Univision has released yet another teaser clip of its explosive February interview with Maduro, which ended a mere 17 minutes after its start when Maduro refused to continue to answer questions. The interview was conducted by Jorge Ramos.
Ramos and his colleagues were briefly detained and subsequently deported. They had their equipment–including the recording of the interview–stolen by the Venezuelan authorities.
In the most recent teaser clip released by Univision, Ramos challenges Maduro with accusations made by Hugo Carvajal that he was personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of protesters.
Caraval–who has the head of military intelligence in Venezuela from 2004 to 2014–defected from the Maduro regime earlier this year. Maduro references the fact that Carvajal was arrested on a U.S. warrant in Aruba in 2014, and erroneously claims that he fired him “as soon as I came to power”, when in fact Carvajal left his position atop the country’s military intelligence apparatus nine months after his inauguration.
Below, the clip along with my translation:
Maduro: Let me answer you. To the Venezuelans who live in Venezuela–
Ramos: Legitimacy by fraud, murder?
Maduro: –the Venezuelans–well, it’s very serious that you’re accusing me of murder.
Ramos: It’s not me [who is accusing you]. Do you remember “El Pollo” [Carvajal’s nickname]? Hugo Carvajal? He was your intelligence chief.
Maduro: No, I fired him as soon as I came to power.
Ramos: Well–here’s his picture.
Maduro: I fired him because of his poor conduct.
Ramos: Well, it doesn’t look like it, because you’re hugging him in this picture.
Maduro: When they kidnapped him in Aruba, I did everything to get him released because his kidnapping in Aruba was illegal (…) look, there are lots of issues here. Can I respond to some of them?
Ramos: Let’s talk about the dead that are being attributed to you. He [Carvajal] says the following, to you: “You’ve killed hundreds of young people on the streets for demanding the rights that you’ve stolen from them. And this is without counting the dead due to lack of medicine and insecurity.” Hugo Carvajal. Presidents don’t kill their people.
Maduro: From one day to another, you accused Hugo Carvajal of being a torturer, a drug trafficker, he’s wanted by the U.S. authorities–he has the credibility to accuse this working man president, with that nonsense that he’s saying? (…) No one can try to accuse me of crimes that I’ve never committed. It’s simple.. Look, I’m a man who adheres to spiritual values. Spiritual values.
Ramos: You say that you’re Christian.
Maduro: Deeply. Daily. Practicing.
Ramos: What about the dead? How do you explain the deaths in 2014, 2017, 2019?
Maduro: There are trials (…) You come here with assertions, accusations. If you were Venezuelan, you’d have to face justice because you’re making false accusations about cases that have gone to trial.
Ramos: I’m giving you data coming from people connected to your government about people who were killed.
Maduro: Look, it makes no sense to do a confrontational interview…
Univision will air the full 17 minute interview tomorrow at 7:00 PM EST.
Former Minister: Jorge Rodriguez Leaked Interview Clip to Univision
Univision has confirmed that the clip of the interview with Maduro was leaked to its newsroom by a source inside the Maduro regime. Daniel Coronell, the president of Univision Noticias, said:
Initially, it was from a source which we maintain confidential for their safety. This was a very difficult operation to retrieve [the interview], and it passed through four countries before it reached our newsroom in Miami.
Coronell also said that he had been in contact with Venezuelan Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez following the interview, asking him to return the footage of the interview and the equipment that was stolen from the Univision team. Coronell said that despite Rodriguez’s assurances, the footage was never willfully returned.
The [footage] was recovered from a hard drive that was thought to have been erased.
Herbert Garcia Plaza, the former Minister of Transport, said yesterday that the secret source inside the Maduro government that leaked the footage was Jorge Rodriguez himself. Plaza made the accusation in a tweet posted in his official account, but provided no evidence for the claim.
Questions/Comments? E-mail me: invenezuelablog@gmail.com
In Venezuela 