PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 6th, 2023: Zelensky Ducks Congress & Maduro Moves on Guyana
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01:00Also, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro is moving full steam aheadafter his country approved a referendum, claiming much of neighboring Guyana for their own.Maduro has now told the country's state-owned companies to immediately start exploitingGuiana's rich deposits of oil and minerals. But first, our afternoon spotlight.President Zelensky abruptly canceled a planned video conference with U.S. senators on Tuesday,as fresh funding for Ukraine hangs in the balance. He was set to speak in a classbriefing that was to be a cornerstone of his strategy to sway U.S. leaders to extend fundingfor the war effort. Now, as we discussed Tuesday on the PDB, the current U.S. aid package is dwindling
01:50amid Ukraine's stalled counteroffensive, raising fears that, without fresh funding, Ukraine'sefforts to stop Putin's invasion may crumble. Senator Chuck Schumer, who has championed the Ukrainiancause appeared surprised by the last-minute cancellation. He told reporters that something had happened at thelast minute, but he did not elaborate on why the plans changed. The closed-door meeting was toproceed a critical vote on Wednesday regarding a nearly $106 billion aid package for Ukraine,Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region, with roughly $61 billion flagged for Ukraine. Now, Republicans in theSenate? Well, they've signaled their attention to block the package, standing with their colleaguesin the House who have demanded that any additional emergency funds for Ukraine be tied to significant
02:43reforms of U.S. border policy. Amid this uncertainty, Senator Schumer appeared to be countingon Zelensky's address to help send a clear message to his counterparts in the GOPabout the consequences of letting aid to Ukraine dry up. He urged his colleagues to pass the aidpackage, claiming that those who think Putin will stop his expansion in Ukraine are not heedingthe lessons of history. Despite dire warnings from Congress, as well as the Biden administration,regarding the catastrophic consequences of not approving more aid, a quick resolution of thematter doesn't appear to be in the cards. Meanwhile, Zelensky's problems on the home frontcontinue to mount. A longstanding dispute between Zelensky and General Valerie Zilluzini, the
03:31commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces is spilling into public view. Zelluzni, who drewZelensky's ire in early November when he said the war had reached a stalemate, is a widelyrespected figure in Ukraine. Now, some polls even put his popularity with Ukrainian citizens at the samelevel as Zelensky. More and more, Zelensky is reportedly seeing Zalusini as a potentialpolitical rival. As we recently discussed on the BDB, Zelenskyy has faced escalated,criticism for his alleged targeting of political rivals and decision to postpone next year'spresidential election. Observers, say Zelensky and his right-hand man, Andre Yermak, who headsthe presidential office, are eager to remove anyone from their path that may have enough
04:19political clout to challenge Zelensky's leadership in the future. An anonymous source withties to the Ukrainian president's office told Newsweek on Tuesday that Zelensky has been targeting, quote,every possible future competitor in the elections, adding that his behavior is going to drag ourcountry down. While Ukraine's defense minister denied any rift between the two this week,Ivan Stubach, an advisor to the Ukrainian parliament on national security, told Newsweek that Zelenskyis, quote, two steps away from dismissing Zeluzni. He said Zelensky actively avoid speaking with thegeneral due to what he called jealousy, adding that, quote, it's not a good situation.While success in the early war response reportedly kept this feud contained, it does appear that the failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive over the summer and shrinking international support for the war effort have caused these long simmering tensions to boil over.
05:19All right, coming up after the break, in the wake of a referendum claiming much of neighboring country Guyana as Venezuelan territory, President Nicholas Maduro is making moves to enforce the vote.putting the entire region on edge.I'll be right back.Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuelis California's number one entertainment destinationfor today's superstars.Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stageon April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th,
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06:37I wanted to give you an update on a situation that we're monitoring closely here on the PDB.Venezuela's recent vote to annex a large portion of neighboring Guyana, and by large portion,I mean about two-thirds of that country's territory. The Venezuelan government, led by PresidentNicholas Maduro, is now taking definitive steps to enforce this referendum result.In a television appearance on Tuesday, President Maduro revealed a new official map of Venezuela.Look at that. I've just redrawn the map of my own country.now including Eskibo, a region previously recognized as part of Guiana.This dramatic move was further amplified by Maduro's announcement of a law,
07:17establishing a new province or state within this territory.To govern this area, Maduro announced that Major General Alexis Rodriguez-Cabello,a deputy of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela,has been appointed as a provisional authority.Adding to the tension,Maduro has deployed a military contingent to pointto Burima, a small coastal town on the Venezueling Atlantic border, which lies just about 30 milesfrom the contested area. Now, as we've been noting, the region in question is rich in resources,
07:52gold, diamonds, aluminum, and a recent oil find, which is part of the reason, you would imagine,that Venezuela is so keen on annexing it. Maduro has ordered state-owned companies to beginexploration and exploitation of oil, gas, and mines in the region, declaring that he'll immediatelyproceed to grant operating licenses to do so. Isn't that generous of him? That raises a majorquestion. What about the companies that are already there, most notably the U.S.-based ExxonMobile, which has a platform in the disputed region? While they've been given an ultimatum,Maduro explicitly warned, quote, we are giving three months to the companies that have exploitingresources there without Venezuelan permission to comply with the law."
08:39The escalating situation has prompted neighboring Brazil to take action. With its borderstouching both Venezuela and Guiana, Brazil is taking measures to prevent any spillover of violencethat could potentially happen in the coming days. The Brazilian military is reinforcing itsnorthern border, deploying armored vehicles and hundreds of troops to Boa Vista, the capital of theBrazilian state adjacent to Venezuela and Guiana. A military source informed Reuters that this move isfocused on enhancing border security and intensifying surveillance, aiming to avoid any unexpecteddevelopments in this increasingly volatile region. Now, apparently, the somewhat unhinged Madurohas taken a page out of the Vladimir Putin playbook on how to make a land grab. The question is,
09:29At what point does the UN, regional South American leaders, or the U.S. administration,point out that Maduro can't act out his territorial expansion fantasies.The leftist Putin-wana be holds a questionable referendum and announces unilaterallythat he's now going to lay claim to two-thirds of a neighboring countrybecause he covets Guyana's natural resources and the newly discovered oil find.Well, this would seem, you would think, to be a clear-cut man.moment tailor-made for the United Nations to stand up for Guyana's rights as a sovereign nation.And for South American neighbors, at least those not run by hard left or autocratic leaders,
10:10to tell Maduro to put a Stalin costume back in the closet and sit down.And the Biden administration, assuming that they can take time out from trying not to upsetthe Iranian regime, should step in and declare loudly that Maduro needs to stay on his side ofthe border. Look, this is not rocket science.And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday, 6 December.If you have any questions or comments, reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.I'm Mike Baker, and then I'll be back tomorrow.Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.
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