[TEASER] Venezuela Pt. 6: The Empire Strikes w/ José Luis Granados Ceja and Andreína Chávez

Upstream

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is an unlocked version of the Patreon episode "Venezuela Pt. 6: The Empire Strikes w/ José Luis Granados Ceja Andreína Chávez." You can listen to our entire 5-part series on Venezuela by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

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In Part 6 of our ongoing series on Venezuela, José Luis Granados Ceja and Andreína Chávez join us to discuss the aftermath of the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores and the United States' attempted takeover of Venezuela. José Luis Granados Ceja is a journalist with Drop Site News based in Mexico City who has been covering Venezuela for 20 years. Andreína Chávez is a Venezuelan journalist based in Caracas.

Our conversation begins with an overview of the night of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores's kidnapping, told by Andreína who was in Caracas at the time. We also get an update on Maduro and Flores's detention in the United States and the charges they are facing. We then explore the US's intentions behind the kidnapping, the oil deals that are being "negotiated," and the rumors that Acting President Delcy Rodriguez was involved in the Special Forces operation (she wasn't) and that Chavismo is dead (it isn't). Andreína then gives us a bit of background on Maduro and his rise to the presidency, highlighting his working class background and underscoring his support among the Venezuelan people. We then zoom out and take a look at what this all means in terms of the Monroe Doctrine 2.0 and what it means in the context of the new Cold War. Finally, we discuss the implications for the globe as the United States rips off its mask and escalates its campaign of terror at home and abroad.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	A quick note before we jump into this Patreon episode. Thank you to all of our Patreon subscribers
0:06.2	for making upstream possible. We genuinely couldn't do this without you. Your support allows us to
0:12.9	create bonus content like this and provide most of our content for free so we can continue to offer
0:18.6	political education media for the public and help to build our
0:22.1	movement. Thank you, comrades. We hope you enjoy this conversation. It offends the nationalist sensibilities.
0:50.3	Why the hell do we need to run our finances by you? Which, by the way, you're not even a legitimate
0:56.2	actor when it comes to your own finances. I mean, the Pentagon has never passed an audit. So to think
1:02.4	that somehow the U.S. is more capable of administering the money is farcical. But this is part
1:07.0	of that kind of neo-colonialist approach that are taking things. All of this is about,
1:11.6	it's not even about extracting the oil that in Venezuela now. It's about knowing that they control
1:16.0	the tap. They can turn it on and they can turn it off as necessary given other geopolitical
1:21.3	considerations and with the drums of war being beat in terms of a potential conflict with Iran,
1:26.9	which is also a pretty major supplier of oil globally,
1:29.9	while now we kind of, the pieces start to fit together, right?
1:32.9	You're listening to Upstream. Upstream. Upstream. Upstream.
1:37.5	Upstream. A show about political economy and society that invites you to unlearn everything you thought you knew about the world around you.
1:45.7	I'm Della Duncan. And I'm Robert Raymond. The world war never really ended. And if it ever
1:52.4	changed tactics or reduced its intensity, that was momentary. The world is at war as we speak.
2:00.3	Or more precisely, the United States death machine is at war as we speak.
2:06.1	Or more precisely, the United States death machine is at war with the world.
2:08.4	Every front looks different.
2:11.7	Every battle has its own unique characteristics.
	...

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