►美國抓完馬杜羅，下一個輪誰？為何川普抓馬杜羅「站得住腳」?◄中英對照|即時新聞|學習道地口語表達

Okay, let's bring in Victoria Coates, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Heritage Foundation VP of National Security. Great to see you this morning, Victoria. Thank you for joining us. So, what do you make of what you're seeing this morning? This is really a new day for the Western Hemisphere, and this is so much bigger than Venezuela. What the purpose of this mission was to take out Nicolas Maduro, who as Wes was just pointing out is an indicted criminal. He's not just the head of state of Venezuela. He's an indicted criminal under U.S. law. So this was entirely authorized by the president under Article 2. And it's very typical of President Trump that he does a surgical strike to take out a high value target like the Iranian nuclear program, like Qasem Soleimani in January of 2020. Get him out of the country and he's going to try him under U.S. law. But as I said, this is broader than Venezuela. We've been talking about Cuba all morning. Cuba may now collapse. That's 90 miles off of the shores of Florida. That is a direct threat to the United States. We could get rid of that hostile communist regime at long last, 60 short years later. So I think this is a huge day for the United States. It is just a new dawn for the Western Hemisphere. What would be the impetus for Cuba to collapse in the wake of this? Well, it would be economic, because since the fall of the Soviet Union, which was Cuba's old patron, Venezuela has been supplying Cuba with cheap oil. And the island has been so hideously mismanaged economically that that is their lifeline at this point. So if that is cut off by the new interim government, which I hope is is being run by Maria Corina Machado, that that then could be the end for the communist regime in Cuba. And Cuba could once again become a good friend to the United States. So strategically, this is a great benefit to us. Victoria, currently the regional nations, but also globally, there's been a very muted response. We haven't heard specifically from Iran and China and even Russia regarding this. What do you think the response today from the international community, what do you think we can expect? Nicole, I think it's going to stay pretty muted, because just as with the Iran strike, these are capabilities no other country has, including China and Russia. They can't do this kind of activity. They're just not capable. And when the president exercises that kind of exquisite capability and they see what we we can do in terms of advancing our own interests, there's really not much much response that they have. And so just as you saw very little out of China and Russia around the B2 strike on Iran, I don't think there's going to be much on this. Hey, Victoria, you said it's bigger Venezuela. I agree. I want to take you, though, to Mexico. Mexico is a big question mark in all of this. Twenty three minutes ago, Claudia Scheinbaum, the president of Mexico, simply appearing to condemn what has happened because she cites Article two, paragraph four of the Charter of the United Nations, which says the members of the organization in their international relations shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. So that's not a direct condemnation, Victoria, but it is suggesting that she doesn't approve of what has taken place. That comes, by the way, in the full context of the fact that the Trump administration has not recognized Maduro as a legitimate leader or his regime as a legitimate government of Venezuela. No, that's that's a really important point. Last last July, Secretary Rubio put out a statement on the anniversary of the stolen Venezuelan election, saying Maduro is not the legitimate head of state of Venezuela. And so I think Claudia Scheinbaum is probably legitimately concerned, given her ties to the drug cartels in Mexico, that that she could be indicted and she could be subject to this kind of thing. But the good news here is that Article two of the Charter of the United Nations is not binding U.S. law. Article two of the U.S. Constitution is. And that was the authority the president used. Indeed. And of course, the president has at every turn pointed out that this operation was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement agencies, the DEA. How do you how do you expect to see this trial unfold? We assume it's going to happen here in New York. President Trump told Fox News earlier this morning that that Maduro and his wife were being brought here to New York, where I guess he will be in prison. They will be imprisoned here. How do you see that trial playing out now? I mean, we just as we've seen the just consummate professionalism of our extraordinary men and women in uniform and just all compliments to my friends at Fort Bragg, who carried out this operation, just extraordinarily competent. We will now hand these people over to our very competent Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi. And I'm quite sure that that this trial will proceed by the law. I mean, that that's it'll be by the book. And as Wes was saying, the evidence is overwhelming here. Venezuela has descended into just being a narco terrorist state. And that's what really changed the calculus here is Maduro went from being kind of overseeing the narco terrorists to being one of the narco terrorists and creating this De La Solas cartel. And so that's what made this different. That's what makes him actually a criminal like Noriega in Panama. But the other thing here, then, is that this becomes a vital national security interest of the United States. We're not in this out of altruism. I mean, I hope for a better day for the people of Venezuela. But this was turning into a direct threat to the United States, just like Panama, because of the existence of the Panama Canal, was a direct threat to the United States in 1989. So that's what's different here. I think the trial will be, again, a textbook case of the rule of law. This would be good for other other rogue actors around the world to observe. Hey, Victoria, just real quickly before we let you go, I did want to get your reaction because I've been struck out of all the responses from members of Congress this morning, some on the left saying that this was unauthorized, some Republicans praising it, thanking President Trump for this effort in this operation. But Congressman Jimenez, Carlos Jimenez from Florida, is saying that this is the equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Do you agree? Well, Congressman Jimenez, of course, is of Cuban descent, has a strong interest in this. His constituents are all part of this community. And yes, for them, this is the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is the possibility for the opening up of Latin America. Because bear in mind, Griff, it's not just Venezuela. It's Bolivia, which just elected a conservative government for the first time. It's Argentina. These can all now be great, good friends to the United States. So, yes, I agree strongly this is the equivalent. All right, Victoria Coates, thank you for your insight.