now on bbc news, that is very interesting about what you ve said about the deals for amnesty. it s hardtalk with stephen sackur. as i understand it, the offer, when the americans and people around maduro were having their talks, welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. covert or otherwise with the inner circle, the deal was that a week ago, venezuela s opposition if you turn on maduro, was confident that the socialist regime led by nicolas maduro we guarantee that you will keep your was in its death throes. topjobs in the military well, they and their allies and the security services and indeed in the trump administration the supreme court as well, were wrong. ie you will remain in position, despite the fact that we ve been describing you as part of the criminal gang running venezuela we are prepared to let you keep yourjobs. how do you think ordinary venezuelans would react maduro still occupies to that deal? the presidential palace, even if opposition leader juan guaido
i m stephen sackur. there was a time last year when it seemed that president maduro‘s grip on power in venezuela was loosening. yet here we are, two months away from a presidential election with maduro oozing confidence and his opponents seemingly in disarray. my guest today is one diehard anti regime activist, david smolansky, who was the mayor of a district in caracas until he fled the country to escape a jail term for aiding the street protests last year. why does venezuela s opposition so consistently promise more than it delivers? david smolansky in washington, dc. welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me. we re glad to have you on the show, albeit via satellite in washington, dc. how does it feel to be a venezuelan, a politician, an activist who currently is living in the us capital? do you feel uncomfortable? obviously it is not comfortable because i want to be in my country. i am a public servant. i was removed from office with no justification at all.
time for hardtalk welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. there was a time last year when it seemed that president maduro‘s grip on power in venezuela was loosening. yet here we are, two months away from a presidential election with maduro oozing confidence and his opponents seemingly in disarray. my guest today is one diehard anti regime activist, david smolansky, who was the mayor of a district in caracas until he fled the country to escape a jail term for aiding the street protests last year. why does venezuela s opposition so consistently promise more than it delivers? david smolansky in washington, dc, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me. we re glad to have you on the show, albeit via satellite in washington, dc. how does it feel to be a venezuelan, a politician, an activist who currently is living in the us capital? do you feel uncomfortable? obviously it is not comfortable because i want to be in my country. i am a public servant. i was removed fr
attacks on the president, describing his administration as reckless, outrageous and undignified. that was from senatorjeff flake of arizona who announced he would not seek re election and would not remain silent or complicit. earlier, another senator, bob corker, described president trump as an utterly untruthful president and said he had also decided not to seek re election next year. peter bowes reports. a hostile reception on many fronts. donald trump arrived on capitol hill to talk about tax reform with republican leaders, but he had to run the gauntlet. a protester accusing him of being treasonous. treason! treason! it was a minor outburst can pad with what was to come. a searing takedown from the floor of the senate. i rise today to address a matter which has been very much on my mind. at a moment when it seems that our democracy is more defined wire discord and our dysfunction than by our own values and st and principles. dysfunction than by our own values and st
russia has demanded the us provide evidence of its claim that chemical weapons were stored at a syrian air base targeted in a missile strike on friday. meanwhile, the uk foreign secretary, borisjohnson, said the chemical attack has fundamentally changed the situation in syria. he has called off a visit to moscow. the us secretary of state has had a phone conversation with his russian counterpart ahead of face to face talks next week. this was president trump s message to the syrian government and its russian backers yesterday, delivered with force. the united states and her allies reject syrian denials they used a chemical weapon against civilians, including children. now britain s followed up with a diplomatic rebuke. boris johnson s called off talks in moscow on monday and issued a written statement instead. developments in syria have changed the situation fundamentally. the planned visit by borisjohnson to moscow would have been the first by any british foreign secretary f