Henrique Capriles, Venezuelan opposition leader: What comes next for Venezuela?
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“Most Venezuelans are thinking about the future: Will things improve? Will deep changes come? Will we reunite as a people with our history, dreams, and hopes?”
BBC correspondent Norberto Paredes speaks to Henrique Capriles, a Venezuelan opposition leader, about his vision for a new Venezuela.
In the aftermath of President Maduro’s capture by the United States, Henrique Capriles is one of the key political voices emerging - an alternative to the high-profile Maria Corina Machado, Nobel-prize winner and vocal supporter of Trump’s intervention.
Now it is time for Venezuela’s opposition to unite, he says, and bring democracy to the country.
Henrique Capriles narrowly lost out on the presidency in both 2012 and 2013, before being banned from standing for public office for many years. In 2025, he was elected to the National Assembly.
Thank you to the BBC Mundo team for its help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, the President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa and President Lula da Silva of Brazil. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Norberto Paredes Producers: Nathalia Passarinho and Lucy Sheppard Editor: Justine Lang
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Henrique Capriles Credit: REUTERS/Marco Bello)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.9 | Hello, I'm BBC presenter, Norberto Paredes, |
| 0:10.4 | and this is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:14.1 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, |
| 0:17.8 | people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:22.6 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:27.3 | We have never seen a people so united. Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:33.5 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:37.7 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:41.0 | For this interview, I met Enrique Capriles, a Venezuelan opposition leader, a national assembly member, and former presidential hopeful at his office in Caracas. |
| 0:53.4 | Following the capture of Venezuela's president, Nicholas Maduro, in a raid by the United States, |
| 0:59.8 | Enrique Capriles has a vision for a new Venezuela, one with a strong economy, trusted institutions, |
| 1:06.4 | and crucially free and democratic elections. |
| 1:10.9 | My political plan is democracy, democracy, democracy. |
| 1:15.2 | What does democracy mean? |
| 1:16.7 | An autonomous independent judiciary. |
| 1:19.3 | Is there such a thing in Venezuela? |
| 1:21.3 | Zero. |
| 1:22.2 | There hasn't been justice in a long time. |
| 1:24.5 | Respect for the Constitution. |
| 1:26.4 | Zero. |
| 1:27.4 | The Constitution is the plan that ensures |
... |
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