Americano: is Trump dismantling Venezuela's socialist state?
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
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Summary
Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins Freddy Gray to discuss the ongoing situation in Venezuela. Over a month on from the 'bold and spectacular raid' and capture of Maduro, Daniel explains the reasons why he has hope in the government of Delcy Rodriguez and the changes that have occurred since – from the increase in the oil price to the release of political prisoners. With only three years left of the Trump presidency, how can he be sure that the interim president isn't just playing for time?
We hope our listeners will forgive the abrupt ending to this Americano episode, as the Spectator's street was briefly evacuated by police in what turned out to be a false alarm!
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Join me, Toby Young, on Wednesday the 18th of February for another installment in the Spectator's Speaker series. |
| 0:07.3 | I'll be joined by the star of Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones, John Reese Davis. |
| 0:12.6 | We'll be covering his fascinating childhood in Tanzania, the secrets behind his lasting success, |
| 0:17.8 | and what he sees as the challenges facing Western civilization. |
| 0:22.2 | Join us in the library at Old Queen Street Cafe at 7pm on Wednesday the 18th of February. |
| 0:28.8 | Book your tickets at spectator.com forward slash book now. |
| 0:43.1 | Hello and welcome back to the Americano show. |
| 0:44.3 | My name is Freddie Gray. |
| 0:48.1 | I am the deputy editor of the spectator and the US editor. |
| 0:53.5 | And I'm pleased to tell you that this is the 10th year of the Americano podcast. |
| 0:58.1 | And I think it's fair to say it's been a fairly fascinating time in American politics, life and culture. |
| 1:02.2 | And that's what we talk about every episode on this podcast. |
| 1:06.2 | So please keep listening and provide as much feedback as you like. |
| 1:12.1 | Hello and welcome back to the Americano show. |
| 1:16.0 | Now, it has been six weeks almost since Donald Trump launched his bold and many thought spectacular raid on Venezuela. |
| 1:26.8 | And in those six weeks, it's been interesting that there |
| 1:29.6 | hasn't really been a lot of follow-up in terms of what actually happened, the situation in |
| 1:35.7 | Venezuela, how it's developing. And so I thought there is no one better to ask about this than |
| 1:40.8 | Daniel Di Martino, who is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a Venezuelan |
| 1:46.5 | and an expert on all these things. Daniel, in the wake of the raid on January 3rd, you were |
| 1:52.6 | pretty happy. I saw a few interviews you did. You thought it was a great thing for Venezuela. |
| 1:59.2 | Are you still as pleased about it now, or are you |
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