Hello and welcome to The Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a unique perspective on the events shaping your world.

15 years ago today, a little website called FaceMash, where Harvard students compared their

classmates' looks, changed its name to the Facebook. Since then, it's dropped the, and

become a powerful force in our lives and our politics. But is it a force for good? Not so long

ago, Mejdi Yarrahi was a darling of Iran's rulers,

but the pop star seems to have taken a sharp turn, denouncing the conditions in his home province.

The regime's reaction to the tuneful dissident has been unexpectedly muted, so far.

But first... After a volatile two weeks in Venezuela, demonstrations against the president erupted once more this weekend.

Venezuela! But Nicholas Maduro gave a defiant speech at a rally, insisting he would remain in power.

That's despite the fact that he's no longer recognized as president by America and a number of other countries.

Well, we've had yet again millions of people out on the streets in Venezuela protesting against the illegitimate rule of Nicolas Maduro.

Robert Guest is the economist's foreign editor.

We've had Americans saying that they are packaging up large quantities of aid to ship

to the country, partly to see whether the regime stops that aid that people desperately

need from getting in.

And we just passed a deadline for where European powers have said that they will take action if the regime does not call elections.

That deadline has passed.

We're expecting to see France, Austria, possibly Britain, formally recognized Juan Guaido,

the leader of the National Assembly as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela.

And so what's Mr. Guaido been doing?

...