Lise Doucette

In the face of this brutal situation and in the face of this brutal attack, we have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the president, Nicolas Maduro. We'll hear from Caracas and Washington and get reaction from our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette. He never has used the phrase regime change with Venezuela, casting it along with his top officials as being a national security threat. It is clear that this is regime change in all but name.

It certainly does harken back to those decades which were described as gunboat diplomacy, where the US felt it had every right to meddle, often through the CIA in toppling regimes, fomenting dissent. And when President Trump entered the White House for a second term, as you've been mentioning, he was very clear that that era was over, that he would no longer, as he said in a major policy speech in Riyadh,

be intervening in countries where the united states had little understanding it would not be taking part in nation building he would be letting countries determine their own future a speech that received tremendous applause on his first foreign trip across the gulf region many capitals beyond also welcomed this new approach by president trump who had promised in his inauguration speech to be a unifier

Ja rauhoittaja, no, mitä on tapahtunut tänä päivänä, on todennäköisesti ylöspäin. Ja se tarkoittaa, mitä, kuten aina presidentin Trumpin kanssa, ei ole kauhean selvää, missä hän on. Koska yhden viikon jälkeen ja joskus yhden päivän jälkeen hän näyttää, että hän on vahvasti...

different approaches on key issues of our time. And even though he never has used the phrase regime change with Venezuela, casting it as well as along with his top officials as being a national security threat, that President Maduro was an illegitimate president, it is clear that this is regime change in all but name.

All of the world's cameras will be on that if they are planning to make a show of this, to make an example of President Maduro on drug trafficking charges. We heard from a U.S. senator. He has confirmed that he is going to stand trial on criminal charges. He said he received that information from the Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It is of course not the first time that the United States puts

Latin American leaders accused of drug trafficking on trial, and it's not escaped notice that a key Honduran official, who had been in jail on drug trafficking, was recently pardoned by President Trump. He wasn't a president, but he certainly was a key figure in the economy of Honduras. So contradictory moves by President Trump, who says it's all about drugs.

fighting the scourge of drugs and narcotics which are entering the United States. But I think this morning has really pulled back the curtain on this and that it is about something much deeper and indeed in the eyes of many more dangerous.

It's not simply removing one person. President Trump has said that Nicolas Maduro and his wife are now on the way to the United States, as we've been reporting. But he is part of a criminal network, which is well known right across the region and beyond. What will they do? How does the United States deal with them? And will the United States deal with them? We're again hearing from

the US senator, that he heard from Marco Rubio that there would be no more military action. But it's the same as when you saw the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in Syria a year ago. What about all the people around him? Will they try to flee? And where will they flee? Will they also be put on trial in Venezuela or beyond? This question, which seems deceptively simple, but we have seen time and again through history, is very, very complex.

and indeed fraught with peril, is what next? What about the day after? And there are all too many memories, very bad memories, from what happened after the US-led intervention in Iraq, what happened in the US-led intervention in Afghanistan, that there was insufficient preparation for the day after. And therefore, when you saw the Gaza war erupting in October, when President Joe Biden at the time

It was said at the time that already the US was saying to the Israelis, learn from us, learn from our mistakes. You have to start thinking about the day after already. We have seen that the United States has month on month intensified its military pressure on Venezuela. But have they in secret been making plans? We simply don't know. But in the days to come, it will certainly become abundantly clear.

This latest wave of unrest in Iran, the most significant in years, shows no sign of stopping.

In large parts of the country, daily life still goes on without interruption.

But protests have spread to a number of cities and towns, with running battles reported between security forces and demonstrators.

Local officials quoted by state media warned that what they called illegal gatherings would be dealt with decisively and without leniency.

There's no sign yet that President Trump's threat to, in his words, come to the rescue of Iranians will convince the authorities to change course.

From the start of this strife, Iran's president, Massoud Pesashkian, has also tried to diffuse tension by pledging to listen to what he called legitimate demands.

But this dissent isn't just about a cost-of-living crisis, but a measure of political discontent.

And Mr Trump's warnings have added yet more unpredictability and possible peril.