January 6, 2026 • 15 mins
Interview: What's Next For Venezuela & Venezuelans w/Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Your new day starts with the Brian Mud Show, the
news you need to start your morning in the Palm
Beaches and the Treasure Coast. Heather, Hey, Happy Tuesday, and well,
we've had just a few events that have been taking
place over the past few days.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Of course, front and center Venezuela. As we've been talking
about what has happened Morduro, his wife arraigned yesterday. They've
pled not guilty. You have a March seventeenth court tate
that has been set. Questions now about what comes next
in Venezuela, what is this going to look like? Joining
us to talk about the situation, the implications, and what
(00:45):
he would like to see happen as well. South Border
Congressman Mario Diaz Billard, good to talk with you.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Doing well? Doing well? And you know, I take a
look at the axis powers which have been chying Russia, Iran,
North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and I realized that while
we're doing better these days, uh, the effort of the
Trump administration to isolate those countries, often even from one another,
(01:19):
and this significant step to keep China at bay with Venezuela.
I imagine they're not doing nearly as well as we
are these days.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, you're right, and let's kind of goes through some
of them. You know, Iran. Iran is totally isolated now.
That regime is as weak as it's been since it
took control of that country. As you've seen, the people
are hitting the streets demonstrating massively against the regime, and
the regime is acting with you know, force against them.
(01:54):
But I think we keep reading in just an open
sources reports at the Ayatolas is starting to get very concerned.
He might even have an exist strategy just in case,
you know, he thinks that that the that the regime
is going to collapse, and he has very few allies
because his allies you mentioned them, are also all struggling,
(02:16):
with the exception of China that still continues to grow
and to become a bigger threat. But in this hemisphere,
and I am so grateful that this president and this
administration is focusing their attention in the right way. In
our own hemisphere, this alliance of evil is also in
(02:38):
a very weak state for a number of reasons. First place,
democracies around the hemisphere have rejected the radical left wing policies.
There's still a couple of countries that have it. But
the elections are going well, which is great for our
entire hemisphere in the world and those people. And then
because of this president who has been very aggressive in
(02:59):
actually demonstrating that we're serious about the national security in
the United States of America and pressuring our adversaries and
helping our allies, which is just the opposite of what
was happening under the Biden administration. Joe Biden kept doing
everything possible to have to help the enemies and United
(03:20):
States around the world, by the way, but including in
this hemisphere, and to pressure our allies. I could not
be more grateful and thankful and thrilled and supportive of
the policies of this president of our prend no doubt.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And you know, so many Venezuelans have waited for so
long for this moment to arrive, you know, since Chavez
arose to power back in ninety nine, the multiple sold
elections of Maduro since twenty thirteen, and Okay, so the
question is now what and there are lots of questions
(03:57):
about who should take that step. You have you know,
a member of the former regime who's been sworn in
and theoretically is leading the country right now. You have
a lot of folks who think that it should be
opposition leader Maria Karina Machado and she's she mentioned last
night Sewn Handy showed that she's going to be heading
(04:19):
back to Venezuela after spending over a year outside of
the country for safety concerns. President Trump maybe thrown a
little bit of cold water on that. Your thoughts about all.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
This, Yeah, look, so, so what what the president did
with with our amazing heroes of these courses and law enforcement, is.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
They went and they grabbed the top person in this
cartel that has been Excuse me, as you can tell,
I'm a bit sick here. They got the top man
in the of that cartel. That cartel is still there,
and so as you said, now they have the second
person of that cartel who's trying to keep it together.
(05:01):
But here's the difference. That person now knows that she
is exceedingly vulnerable. That if President Trump tomorrow decides that
she's gone, she's gone, and everybody else who he decides
to take out will be gone. And by the way,
what the US did, which is an amazing you know,
(05:23):
an amazing thing of going in there and actually grabs
this guy in the most fortified based military base in
the country. That's very, very difficult. I would imagine that
if the President is not satisfied with the progress being made,
that it would be a different kind of approach. It
might be just a you know, decapitation approach, right of
(05:45):
just taking people out. And they know that and.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
They're they're really really scared of President Trump. So there's
gonna have to be a period where there's a transition,
and ideally would have is that sooner or later, and
the sooner the better.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
When the conditions are safe enough, there'll be other elections,
there'll be new elections. And I'm convinced that if there
is a real election that the next Democratic that's the
president of Venezuela will be Maria Coordina, my childhood, the
person you just mentioned, which would be great for Venezuela,
would be great for the United States and the hemisphere,
for the world. But there obviously has to be a
(06:26):
process of transition, and the President has been very clear
that if he doesn't see the right things happening, and
it's very clear what some of those things are, he's
been pretty explicit, including that dismantling of that narco cartel.
The president is and nor should we accept that this
narco cartel continue to take control, run abused, destroy and
(06:53):
use as a as a haven for drug trafficking and
to help all of our enemies that great country. That
cartel can that continue to run that big country. The
question is how long and how that transition looks. But
the goal is for a transition, and the president is
using his leverage and everybody now knows that that leverage
(07:13):
is serious.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Are you surprised that the president hasn't been more vocally
supportive of Maria Maschado taking over sooner rounther than later.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I've learned that this president says things usually because he
has a plan, and and you know, the concept that
he's going to relay his plans out and open to everybody,
you know, to the media is something that this president
is very good at not doing. And so you know,
(07:51):
you recall before he took out the nuclear program in Iran,
he kept saying no, you know, different things and in
this case too Venezuela. You know, he was trying to negotiate,
He was trying to see if if Maludo would would
leave the country, you know, just without the use of force.
(08:14):
He's this is this is a person who is frankly
the best negotiator we've ever had in the White House.
And so I always remind people that the President, when
he says things, there's always a reason behind it, which
which the people may not see at that moment. So no,
I'm not concerned at all about what the president is
(08:34):
saying or doing, because look what he has accomplished already,
something that no other president had been able to do.
He's been very clear that he wants movement, and serious,
quick movement from this regime. And again, I think all
of us understand that the only real solution, permanent solution,
(08:56):
is that that cartel is no longer there and that
they have real elections. That's a country it's just super
pro American, and they're super pro American. Precisely, these United
States has shown solidarity and they're super pro Trump. And
so when there are finally elections, when the circumstances allow
(09:16):
for elections, I'm very confident what's going to happen, and
that really has to be the goal.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Talking with Congressman Mario Diez Billard, you have the president
that has taken a look at American energy interests once
again making their way in rebuilding the oil infrastructure. The
world's largest proven reserves are there, they are barely producing
(09:42):
any oil at this point. Have you heard anything any
idea about what it might take or look like for
that massive kind of commitment from American companies once again
to have the confidence that if they go in and
put the money behind it, that they won't have the
problem that they did previously.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Well, that's a very good question. So in other words,
can that massive investment take place while that cartel that
is very weak and scared and right now seems to
be willing to do whatever President Trump wants them to do,
but their goal is to stay in control obvious? Can
there be massive investment, real massive investment from the United
(10:25):
States and elsewhere with that cartel still in control. I
have my serious doubts about that. It may require that
transition to already take place before there's massive, massive, massive investments.
Keep in mind, this is a very wealthy country and
as well it was the wealthiest country in South America
who lived over twenty years ago, and not only has
(10:47):
massive oil reserves, it has goal that has every natural
resource you can imagine all that has been destroyed, by
the way, by this socialist cartel, and so I have
my doubts whether you're going to be able to have
the massive investment required that which, by the way, everybody
wants an investment as well, but they need to see
(11:09):
that those investments are secure while that cartel is in control.
I have my doubts, which is why this period of
transition is very, very crucial. It's going to be very,
very important. But again I have such faith in the president.
He has set time and time again that this cartel
cannot be in charge of that country. He's made an
(11:30):
amazing first step, and I think we're way on the
We're well on the way of having a totally different
setup in that country. It's going to require ultimately elections,
but those elections have to be clean, they have to
be safe. There's got to be security. Uh So there's
a lot of work to do between now and then.
But again I'm very confident in this administration and this president,
(11:54):
our administration and our president.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
What about the partisan nature of this, you know, the
default position of the left topicous League has been whatever
Trump does is as bad as evil. Whatever in the
immediate aftermath, you did have Congresswoman de Wie Watson and
Schultz who put out a note that was seemingly supportive.
Everything that we have seen since, you know, it has
(12:17):
been to the contrary by by Democrats. You have the
left saying it's illegal and any number of other things,
or in old hearings this and that. What do you
make of alve it that this is so partisan to them?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
It's beyond partisan. It's it's sick, it really is. It's
it's a it's an illness. Look, this guy little is
basically the same as El Chapo Memael Chopo, the Mexican
drug dealer that was you know, by the way, who's
serving in prison sentence in the United States. This guy,
(12:52):
my little is was is. I mean, obviously he's now
been captured the largest rug in the entire planet. He's
ahead of a cartel, the Cartel of the Suns, that
is involved in drugs and human trafficking and everything you
can imagine. It had it is responsible for the death
(13:12):
of more Americans because of the poison that they've been
sent in to the United States. And Alcata and isis combined.
But I'm convinced that if if you know, Al Chapo
for example, would have taken over Mexico using you know,
terror and force, which is, you know, almost what he
had done. And President Trump got al Chapo and brought
(13:33):
him to justice, that they would criticize that as well.
They have become ill And recall that this guy during
the Biden administration had a twenty five million dollar bounty
on his head, you know, for his capture, the same
guy that now Trump grabbed and brought to the United States.
So Biden was supporting that bounty and the capture. They
(13:57):
he set a public all the time, so did all
of the Democrats. But when the president, when President Trump
actually does what they were incapable, unwilling, or incompetent to do,
then they flip out and they object to it. It
has gotten that it's become really scary because this is
obviously a hugely important thing that just took place. It
(14:20):
was done in a way that frankly, they're going to
be movies made of this, right And the fact that
the Democrats aren't cheering it just tells you how perverse
they had become in their objections and their opposition to
President Trump. But the damage that this is doing to
our national security interests into our country is really really dramatic,
(14:43):
and so it's really sad. It just tells you that
this Trump arrangement syndrome is real, but unfortunately it has
inflicted pretty much, with the handful of exceptions, all of
the Democrats in the United States of America in leadership position.
I'm not going to the people out there. I'm talking
about the Democrats and leadership position.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Positions also highlights the importance of this year's midterm election cycle.
For sure, I've got good news for you. You sound
a heck of a lot better than you probably think
you do, and I hope you do feel better soon.
Thank you so much for taking the time. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Thank you. Sure, I apologize for my voice. I'm a
little bit under the weather, but we got a lot
of work to do. And you know, I'm proud of
our president. I'm proud of the United States military. The
best days are ahead, and thank god that the American
people did the wise thing to elect this president. And
you're right, if we were to lose the House in
the midterms, we're going to spend the next two years
(15:43):
of just they're going to just be impeaching and guiding
President Trump. But we're gonna work hards that doesn't happen
Your new day starts with the Brian Mud Show, the
news you need to start your morning in the Palm
Beaches and the Treasure Coast. Heather, Hey, Happy Tuesday, and well,
we've had just a few events that have been taking
place over the past few days.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Of course, front and center Venezuela. As we've been talking
about what has happened Morduro, his wife arraigned yesterday. They've
pled not guilty. You have a March seventeenth court tate
that has been set. Questions now about what comes next
in Venezuela, what is this going to look like? Joining
us to talk about the situation, the implications, and what
(00:45):
he would like to see happen as well. South Border
Congressman Mario Diaz Billard, good to talk with you.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Doing well? Doing well? And you know, I take a
look at the axis powers which have been chying Russia, Iran,
North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and I realized that while
we're doing better these days, uh, the effort of the
Trump administration to isolate those countries, often even from one another,
(01:19):
and this significant step to keep China at bay with Venezuela.
I imagine they're not doing nearly as well as we
are these days.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, you're right, and let's kind of goes through some
of them. You know, Iran. Iran is totally isolated now.
That regime is as weak as it's been since it
took control of that country. As you've seen, the people
are hitting the streets demonstrating massively against the regime, and
the regime is acting with you know, force against them.
(01:54):
But I think we keep reading in just an open
sources reports at the Ayatolas is starting to get very concerned.
He might even have an exist strategy just in case,
you know, he thinks that that the that the regime
is going to collapse, and he has very few allies
because his allies you mentioned them, are also all struggling,
(02:16):
with the exception of China that still continues to grow
and to become a bigger threat. But in this hemisphere,
and I am so grateful that this president and this
administration is focusing their attention in the right way. In
our own hemisphere, this alliance of evil is also in
(02:38):
a very weak state for a number of reasons. First place,
democracies around the hemisphere have rejected the radical left wing policies.
There's still a couple of countries that have it. But
the elections are going well, which is great for our
entire hemisphere in the world and those people. And then
because of this president who has been very aggressive in
(02:59):
actually demonstrating that we're serious about the national security in
the United States of America and pressuring our adversaries and
helping our allies, which is just the opposite of what
was happening under the Biden administration. Joe Biden kept doing
everything possible to have to help the enemies and United
(03:20):
States around the world, by the way, but including in
this hemisphere, and to pressure our allies. I could not
be more grateful and thankful and thrilled and supportive of
the policies of this president of our prend no doubt.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And you know, so many Venezuelans have waited for so
long for this moment to arrive, you know, since Chavez
arose to power back in ninety nine, the multiple sold
elections of Maduro since twenty thirteen, and Okay, so the
question is now what and there are lots of questions
(03:57):
about who should take that step. You have you know,
a member of the former regime who's been sworn in
and theoretically is leading the country right now. You have
a lot of folks who think that it should be
opposition leader Maria Karina Machado and she's she mentioned last
night Sewn Handy showed that she's going to be heading
(04:19):
back to Venezuela after spending over a year outside of
the country for safety concerns. President Trump maybe thrown a
little bit of cold water on that. Your thoughts about all.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
This, Yeah, look, so, so what what the president did
with with our amazing heroes of these courses and law enforcement, is.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
They went and they grabbed the top person in this
cartel that has been Excuse me, as you can tell,
I'm a bit sick here. They got the top man
in the of that cartel. That cartel is still there,
and so as you said, now they have the second
person of that cartel who's trying to keep it together.
(05:01):
But here's the difference. That person now knows that she
is exceedingly vulnerable. That if President Trump tomorrow decides that
she's gone, she's gone, and everybody else who he decides
to take out will be gone. And by the way,
what the US did, which is an amazing you know,
(05:23):
an amazing thing of going in there and actually grabs
this guy in the most fortified based military base in
the country. That's very, very difficult. I would imagine that
if the President is not satisfied with the progress being made,
that it would be a different kind of approach. It
might be just a you know, decapitation approach, right of
(05:45):
just taking people out. And they know that and.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
They're they're really really scared of President Trump. So there's
gonna have to be a period where there's a transition,
and ideally would have is that sooner or later, and
the sooner the better.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
When the conditions are safe enough, there'll be other elections,
there'll be new elections. And I'm convinced that if there
is a real election that the next Democratic that's the
president of Venezuela will be Maria Coordina, my childhood, the
person you just mentioned, which would be great for Venezuela,
would be great for the United States and the hemisphere,
for the world. But there obviously has to be a
(06:26):
process of transition, and the President has been very clear
that if he doesn't see the right things happening, and
it's very clear what some of those things are, he's
been pretty explicit, including that dismantling of that narco cartel.
The president is and nor should we accept that this
narco cartel continue to take control, run abused, destroy and
(06:53):
use as a as a haven for drug trafficking and
to help all of our enemies that great country. That
cartel can that continue to run that big country. The
question is how long and how that transition looks. But
the goal is for a transition, and the president is
using his leverage and everybody now knows that that leverage
(07:13):
is serious.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Are you surprised that the president hasn't been more vocally
supportive of Maria Maschado taking over sooner rounther than later.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I've learned that this president says things usually because he
has a plan, and and you know, the concept that
he's going to relay his plans out and open to everybody,
you know, to the media is something that this president
is very good at not doing. And so you know,
(07:51):
you recall before he took out the nuclear program in Iran,
he kept saying no, you know, different things and in
this case too Venezuela. You know, he was trying to negotiate,
He was trying to see if if Maludo would would
leave the country, you know, just without the use of force.
(08:14):
He's this is this is a person who is frankly
the best negotiator we've ever had in the White House.
And so I always remind people that the President, when
he says things, there's always a reason behind it, which
which the people may not see at that moment. So no,
I'm not concerned at all about what the president is
(08:34):
saying or doing, because look what he has accomplished already,
something that no other president had been able to do.
He's been very clear that he wants movement, and serious,
quick movement from this regime. And again, I think all
of us understand that the only real solution, permanent solution,
(08:56):
is that that cartel is no longer there and that
they have real elections. That's a country it's just super
pro American, and they're super pro American. Precisely, these United
States has shown solidarity and they're super pro Trump. And
so when there are finally elections, when the circumstances allow
(09:16):
for elections, I'm very confident what's going to happen, and
that really has to be the goal.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Talking with Congressman Mario Diez Billard, you have the president
that has taken a look at American energy interests once
again making their way in rebuilding the oil infrastructure. The
world's largest proven reserves are there, they are barely producing
(09:42):
any oil at this point. Have you heard anything any
idea about what it might take or look like for
that massive kind of commitment from American companies once again
to have the confidence that if they go in and
put the money behind it, that they won't have the
problem that they did previously.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Well, that's a very good question. So in other words,
can that massive investment take place while that cartel that
is very weak and scared and right now seems to
be willing to do whatever President Trump wants them to do,
but their goal is to stay in control obvious? Can
there be massive investment, real massive investment from the United
(10:25):
States and elsewhere with that cartel still in control. I
have my serious doubts about that. It may require that
transition to already take place before there's massive, massive, massive investments.
Keep in mind, this is a very wealthy country and
as well it was the wealthiest country in South America
who lived over twenty years ago, and not only has
(10:47):
massive oil reserves, it has goal that has every natural
resource you can imagine all that has been destroyed, by
the way, by this socialist cartel, and so I have
my doubts whether you're going to be able to have
the massive investment required that which, by the way, everybody
wants an investment as well, but they need to see
(11:09):
that those investments are secure while that cartel is in control.
I have my doubts, which is why this period of
transition is very, very crucial. It's going to be very,
very important. But again I have such faith in the president.
He has set time and time again that this cartel
cannot be in charge of that country. He's made an
(11:30):
amazing first step, and I think we're way on the
We're well on the way of having a totally different
setup in that country. It's going to require ultimately elections,
but those elections have to be clean, they have to
be safe. There's got to be security. Uh So there's
a lot of work to do between now and then.
But again I'm very confident in this administration and this president,
(11:54):
our administration and our president.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
What about the partisan nature of this, you know, the
default position of the left topicous League has been whatever
Trump does is as bad as evil. Whatever in the
immediate aftermath, you did have Congresswoman de Wie Watson and
Schultz who put out a note that was seemingly supportive.
Everything that we have seen since, you know, it has
(12:17):
been to the contrary by by Democrats. You have the
left saying it's illegal and any number of other things,
or in old hearings this and that. What do you
make of alve it that this is so partisan to them?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
It's beyond partisan. It's it's sick, it really is. It's
it's a it's an illness. Look, this guy little is
basically the same as El Chapo Memael Chopo, the Mexican
drug dealer that was you know, by the way, who's
serving in prison sentence in the United States. This guy,
(12:52):
my little is was is. I mean, obviously he's now
been captured the largest rug in the entire planet. He's
ahead of a cartel, the Cartel of the Suns, that
is involved in drugs and human trafficking and everything you
can imagine. It had it is responsible for the death
(13:12):
of more Americans because of the poison that they've been
sent in to the United States. And Alcata and isis combined.
But I'm convinced that if if you know, Al Chapo
for example, would have taken over Mexico using you know,
terror and force, which is, you know, almost what he
had done. And President Trump got al Chapo and brought
(13:33):
him to justice, that they would criticize that as well.
They have become ill And recall that this guy during
the Biden administration had a twenty five million dollar bounty
on his head, you know, for his capture, the same
guy that now Trump grabbed and brought to the United States.
So Biden was supporting that bounty and the capture. They
(13:57):
he set a public all the time, so did all
of the Democrats. But when the president, when President Trump
actually does what they were incapable, unwilling, or incompetent to do,
then they flip out and they object to it. It
has gotten that it's become really scary because this is
obviously a hugely important thing that just took place. It
(14:20):
was done in a way that frankly, they're going to
be movies made of this, right And the fact that
the Democrats aren't cheering it just tells you how perverse
they had become in their objections and their opposition to
President Trump. But the damage that this is doing to
our national security interests into our country is really really dramatic,
(14:43):
and so it's really sad. It just tells you that
this Trump arrangement syndrome is real, but unfortunately it has
inflicted pretty much, with the handful of exceptions, all of
the Democrats in the United States of America in leadership position.
I'm not going to the people out there. I'm talking
about the Democrats and leadership position.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Positions also highlights the importance of this year's midterm election cycle.
For sure, I've got good news for you. You sound
a heck of a lot better than you probably think
you do, and I hope you do feel better soon.
Thank you so much for taking the time. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Thank you. Sure, I apologize for my voice. I'm a
little bit under the weather, but we got a lot
of work to do. And you know, I'm proud of
our president. I'm proud of the United States military. The
best days are ahead, and thank god that the American
people did the wise thing to elect this president. And
you're right, if we were to lose the House in
the midterms, we're going to spend the next two years
(15:43):
of just they're going to just be impeaching and guiding
President Trump. But we're gonna work hards that doesn't happen
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