Venezuelan opposition leader speaks to BBC
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.2K Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
María Corina Machado, Venezuela's Nobel Peace Prize winner, speaks after her first public appearance in 11 months. She has mostly been in hiding since the country's disputed presidential election in 2024. She confirms the US helped her escape the country. She says President Maduro's regime is weaker than ever - partly as a result of the actions of President Trump, who announced the seizure of a tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Also: France battles to control violent drugs gangs that are exploiting children. In the worst affected city, Marseille, the number of teenagers caught up in the drug world has risen six fold in recent years. Victims of a typhoon, that battered the Philippines four years ago, sue the oil company Shell, accusing it of contributing to climate change and therefore making such weather events more severe. A BBC investigation discovers endangered species - including tigers and sharks - are offered for sale on Facebook. Research finds that living in extreme heat can severely affect children's development. And the last letter written by Mary Queen of Scots is going on public display for the first time in a generation in the city of Perth, Scotland.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.0 | Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Thursday the 11th of December. |
| 0:17.2 | The Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, says the Maduro regime is weaker than ever. |
| 0:22.8 | Survivors of a typhoon in the Philippines are suing oil giant shell, saying carbon emissions made the storm worse. |
| 0:29.7 | And we report on the children caught up in drug wars in Marseille. |
| 0:35.4 | Also in the podcast. |
| 0:40.2 | 200 euros. Also in the podcast. 200 US for kilo per kilo. |
| 0:42.8 | So 200 US for kilo. |
| 0:46.8 | Investigating the trade in endangered species on Facebook. |
| 0:57.7 | The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado may not have made it to Norway in time to receive her Nobel Peace Prize, |
| 1:04.2 | but once she arrived, she wasted no time in calling out the authoritarian leader of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro. |
| 1:09.7 | She said his regime was now weaker than ever, partly as a result of the actions of President Trump, |
| 1:11.4 | who on Wednesday announced the seizure of a tanker off the coast of Venezuela. And she confirmed she'd had US help in getting out of |
| 1:16.3 | the country, where she's been living in hiding. Because of delays on her journey caused by |
| 1:20.8 | rough seas, her prize was collected by her daughter. But she was given a warm welcome when she |
| 1:26.3 | finally appeared in Oslo in the early hours |
| 1:28.9 | of Thursday, her first public appearance in nearly a year. A short while later, she spoke to the BBC. |
| 1:35.6 | It certainly has been a very profound sentiment, suddenly in a matter of a few hours |
| 1:44.9 | to be able |
| 1:46.1 | to see the people |
| 1:47.7 | I love most |
... |
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