In this in-depth interview, Ian Williams, President of the Foreign Press Association, speaks with Venezuelan opposition figure Diego Arria about the dramatic political developments following the removal of Nicolás Maduro and the growing role of Donald Trump in Venezuela’s future. The conversation explores whether U.S. intervention represents liberation or a new form of control, as concerns mount over oil interests, political prisoners, and the erosion of international law.

They cover U.S. sanctions, alleged narco-terrorism links, the Venezuelan military, political repression, and fears that Maduro’s inner circle remains in power under a new arrangement. Diego warns that despite Maduro’s removal, over 1,000 political prisoners remain jailed, dissent inside Venezuela is still punished, and U.S. policy appears focused more on oil access than democracy or human rights.

There are echoes of Kosovo in what is unfolding in Venezuela — raising profound questions of legality, sovereignty, and responsibility. As with the capture of Saddam Hussein, it risks becoming the lynching of a guilty man: morally satisfying to some, but legally and politically perilous.

To explore these issues, the day of the US raid, I spoke with Ambassador Diego Arria, Venezuela’s former ambassador to the United Nations and a former president of the UN Security Council during the Balkan wars who was, like many Venezuelans happy to see Maduro gone, but apprehensive about Trump’s intentions.

As Venezuela’s ambassador in the UN Security Council Arria played a significant role in shaping what Kofi Annan later formalized as the Responsibility to Protect and left his mark with the “The Arria Formula” meetings of the Security Council, designed to discuss larger issues. A progressive reformist, former governor of Caracas, and longtime opponent of authoritarianism, Arria is no reactionary outsider to Venezuelan politics although he has been exiled from home for some years and has in fact recently moved from New York to Miami to be closer to the action. He has remained deeply engaged in the opposition all this time.

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