{"id":223001,"date":"2026-01-08T09:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223001\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:47:11","slug":"on-the-ground-in-venezuela-after-trumps-operation-podcast-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223001\/","title":{"rendered":"On the ground in Venezuela after Trump\u2019s \u2018operation\u2019 \u2013 podcast | Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m a bit of an insomniac. So at almost 2am, I was awake, actually, and the first explosion, I swear I thought it was an earthquake.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Anna (not her real name), a journalist based in Caracas, it took some time for the realisation to dawn on her that the US had attacked Venezuela\u2019s capital. \u201cBut then when the explosions continued in the following 20 minutes, one after the other, something deep down told me, you know, it\u2019s the Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anna describes to Helen Pidd the atmosphere on the streets of Caracas and the nervousness that many continue to feel about the regime. She explains how the new political and economic dynamic is consistent with the lack of autonomy felt by many Venezuelans for years and offers a warning to the rest of the world about a future where more countries experience the loss of their democracy.<\/p>\n

Tom Phillips, the Guardian\u2019s Latin America correspondent, describes to Helen the apprehension and mixed feelings among Venezuelans crossing the border with Colombia. He outlines the mistrust and fragility within the new leadership, the disappointment of the opposition movement, and how considerations regarding the country\u2019s oil reserves may have shaped the US\u2019s political calculations. Finally the pair discuss the intense depth of the deprivation that still grips the country.<\/p>\n

Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com\/todayinfocuspod<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Supporters Photograph: Ronald Pena R\/EPA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m a bit of an insomniac. So at almost 2am, I was awake, actually, and the first explosion,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-223001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}