threat to to
the the sitting president finds himself now as the president of Venezuela.
In the beginning, no one would have bet on Nicolas Maduro.
who began his career driving a bus.
[Music] Nicholas Maduro started off working at
the transport company in Karacas. This allowed him to construct the myth
of Nicholas Maduro, the bus driver, to position himself as a worker president.
That's the story of Nicholas Maduro Maduro. Maduro grew up in a workingclass
neighborhood of Karacas. University was never on the cards for him.
Party membership proved to be his salvation.
What people don't know is that Nicholas Maduro was molded ideologically in Cuba.
He became in some ways the Cuban communist regime's top student in Venezuela.
Monita Kubano Maduro was inspired by Cuba from a young age, ultimately applying methods he
admired from Castro's regime in his own.
[Music] I was appointed as director of Sebin,
the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service.
It's the political police, the police force Maduro uses for his own ends.
It is for him what the Gestapo was for Adolf Hitler.
Maduro tasked me with enhancing our intelligence services to such a level that every government opponent was under
surveillance. He wanted to know in real time what everyone was doing. Sometimes
he would jokily ask, "So what did he have for breakfast this morning?" He gave me the means to get that kind of
information. Starting in 2018, General Manuel
Christopher Figera became the watchdog of the regime. From arbitrary arrests to torture, his
officers were accused of serious human rights violations. But tracking regime opponents wasn't his only
responsibility. Mr. Maduro does not have a great deal of respect from the other members of the
Chavista movement. uh particularly the military officers uh do not think highly
of him. Uh but also the long-term chavistas, they saw him as a
lightweight.
Generals, ministers, officials, no one escaped surveillance by the now paranoid
regime, especially not its rivals.
Maduro gave the order to put me in prison. He had identified me as the person who could replace him as
president. As the head of the oil ministry, Ramirez had become too powerful.
Because of his inability to arrest me, he resorted to insult, to discreditation. He took my house. He
forced me into exile. He harassed me, my wife, my family. I have a brother who has been in prison for a year and he has
nothing to do with politics. [Music]
Nicolas Maduro accused his rival of embezzling millions of pro dollars, ruining the oil industry to line his
pockets on his way out.
I'm not the only one he pushed aside. He did it to all of Chavis's associates. He put his friends from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs at the head of the country's institutions. It's terrible. He destroyed our country. He destroyed
the dream we built together. [Music]
On the 6th of December 2015, Venezuelans went to the polls to elect their members
of parliament.
For Nicolas Maduro, the vote didn't turn out as expected.
The president had lost his majority in parliament, something that hadn't happened since the revolution.
But Maduro didn't step down. Public rage exploded into rioting. Students took to
the streets and a wave of repression descended on protesters.
[Music]
131 young people were killed by state security officers.
I was the only person in a senior role in a Venezuelan institution who dared to face Maduro.
[Music]
Louisa Ortega was at the time the country's attorney general at the pinnacle of legal power. Since 2007, she
had used her strategic position to protect the regime from embarrassing questions. But this time for her, the
repression went too far.
riot vehicle. The response I got was that my arrest order was a violation of the human rights of the vehicle's
driver. Do you see how absurd that is?
Louisa Ortega had crossed a red line and paid for it dearly.
It was the 5th of August, 2017. They stormed the prosecutor's office at 3:00
a.m. I heard about it at 6:00 a.m. and I arrived on site at 7:00 a.m. in the
morning.
The moment I arrived, I was hassled by soldiers.
I had to flee. I got on a motorbike because they were threatening to hit me and arrest me. I didn't know how far
they might go.
I had to disguise myself with a black wig to escape Venezuela by road.
[Music]
Louisa Ortega was forced to leave her country and disappear.
A few months later, she went to the International Criminal Court in the HEG to initiate proceedings. She was
equipped with damning documents incriminating the Venezuelan regime.
[Music]
[Music] More than 8,000 Venezuelans were executed by the police and the army. It
was a social purge.
[Music] [Laughter] Would I kill all those people? Because the regime had and continues to have a
systematic policy of violation of human rights to control the country. By demonstrating strength, the regime
deters people from thinking. It ensures the population doesn't feel able to demand their rights that they feel
persecuted, harassed, terrorized. [Music] Evidence against Maduro was mounting.
He became increasingly isolated internationally. For the United States, the time was ripe to deliver the
couprass.
In Washington, one man in particular was determined to destroy Nicolas Maduro.
John Bolton was then Donald Trump's national security adviser.
The severity of his sanctions plan was unprecedented. [Music]
Well, in one of the Star Wars episodes, somebody comes up and uh reports
something to Darth Vader that he doesn't like, and using his mental powers, Darth Vader constricts this fell's throat
until he collapses on the floor dead. And uh that actually was a pretty good
image of what we wanted to do to the Maduro regime. With the embargo on oil and gas and the
freezing of the state's assets abroad, Venezuela found itself strangled. It was
a masterclass by the US in wreaking mass destruction without firing a single shot.
The sanctions wrecked the economy. Inflation reached stratospheric levels.
Soon the price of a kilo of rice hit 2.5 million bolivars. Shortages gave rise to
looting. 7 million people left the country.
That is a good policy. It should be based upon the the assumption that
Nicholas Maduro will never voluntarily relinquish power in Venezuela. The
problem was the the mistaken belief that sanctions alone would force Maduro to
change. Uh and that was not what happened. Venezuela was again a two-tiered state,
returning to what it was before the Bolivarian Revolution, a country in the hands of a privileged few. Except this
time, the top dogs were Maduro's cronies.
oxymoron. Venezuela is an oxymoron. Caracus, the capital, is both heaven and hell. In
this ocean of destitution, there are bubbles of wealth with luxury cars and restaurants. But the reality is that the
vast majority of the population are drowning in poverty.
In Karacas, the regime even authorized the unthinkable. The return of casinos banned after the
revolution. Those in power were embezzling huge sums of public funds, amassing fortunes that beggar belief.
It's two sides of the same coin.
The whole world looked on as Venezuela sank into poverty while waging an ideological war.
We are witnessing a human tragedy.
Virtually everywhere socialism or communism has been tried. It has
produced suffering, corruption and decay. It was as if the cold war was back.
Two ideological worlds were colliding.
[Music] Despite his bravado, Maduro was isolated. His grip on power was shakier
than it had ever been before. [Music]
Like all dictatorships, Maduro likes to show the support of the military. That's
critical to maintaining him in power. [Music]
And what happened? Couple of drones coming from somewhere to assassinate
Maduro. The first attack came on the day dedicated to the Bolivarian National
Guard, the Venezuelan military police. It's a very graphic demonstration. This
is not a crack unit that could be counted on at a crisis. They were running to save themselves, not to save
Maduro.
Well, if if we had been that good, maybe the drone attack would have succeeded. The US had nothing to do with it. This
was a tangible indication that the opposition, certainly politically, but
perhaps within the military as well, was preparing to take action.
[Music] Nicolas Maduro's position was weakened
and increasingly in doubt. The next attack would be swift in coming.
[Music] Two men were preparing a coup. Today,
both live in exile in Miami. General Figuetta works as a building
superintendent. Juan Guyaido is a professor at an American university.
[Music]
In 2019, Juan Guyaido was president of the National Assembly and leading an opposition that no longer recognized
Maduro as legitimate. He decided to force the hand of fate.
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music] When I took the oath, President Trump
immediately recognized me as legitimate. The US was very important for the defense of democracy.
It's a question of enormous strategic importance for the United States to have a free government in Venezuela that will
be sympathetic to American interest, not to Russian interest, not the Chinese, not to Iranian interest.
Joining us in the gallery is the true and legitimate president of Venezuela,
Juan Guyaido. Mr. President, please take this message back to your family.
More than 60 countries would follow America's lead in recognizing Juan Guyaido.
[Applause] The White House had found their man to topple Maduro.
Maduro's grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken.
[Music] In Karacas, the scent of regime change
was in the air. On the night of April 30th, the telephone rang in the White House.
Operation Freedom had begun. I recall that I spoke with Trump about
5:00. Obviously, he was asleep. One of the uh key actors that the opposition
had been dealing with was General Figureroa.
[Music] It was a sign of the discontent of the
Venezuelan armed forces at that moment when it was clear that he had defected
when he had acknowledged Guyaido's legitimacy that that would bring uh
other elements perhaps even defense minister Padrino to the side of Juan
Guyaido.
I picked up the president of the Supreme Court, Michael Moreno, in my car. We went to the house of the minister of
defense, General Padrino.
Michael Moreno was very nervous. Both were involved in the coup independently of each other.
Betrayal for a soldier means death, prison, and torture. I said, "Look each other in the eyes and
say what there is to say because there's no going back now.
[Music]
The minister of defense was to free the political prisoners and place them under my responsibility. At the same time, the
head of counter intelligence was responsible for getting Maduro on a plane to get him out of the country.
Carlo confusion reigned in Karacas. The coup
was underway. The general feeling was that Nicolas Maduro would only be in power for a few more hours.
I think both Maduro and his wife wanted to leave, but they were prevented by the
Russians and the Cubans who said, "You're not going anywhere." If elements
of the regime learned that Maduro had fled the country, they would do the same. And you would see the regime
collapse very quickly. But hours passed and the opposition's
operation wasn't unfolding as planned. Only a handful of soldiers responded to
Juan Guaido's call. The rest remained in the barracks.
I don't want to give the names of the people who betrayed me. Many of those who committed to come did not do so.
There are many reasons not to go against a dictatorship. Cowardice, survival instinct, self-interest, or simply
panic.
That same evening, Maduro declared the coup a failure live on television. The
Minister of Defense, General Padrino, appeared at his side.
Venezuela. The battle against Maduro didn't take place on an even playing field. It's like playing a soccer match
on a hill with the other side buying the referee and threatening the players. If
anyone steps out of line, they assassinate him, torture him, or exile him.
[Applause]
Only one man was missing from that table on that evening. The renegade general Manuel Figera.
Maduro called me non-stop. And when I answered, he asked me to come see him. I talked about it with my wife who said,
"Don't do it. They'll put you in a hole. You have to run." These photos were sent
to the border commanders. The order was to shoot us on site.
I was first on the list.
I felt like I had one foot in the grave at that time.
I had to try to escape the country.
This moment
A checkpoint officer recognized me. He knew he had to arrest me. In the end, he
said to my driver, "Go ahead and watch out for the soldiers further down the road." A few minutes later, my driver
said, "General, welcome to Colombia." Colombia.
The failed coup attempt was also a setback for John Bolton and the White House. Venezuela had slipped through
their fingers. May 23rd, Putin and Trump had a
conversation where Putin basically gloated that uh Guyaido had been
defeated. and uh he said you know the whole thing was a was a US effort as you
know and uh you've actually consolidated Maduro's power.
Nicolas Maduro remained in office solidifying his reputation for being indestructible
around him. The world changed. Joe Biden followed Donald Trump as president. Part
of Latin America had swung back to the left. In Brazil, Maduro's friend Lula de Silva had returned to power. He invited
him to Brasilia as a guest of honor.
Venezuela.
[Music] Francesca. Francesca, come see the new episode of
Super Mustaches on
[Music]
Look, the American bad guys have attacked Venezuela. Venezuela.
Their drone has cut power across the country, even in hospitals. It's chaos.
But thankfully, Super Mustache and his team have arrived
to solve our problems.
Maduro's propaganda machine portrays him to his people in the guise of a superhero.
[Music] Maduro's personality cult knows no
bounds. During the last national holiday parade on the 5th of July, a 10 m high
inflatable of super mustache was paraded among all the soldiers. It's absurd.
Even the worst banana dictatorships haven't done that. I want a super mustache doll. I'll get
you one. This is the Nelson Mandela housing
project. An enormous complex built of prefab concrete in the hills above Karacas.
600 families from the slums or favllas were moved into governmentbuilt social housing. Here
the homes were for those loyal to the regime. The residents have to watch the
president's television channel every night.
[Music]
Super mustache is everywhere. After more than 10 years in power,
Nicolas Maduro is more powerful than he's ever been.
Maduro dances. His people stumble along, forced to follow his every step.
[Music]
Now he's dreaming of having the rest of the world dance to his tune, too.
In November 2022, world leaders gathered in Egypt for the global climate conference, COP 27. It marked the end of
Maduro's trek through the desert.
The foe and pariah of the international community had gained some new friends in ways some wouldn't have believed
possible.
[Laughter] The airstwile dictator was back to being
called president. Years of diplomatic strain were swept away by a handshake. But the road to
reconciliation started 8 months earlier and thousands of kilometers away.
The war in Ukraine destabilized the global balance of power.
[Music] A few days after the Russian invasion, a delegation from the White House landed
in Karacas. The Americans wanted to speak to Nicolas Maduro. The boycott of Russia had made
the biggest oil reserves in the world absolutely vital and understanding seemed within reach. And it all started
with a rumor.
The former rivals made a deal. Oil in exchange for fair elections in return
for lifting economic sanctions. Maduro vowed to allow the opposition to take part in the 2024 presidential elections.
[Music] Maduro was triumphant. Following the Americans lead, the Europeans also tried
to win him over. He appeared willing to cooperate and signed an agreement with the opposition.
But appearances were misleading. A few months before the election, the main presidential candidates remained
ineligible. Their relatives and associates were arrested by police.
[Music] In the name of pragmatism, powerful countries make great mistakes.
Has the United States made concessions to Nicolas Maduro? Yes, enormous ones.
Maduro. What concessions has Maduro made in return? None.
All his political opponents continue to be neutralized. We Venezuelans cannot set our hopes on Trump, Biden, or MC
doing anything for us.
Lake Marako bathed in golden light.
But the idyllic images of the fishers are deceptive. The lake and its oil are a curse for the
people. [Music]
The giant American oil tankers on the horizon seem to mock the fishers.
Every day, more of them leave loaded with black gold with cargos already mounting to 135,000 barrels a day.
Nicolas Maduro seems untouchable despite attempted coups and sanctions.
He's supported by friendly regimes and knows how to do business with China, the
US, and the EU. Thanks to the lake and its natural wealth, in Venezuela, oil is
a curse for the people and a blessing for the regime.
[Music]
Heat. [Music]
Heat. [Music]
[Music]
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