Fear and Silence in Venezuela Amid Political Tensions (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: We are trying to ask Venezuelans how they feel about the situation in the country. No, thank you. Not a word. Why do you think people don't want to talk or want, as in your case, to be alone, anonymously?

[00:00:14] Speaker 2: Fear.

[00:00:16] Speaker 1: Fear is always in the mind of Venezuela, especially living under an authoritarian rule. And fear of whom?

[00:00:24] Speaker 2: I prefer not to talk.

[00:00:26] Speaker 1: Do you think there is fear or fear of expressing yourself freely in the country? There has always been. Most recently, a state of emergency decree has allowed the police to search and capture those who support U.S. attacks. In Mérida, Venezuela, two men were arrested after allegedly celebrating the capture of Nicolás Maduro. For those willing to speak on camera, they say they were skeptical about the U.S. intervention.

[00:00:54] Speaker 2: I don't agree at all with the U.S. intervention. The fact is that they didn't take Nicolás Maduro. The fact is that they want our oil for free. We are a colony. We don't want to be a colony.

[00:01:11] Speaker 1: There are people who can be happy, others who can be sad. But I think we have to be calm because we, as citizens, can't do anything.