U.S. Meddling, Latin America, and the Battle Over Sovereignty: A Full Breakdown of Camila Escalante’s Explosive Interview

In a recent in-depth conversation, journalist Camila Escalante unpacked the latest wave of U.S. interference across Latin America — from Honduras to Venezuela — and explained how Washington’s foreign policy continues to destabilize entire regions in the name of “democracy,” despite the undeniable geopolitical and economic motivations behind it.

HONDURAS: WHY TRUMP’S TEAM IS TARGETING IT NOW

Escalante began with Honduras, where the new Trump administration — backed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — has aggressively re-engaged. According to her, this shift was predictable:

Rubio has long viewed Latin America as a priority front.

Honduras’ current leadership, President Xiomara Castro and Manuel Zelaya, maintain deep ties to Venezuela and the Bolivarian Alliance.

Honduras was on track to join ALBA before the 2009 U.S.-backed coup removed Zelaya.

Escalante notes that since returning to democratic rule after 11 years of dictatorship under Juan Orlando Hernández, Honduras has tried to rebuild institutions destroyed when the country was turned into a “narco-state” designed for corporate and foreign extraction. She highlights the now-repealed ZEDEs law, which allowed foreign companies to carve up Honduran territory and operate with their own legal systems.

President Castro, she emphasizes, has taken firm stances:

Condemning the blockade on Cuba

Rejecting sanctions on Nicaragua and Venezuela

Opposing Israel’s assault on Palestine

Strengthening regional sovereignty through CELAC

These moves, Escalante says, have triggered the fury of the U.S. and right-wing Latin American elites who still maintain influence within Honduras.

Election Interference in Real Time

Escalante details widespread meddling in the ongoing Honduran elections:

Millions of Hondurans received messages telling them remittances from the U.S. would be cut if they voted for the left-wing candidate Rixie Moncada.

Trump, U.S. lawmakers, and foreign-backed right-wing groups openly supported conservative candidates.

Irregularities plagued the rapid-count system and CNE transparency.

The U.S. State Department prematurely implied the OAS would determine the winner — not Honduran institutions.

This, she insists, is a familiar U.S. pattern: supporting right-wing elites, undermining democratic processes, and using “anti-socialism” as the pretext.

WHY TRUMP WANTS TO PARDON JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ

When asked why Trump wants to pardon the former Honduran president — widely known as a narco-dictator — Escalante calls it simple:

“It’s about restoring U.S. allies, not about drugs.”

She points out the absurdity of Trump claiming Maduro must be removed for drug trafficking while simultaneously defending a president convicted of exactly that. The narrative, she says, shifts constantly:

One day it’s drugs

Another day it’s democracy

Now Washington claims Venezuela is “rigging elections in 70 countries”

And at the center is always oil, minerals, and stopping socialism

THE VENEZUELA DEBATE: MEDIA PROPAGANDA VS. REALITY ON THE GROUND

Escalante also responded to the widely circulated debate between journalist Max Blumenthal and Hermoina Poleo — a media figure from a prominent opposition family. Poleo argues Venezuelans “lost their right to self-determination” because Maduro won re-election — a claim Escalante calls absurd and dangerous.

Poleo, she notes, is not a legitimate opposition leader but a product of Venezuela’s oligarchic media class.

THE REAL AGENDA OF MARÍA CORINA MACHADO

The discussion turned to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, praised by Western governments and even awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Escalante argues Machado is openly selling the country to foreign billionaires:

She promises a $1.7 trillion extraction bonanza for oil, minerals, gold, and infrastructure.

She meets with large corporations despite having no political power.

She openly markets Venezuela’s resources to Trump-aligned elites, including Elon Musk.

She embraces intelligence-crafted conspiracy theories about Venezuela “rigging” elections worldwide.

Escalante notes that even some U.S. strategists now miss Juan Guaidó — who at least pretended to be progressive.

IS MADURO LEAVING VENEZUELA? ESCALANTE SAYS: ABSOLUTELY NOT

Rumors circulating online claim Maduro is hiding in bunkers, fleeing to Turkey or Qatar, or preparing exile. Escalante dismisses these as propaganda:

Maduro appears publicly constantly.

He conducts weekly televised programs.

He holds open meetings, announces infrastructure projects, and remains fully present.

She says Venezuela has stabilized dramatically:

The economy has recovered.

National production has increased.

Food sovereignty is growing through communes and grassroots socialist programs.

Public services and daily life have normalized.

Meanwhile, the chaos exists outside the country — driven by foreign media and political influencers trying to manufacture a crisis.

THE U.S. CRISIS AT HOME: WHAT AMERICANS AREN’T TOLD

Escalante supports Blumenthal’s argument that U.S. foreign policy is inseparable from domestic suffering. While Americans are told to fear Venezuela or Cuba, the U.S. faces:

massive poverty

urban decay

high violent crime rates

collapsing healthcare access

worsening education

homelessness

shrinking civil rights

lack of maternal protections

lack of elder care

She contrasts this with the socialist model in Venezuela and Cuba, which prioritizes inclusion, public services, and economic democratization.

“The U.S. model is exclusion. The socialist model is inclusion.”

She argues that citizens in the Global South do not understand how severe suffering is inside the United States because the U.S. hides its social collapse while lecturing the world on “human rights.”