Breno Altman: “President, what do you say to those who claim there was fraud on July 28?”

Nicolás Maduro: “This is not the first time, there is nothing new. Since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution, we’ve been accused of something that’s impossible to do, Venezuela has built an electoral system that is absolutely auditable. Tell me, where in the world is there an electoral system that is audited 15 times? There have been 15 audits! Before, during and after the process, only in Venezuela."

Nicolás Maduro: “So, simply put, our people know, the institutions know, the Supreme Court of Justice has made a tremendous assessment of the process and it has been shown, as in the 31 previous elections we have held - we have held 31 elections in 25 years, a world record - it has been shown, as in the 31 previous elections, that this is a process in which popular sovereignty has prevailed.”

Breno Altman: “President Lula’s government in my country, Brazil, didn’t recognize your victory on July 28 either, but sent a diplomatic representation to your inauguration. Do you think the crisis with Brazil can be overcome in the short term?”

Nicolás Maduro: “There has been no crisis with Brazil, there is no crisis and there will be no crisis. There are simply differences between the foreign ministries, differences with advisors; from there, from here. And, well, the obligation of President Lula and President Nicolás Maduro is to understand each other’s countries, turn the page, see the new scenario of world geopolitics, the situation of Our America and prioritize relations between Brazil and Venezuela, peaceful relations, of cooperation, of brotherhood, of economic progress.”

Nicolás Maduro: “If you only knew how many investors from Brazil are coming to Venezuela, in the oil, gas, petrochemical, energy and tourism sectors. We have this path mapped out and if there are differences of opinion, the only way is to talk, to communicate. Our Foreign Minister is in constant and fluid communication with Foreign Minister Mauro (Vieira). The only way, the only path we have is that of understanding, for Latin America, for the Caribbean, for peace and for the development of our countries.”

Breno Altman: “President, what does the change of government in the United States, from Democrat Joe Biden to Republican Donald Trump, mean for Venezuela? Do you think the new president will repeat the aggressive policy of his first term, from 2017 to 2021, when he even threatened Venezuela with military aggression?”

Nicolás Maduro: “You ask: what does this mean for Venezuela? I’ll tell you that for Venezuela it means an opportunity to open the door to a new type of relationship in which everyone wins. That’s what it means for us.”

Berno Altman: “And for the world?”

Nicolás Maduro: “For the world, it means big changes that are in full swing, and we will certainly see turbulence, problems, but also the recognition that there is already a multicentric, pluripolar world, and that the pluripolar multicentric world will prevail, and we hope that what President Trump has offered will be fulfilled: that there will be peace, that there will be no more war, that there will be an end to war and that all other issues will be resolved through diplomacy and peace.”

Berno Altman: “There are sectors of the left that criticize you for adopting liberal measures in the economy. How do you respond to this kind of criticism?”

Nicolás Maduro: “Well, I would have to listen to the criticism, because after an economic war that is still going on, after a blockade that is still going on, you have to see if you have produced or not produced, because many people criticize, I listen to them all, I study them all and if I find any reason, any criticism, in practice, in action, I give the reason and make the rectification. But we’ve taken care to build our own economic plan and I can proudly say, as I said on January 10 when I took office, that our economic thinking at this stage is Made in Venezuela, it’s our own, here we don’t apply policies from either the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, we have nothing to do with neoliberalism, neither that of the fascist Milei, nor neoliberalism in the style of the Monetary Fund.”

Nicolás Maduro: “Here in Venezuela, everything that is done is done in national dialogue, we have great consensus on economic matters and we can be proud of having built our own path with our own thinking, in the midst of the most terrible economic war that has been waged against us, from within and from outside, in the midst of economic sanctions that have caused us to lose 99% of our income. So don’t underestimate us any longer, we have some ability. They should give the people of Venezuela a Nobel Prize for Economics.”