Jacobin Radio

Trump’s January 3rd military assault on Venezuela and abduction of President Nicolas Maduro marks a turning point in global politics. Trump made no humanitarian or democratic claims — only a blunt assertion of power, resources, and control. Suzi talks to Brazilian political economist Pedro Paulo Zahluth Bastos who says this new “Donroe Doctrine” is openly transactional, unapologetically imperial, and signals weakness: a declining hegemon turns to force to secure oil, minerals, and supply chains. We discuss why Venezuela was targeted, how China figures centrally in US strategy, and the trouble of defending Maduro in the name of “anti-imperialism.” That question — how to oppose US imperialism without defending corrupt regimes — leads directly to Ukraine. Denys Pilash of Ukraine’s democratic socialist organization Sotsialnyi Rukh draws on his scholarly work on Venezuela. He is speaking from Kyiv in blackout conditions, under bombardment and infrastructure attacks. We discuss why the struggle against Maduro’s gov