Transcript

3.23.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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Washington Post or this Monday, March twenty third. As you know,
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RADIOI is reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities. It made it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton. And
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as you know, on Monday's we usually begin by reading
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Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexington hair Leader, but
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yesterday there was no article, so let's go to the news.
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Our headline story this morning is trump Threat's US troop
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build up raises a specter for a battle for the Strait.
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Up for moves from Tel Aviv, a surge of additional
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US forces to the Middle East, and President Trump's threat
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to obliterate Iran's energy infrastructure have set the stage for
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what US and Israeli security officials increasingly see as the
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war's possible endgame, battle for control of the Straight of Horn,
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moves and the key energy installations. Reopening the Straight, a
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critical conduit for global energy supplies, has emerged as perhaps
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the paramount objective of the war that security officials now
1:22
believe is unlikely to achieve, goals that briefly seemed possible
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at the outset of the US Israeli military operation, including
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overthrowing Iran's theocratic regime and putting a nuclear weapons program
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permanently out of Tehran's reach. Instead, breaking Iran's stranglehold on
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the Strait could enable Trump to wind down the war
1:48
while claiming victory, halt and expanding global energy crisis and
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the priv of Iran of a potential to turn against
1:57
future strikes. Senior Israeli officials described as inevitable if Tehran
2:05
resumes ballistic missile production moves to develop a nuclear weapon.
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In fact, Israel Trump's online threats have raised the expectations
2:17
that a new phase of the war could soon get
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under way with the arrival of additional US firepower. In
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a sign of rising global anxiety over the political and
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economic instability, stock markets in Asia fell sharply on Monday,
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with the Japan's knee k closing down three and a
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half percent and the Korea Composite stock price index finishing
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six and a half percent lower. A contingent of four
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thy five hundred US sailors and marines is heading to
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the Middle East, including an infantry battalion landing team backed
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by helicopters F thirty five fighter jets and armored landing vehicles.
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The Pentagon also sped up the deployment of a similar unit,
3:05
the eleventh Marine Expeditionary Force, from San Diego. Defense officials
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said last week those marines aren't coming for decoration, said
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an Israeli official, one of several who again spoke on
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the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military and intelligence issues.
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An Iranian military spokesman said Sunday that Iran would retaliate
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for attacks on its oil and gas assets by hitting
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US linked energy targets, information technology, and water desalinization infrastructure
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in the Persian Gulf. Freezion Kuehran also hammered Israel overnight
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with one of its most powerful air strike shit TU
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ballistic missiles that made rare direct hits on two southern
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Israeli towns, injuring about one hundred and fifteen people. One
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of the towns, d'monna Is, about eight miles from a
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nuclear research facility. Ron State Television framed the strike as
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payback for a reported attacks Saturday on Iran's Natan's nuclear site.
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Israel's military said it was not aware of a strike
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on the facility. The new US deployment signals a plan
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to take the island and the strait, the Israeli official said,
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referring to karg Island, Burn's main hub for exporting petroleum.
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Doing so could enable the United States and Israel to
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starve Tehran of oil revenue, divide political off ramp or
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a president who, the Israeli official said, needs to show
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that the street is open. The surging level of US
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Israeli concern over the street was underscored by Trump's latest
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effort to shape the course of the war on social media.
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If Iran doesn't fully open without thereat, the straight of
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Horror moves within forty eight hours from this exact point
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in time, the United States of America will hit and
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obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one,
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first posted on truth Socials platform. The same time, Trump's
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unusual decision to lift oil sanctions on Iran, potentially giving
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his enemy access to a windfall of revenue. It's prompted
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a handful of Republicans to raise concerns about the war's
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direction in merit. Senator Ran Paul Kentucky has voted to
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take up two war powers resolutions that would force Trump
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to cease hostilities with Iran, both of which have failed
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on procedural votes, and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said
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sending in ground troops would take the war to a
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completely different level and what had been advertised to us
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as members of Congress when we first went into Iran.
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Congress deserves and should demand greater engagement with the administration
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on the plans. Kowski told reporters on Sunday, we haven't
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received that to date. Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina,
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speaking on ABC on Sunday, said it's a real problem
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that he and others don't know what the US objective is,
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especially if Pentagon continues to push its request to Congress
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for more than two hundred billion dollars to finance the war.
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Other Republicans have encouraged Trump to go forward. Senator Lindsey
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Graham of South Carolina and ally of the President, said
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on Fox News Sunday that he would tell Trump keep
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it up for a few more weeks. Take caw is
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for all of the resources they have to produce oil,
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control that island. Let this regime die on a vine.
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Iran is used in an array of conventional weapons and
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asymmetrical capabilities to bring shipping traffic through the Strait of
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horn Moves to a standstill, from as many as one
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hundred and thirty oil tankers a day in peacetime to
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a tiny number now being granted passage by Iranian authorities.
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US strikes of pounded Iranian positions along the Gulf Waterway,
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destroying missile launch sites, suspected line mine laying vessels and
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small watercraft capable of racing toward vulnerable tankers, but that
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has done little to ease the near shutdown of tanker traffic.
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Speaker 2: It rarely.
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Speaker 1: Officials said that it received US reluctance to send its
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own ships into the strait. Trump's efforts to outsource that
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mission to European olly or China underscore its danger and complexity.
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The fact that they are slow going to Hornmuz shows
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that it's more complicated than expected, sa a former senior
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Israeli security official. Any effort to secure the Strait of
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Hornmuz overwhelmingly fail to the United States because of its
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naval capacities and the expertise of its leader's official sid
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Admiral Brad Cooper, who was leading the war effort as
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head of the US Central Command previously served as commander
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of the S Navy's Fleet. This area of responsibility includes
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the entire Persian Belt region. Even so, an operation to
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restore commercial traffic industry take at least two weeks, but
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US sailors other forces at risk and expose US warships
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to attacks from hidden coastline positions, submerged mines, and drones
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sent by air.
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Speaker 2: Or skimming the water's surface.
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Speaker 1: Keeping the channel open could mean devoting U s military
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and intelligence resources to escorting missions and monitoring threats were
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an unknown duration, with any successful attack by Iran sowing
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panic in energy markets and in the shipping industry. The
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ability of Huthi militant groups and Yemen to harass passing
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vehicles in recent years underscored the difficulty of policing commercial
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shipping lanes, even when the threat comes from a proxy
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force with fraction Moran's resources. At the sight of the
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Iranian ballistic missile striking rad An, Israel Defense Forces sergeant
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with a body sniffing dog, who spoke on the condition
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of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to
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the media, said this war is prostrating because it's quiet,
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and then it's not so you need to be all
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the time, one hundred percent ready. David Iran's fifty four,
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said the missile hit about eleven yards from his home
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while his wife and son were sheltering there. They cannot
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beat us. We build it again, stronger and nicer, as
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Roan said, standing barefoot in the rubble that has blown
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out part of his house, the gun slung over his shoulder.
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The speaker of Iran's parliament claimed on x that if
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Israel failed to intercept missiles and Demona, it is operationally
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a sign of entering a new phase of the battle.
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Israel skies are defenseless. Dov Shoshani, international spokesman for the IDF,
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told reporters after the strikes that Israel has had a
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ninety two percent successful interception rate in the twenty two
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days of the war, as Iran has fired more than
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four hundred ballistic missiles. Visiting the strike site, Israeli Prime
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Minister Benjamin Netsan Yahoo said that Iran endangers the entire
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world and ask world leaders, what more are you waiting for?
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Where are you? Meanwhile, Israel and the US have continued
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to bombard or about fifteen hundred people, including two hundred
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and eight children supposedly have been killed in Iran, It's
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Health ministry said in Lebanon, Israeli strikes appealed at least
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one twenty nine people since March second, their Ministry of
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Public Ill said Sunday. The struggle for control of the
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street has been cast mainly as a matter of global
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energy and economic security, given that twenty percent of the
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world's oil and natural gas supplies to flow through the channel.
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The outcome in Hormuz, however, as additional strategic implications for Israel,
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where security officials increasingly expect that the need to conduct
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follow on strikes against Iran will persist beyond any declared
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end of the current conflict. Israeli officials said they could
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regard such measures as necessary if the US or Israel
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detected efforts by Iran to reconstitute its ballistic missile program
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degraded by hundreds of strikes in recent weeks, or to
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recover its buried uranium in a rush to develop a
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nuclear weapon, Israel would have few constraints on its ability
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to conduct such strikes if Roan was no longer capable
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to hit ships in the Hormus or rain missiles on
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its Gulf neighbors official set. But if ron can block Hormuz,
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they have a deterrence tool that the regime could wield
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in retaliation and mobilized global opposition, said Amos Yadlin, former
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head of the IDFs Military Intelligence Directorate. That concern has
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risen as an early elation over opening strikes that killed
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Aetolah Ali Khamene, iran Supreme leader and most of his
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inner circle, raising hopes of a regian collapse, and has
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given way to more sober assessments of the regime state power.
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The newly designated Supreme leader, Kamene's fifty six year old son, Budjtaba,
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is wounded isolated, not responding to messagens being relaid to him,
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US and Israeli security official set. Even so, Israeli officials
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said that surviving clerics and leaders of Iran's powerful Islamic
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Revolutionary Guard Corps have consolidated their grip from the country.
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Speaker 2: In and out of defiance.
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Speaker 1: The IRGC, RAN's principal military force sent on a Friday
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statement that it is impatiently waiting for the arrival of
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the US Marines and is prepared to give them a
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close up view of naval surprises. According to Mayor a
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semi official Iranian news agency, Ron's effective closure of Hormuz
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is added to soaring tensions between Tehran and Gulf neighbors
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that have borne the brown of Iran strikes but maintained
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a largely defensive position, condemning Iran's actions blood avoiding measures
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that might escalate the conflict. Several Guff's states have signaled
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in recent days, however, that their patients may be nearing
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a breaking point. The Strait of Hormuz is an international
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waterway Iran has hijacked, said Abdulik Abdullah, political science professor
15:06
from the United Arab Emirates. The world has been to
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be a bit more united decisive about taking it back
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from a hijacka He emphasized that the US and Israel
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started the war and that the UAE would not be
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dragged into a military campaign that it had tried to avoid.
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But he noted that the UAE had announced Saturday that
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it had had joined a coalition of countries condemning the closure,
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expressing readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe
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passage through the street. At a news conference Thursday, Saudi
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Foreign Minister Prince Faisil bin Fahan Assad worn Duran that
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Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have very significant capacities
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and capability, that Saudi Arabia's patience is not unlimited. On Saturday,
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the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was ordering
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Iran's military attaches and four other Assembly staff members to
16:16
leave the country. The Gulf was against this war from
16:20
the beginning, but Iran is crossing every red line. He's
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a well connected person in the Gulf who spoke again
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on the condition of anonymity. Because of the sensitivity of
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the situation. Now the Gulf might be willing to go
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all the way. On Sunday, the wake of Trump's threat,
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Iran's mayor warned Gulf states to say goodbye to electricity,
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publishing a map of power plants across the UAE Cutter, Kuwait.
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Speaker 2: And the Gulf Coast.
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Speaker 1: A next story. Under Trump, legal immigration to the US
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is falling from most countries. The United States issued about
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a quarter million fewer visas in the first eight months
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in twenty twenty five compared with the same period in
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twenty twenty four. As the cub administration introduced policies that
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have reshaped who comes to the United States legally. From
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January to August of twenty twenty five, the State Department
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approved eleven percent fewer permanent resident and temporary visas compared
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with the same period or year before, According to the
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State Department data released in early March. These visas are
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generally issued for students, workers, and family members of citizens
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and legal residents. Eleven percent drop doesn't include tourist visas,
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which also filled during the same period. India and China
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bore the brunt of the visa declines. US issued many
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fewer temporary visas to international students, cultural exchange visitors, and
18:07
fiances and spouses of US citizens from those countries and beyond.
18:13
Visa approvals for permanent resident known as green cards also
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declined the largest drops and visas for workers, relatives in Iraqi,
18:24
and Afghan nationals who worked with the US military. Most
18:29
nations sent fewer immigrants to the United States.
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Speaker 2: In a group of sixty.
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Speaker 1: One countries with at least five thousand visa approvals from
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January to August twenty twenty four, just seven received more
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visas in twenty twenty five than the year before. The
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Trump administration's travel band, pause on student visa interviews, and
18:52
highlighting vetting requirements all played a role in dampening visa figures.
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Plus viewer State Department workers were available to process visas
19:03
because of federal government cuts. The preliminary visa data helps
19:10
paint a fuller picture of immigration declines in the United States.
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For the first time in at least half a century,
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more immigrants left the country than entered last year, according
19:23
to estimates released by the Brookings Institution, that contributed to
19:27
weaker job creation in recent months. As Federal Reserve Chair
19:32
Jerome H. Powell loaded that last week, there's no policy
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more important to the present than the future of the
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US economy than immigration, said Harvard University professor Jason Furman,
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who served as a top economist in the Obama administration.
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When we restrict immigration, we don't just shortchange labor force
19:56
growth today, we also reduced productivity growth in the future.
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A statement to the Washington Post, State Department spokesman Tommy
20:08
Piggott said a visa is a privilege, not a right.
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Unlike the Biden administration, President Trump is not willing to
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compromise the safety of American citizens to allow mass migration
20:24
of unvetted foreign nationals into the country. White House spokeswoman
20:30
Abigail Jackson said in a statement that President Trump was
20:34
elected with a resounding mandate to put American citizens first,
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and every policy decision he's made has reflected that priority
20:46
visas for Chinese and Indian nationals fell by about eighty
20:51
four thousand compared with the same period in twenty twenty four,
20:56
largely reflecting a drop off in international sten students and
21:00
workers from those countries. Visas for Afghan and Cuban nationals
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also dropped sharply reflecting the Trump administration's travel ban, which
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began June. Visus also filled by more than ten thousand
21:15
citizens for the Philippines and Vietnam. In June, the administration
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enacted a travel ban on nineteen countries, mostly majority Muslim
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countries and those with a contentious relationship with the United States,
21:31
such as Cuba. Around that time, the State Department also
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paused students, exchanged visitors visa interviews for three weeks before
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ordering the vetting of social media accounts for all those
21:46
seeking visas. Meanwhile, the Trump administration began eliminating thousands of
21:52
positions from the State Department, describing the reductions as an
21:56
effort to root out bloat and inefficiency. Combined with expanded
22:01
vetting requirements, staff reductions resulted in fewer consolar appointments and
22:07
longer wait times at certain high demand consulates. It's not
22:12
clear exactly how much the Trump administration's policies and heightened
22:16
immigration enforcement have directly reduced visa applications, but some foreigners
22:23
could have been deterred by Trump's anti immigration rhetoric and
22:28
canceled plans to come to the United States. We don't
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have a separation of how much of this decline is
22:36
caused by demand and how much is caused by policy,
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and they're obviously both putting downward pressure on the numbers
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of visas that are issued, said Cecilia Esterline, immigration analyst
22:48
with the Nickinson Center, a moderate think tank in Washington.
22:55
Business and tourism visas, which include those issued for leisure
22:58
trips and business travels, fell by about three point four
23:03
percent in the first eight months of twenty twenty five
23:06
compared with that period from a year earlier, and that's
23:09
a drop of nearly two hundred thousand visas. Critics of
23:13
the heightened restrictions say they limit the United States competitive
23:18
edge and the global economy, and creating enormous uncertainty among
23:22
families and workers that have been waiting, in some cases
23:25
for decades come to the United States. The Trump administration
23:30
is using the power of the federal bureaucracy drying the
23:34
system to a halt, least with respect to the people
23:38
that are from countries that the administration finds to be disfavorable,
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says Jorge Lowry, Managing director of the Programs and Strategy
23:48
at the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit that advocates for
23:53
immigrant rights. Limiting visas help prioritize Americans in the labor
23:58
market and education system, said Ira Melman, a spokesperson for
24:03
the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for stricter
24:08
immigration controls. It's good for employers if immigrations immigrants flood in,
24:14
which is why they lobby for it, but it's not
24:17
so great for you as workers, Melbourne said. There seems
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to be this assumption that if foreign workers are not here,
24:25
their economic output will simply disappear. In most cases, those
24:31
jobs would be filled by other workers, very often earning
24:35
higher wages. Visas issued for family members were generally down,
24:41
especially for spouses and beyonces seeking temporary visas. However, permanent
24:47
green cards for high priority relatives of citizens, including younger children, parents,
24:54
and spouses, actually increased by six percent for the first
24:59
eight months the year over the same period in twenty
25:02
twenty four. Those green cards have no limits. A separate
25:08
capped family visa category, which includes adult children and siblings
25:12
of US citizens, fell more than twenty seven percent, or
25:16
by about forty four thousand. International students have been the
25:20
hardest hit by the Trump administration's clampdown on legal immigration.
25:25
Visas issue to international students fell by more than thirty
25:29
percent in the first eight months of twenty twenty five.
25:35
The drop in student visas coincides with a statement by
25:38
Marco Rubio in May that the State Department would aggressively
25:43
revoke visas of students from China. Later in the summer,
25:47
the State Department announced and canceled six thousand student visas
25:51
for alleged crimes and overstays. Meanwhile, exchange visitor visas, which
25:57
are used by foreign medical residents to come to the
25:59
United States, also fell by nearly thirty thousand. Omar Musa
26:06
thirty one year old Palestinian who fled to Ireland during
26:09
the Gaza War, received a job offer last year from
26:13
an internal medicine residency at Marshall University in West Virginia,
26:18
but State Department denied Musa in exchange visitor visa this
26:23
past summer, based on doubts that he would return home
26:26
to war ravaged Gaza after he completed his program, a
26:31
requirement of the visa. The residency program kept his offer open,
26:37
but in August, the Trump administration suspended visas for Palestinian
26:42
passport holders, dashing Musa's dreams.
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Speaker 2: I can't stop thinking about this, Musa said.
26:51
Speaker 1: I wasn't just someone who just found himself a job.
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I've spent twenty thousand dollars and five years of my
26:57
life preparing just folks on this. The Washington Post analyzed
27:03
preliminary State Department visa issuance data for the first eight
27:08
months of twenty twenty five, which was most recent available.
27:13
The posts analysis of the overall data and a breakdown
27:17
by a country omitted tourists and business visas to avoid
27:21
distorting underlying immigration trends for specific countries. Tourists and business
27:28
visas include those issued for vacations and leisure trips, as
27:32
well as shorter business trips including conferences and trade affairs.
27:39
The comments reflected a polarizing view on immigration and the
27:44
current state of the United States under President Trump. Then
27:49
he expressed concern over the declient in immigration, citing fears
27:53
of a divided and unstable nation and the potential loss
27:58
of skilled profess to other countries. Others support stricter immigration policies,
28:05
arguing that it benefits American workers and aligns with cultural values. Overall,
28:11
there is a strong sentiment of dissatisfaction with the current
28:15
administration's approach to immigration and its broader implications for the
28:21
country's reputation and future. Shockling, the best and brightest young
28:27
minds of the world will no longer see the United
28:30
States of America as a good place to work and live. Supposedly,
28:36
fewer immigrants coming to the US that would be legally,
28:40
but illegal entries are difficult to determine. Without immigrants, There's
28:47
no Apple, Google, Sun, Microsystems, eBay At and t Craft
28:53
Heinz Proctrine, Gamble. Half of the Fortune five hundred companies
28:59
were founded either by immigrants or their children, and the
29:04
vast majority of new medical residents, whose staff mostly are
29:08
university medical hospitals, are immigrants. Because of the high cost
29:13
and less access to student loans of long term medical education,
29:16
lower pay for doctors, there are many fewer Americans going
29:20
to medical school. Those with visas who train here frequently
29:25
stay to practice medicine in the US, especially in specialties
29:29
like cardiology, neurology, or we're having severe shortages. Next story.
29:36
When my friend came home from Maduro's torture prison from Caracas,
29:43
for Vanessa Farina Hope had become dangerous more than a year.
29:49
She had measured out her life by the number of
29:51
days her husband, human rights activist politician Lewis Tarbe spent
29:57
in Venezuela's most notorious Now with President Nicolas Maduro in
30:04
US custody, Trump administration applying pressure, his vice president and
30:11
confidant Delsi Rodriguez, had begun to release some of the
30:15
hundreds of political prisoners at Hell. Morning and night, Vanessa
30:19
checked her phone hoping for good news. For more than
30:24
a year, I did the same. Vanessa and I have
30:28
been close for years. Our sons became best friends in kindergarten,
30:32
and we naturally followed. I was at the house Vanessa
30:35
and Luis shared with her two children on the day
30:38
he was arrested. Stayed by her side throughout the months
30:42
that followed. Then came the Sunday that a source connected
30:46
to the El Helioskoga prison messaged me Garba might be
30:51
getting out today. I hesitated to tell Vanessa I had
30:56
slept over at her home several days during her ordeal.
31:00
Didn't want her to suffer another false dawn. Finally I
31:04
called her on WhatsApp in Caracas, where our report for
31:08
The Washington Post. We haven't used regular phone lines for
31:12
sensitive conversations in a decade. When she called back, she
31:18
was leaving for lunch. I told her to stay home.
31:22
Luis might be released today. I said, I'll be there
31:26
in thirty minutes. A duiter'll imprisoned thousands of political prisoners
31:31
during his dozen years, and the Mayor Flores Palace. As
31:36
his socialist regime ground forward, staying in power through elections
31:41
widely condemned as fraudulent, the pace of repression quickened. Several
31:48
thousand Venezuelans were arbitrarily detained with mass anti government demonstrations
31:55
in twenty seventeen.
31:57
Speaker 2: Then you and Wright's.
31:58
Speaker 1: Chief Zaid ral Ahussein said at the time, many he
32:04
said were reportedly subjected to ill treatment and even torture.
32:09
After Maduro claimed reelection in twenty twenty four, he boasted
32:13
himself of arresting at least twenty two hundred people in
32:18
mass protests. But the US raid has transformed relations between
32:24
Washington and Caracas. Rodriguez bristled at President Trump's plan to
32:29
run Venezuela, but the government quickly approved legislation to ease
32:34
foreign access to Venezuelan oil. Rodriguez also promised political change.
32:41
Days after Maduro's January the third capture, the regime announced
32:46
it would begin releasing prisoners, a unilateral gesture nationalists hambly.
32:52
President hor Herod Rodriguez said to reinforce are unwavering decision
32:58
to consolidate peace in the republic and peaceful coexistence among all.
33:05
Jorge is Delsi's brother. An amnesty law was introduced and approved.
33:11
Among the first let go were former opposition lawmaker Rique Marquez,
33:17
a twenty twenty four presidential candidate, the journalist and former
33:22
lawmaker Biagio Pielli, the rights activist Rossio San Miguel. Nonprofit
33:30
investigated extra judicial killings by Venezuela security forces, but there
33:37
was no word on Luis. It was the international coordinator
33:42
of Viente Venezuela political party headed by the popular opposition
33:47
leader Maria Corona Machado in December of twenty twenty four,
33:53
when he was stopped at a government checkpoint and arrested.
33:58
He was charged with terrors common accusation against regime critics,
34:05
and eventually sent to El Heliokiod built the top of hill.
34:11
The pyramid shaped citadel, headquarters for Baduro's secret police, dominates
34:17
western Caracas. According to the u in Fact Finding Mission
34:21
for Venezuela, it has double as a torture center. On
34:28
Horte Rodriguez's announcement that an important number of detainees would
34:33
be let go, family members descended on the prisons. They
34:38
believed their loved ones were being held. They were told
34:41
nothing about their status, several said, but sunexpressed cautious hope.
34:47
I told myself, I'm going, said Ingrid Rodriguez, whose friend
34:52
he Jus Armas, was an opposition organizer. He doesn't get
34:57
out today, then it'll be tomorrow. I have to be there.
35:03
The UN mission welcomed the passage of the draft the
35:06
amnesty law called for rigorous oversight. This law has the
35:13
potential to contribute to restoring rights and repairing Venezuela's social fabric,
35:19
said Alex Neve, a UN expert, But the voices of
35:24
the countless Venezuelans whose rights have been violated in the
35:28
country's prisons, as well as the civil society organizations who
35:33
have assisted and defended them, must be at the center
35:37
of this progress. A particular concern were the fifty or
35:42
so detainees who had disappeared inside the prison system. Some
35:48
remained missing, so we waited. By mid January, the regime
35:53
claimed it had released hundreds of prisons. According to for Opinal,
35:58
an independent legal rights group that represents detainees, the number
36:02
real number was far or smaller, but it was clear
36:07
that some detainees were coming out. Then came the Sunday
36:11
in February, when his opposition political politician Juan Pablo Guanipa
36:18
was released. Regime had singled out the popular former Zulia
36:23
state governor National Assembly vice president for particular ratsmen. The
36:29
mood in Vanessa's kitchen changed. Vanessa canceled plans to go
36:35
out and ordered in Chinese food. Her children and nieces
36:40
watched TV while we huddled around her phone. Messages and
36:45
calls flooded in from people who had heard the rumors.
36:49
Then the phone rang once more. Vanni, she told me
36:55
in Spanish, it sounds like then, Hey, this is it.
37:00
I think that's him. She picked up Hello. The family's
37:06
nightmare began less than a week before Christmas in twenty
37:09
twenty four. On December nineteenth, Luis swept up and the
37:14
post election cracked down. That night, I went to their
37:17
house to pick up my son. Vanessa met me at
37:20
the door. I have to tell you something, she whispered.
37:24
Luis was arrested. Don't say anything. The kids don't know.
37:30
Fear flooded our lives. Since twenty fourteen, at least nineteen
37:35
thousand people have been arrested for demonstrating, speaking against, trying
37:40
to oust, or voting against the government. According to fort
37:44
Opinal and other rights groups here, several say they were
37:49
simply bystanders when they were arrested. Maduro's security forces killed
37:55
at least three hundred demonstrators, according to rights groups. Former
38:00
political prisoners say they were tortured. The International Criminal Court
38:05
is investigating allegations of arbitrary detention, sexual violence, and other abuses,
38:12
and most of the cases happened inside El Heliokoidde. For
38:18
six months, Lewis was barred from communicating with his family.
38:22
He was prohibited from receiving visitors, denied access to a
38:27
private lawyer. We heard nothing out of the anguish. Vanessa
38:33
tried to create routine. Because Louis is a cook. She
38:38
began to make the elaborate dishes in his cookbooks. It's
38:41
like having a part of him here, she told me.
38:45
Their sons, Matteo eight and under A four, lived their
38:50
own pain, but tried to stay strong for Papito Daddy.
38:57
I asked my son if he ever spoke with Matteo
38:59
about his dead No, Mami. He said, that's something I'll
39:04
talk only about if he starts the conversation, but Matteo
39:08
never did. Finally, Lewis called it was now sprint. He
39:14
was okay, he claimed, Vanessa could visit. She went to
39:18
El Jiliocote twice a week. He was required to wear
39:22
a white shirt and blue jeans the visitor's uniform. In
39:27
Venezuela's prison system, the burden of an inmate survival falls
39:32
entirely on women like Vanessa. The state provides neither bread
39:37
nor water. It offers only filthy cells. Detain ease, eat
39:43
the food that family members bring them. Some bring more
39:47
than they require so they can share, or nothing at
39:50
all for Luist to survive. Vanessa channeled her grief into
39:56
a ritual of logistics. Hell my hell, she wrote after
40:02
one visit last year, Heide's Underworld translate for me as
40:09
el helio kodde. You are received by those in black,
40:14
you are in white. What an irony? She described climbing
40:19
the spiral shaped pyramid step by step. Who would have
40:23
thought that to reach the underworld one goes up at
40:27
the end is Luis who also refuses. He refuses to die,
40:34
because when you are alive in hell, you don't want
40:38
to stay. You only want to pass through. Despite the
40:43
weight of her weight, Vanessa, an artist, continued to rise
40:49
the head of a prestigious design school. Here she turned
40:53
tragedy into a line of clothing jackets and trousers, skirts
40:57
and bags with vertical stripes that recall bars. Her love
41:03
was in prison, but she would not be kept down.
41:07
For the first month after releases were announced, Vanessa lived
41:11
on a diet of tips, and rumors, only to be disappointed.
41:16
Speaker 2: Time and again.
41:18
Speaker 1: I have a way of measuring how I'm feeling, she
41:21
told me the first night. Sometimes I'm in terrorice mode,
41:27
full of hope. Other times I'm in the basement. During
41:32
one rumor, I spent the night at her house. Today's
41:36
a balcony, Daveney, I told her, I hope it was true.
41:41
Speaker 2: It was not.
41:43
Speaker 1: Our friendship became a master class digital survivor. Amid government harassment.
41:49
We texted on WhatsApp with messages set to disappear after
41:53
twenty four hours. We communicated in codes kept our call
41:58
log scrub never mentioned her husband's situation outside our trusted circle.
42:05
Speaker 2: As the hours.
42:05
Speaker 1: Passed and Louis failed to appear, Vanessa's fell from balcony
42:10
to basement. He hadn't been released, but on the Sunday
42:16
in February, notification dinged my phone. It was a new
42:21
message to the encrypted group chat I shared with Vanessa
42:24
and another friend, ter Us. She wrote, I smiled, feeling
42:30
the weight finally beginning to lift a balcony with a view,
42:34
I replied. Vanessa answered the call Guru, which was her
42:40
nickname for him, ulla amor beIN it too, A pause,
42:47
and then a scream of pure joy. It was if
42:51
the weight and the pain of a year finally left
42:54
her body. Luis was on his way home. Andre As
43:00
embraced his cousin dade Is coming home. He shouted the tale,
43:05
leaped into his mother arms. Happy birthday, Matale, she said.
43:10
In no time, the black suv pulled up to the
43:14
high front gate. Louise escorted by intelligence officers, and Black
43:20
stepped out, paler bearded, thinner. The officers watched him to
43:27
the door. The gate closed. Luis and Vanessa embraced and kissed.
43:33
His mother, buried her head in his chest and cried.
43:37
Luise was released, but he's not yet free. He's still
43:42
charged with financing terrorism and conspiracy. He's required to appear
43:47
in court every thirty days, and he's been warned not
43:49
to leave the country. On the day of his arrest,
43:53
he told us he was taken by several men to
43:56
a house used by security forces to detain people. I
44:00
went through different stages, different cells, he said. The first
44:05
one a space two meters by two meters that I
44:09
shared with another man, had no water or toilet. We
44:15
had to relieve ourselves in a pot that we then
44:18
had to throw into a dumpster, he said. Soon transferred
44:23
to El Heliocote to be held like first in a
44:26
small cell. A month passed before he saw sunlight. It's
44:32
like a quarantine you go through before they start to
44:35
giving you your chance to go outside. It was eventually
44:39
taken to a pressurized cell, sixteen people in a forty
44:44
square meter space. It is totally sealed with no windows,
44:50
he said. During the first months of detention, speaking with
44:54
people and other cells was forbidden. Outside El hel the
45:01
Venezuelan economy was in free fall. Inside, prisoners started small
45:06
businesses selling impanadas, cutting hair to generate cash for their families.
45:13
During this time, Vanessa was his lifeline. She brought enough
45:17
food for his entire cell because other families simply couldn't
45:22
afford to feed their loved ones. Some cellmates shared their
45:26
food with their families. Maduro's capture was a turning point,
45:30
he said. The guards changed. He said, they became more human.
45:36
It was allowed more time in the prison courtyard. The
45:40
cellmates were let go one by one. Each release was
45:44
a celebration, he said. His came last release hadn't come
45:51
quickly enough for his cellmate and friend Alfredo Diadz, the
45:55
former governor of Nuetta Espeta, arrested a few weeks before
46:00
Louis died in custody in December. Authority said he appeared
46:06
to suffer a heart attack. Louis, now back home, looked around.
46:12
What I missed the most beyond my family, was to
46:15
walk barefoot and feel the grass, he said. I missed
46:19
the dirt there. That's just concrete. Everywhere you feel you
46:25
are entering the guts of a concrete beast. There is
46:30
no life. That night, Vanessa sent me a photo Louis, Vanessa, Matteo,
46:37
and Andres huddled together in anticipation of their first night
46:42
back under one roof. Vanessa looks at the camera, tears
46:46
in her eyes. The Teo and Andres cling to them,
46:51
and Louis holds them all. They'd reached the terrace. The
46:57
view was finally clear, and the next story to tilt
47:03
Hungarian election. Russians proposed staging an assassination attempt in the
47:11
run up to Hungary's pivotal election in April. A unit
47:15
of Russia's Foreign intelligence service last month began sanding the
47:19
alarm over plummeting support for Prime Minister Victor Orbon, whose
47:24
friendly ties to Moscow long given the Kremlin a strategic
47:29
foothold inside NATO and the European Union. Officers from the
47:35
Intelligence Service or SVR suggested that drastic action might be necessary,
47:42
a strategy they called big game Changer. In an internal
47:47
report for the SVR obtained and authenticated by a European
47:51
intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post, the operatives
47:56
proposed a way to fundamentally alter the entire paradigm of
48:01
the election campaign the staging of an assassination attempt on
48:06
Victor Orbon. Such an incident will shift the perception of
48:12
the campaign out of the national realm of socioeconomic questions
48:18
into an emotional one, where the key things will become
48:23
state security and the stability and defense of the political system.
48:28
The operatives wrote in a report prepared for svr's main
48:32
unit for Political Influence Operations Directorate MS or Active Measures Department,
48:40
there have been no physical attacks on Orbon, whose popularity
48:45
has eroded because of a worse thing in the economy,
48:49
but the mere suggestion of staging an attempt on Orbon's
48:52
life underscores how high the stakes are for Moscow.
48:57
Speaker 2: In the Hungarian race.
49:00
Speaker 1: July twenty twenty four campaign trail of tackle on which
49:03
President Trump was grazed by it would be assassin's bullet,
49:07
resulting in iconic photos of him, praise for his resilience
49:12
and quick bumping his poll numbers, especially among core supporters.
49:17
Polls show Orbon trailing. Peter Modyar, who is also Conservative
49:23
and a former member of Orbon's party Field, said the
49:27
campaigning as an anti corruption reformer. The majority, or fifty
49:32
two point three percent, are dissatisfied with the state of
49:35
affairs of the country. The Russian office route Zida's satisfaction
49:40
prevails not only in cities, but also in rural areas
49:44
at fifty point eight percent, where traditionally the ruling of
49:48
the dead party's position is strong.
49:51
Speaker 2: Russia is not the only.
49:53
Speaker 1: Outside power potentially looking to prop up Orbon one of
49:57
the toughest campaigns of his career. Secretary of State Marco
50:02
Rubio visited Budapest last month, telling Orbon that your success
50:07
is our success, and Orbon has made no secret and
50:12
he hopes Trump will do the same. But with Trump
50:15
consumed by the war in Iran and Orbon behind in
50:19
the polls, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sejato said Vice President
50:24
jed E Vance will visit instead. In a video message
50:28
on Saturday, Trump offered Orbon his complete and total endorsement.
50:34
Russian's intervention, however, could be more direct. Some Western officials
50:39
say the Kremlin is intent of preserving Orbon, who has
50:43
assisted Moscow and hampering key EU policies and acted as
50:48
a bridge for the Kremlin to US conservatives hope of
50:52
forging a new postliberal war world order. Orbond's spokesman sold
51:00
tan Kovaks did not respond to a request for comment
51:03
on the SBR report, Russ's alleged interference in the election,
51:09
or the Prime Minister's relationship with Moscow. It is unclear
51:14
how high up in the Russian government the SVR proposal
51:17
was read. Kremlin spokesman dmet fry Peshkov dismissed questions from
51:22
the Post about the SVR strategy document. This is another
51:27
example of disinformation, he said. The SBR declined comic in
51:33
recent weeks. Orbon and Fisdead has increasingly sought to direct
51:38
Hungarian's focus away from economic problems and toward alleged internal
51:44
and external security threats amid a deepening standoff of Hungary's
51:50
blocking a ninety billion dollar EUROEU loan to the Ukraine.
51:56
Orbon's government has accused Ukraine of halting cheap Russian oil
51:59
supplies to Hungary via the Druzebap pipeline that snakes through
52:04
Ukrainian territory, despite the shutdown initially being caused by a
52:09
Russian attack that hit the pipeline's infrastructure. Tempers half rayed.
52:15
Orban lost week accused Ukrainians applotting physical attacks on his family,
52:20
while Ukrainian President Vlodomar Zelensky earlier this month, speaking about Orban,
52:26
threatened to give these persons addressed to our armed forces.
52:31
On Thursday, the Hungarian government said it was banning three
52:34
Ukrainian citizens from entering its territory, alleging they made threats
52:40
against Hungary, Orbon and his family, after Orban said he
52:45
was moving troops to protect Hungary's critical infrastructures and energy
52:50
against a potential track by Ukraine. Jitters have grown in Budapest.
52:55
Anything could happen, said one Western official, who like others,
52:59
spoke on the all encompassing condition of anonymity to discuss
53:04
Since of the politics, I've never seen so nervous another
53:09
set of Orbon's ruling party. There's a growing panic in
53:13
the ruling party, and I think they may take some
53:15
not well known steps to hold onto powers. In Angras telcase,
53:20
a Hungarian former deputy foreign intelligence chief, the Russians will
53:26
do everything to keep Orbon in power. They consider Hungary
53:31
as part of their sphere of influence. The Russian measures
53:36
to support Orbi have included a Kremlin backed social media
53:39
campaign to amplify messaging and Orbon is the only candidate
53:44
who can protect Hungary's sovereignty. According to European security officials
53:48
familiar with the activities, some of the Kremlin backed narratives
53:52
have been conveyed through tik Grngaribaden, Russian counselor envoy at
53:58
Moscow's embassy in Budapest, who, according to one of the
54:01
European security officials, regularly holds meetings with pro government Hungarian
54:06
journalists to give them tasks and instructions. The Russian embassy
54:11
has said, we have repeatedly stated Russia does not interfere
54:17
in elections in other countries. We would like to emphasize
54:21
once again that interference in the Hungarian election campaign is
54:26
by no means coming from the Russian side, and the
54:31
embassy declined to come in. Further, Russia has been accused
54:37
repeatedly meddling in elections, including in twenty sixteen in the
54:42
United States. You have Guinea perelsgy Late commander of the
54:48
Wagner Mercenary Group and Putin ally was put under sanctioned
54:52
by the US had admitted that troll farms under his
54:57
control sought to influence American voters. Their report, the Russian
55:02
Operatives proposed that Orbon equate his rule with peace and
55:07
as a space for stability, predictability and long term development,
55:14
that he focus his campaign on portraying Magyar as a
55:18
puppet of Brussels and his teaz Up party as the
55:22
party of war supporting Ukraine. One of the European security
55:28
officials said his service had been informed throughout the arrival
55:31
of three people operating on behalf of the Russian military
55:35
intelligence in Hungary, confirming a report by Hungary's independent investigative
55:40
outlet vs Square about the trio and raising further questions
55:44
about potential Russian interference. While Viziz has skilled propaganda machine
55:50
of its own, the Russian operatives could be involved in
55:53
a contingency plan from Moscow to cast doubt on the
55:57
integrity of the vote, one of the Western of officials said,
56:01
with each side accusing the other of manipulation and smear
56:05
campaigns and polls, tightening the election is on a knife's edge.
56:10
Concerns are growing in Budapest the apdom could be disputed.
56:15
Orderban has been one of Russia's best assets, what Western
56:19
officials said, are to imagine that the Russians would not
56:23
be standing ready to assist if things go sideways. For years,
56:30
the Urban government has provided Moscow with a vital wind
56:34
into sensitive discussions in the EU, both through the physical
56:38
access its allies and the Hungarian of government and through
56:41
Russian hackers penetration of the computer networks of Hungary's Foreign ministry,
56:46
said several current and former European security officials, including Pherins Frez,
56:53
former head of Hungary's cyber Defense Service, who spoke about
56:57
the Russian hacks, said, jar to the minister a regular
57:01
phone calls during breaks at the EU meetings to provide
57:04
his Russian counterpart, Sergey Levrov, with live reports on what
57:09
had been discussed and other possible solutions. One of the
57:13
European security officials said. Amid the tense politicking, Russia's foreign
57:19
intelligence operatives stepping up efforts to support Orbond's campaign. Aside
57:25
from the note mapping potential strategies, Russia has directed operatives
57:30
to engage in concrete measures to tarnish opposition candidates. Additional
57:37
documents show. And this concludes the reading of the Washington
57:41
Post for today, Monday, March twenty third. Your reader for
57:46
today has been Rod Brotherton. If you have any other questions, comments,
57:50
or suggestions concerning the program, please feel free to call
57:54
us at eight five nine four two two sixty three ninety.
57:57
Thank you as always for listening. Now, please stay tuned
58:02
for continued programming right here on Radio I