As US pressure mounts, Venezuela's president cracks down on dissent
The World
PRX
4.6 • 943 Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2025
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the US ramps up military pressure on Venezuela, the Maduro government is tightening its grip at home. Families of political prisoners describe disappearances, torture and a justice system that forces detainees to accept state-appointed lawyers. Also, Hong Kong officials have announced that more than 150 people are now confirmed dead after last week's massive fire that gutted several high-rise apartment buildings in the Tai Po district. And, a discussion about the status of peace talks for Ukraine. Plus, a radiation-eating fungus found at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Listen to today’s Music Heard on Air.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesTranscript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Trump White House is ratcheting up pressure on Venezuela. |
| 0:07.8 | The government there is rounding up the centers. |
| 0:10.1 | We don't know the conditions. |
| 0:12.3 | We don't know if they're being tortured, if they're being subjected to cruel treatment. |
| 0:17.5 | I'm Marco Werman, also today the rapid expansion of a new megacity in southern China. |
| 0:22.4 | At the very beginning, it's a very small village, actually. There's not a lot of people leaving |
| 0:28.5 | here. And what's next for Ukraine peace talks as Putin meets the U.S. envoy? I don't think the American |
| 0:34.4 | people are going to want to just go along and do business with Putin and throw the Ukrainians under the bus. |
| 0:40.0 | Plus, mold at the Chernobyl nuclear site. |
| 0:42.8 | Toxic, I wouldn't necessarily eat it. |
| 0:45.8 | Like, you wouldn't eat your moldy bread either. |
| 0:48.8 | But it can also block nuclear radiation. |
| 0:51.8 | All those stories and more today on the world. |
| 1:09.3 | We begin today in Venezuela, where the Trump administration is stepping up its pressure campaign against the government in Caracas. |
| 1:11.4 | On Saturday, President Trump said that Venezuela's airspace is now, quote, closed in its entirety. This is after weeks of a massive |
| 1:17.4 | U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. Experts say the Trump administration is looking to force |
| 1:22.3 | regime change in Venezuela, but while attention is focused on U.S. actions, the political |
| 1:27.4 | repression inside Venezuela is reaching new U.S. actions, the political repression inside |
| 1:28.4 | Venezuela is reaching new levels as President Nicolas Maduro cracks down on dissent. The world's |
| 1:34.6 | TV Saezzaa starts us off today. A few weeks ago, a 65-year-old cardiologist in Western |
| 1:41.5 | Venezuela was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum penalty. |
| 1:47.2 | Her crime, sending a WhatsApp voice note. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PRX, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of PRX and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.