Transcript

1.10.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for Saturday,
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January the tenth of twenty twenty six. You readA resales
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stainer with the reminder that RADIOI is a program for
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those blind with other inabilities to read or hold printed materials.
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And I will start with a front page and all
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the way across the top inside the global race to
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find an escape route for Maduro. A Christmas Eve meeting
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in Vatican City was one of many attempts to secure
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safe harbor for the Venezuelan Leeda before the US raid.
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Below that on the left, Officials Way Order on Housing
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Affordability Administration seeks ways to encourage first time home buyers.
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And in the middle of the paper below that article
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of Maduro, a picture of a visual organized by Faith
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in Action on Friday in Lafayette Square near the White
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House honoring Renee Nicole Good and it's entitled how Renee
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Nicole ended up in an encounter with ice in Minneapolis
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entitled we had whistles, they had guns. To the right
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of that article and picture are Oil CEO Sphere Risk
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of drilling in Venezuela. Below that article, scientists found new
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clues to our female fertility declines with age and to
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the left of that and below the picture of the
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whistles and guns. This is war in text UVA board
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members plot with Youngkin and decrade. I My first article
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is the top exclusive article for the Washington Post inside
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the frantic global race to find an escape route for Maduro.
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A previously unreported Christmas Eve meeting in Vatican City was
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one of many failed attempts to find safe harbor for
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the Venezuelan leader before the US raid. And there is
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a big picture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by Anthony Faola,
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Samantha Schmidt, Hannah Nattinson, John Hudson, Karen de Young, and
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Catherine Belton of Vatican City. On Christmas Eve, Cardinal Pietrouro Paoland,
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second in command of the Pope and a longtime diplomatic mediator,
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urgently summoned Brian Birch, the US Ambassador to the Holy See,
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to press for details on America's plans in Venezuela. According
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to government documents obtained by the Washington Post, would the
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United States target only drug traffickers? He asked, or was
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the Trump administration really after regime change? Nicolas Maduro had
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to go. Perolin conceded, according to the documents, but he
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urged the US to offer him a way out. For days,
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the influential Italian cardinal had been seeking access to Secretary
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of State Marco Rubio. The document show, desperate to head
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off bloodshed and destabilization in Venezuela. In his conversation with
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birch A Trump ally, Proolan said Russia was ready to
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grant asylumn to Maduro and pleaded with the Americans for
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patients in nudging the strong man toward that offer. What
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was proposed to Maduro was that he would go away
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and he would be able to enjoy his money, said
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a person familiar with the Russian offer, adding part of
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that ask was that President Vladimir Putin would guarantee security,
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but it was not to be. A week later, Maduro
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and his wife would be seized by American Special Operation
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forces in a raid that killed about seventy five people,
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and be flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
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The previously unreported meeting in Vatican City was one of
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many failed attempts by the Americans and mediaries the Russians, Kataris, Turks,
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the Catholic Church and others to head off of building
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diplomatic crisis and to find safe harbor for Maduro before
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Saturday's US raid.
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Speaker 2: To capture him.
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Speaker 1: It is disappointing that parts of a confidential conversation were
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disclosed that do not accurately reflect the content of the
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conversation itself, which took place during the Christmas period, the
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Vatican Press Office said in a statement to the Post.
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Virtus spokesperson referred questions to the State Department, which declined
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to comment. Krimlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, did not respond to
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her request for comment. This article is based on interviews
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with nearly twenty people, many of whom spoke on the
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condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks and intelligence.
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Speaker 2: It includes new.
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Speaker 1: Details about the far reaching global efforts to steer Maduro
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into exile and avoid US military intervention, as well as
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the Trump administration's decision to work with Venezuela's sitting vice
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president rather than the opposition leader Washington had long supported.
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The weeks and months leading up to that day included
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missed opportunities for Maduro, a former bus driver and one
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of Latin America's last Cordillos, who appeared unaware of how
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perilous his position had become. His rejection of multiple possible
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off ramps, even as US warships began striking alleged narco
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trafficking boats off the Venezuelan coast and US officials intensified
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their rhetoric against his government, would ultimately seal his fate.
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Attempts to secure away from Maduro continued until.
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Speaker 2: The eleventh oul.
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Speaker 1: He would receive a final warning just days before the
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US operation to capture him, according to a person familiar
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with the offer, but the autocrat refused to budge. He
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wasn't taking the deal. He was just going to sit
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there and watch people create a crisis. Another person, Familia said,
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all the while, the US was homing in on a
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plan for his successor, leaning into Maduro's number two, delce Roduquez.
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It was a striking about face for President Donald Trump,
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who during his first term had sanctioned Rodriguez and her
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powerful brother Horre Day, seen in Washington at a time
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as interchangeable members of Maduro's ruling cabal. But a more
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pragmatic view began to take hold as leading members of
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the administration questioned the ability of opposition leader Maria Correa
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Machado to successfully win over the military and on the
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basis of power long controlled by followers of the late
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Hugo Chavez, founding father of the country's socialist state. Trump's
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thinking was partially influenced by a recent classified CIA assessment
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which concluded that Maduro loyalist would be more successful in
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running a post Maduro government than Machado and her team,
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according to his senior White House official and a person.
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Speaker 2: Familiar with the matter.
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Speaker 1: The substance of the assessment, first reported by The Wall
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Street Journal, found that Machado would struggle to overcome pro
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regime security services, and was relayed to Trump by CIA
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director John Ratcliffe, the senior White House official said soon after,
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the official added, Trump settled on Rodriguez as Maduro's successor
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at the recommendation of his top intelligence and security officials.
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For years, roder gazz had a public persona as a
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fiery Chavista, but in one on one encounters, particularly with
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US oil representatives, she came off as a totally different person.
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She wasn't anti American. She'd even lived in Santa Monica
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in her college years, said one person who had repeated
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conversations with her, adding she was a fatherless thing.
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Speaker 2: From an idelogue.
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Speaker 1: There is no indication that roder Gas was aware of
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the US plot to remove Maduro, and the Trump administration
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did not tell her that she had become the favorite
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to take his place. The senior White House official said,
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it would have been extremely dangerous for us to communicate
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anything prior to the operation. The official said. Maduro, for
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his part, seemed to consistently misunderstand the singles from Washington.
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He believed in November call he had with Trump had
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gone well, said a person familiar with his thinking, when
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in fact he was being told his time was up.
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The President said, you can go the easy way of
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the hard way, the senior White House official said.
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Speaker 2: Trump even invited his Venezuelan.
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Speaker 1: Counterpart to Washington, according to the person, Familia, offering safe
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passage so they could discuss matters in person. Maduro turned
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him down. He calculated that the Democrats would win the
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midterm elections, that Trump would be hamstrung, and that he
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would cling the power. He was out there dancing, not
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any more, the person said. Russia and the Vatican, the
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Russians had long been a spoke in the wheel of
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international negotiations with Venezuela's isolated government. A decade ago, the
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Holy See tried and failed to work out a deal
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between Maduro and the lectured opposition. More recently, the Vatican
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had sought dialogue with the Venezuelan government through its senior
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clerics in the country, and Pope Leo the fourteenth had
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cautioned the Americans against the use of force. I believe
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violence never brings victory, Leo said in November, after mentioning
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reports of US warships moving toward Venezuela, adding the key
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is to seek dialogue. Polan, who had previously served as
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the Papal Nuncio or Vatican ambassador to Caracas, had a
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deep interest in Venezuela. He had also served as an
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intermediary with the Trump administration on Ukraine and Russia. According
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to a person familiar with the negotiations, Venezuela represents an
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important foothold for Moscow in Latin America. When Chavez rose
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to power in nineteen ninety nine, Venezuela made major purchases
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of Russian weapons, including tanks, Chikhoi fighters, and surface to
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air missiles. Russia also offered significant lungs to Caracas, provided
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financial lifelines to help the country whether US sanctions, and
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remains a player in the Venezuelan oil industry. And there's
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a picture of Putin and Maduro signing as an agreement
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in a ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin last May.
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In his December twenty fourth meeting with Birch, according to
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the documents obtained by the Post, Poland said Russia was
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prepared to receive Maduro. He also shared what is described
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in the documents as a rumor that Venezuela had become
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a set piece in Russia Ukraine negotiations and that Moscow
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would give up Venezuela if it were satisfied on Ukraine analysis.
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Say Russia had already reduced its support for Venezuela in
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recent years as its focus shifted to the war next door.
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Loans to help Venezuela by Russian weapons effectively stopped in
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twenty eighteen. When Maduro visited Moscow in May, he signed
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a strategic partnership agreement with Putin, but the relationship is
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viewed by most observers as a more idea logical one
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than substantive Russia's apparent offer to grant asylumn to the
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Venezuelan president came amid broader efforts by Moscow to reset
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relations with the United States and to secure a favorable
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deal on Ukraine, the documents show. Perlin told Birch that
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he believed Maduro had been willing to step down following
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the July twenty twenty four election, which the Venezuelan leader
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was widely believed to have stolen. He was convinced by
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then Diostado Cabello, his hardline interior minister, the doing so
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would cost him his life. Groland said Maduro would have
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become hesitant to leave without the support was in the circle,
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according to documents, and was probably concerned about abandoning his
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top lieutenants, notably Rodriguez and Cabello. The person familiar with
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the Russian opera, however, said Moscow was also willing to
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grant a Salomon to the other Venenia Venezuelans, and it
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appeared that Madua was simply digging in his heels, believing
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the US would not act. I think it was hubris,
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this person said. Another factor may also have been at play,
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the assessment among some in Washington was that Maduro would
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never go to Russia because it was too restrictive and
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he wouldn't have access to the money from the Venezuelans
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gold trade he is believed was dashed offshore. According to
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a person familiar with the deliberations of the Trump administration,
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Ferroland suggested the United States could set a deadline for
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Maduro's exit from the country, the document said, and provide
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assurances for his family. The cardinal expressed that he was very,
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very puzzled by the lack of clarity of the US
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endgame in Venezuela, the documents said. He appealed for patience, caution, restraint,
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but the White House was done, waiting a new choice
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to leave Venezuela. Rodriguez, the daughter of a leftist who
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died in the custody of Venezuela's intelligence services, was a
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long time senior socialist who rose to the highest ranks
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under Maduro and became an indispensable figure in his inner circle.
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As oil Minister, she served as a highland emissary on
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sensitive foreign missions to Turkey and Qatar, and became a
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reliable partner for oil interest and other foreign investors in Venezuela,
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even as she helped Maduro co op democracy and solidify
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his authoritarian rule. Roger Gaze began gaining the trust of
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some in the Caracas business community in recent years by
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retooling the economy, improving the exchange rate, and working with
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a team of young people, including economists from the government
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of Rafael Correa when he was Ecuador's president. She received
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a pushback from inside the Maduro government for her revisions,
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particularly from First Lady Cecilia Flores and from hard liners
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in the Shabista establishment who had benefited from the country's
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entrenched power structure. Officials from Chevron, the only American company
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Washington had permitted to operate in Venezuela amid US sanctions,
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met monthly with Rodriguez and spoke positively about her to
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the US government, including under the Biden administration. A former
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American diplomat said the Chevron model was working. US officials
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were told by company representatives and rodri Guaz was granting
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their wishes. Asked for comment, a spokesperson for Chevron said
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the company had no advanced notice of the US military
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operation and did not engage in any discussions with administration officials.
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Regarding governance for a post Maduro, Venezuela, Venezuelan and business
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leaders began to push for Rodriguez as a person who
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could lead a political transition. That consensus seems to have
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been accepted up in Washington, According to a person familiar
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with the Maduro government, the vice president had also emerged
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as an effective mass manager in talks with Guitar, a
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fellow Opic member and the key intermediary with Venezuela in
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recent years, Guitar had a lot of frustration with Maduro,
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who would overrule things to which his Negotas's negotiators agreed.
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According to a Biden official familiar with the talks, the
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Katari assessment was that if Roderu Guz says she's going
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to do something, it gets done. The Guitaries recognized that
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Delsi should run the country before anybody else did if
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Maduro was, the former official said. A spokesperson for the
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Qatari government did not respond to her request for comment.
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Early last year, Trump's Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grunell,
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took a leading role in negotiating with Venezuela, sometimes with
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the help of Qatar and sometimes directly with Rodriguez's brother,
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Jorge Rodriguez, a psychiatrist, a former minister of Information and
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current president of the country's National Assembly. In those talks,
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Venezuela repeatedly shot down US proposals from Maduro to leave power,
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According to a person familiar with the discussions, At one point,
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the Venezuelan suggested Maduro could step down and stay in
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the country while rodri Guez took over, the person said,
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but it was never a concrete proposal, and by late
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somewhat it became clear that Ribio of Venezuelan Hawk and
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Grenell rival, who has always favored pressure over negotiations, was
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taking over the Venezuela foule. Grenell did not respond to
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her request for comment. During an Oval Office meeting October two,
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the senior White House official said, Trump and his tap
20:00
aids discussed how else they could apply pressure on Maduro
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beyond the boat strikes that have killed more than one
20:08
hundred people in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Trump applauded
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Rennell's diplomatic efforts to coax Maduro to step down, but
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he said it was time for military action, the White
20:20
House official said. Over the following months, guitar. Received multiple
20:25
Venezuelan requests for talks with the United States, according to
20:29
a person familiar with the outreach, but the Trump administration
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indicated it was not interested. Unofficial emissaries fill the void.
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They included Brazilian billionaire Hoseley Battista, who arrived in the
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Venezuelan capital in late November on a mission to persuade
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Maduro to leave power. Among the points discussed that day
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was a plan for the president to step down. According
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to three people for media with the meeting, Maduro was
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given an offer to go into exiled to Turkey or
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another willing country, to the people said. The Turkish embassy
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in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
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A potential a solemn deal for Madua and Turkey had
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been in place since at least November, according to the
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person familiar with Trump administration deliberations, including guarantees that he
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would not be extradited to the United States, but the
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now jailed former leader and his wife indignantly pushed back.
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Speaker 2: The three people said.
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Speaker 1: Nicholas Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this. Rubio said
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during an appearance with trumpet mar Lago on Saturday, he
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was provided very very very generous office and chose instead
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to act like a wild man. Chose instead to play around. Batista,
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a beef mag that with business interests in both the
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United States and Venezuela, had previously acted as a middleman
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in negotiations over tariffs that Trump had imposed on Brazilian goods.
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He arrived in Caracas with a list of four points,
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including insistence on American access to rare metals and oil,
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a break with Cuba, Venezuela's longtime allah, and Maduro's departure
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from the country. According to a person familiar with the meeting,
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After the trip, Batista relayed his takeaways to the Trump administration.
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The senior Writereos official said he was not working at
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the behast to the United States, the official said, but
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it took his findings into consideration. Roder Guz knew that
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according to the constitution, she would take over on an
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interim basis in the event of a Maduro exit from
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the political stage. According to a person in contact with
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the Venezuelan government, when the issue was brought up, she
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would become uncomfortable, the person said. In the end, though
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she would have no say.
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Speaker 2: In the matter.
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Speaker 1: A sidelined opposition leader. As momentum built around the idea
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of working with Rodriguez, US officials began to sour on
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the prospect of a future government led by Machado, Venezuela's
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most prominent opposition leader and the winner of the twenty
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twenty five Nobel Peace Powers. In recent weeks, influential business
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executives in Venezuela and even other members of the country's
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opposition movement had worn the United States that Machado had
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not made enough inroads with the armed forces, the ultimate
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arbiters in Venezuela, and would not be capable of gaining
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their trust. According to additional US government documents obtained by
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the Post, in conversations with US diplomats about her plans
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should Maduro suddenly leave, those documents show Matado's team expressed
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a belief that most of the military would fall in line,
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and it had assured military contacts he would avoid a
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broad courage of troops. Her advisers told US officials they
24:14
would not need to prosecute more than a few dozen
24:18
regime figures, but they also made clear the top Maduro
24:21
officials would have no place in a new government. In
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the documents, US officials described discussions with other contacts who
24:31
expressed skepticism about the inrods Machado's team claimed to have
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made with the armed forces.
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Speaker 2: One member of the Venezuelan.
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Speaker 1: Opposition said there had been no conversations between her representatives
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and military officers. The contact worried in that event of
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Maduro's abrupt Detruccia departure, a Machado led government with flounder
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and the face of immense challengers. Machado's team did not
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respond to requis us for comment. In the aftermath of
25:02
maduro seizure, the opposition leader has sought to assuage Trump,
25:06
including offering to give him her Nobel Peace Prize and
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award he is openly coveted. Her decision to accept the prize,
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people close to the White House have said, contributed to
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Trump's decision to turn against her. Machado is expected in
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Washington next week. The President told Fox News on Thursday.
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I look forward to saying hello to her, Trump said,
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adding that it would be a great honor to accept
25:37
her award. In the documents, US officials included an analysis
25:43
that now seems prescient, Shudebdureau suddenly depart the scene and
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other senior Chavistas were to stay in power, they might
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well decide to keep their repressive regime going, to maintain
25:57
their ill gotten riches and of void the justice that
26:01
awaits them, they wrote. Rodriguez has driven to consolidate power
26:06
since Moduro's departure. The facilitating between defiant and conciliatory tones
26:13
toward Washington authority is fractured in Venezuela, and early signals
26:18
have been mixed. The detention of journalists and civilians, as
26:23
well as new checkpoints set up by paramilitary gangs, have
26:27
been interpreted by analysts as a show of strength by Cavillo,
26:31
who controls the country's intelligence services and police. The Trump
26:37
administration remains confident in its decision to back Rodriguez, pointing
26:42
to Thursday's release of some political prisoners and an agreement
26:46
to export Venezuelan oil to the United States. We have
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seen thus far immense deep cooperation with the interim authorities,
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said the senior White House official, noting that Rodriguez and
27:00
speak frequently. It was a lesson, said a person close
27:05
to the Maduro government, that it is not possible to
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govern Venezuela with Chebizmo at the Vatican on Friday, Leo
27:15
expressed concern that a diplomacy that promotes dialogue was being
27:20
replaced by the diplomacy based on force. War is back
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in vogue, Leo warned, and a zeal for war is spreading.
27:33
Our next article, Trump officials prepare executive order on housing affordability.
27:42
More details are expected when President Donald Trump speaks at
27:46
the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later this month.
27:51
By Rachel Siegel and Emily Davies, the Trump administration is
27:57
preparing an executive order focused on housing, with special attention
28:02
to first time bias, as the White House attempts to
28:06
address voter concerns about affordability. An order could include policies
28:12
that President Donald Trump has already floated, such as a
28:16
fifty year mortgage or a ban on institutional investors buying
28:21
signal family homes. According to five people close to the
28:25
deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
28:29
private conversations, other proposals anewer, like helping home buyers withdraw
28:36
from their five twenty nine or four oh one K
28:39
savings accounts to make down payments without incurring tax penalties.
28:45
The exact timing or language is not final, and plans
28:49
have been in flux over the past few weeks, the
28:51
people said, but it's clear the White House increasingly sees
28:56
housing policy as central to its broader affordability agenda. More
29:02
details are expected when Trump speaks at the World Economic
29:06
Forum in Davos, Switzerland Labor this month, according to the
29:10
president's social media post and housing officials. Bill Putti Pulti,
29:16
head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a close
29:21
Trump confident, told the White host Washington Post on Thursday
29:26
that an executive action was coming and would later need
29:29
to be codified by Congress. We've got thirty to fifty
29:34
different ideas that are in front of the President. He'll
29:37
be releasing a handful of them in Davos, Pulti said.
29:42
Officials have been planning an executive order aimed at hosing
29:46
for months, but tim installed as different factions within the
29:50
administration clashed over and approached. Two of the people close
29:54
to the talks had internal divisions, sometimes boiled down to
29:58
how much the federal government should tell states and cities
30:02
what to do. Other disagreements centered on what role Congress
30:06
should play. White House spokesperson Davis. Ingall said in his
30:11
statement that Trump had pledged to slash red tape, cut
30:15
interest rates, and tackle unfair business practices that make it
30:19
harder for Americans to buy homes. Ingall said, as the
30:25
President indicated over truth Social he'd be unveiling more details
30:30
about his hosing proposal in Davos, and a discussion from
30:34
unnamed sources. Until then is baseless speculation. For much of
30:41
last year, the administration's policy agenda has involved blaming undocumented
30:47
immigrants for hosing shortages and clawing back fair housing regulations.
30:53
Officials also want to take mortgage giants Fanny May and
30:57
Freddie Mack public after years of government control, a tremendously
31:02
complicated endeavor that could lead to a massive stock offering,
31:07
but if not done carefully, role the mortgage market yet.
31:13
Freshmanmentum appeared to pick up this week after a meeting
31:16
of top housing in White House officials on Tuesday. Trump
31:21
announced the man on institutional investors on truth Social on Wednesday,
31:26
saying he would call on Congress to seal the deal
31:29
and drawing favorable reaction from GOP lawmakers. On Thursday, he
31:35
said Fanny and Freddy would use some two hundred billion
31:38
dollars in cash to buy mortgage bonds, which he said
31:42
would drive mortgage rates and monthly payments down. Administration officials
31:47
are also looking at ways to implement portable mortgages, where
31:52
homeowners can take their old mortgages with them when they
31:55
move to a new house. The people close to the
31:58
discussion said they are considering assumable mortgages where home buyers
32:04
take over the seller's mortgage. Both of those ideas could
32:09
help offset the rise and mortgage rates over the past
32:12
several years, and they could also entice homeowners with low
32:16
rates to sell without fear of taking on a higher mortgage,
32:20
opening up more supply in the process. Officials are discussing
32:25
expanding opportunity zones, an economic tool for investing in distressed areas,
32:32
and other deregulatory policies as a means of boosting home
32:36
ownership as well. Putie also teed up more actions related
32:42
to home builders this week, say on acts that they
32:46
need to start building at their lots supply, including opinioned
32:51
land optioned land which is ready to go. Builders have
32:56
been in talks with the administration for the past year
32:59
on ways to environmental regulations, energy codes, and permitting restrictions,
33:05
including those that make it harder to turn land from
33:08
raw to develop a lots and pile on cost, said
33:11
Jim Tobin, president and chief executive of the National Association
33:16
of home Builders.
33:18
Speaker 2: If there is an.
33:19
Speaker 1: Executive order, I don't expect it to be narrow, Tobin said,
33:24
I expect it to be broad. But Trump's announcements have
33:28
come with few details or clarity on Congress's role. Some
33:32
proposals could also work against affordability goals. Many mainstream economists
33:38
say a fifty year mortgage would be likely to increase
33:41
overall costs for borrowers because they'll pay far more in
33:45
interest over five decades than they would with the conventional
33:49
thirty year loan. Inside the administration, officials see are too
33:54
pronged approach to addressing some home prices. According to a
33:58
GOP posters to the White House, speaking on the condition
34:02
of anonymity to discuss private conversations, one path is to
34:07
increase hosing supply through construction. Another is decreasing the number
34:12
of buyers by removing incentives for investors and making it
34:16
easier to sell homes without paying capital gains taxes. Under
34:21
current law, most merit companies can exempt the first five
34:25
hundred thousand in capital gains on the sale of their
34:28
primary residents from taxes. White House officials have reviewed polling
34:34
that shows voters aged eighteen to twenty four sea affordability
34:39
through a hosing lens.
34:41
Speaker 2: Said the GOP polster.
34:43
Speaker 1: That age group will help deliver the presidency to Trump
34:47
in twenty twenty four, which makes the White House especially
34:51
sensitive to its political standing with them. The posters said
34:55
administration officials are focused on first time home buyers, which
34:59
often are adults forty or younger. This voting cohort, who
35:05
is deeply concerned about this and worried about housing prices,
35:09
delivered in a lot of ways the election to President
35:12
Trump in twenty twenty four. Affordability means housing in every
35:17
bit of data we've seen, the posters said. The poster
35:21
expects the final plan to pay the way for Trump
35:24
to take Fanny May and Freddie Mack public. He also
35:27
said he expects the administration to play around with a
35:31
step up in cost basis, a US tax role ruled
35:36
that adjusts the value of inherited assets to their market
35:40
price at the time of death, which can reduce capital
35:44
gains taxes for as that would include taxes on homes.
35:50
David Dewarkin, President and Chief executive of the National Housing Conference,
35:55
said making it easier for younger buyers to withdraw from
35:59
their furrow one US case penalty free will have a
36:02
bigger impact than Anny down payment program ever proposed. At
36:08
the same time, the way to make homes more affordable
36:10
is to build more of them. Everything the President does
36:14
to help us build more units is going to have
36:16
an impact, Duckworth said, adding some of these ideas are
36:21
going to be more impactful than others. Some may have
36:24
unintended consequences we want to be careful about, but it's
36:28
too easy to say, oh, this is risky, let's not
36:31
do anything. We've got to make progress here. Fannie and
36:36
Freddy's new bond purchases would be part of the strategy
36:40
around taking them public because the move would add value
36:43
to their balance sheets and help the companies make more money,
36:47
but the broader effect on affordability could be more muted.
36:52
Mortgage rates typically track treasury yields, which fall in times
36:57
of economic uncertainty. Thursday analysis note grened did T Goldberg,
37:04
head of US rates strategy at TD Securities said that
37:09
based on the projections for treasury years, the thirty year
37:14
mortgage rates could drift down toward five point two five
37:17
percent by the end of the year, compared with six
37:21
point sixteen percent this week. But if Anny and Freddie's
37:25
vast security purchases happened quickly, mortgage rates could tick down
37:30
a bit more to five percent by year end, Goldberg wrote.
37:35
Democrats this week criticized the Trump administration for promoting policies
37:39
those on the left of tribe before, such as banning
37:43
institutional investors from the single family market, but housing is
37:47
one of the only policy areas with biportisan support lately.
37:52
A popular bill from Senators Tim Scott, Republican of South
37:56
Carolina and Elizabeth Warren Democrat Massachusetts would increase hosing supply
38:02
and pairback regulations that slow new construction. Its progress slowed
38:07
late last year after host Republicans pressed to keep it
38:11
out of the annual Defense Policy Bill, but a similar
38:14
bill is moving forward in the HOUSSE, and there's hope
38:19
of breakthrough will come eventually. Scott, who chairs the Senate
38:25
Banking Committee, said in his statement, my focus is on
38:30
advancing meaningful solutions that expand hosing supply and lower cost,
38:36
including building on a unanimously passed road to hosing Act,
38:42
because that's how we make the American dream more attainable.
38:48
Next article How Renee Good ended up in a fatal
38:53
encounter with ice in Minneapolis. Video made public Friday shows
38:58
this thirty seven years old and her wife exchanging words
39:02
with ICE officers in the seconds before the shooting. And
39:06
there's a picture at the beach of Renee Good and
39:09
her late husband, Timmy mccachlin Junior by Molly Hennessy Fisk,
39:18
Annie Gowing, Pavena Samusadram, and Kyle Rimpher out of Minneapolis.
39:27
Renea Colgood had stopped to support our neighbors when she
39:32
was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs enforcement officer
39:36
during an exchange of words on a residential street. According
39:41
to a statement issued by her wife in video made
39:44
public Friday, we had whistles, they had guns, Rebecca Good
39:50
said in the statement. We were raising your son to
39:54
believe that no matter where you come from or what
39:57
you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness.
40:01
Good said Renee lived this belief every day. She is
40:05
pure love. She is pure joy. Renee Good, thirty seven,
40:11
was shot Wednesday morning blocks from her home by an
40:15
Ice officer, who federal officials say fired in self defense.
40:19
Details of the shooting, which was captured in videos widely
40:23
disseminated online, are in dispute. A recording released Friday by
40:28
Often News appears to show the moments immediately before the
40:32
shooting from the perspective of the Ice officer who shot Good.
40:36
In the video, Renee Good can be heard speaking to
40:39
an Ice officer through an open window of driver's side window,
40:44
saying that's fine, dude, I'm not mad at you. As
40:48
the officer circles her vehicle while filming with a phone
40:52
camera in his hand. Rebecca Good, who was outside the car,
40:57
speaks more aggressively, questioning the officer about face masks and
41:01
license plates. At one point, she says to the officer,
41:05
go get yourself some lunch, big boy. She soon reaches
41:09
for the passenger door as the officer tells Renee Good
41:13
get out of the car. The video abruptly ends seconds
41:17
later as the car reverses and then moves forward. The
41:21
video does not show whether the vehicle struck the officer
41:25
it records, which sounds like shots being fired. Tricia McLachlin,
41:30
a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, told Fox
41:34
News on Thursday that Renee Good was stalking agents all
41:38
day long, impeding their law enforcement. Asked by The Washington
41:42
Post what she was basing that description on, McLachlan said
41:46
the information came from first hand accounts from law enforcement
41:50
officers who had been in contact with Good. Vice President J. D.
41:55
Bance blamed Good for her own death, and Homeland Security
41:59
Christie ill Nomes said Goods actions amounted to an act
42:03
of domestic terrorism. Friends and family members painted a picture
42:08
of a couple who came to Minneapolis almost a year
42:11
ago looking for a place where they and their family
42:14
could feel comfortable. They said, Renee Good lived a quiet
42:18
life not shaped by overt activism. Good's family members said
42:23
they do not believe she was tailing Ice officers. She
42:26
had just dropped her son off at school before the shooting,
42:30
they said. Her father, Tim Ganger, said in a brief
42:34
interview Wednesday that she got caught up in a bad situation.
42:39
Rebecca Good's statement Friday amounts to the first acknowledgment by
42:43
her family that on Wednesday the couple were among the
42:46
Minneapolis residents who have organized to monitor and protest immigration
42:51
enforcement activity in their neighborhoods. Other videos from witnesses that
42:56
day show Goods maroon Honda pilot parked in the road
43:00
as ICE vehicles approached. ICE officers then confront her, demanding
43:05
that she get out of her car. A frame by
43:08
frame analysis by the post of the bys Damed of
43:11
footage Chwel raises questions about administration officials accounts of the shooting,
43:17
as she bee did move toward an ICE officer as
43:19
he stood in front of it, but the officer was
43:22
able to move out of the way and fire at
43:24
least two of three shots from the side of the
43:26
vehicle as it veered past him. According to the analysis,
43:32
Good's family and friends describe her as a devoted mother
43:35
to her three children, an artist with a prize winning
43:38
talent for poetry, who had weathered personal difficulties, including the
43:43
death of her second husband, a military veteran who suffered
43:47
from post traumatic stress disorder. In her statement Friday, Rebecca
43:52
Good recalled how Renee sparkled. You might think it was
43:57
just my love talking, but her family said the same thing.
44:00
Renee was made of sunshine, Renee was a Christian who
44:04
knew that all religions teach the same as until truth.
44:08
We are here to love each other and care for
44:10
each other and keep each other safe and whole. Rebecca
44:14
Good said her first husband also called Renee Good's faith,
44:19
noting that she had taken part in youth mission trips
44:23
to Northern Ireland when she was younger.
44:26
Speaker 2: She loved to sing.
44:27
Speaker 1: And studied vocal performance in college, he said, speaking on
44:31
the condition of naminimity out of concern for the safety
44:34
of his daughter fifteen and son twelve. Good grew up
44:40
in Colorado Springs. She attended Carnado High School, saying in
44:46
the school's show choir, and participated in a school group
44:50
called Community Crew dedicated to learning practical skills like cooking.
44:55
According to the yearbook which she graduated in two thousand
44:58
and six, Good wie on Best Personality. When I found
45:03
out that I had won, I was like, this is
45:05
pretty flipping cool, sweet, she told your book staff. Good
45:10
attended Metropolitan State University of Denver briefly in twenty fourteen
45:15
and twenty fifteen. After she and her first husband divorced,
45:19
he said, Good married timely Timmy Macklin who served in
45:24
the US Air Force. In twenty nineteen, she began studying
45:28
creative writing at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
45:32
Speaker 2: She was his heart.
45:34
Speaker 1: Her former brother in law, Joseph Macklin, who lives near Knoxville, Tennessee,
45:38
said of Good in his brother he described her as
45:41
a great and loving mother. One of her professors, Kent Wasscombe,
45:47
director of Old Dominion's Master of Fine Arts and Creative
45:50
Writing program, recalled her as a poet studying how to
45:54
improve her fiction writing, first in a class and then
45:57
an advanced workshop. And like some of her peers, Good
46:01
never talked about politics, Wascomb said, focusing instead on realist
46:06
fiction about those very different from her, such as an
46:11
elderly woman and a veteran. She consistently sought to write
46:15
outside of her experience. She was really a warm presence,
46:20
but not a show off. She never made a class
46:22
about herself, even with her work was the focus of
46:25
a workshop.
46:26
Speaker 2: He said.
46:28
Speaker 1: Good was older than any of her classmates, pregnant with
46:31
her third child and working to pay for school as
46:34
a dental assistant and at a credit union. Her first
46:37
husband said, my memory of Renee is how much she
46:41
tried to connect with her peers and support them. Wiscom
46:45
said he recalled how Good Lada brought her newborn son
46:49
to meet him. By twenty twenty, Good and one of
46:52
prestigious prize from one of her poems, and Ata Wascombs
46:56
had demonstrated her promise. She graduated with a bachelor degree
47:00
in English that decemble. In April twenty twenty one, Good
47:05
met a professional photographer named Charles W. Winslow at an
47:08
Old Dominion football game that he was covering. He wanted
47:12
she wanted advice on how to incorporate photography into covers
47:17
for book projects she had planned. He said she was
47:20
a gifted student and accompanied him on many of his
47:23
professional assignments, but he also remembered her kindness as a friend.
47:28
She was kind hearted in always helping others in need.
47:32
She didn't care of race, creed color. If she had
47:35
ten dollars in a pocket, she would give a homeless
47:37
person nine that she passes on the street, Winslow said.
47:42
In twenty twenty three, Timmy Macklin died at age thirty six,
47:47
and Good became primarily a stay at home mom. Her
47:50
first husband, said, Joseph Macklin said Good made an effort
47:54
to keep her son in touch with his family back
47:57
in Tennessee. She always brought him to see us. She
48:00
was so kind hearted. After she met and married Rebecca
48:05
Good forty, the couple settled in Kansas City, Missouri, and
48:09
crafted a quiet life as a gay couple living in
48:12
a red state. They weren't overtly political, at least among
48:16
the residents of their peaceful street in the Waldo neighborhood.
48:20
Their neighbor, Jennifer Ferguson, recalled Thursday, but after Donald Trump
48:24
was re elected in twenty four, the two broke their
48:28
lease and told Ferguson they were moving to Canada because
48:31
of the political situation. Becca said, we're getting it. We
48:36
can go to Canada until we figure out what we're
48:38
going to do, Ferguson said. The couple lived in the
48:43
neighborhood only a short time, but made an impression of Ferguson,
48:47
forty one and administrative assistant. Becca Good had sold a
48:51
home improvement business before they moved in, so she mostly
48:54
stayed home with their son, cooking and mowing the lawn.
48:58
Renee Good told Ferguson, and she was studying for a
49:01
master's degree the two families exchanged Christmas treats and their
49:05
kids played together. She said they were such nice people
49:10
and great parents to their son then in preschool. Ferguson
49:14
said both were attentive, quick to enforce rules or stop
49:19
in activity like splashing in the kiddie pool when the
49:22
little boy seemed doubly tired. When they moved away, they
49:26
gave Ferguson their lawnmower after hers was stolen. We always
49:31
talked about free stuff for the kids, Ferguson said. She
49:34
asked about a free indoor playground and I said, go
49:37
to the McDonald's up the street. The couple also asked
49:40
her opinion about nearby charter schools because her son was
49:44
about to start kindergarten. They rarely left the house, Ferguson said,
49:48
except to take the boy to school. They were homebodies.
49:52
There were also devotees of the w NBA and the
49:56
Canvas City Current, the local women's pro soccer team. Parenthesis
50:01
at KC Current sticker was visible on Honda Goods Honda
50:05
palate in parentheses. The couple moved from Kansas City to
50:09
Minneapolis in March of last year. Her first husband said
50:13
they wanted community said Kimmie Hull, a neighbor who on
50:17
Thursday stood on the porch of the coupled's gray blue
50:20
two story house next to an inflatable penguin snowband, Christmas
50:25
tree and we are Southside signs stuck in the snowy lawn.
50:30
Renee Good's ex husband said Becca Good was getting support
50:34
from friends and her family and Renet's family. Maclin, Good's
50:39
former brother in law, said Good's children are hurting and
50:43
wondering whether this happened, especially the youngest. We just buried
50:47
his father three years ago and Juni and Ary lost
50:50
his mother. Macklin said it is definitely a tragedy. No
50:54
kid should have to go through at such a young age,
50:57
and to have to see it all over social media
50:59
intelligivision is sickening. He said that after the shooting, Good's
51:04
wife contacted his parents. My hurt really hurts for her.
51:09
I'm praying for her, he said. She's such a sweet
51:12
and caring woman. Macklin, whose father is a Christian street preacher,
51:17
struggled to make sense of Good's death.
51:20
Speaker 2: I wish she would have.
51:21
Speaker 1: Minded her business and stayed out of the way, he said,
51:24
but added I know families are being broken apart, and
51:28
it's heartbreaking, and now it's our family. She was a
51:31
good mother and a good person, and she didn't deserve this.
51:35
Her significant other doesn't deserve to be without her, her
51:38
mom doesn't deserve to be out without her, and they
51:42
kids don't deserve to be without her. It is truly
51:45
a tragedy that not just our family is going through,
51:48
but our nation, he said, and probably the final article.
51:56
Speaker 2: Inside the paper.
51:57
Speaker 1: Washington National Opera is moving out of the case Kennedy Center.
52:01
The Washington National Opera decided Friday to leave its longtime
52:05
home at the Kennedy Center. The Senate said it ended
52:09
the relationship by Janey Kingsbury and Kelsey Abbey's or ables ables.
52:18
The Washington National Opera announced Friday that it plans to
52:21
leave the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
52:25
its longtime home, a stunning move that follows reports of
52:29
declining ticket sales for the seventy year old organization amid
52:33
upheaval at the center since President Donald Trump's takeover. The
52:38
opera said in his statement that it would seek an
52:41
amicably early determination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy
52:45
Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity.
52:52
After the Opera's announcement, the Kennedy Center claimed it had
52:56
ended the relationship after careful consideration, We've made the difficult
53:00
decision to part ways with the wn due to a
53:04
financially challenging relationship, a spokesperson wrote in his statement. We
53:10
believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations
53:13
and enables us to make responsible choices that support the
53:17
financial stability and long term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.
53:22
But a person familiar with the situation who spoke on
53:25
the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
53:29
represent either party, told The Washington Post that the choice
53:32
was definitely a Washington National Opera decision and that there
53:38
was consensus to believe, but it's with great regret. There
53:42
had been concern since Kennedy Center board chair David M.
53:46
Rubinstein was removed in February and Trump became chairman, the
53:50
person said, but the board's vote to change the name
53:54
to the Trump Kennedy Center last month spurred the WNO's
53:57
decision to leave. The opera said in its statement that
54:01
the decision was driven by the elimination or reduction of
54:05
support previously provided by the Kennedy Center, as well as
54:09
changes to the center's business model, which now require productions
54:13
to be fully funded in advance, a shift to WNO
54:17
called incompatible with how opera companies operate. Opera companies typically
54:23
cover only thirty to sixty percent of costs through ticket sales,
54:27
with the remainder from grants and donations that cannot be
54:31
secured years ahead when productions must be planned, the statement read.
54:36
It also added that the new model conflicts with the
54:39
opera's artistic mission are balancing popular titles with lesser known
54:44
works to serve diverse audiences. Francesco Zambello, the opera's artistic
54:50
director for fourteen seasons, told the Post she was deeply
54:54
saddened to leave the Kennedy Center. I have been proud
54:58
to be affiliated with the National Monument to the Human Spirit,
55:02
a place that has long served as an inviting home
55:05
for ever growing family of artists and opera lovers, she
55:09
wrote in an email, adding, in the coming years, as
55:13
we explore new ventures and new ways of performing, w
55:17
and O remains committed to its mission and artistic vision
55:22
to stay on solid financial footing. The opera said it
55:25
planned to cut back at springs season and relocate performances
55:29
to new venues, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
55:33
News of the departure was first reported by The New
55:35
York Times. The person familiar with the situation stressed at
55:40
the center is the vision and dream of those who
55:43
brought themselves out of the darkness of the assassination of
55:46
a young president. There are an awful lot of people
55:50
that are offended that the official memorial to President John F.
55:54
Kennedy is being manipulated. It is not personal to any
55:59
one president that you just can't do that, they added.
56:03
They also said that the move came partly in response
56:06
to criticism of the new Kennedy Center leadership of the
56:09
previous management's financial stewardship. Frankly, to say that the Kennedy
56:15
Center was in financial ruin under the predecessor to the
56:18
current regime is fake, the person said. Describing the opera
56:24
circumstances since Trump's takeover, the person said the company has
56:27
been dropping seen dropping attendance, a decline in donor contributions,
56:32
and especially after the name change, increasing numbers of opera
56:36
singers and artists who are refusing to perform at the
56:39
Kennedy Center. A lot of reality is you can't get
56:43
the artists, you can't get the ticket sales. You're not
56:46
going to be able to get the support under this.
56:49
Declines and ticket sales became apparent in the first few
56:52
months after Trump's takeover. The Post reported in June revenue
56:57
generated from Washington National Opera, some of PAS descriptions, had
57:00
fallen fifty percent a year over year through the first
57:04
ten weeks of its campaign. A Post analysis in October
57:09
showed that ticket sales had declined across several genres at
57:12
the Kennedy Center's major theaters, a drop that current and
57:16
former staffis attributed to audiences being feeling repelled by Trump's takeover.
57:23
Zambalo had told The Guardian in November that the turmoil
57:26
was leading the opera to consider moving out of the
57:29
building Peren. At the time, the opera's board chair denied
57:33
plans to leave In Perrin, budget constraints had been delayed
57:37
the opera's twenty twenty six twenty seven season planning, a
57:42
person familiar with the organization told The Post last month.
57:46
Another round of artists performers has counseled shows at the
57:50
Kennedy Center since its bored installed by Trump early last year.
57:54
Voted in December to add his name to the center.
57:57
It was on the building's exterior signage the following day.
58:02
And with that I end the reading of Today's Washington
58:05
Post for the first Saturday or the second Saturday in January.
58:11
January the tenth of twenty twenty six. I'll be back
58:16
on Thursday. Please listen, continue listening to programming on Radio AI.
58:21
Have a good weekend, and stay warm on Sunday.
58:25
Speaker 2: Bye.