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U.K. forward slash voucher to claim this offer now. Terms apply. Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud, where each week we choose some of our favourite

pieces from the magazine and ask their writers to read them aloud. I'm Patrick Gibbons,

and on this week's podcast, Justin Marazzi analyzes what Trump's coup in Venezuela means for Iran.

As other European countries expand their

militaries, Lisa Hazeldine asks, why isn't Britain doing the same? William Atkinson argues that

the Mets attack on Freemasonry is unjustified. And finally, Toby Young explains why the chicken pox vaccine

is a positive health measure. Up first, Justin Morozy.

In this city awash with visual propaganda,

one mural in Caracas is especially striking for the Western visitor.

In it, Jesus Christ stands alongside Imam Mahdi,

a prophesied messianic figure who many Muslims believe will appear with him during the

end times to restore peace and justice to the world. There is only one Venezuelan, the late

President Hugo Chavez, among the six smaller figures on the mural. Three are Iranian, including

Qasem Soleimani, a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps elite Quds Force, killed by US airstrike in 2020. One is an Iraqi commander, killed

in the same strike, and the last is Lebanese, Imar Mugnia, a founder of Islamic jihad in Lebanon,

and number two in Hisbalah until his assassination in 2008.

...