Welcome to hardtalk, im stephen sackur. Venezuelas political and economic crisis is precariously poised. The Maduro Regime is determined to rewrite the constitution to strengthen its grip on power. The opposition is intent on using mass protest to bring the government down. The current stand off is not sustainable, but which side will prevail . My guest is isaias medina, until last month the venezuelan diplomat at the un. Now an anti maduro dissident. Can maduro outlast his enemies . Isaias medina, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Thank you so much, stephen. I would like to express my gratitude not only to you personally but to hardtalk and the bbc for representing objectively the hardships that the venezuelan people are living in right now in my country. Well, lets examine the situation in your country in some detail. Lets start with a simple explanation, if you like. Why did you change sides . Because for the last couple of years, youve been a diplomat at the United Nations, representing venezuela and the venezuelan government. And a month ago you decided to jump ship. Why . To begin with, i do not endorse corruption, Drug Trafficking, Terrorist Ties, or the illegal detain of political prisoners, and, even less, murders of students in the street. And as almagro has said, silence is the biggest partner of impunity, and im a fighter against impunity. And in the last 100. Acutally, four months, it has become undeniable that maduros regime is violating human rights, and also has compromised the crimes. And committed Crimes Against Humanity. And all of this is shown not only the High Commissioner of the United Nations in his last report, but also by almagros third report that shows tortures and so on. Therefore i could not remain silent. Right. Well, we will go into those allegations in some detail. But before we do, ijust remain a little bit confused, cos you served the venezuelan government from 2015 to 2017. During that period, of course, mr maduro was president of your country. We know, and i know from personal experience, that the locking up of political opponents was happening long before you decided to make your stand, so were many of the other things that youve made allegations about. So, i still want to know what prompted you to jump ship now . Was it simply because you think maduros days are numbered and you want to make sure youre on the right side, as it were . To begin with, i hope youre right and his days are numbered, but what i would like to make clear is that i work for my country. And working for my country in the sixth committee of International Law and, of course, Environmental Issues that are very important for our planet. I did not see it coming in such a way, such as i believe the International Community did not, or was not aware of how far maduros regime could take this, and the last four months have been evident that its undeniable. And i would have to say social media has had a great impact on the images of the Police Aggression and repression against students of the resistance, which are the heroes of change in venezuela. They have also changed me, i had to not only speak out but i had to stand up for their rights and to make sure that i can bring awareness and raise consciousness to the International Community. Right, but the specific allegations you make, that maduro has ties to terrorist organisations, to drug traffickers, that his forces and, again, im quoting you directly, have used rape as a torture tool, that he has an arsenal of weapons that you believe could end up in the hands of terrorists and drugs warlords, all of these things make me wonder how you could possibly sit there for two years under maduros governance of your country representing venezuela. Wasnt there just a fundamental hypocrisy that you presumably were happy to live with for two years . Well, it is your opinion. I do respect it. But i do not agree with it, due to the fact that i was working for my country with the International Community, after i have seen all these images. And also, i believe that the profound humanitarian crisis in my country led me to try to get help for a humanitarian corridor, with the Order Of Malta and when i brought it to the awareness of my authorities theyjust did not care about it because they didnt want to accept the situation in venezuela. That kickstarted my impression. And then i heard my permanent representative of venezuela, rafael ramirez, say that there was no humanitarian crisis. Therefore, i had to step out of my work in the International Community and start working and investigating what is really happening in my country. And the investigations, as you have said, had led me, and not only me, the International Community has been clear, even after my resignation, the us sanctions clearly establish that this. Maduros regime has established clear ties to drug dealing, Terrorist Ties, state terrorism, corruption, money laundering. And i think this is very clear. Hang on. We dont want to introduce too many different topics at once. Were gonna get to those specific allegations and to sanctions in a moment. Just sticking with nicolas maduro, whos at the centre of this, forjust one more question. It is important to remember, is it not, that the man has a democratic mandate . He won an election in late 2013. He has a mandate which lasts until the end of 2018. If you are a democrat, that surely matters. It matters as long as, first of all, its a real election. Second of all, if you do not delegitimise yourself by attacking your population, your civilians, like hes doing. And, third of all, you do not commit unconstitutional acts. Even further, there was another mandate on the 16th ofjuly, which, by my humble legal opinion, article 70 of the National Constitution of venezuela establishes as binding. And the National Assembly, that was elected democratically again in 2015, also has convened 7. 5 million signatures to be able to revoke maduros mandate, and repudiate the Constituents Assembly that he has fraudulently and illegally convened. Well, of course, he and his government would say he got 8 million votes for their Constituent Assembly, which outstrips your 7 million votes, or 6 million votes, for an opposition initiative. So, we can bandy around the figures, but the bottom line is the Constituent Assembly is now in place, and you, if i may characterise you as a voice in the opposition, you have to decide what to do now. Is it your belief that the opposition on the streets, the mass protests, the attempt to topple the government by the street, must that continue . Yes. And, first of all, stephen, i dont think they got 8 million. And thats very clear also for the fraudulent scheme that they have planned. Not even chavez in his best moments got 8 million votes. And maduro, for sure, hes in his worst popular moment. I dont even think he got 10 12 , thats not even 2 million votes. Its a shameful scheme and sham that theyre trying to portray. Yes, i do believe that the resistance should stay in the streets, day by day, fighting for their rights. Theyve done a greatjob so far, even though it is so sad to see the murder, 130 140 people so far in four months. Yeah, well, let me stop you there. You put that fact in. Its a very important fact. The circumstances of some of those deaths are still unclear. But we know that more than 100 people have died, and that many of them appear to have been killed by maduros security forces. I wonder, you know, you sit there right now in miami, and i dare say a fairly comfortable spot, what do you say to the mothers and fathers of those young people who are losing their lives on The Streets Of Caracas and other venezuelan towns and cities, when they say to you, is it worth it . Is it worth my son, my daughter, dying for an Opposition Campaign which, frankly, at the moment, doesnt seem to know quite where its going . To begin with, i dont believe this is an Opposition Campaign. This is already the resistance of the people of venezuela. Citizens, normal citizens, are out there trying to fight for their own future. And the only thing i can say to the mothers and fathers of the lost students is my humble solidarity, and of course they are heroes and liberators of the regime, that is an International Criminal organisation that has hijacked the country. And the only way out is through people like the resistance and these wonderful Young Students that are fighting in the street to come back to the rule of law. Youre an International Lawyer and youre a diplomat. You sit there in your civilian clothes. But the real question i suppose in venezuela is whether the people in Military Uniform are going tojoin, as you put it, the resistance against the Maduro Regime. Some Opposition Politicians have sent coded messages to the military saying it is time for you to stand up and be counted. Do you now believe the time has come for the armed forces, the people inside the armed forces, to rebel against their commanders and their Commander In Chief . It is their duty to do so. Article three, 33 and 350 of the venezuelan constitution empowers not only the military but also ordinary citizens when there is a regime that undermines human rights. We must step up and do whatever it takes. And i think its time now for the military to stand up. We saw last sunday how a fraction of also militaries, former militaries, have taken up arms, and i think this will raise the level, raise the bar of this assymetrical, disproportionate use of weapons by maduros regime. Youre advocating insurrection, mutiny and treason. A month ago you were representing the venezuelan government. It seems pretty extraordinary. Once again, i represent my country, its called venezuela. And, i must say, Civil Rebellion is in article 350. I certainly am calling for that. And you know, if i may say so, you know what the consequence because we also know at substantial chunk of the country, and you know, if i may say so, you know what the consequence will be terrible, terrible bloodshed. Because we also know at substantial chunk of the country, including those who have access to weaponry, are still passionately and deeply committed to defending the Socialist Revolution and the maduro government. So, your position seems to me one which is only going to lead to one thing, which is a bloody civil war. Well, there has been a bloody situation in venezuela for 18 years. As you are aware, 350,000 people have died in this period for criminal and violent crimes. 30,000 every year. So it has already begun. It is just a matter of how to stop this criminal organisation that has hijacked the country. I dont think there is a way out through dialogue. They just stall and delay these dialogues because they have nowhere to run. Its not an ordinary situation, stephen. And we must be clear about that. This is not an ordinary government or an ideology. It is a criminal organisation that has Terrorist Ties and Drug Trafficking ties. So this makes a huge difference on what their objectives and their agenda is. You say theres no more room for dialogue, assuming therefore that you think that direct physical confrontation is the only inevitable outcome. I just wonder whether you pause for a moment to think about the 85 of your countrymen and women who are currently living in poverty, children whose Malnutrition Rates are soaring across venezuela, Maternal Mortality rates going through the roof. Children, we see the terrible images of them scavenging for food in the garbage cans. Do you really think that violent confrontation is going to help them deal with their day to day economic crisis . Im sorry to say that you are not only right, but that maduros regime has been killing the people, not only from hunger, lack of medicine and treatment, but also in the street. And i wish there was another way out. That is why i called the International Community for an International Humanitarian intervention. And i think. Honestly, i think about this every day, of an alternative. But they dont seem to be able to want to offer real negotiation. That is why i believe maduro should capitulate, and he should be accountable to the International Criminal court. Yes, but we have to deal in the real world. I mean, there is no sign he is going to capitulate. The commander of his armed forces has also declared his absolute loyalty to the stability of the current government, so capitulation is not on the agenda. You have talked about your desire to see an immediate International Humanitarian intervention. I wonder what you mean by that. Do you mean you want to see people come into venezuela from outside, with arms armed forces . Well, so far, what we have seen is students with Sticks And Stones fighting disproportionate use of force by the maduros regime. So they are shooting and killing demonstrators. And i dont think the effort has been great by the international media. But in reality, as you said, there is no way to defeat bullets against stones. It is a Textbook David against goliath. I believe we are going to win, if at the end of the day, as you have seen. Now, it is going to be another confrontation. Is there another way out . I would like to hear what you think about it, because i dont see it. Well, i am more interested about what you think, particularly about this notion of intervention. We have seen in recent days Donald Trumps administration slapped new sanctions on maduro personally, and some of his key associates. They say they are going to do more. But what they havent done yet is put direct sanctions on Venezuelas Oil exports. The eu, as well, have come up with some harsh words, but it hasnt actually imposed serious sanctions on nicolas maduros regime yet. So are you satisfied with what you are seeing . And we can talk about latin america, too. Are you satisfied with what you are seeing from the International Community, when it comes to a response to what is happening inside your country . I am gratefulfor the response and sanctions from the us and the eu. I believe also yesterdays Lima Declaration was incredibly effective, and also other countries in other regions should manifest and express the same support to the legal National Assembly that was elected in 2015. But i will not be satisfied until this regime stops oppressing and killing, and leaves venezuelans to choose their own government. But, when you appealed to the International Community, you allow maduro to use this word which was used before him, and now used by maduro imperialismo. That is what the chavismo regime is saying today. They say that, yet again, the United States is undertaking plotting and conspiracy to bring down the Socialist Revolution, and your message plays into their hands. This is like gaslight psychological policy from maduro. He is trying to divert the reality. He is the only dictator, totalitarian emperor, that is ruling by oppressing his own people. There is no imperialism in the International Community trying to help 30 million venezuelans hijacked by an International Criminal organisation. What do you make of those leftist politicians in europe, for example, and we have one in the uk, the Leader Of The Opposition labour party, jeremy corbyn, who have long been friends, sympathisers with, the Socialist Revolution in venezuela, and who are these days very careful in their words about the venezuela crisis . For example, the other day mr corbyn wouldnt name mr maduro directly. He said i condemn all the violence from all sides. He says we have to recognise that there have been effective and serious attempts at reducing poverty in venezuela. You know, is that satisfactory, as far as you are concerned, from a leading western politician in response to the crisis . Not at all, and it is impossible to defend the undefendable. When you can see clearly the violation of human rights and the Crimes Against Humanity that have been committed in the last four months, it is impossible to defend the quote unquote socialist utopia. It is actually a dystopia. It is unsustainable. You can see the Inflation Maduro has actually done something incredible. He has converted venezuela to be the first country in corruption, inflation, violence. And this is completely unsustainable, and it is unacceptable. So i think that the. Your p