The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 30th, 2024: Venezuela In Turmoil & Terror Threats At The US Border

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    Venezuela is in turmoil following the widely contested election of dictator Nicolás Maduro to a third term in office, as the opposition says they have proof Maduro lost, and protesters take to the streets. In the latest reminder of the national security threats posed by the border crisis, border patrol agents recently arrested three Palestinian terrorist suspects who were attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail].  Blackout Coffee: https://www.blackoutcoffee.com/PDB Code: PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Make Mother's Day even more special at Whole Foods Market. Kick off brunch or dinner with quality cheese and charcutory with no synthetic nitrates. Then go seafood. There's an abundance on sale at Whole Foods Market, where it's all sustainable while caught or responsibly farmed. At the bakery, grab seasonal treats like their strawberry pretzel cream pie, and you can't go wrong with a ready-to-heathe Kish Lorraine, deviled eggs, and fresh-cut fruits to go. Celebrate Mom with Whole Foods Market.

Start your day with the great taste of blackout coffee. Family-owned, premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and get this, shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. The beans are probably still warm by the time they put them in a package, get them to your doorstep, and you put it in the mug. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first-time purchase. It's Tuesday, 30 July. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, Venezuela is in turmoil following the widely contested election of dictator Nicholas Maduro to a third term in office. Will he ever leave? The answer apparently is no, as the opposition says they have proof that Maduro lost and protesters take to the streets. Also, in the latest reminder of the national security threats posed by the southern border crisis, border patrol agents recently arrested three Palestinian terrorist suspects, who were attempting to cross into the U.S. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro may have claimed victory on Monday in what is widely viewed as a fraudulent presidential election,

but the people of Venezuela, while they seem to have a different idea, frustrated with nearly three decades of socialist rule, they're not backing down. Anti-Maduro protesters took to the streets on Monday in cities across Venezuela after the country's national electoral authority, which critics say is in the pocket of Maduro, announced him as the winner, claiming he grabbed 51% of the vote, while saying opposition rival Edmundo Gonzalez only got 44%, and that's according to a report from Reuters. The results were immediately questioned by the opposition, however, who were denied access to the electoral council's headquarters as votes were being counted. Well, that's tricky. The opposition said their data showed a landslide victory for Gonzalez,

and the official results were also contradicted by exit polling that indicated a major defeat for Maduro. Large crowds of people were seen walking down the Main Street in the capital city of Caracas on Monday, shouting against Maduro and tearing down and trampling the dictator's campaign posters, while security forces deployed tear gas. The protesters are demanding that the Maduro regime release the official tally sheets for each of the 30,000 voting machines across the country. As of Tuesday, the electoral body's website was down. Ah, oh, that's a coincidence.

And there's no indication that the tally sheets will be made public anytime soon. Many Venezuelans staged traditional Latin American protests where people bang pots and pans to express their anger. Yeah, that'll stop a dictator. In some areas, things turned violent. The Venezuelan Human Rights Organization said that armed pro-Moduro patrols had shot at a group of peaceful demonstrators in downtown Corruption. though it doesn't appear that there were any injuries. Elsewhere, protesters blocked roads,

lit fires, and hurled petrol bombs at police. In the city of Koro, protesters cheered as they tore down a statue of former President Hugo Chavez. That's Maduro's mentor, of course. One protester told Reuters, quote, we are tired of this government, we want to be free in Venezuela. They stole the election from us, end quote. Gonzales and opposition leader Maria Corina Makado, who herself was barred from seeking office by the Maduro regime, said Monday evening that they had obtained more than 70% of the tally sheets from Sunday's election, which showed more than 6 million votes for Gonzalez and only 2.7 billion for Maduro. Now, I'm no math whiz, but it looks like that would have Gonzalez winning. They called on the protesters to remain calm, but to continue making

their voices heard. Gonzalez and Mercado invited their supporters to gather peacefully at 11 a.m. on Tuesday to celebrate their victory. Gonzalez said, quote, we have in our hands the tally sheets that demonstrate our categorical and mathematically irreversible victory, end quote. Now, as far as the Maduro regime is concerned, the protesters are nothing more than violent agitators who they baselessly allege are being organized and funded by, oh, you guessed it, the U.S. The nation's military, likely the only force capable of ousting Maduro, appears to be squarely

in his corner. and the generals reportedly show no signs of wavering. Maduro said Monday, quote, we have always been victims of the powerful. There's no sense of irony or self-awareness there. An attempt is being made to impose a coup d'etat, he said, in Venezuela, again, of a fascist and counter-revolutionary nature, end quote. As you may recall, just last week,

Maduro warned that Venezuela would face a bloodbath and civil war if he lost the election. internationally, many foreign officials criticized the results, really. Senior officials in the Biden administration have accused Maduro of manipulation and demanded that the government released detailed precinct level results. U.S. officials also left the door open for fresh sanctions against the oil-rich nation. Regional leaders from Argentina, Peru, and Chile have also vocally questioned the validity of the results.

Argentine President Javier Miele said, quote, not even Maduro believes the electoral scam that he's celebrating, end quote. The backlash from his Latin American neighbors is prompting a diplomatic retreat for Maduro. That's a tactic, of course, reminiscent of authoritarian regimes the world over. Maduro announced he was expelling the diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay, and recalling its own diplomatic personnel from those seven countries.

Well, luckily, though, for the despotic dictator, he still got his friends from the Evil League of Evil. Maduro has received congratulatory messages, well done you, Maduro, from the usual gaggle of communist and hardline socialist leaders, including Chinese president Xi Jinping, the leaders of Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Syria, North Korea, and of course Vladimir Putin. Putin's Kremlin issued a statement saying that the Venezuelan opposition should accept defeat and congratulate Maduro on his victory. With Maduro digging in his heels and reportedly planning his own pro-Maduro rallies, many on the ground are fearful that the nation may soon face a violent government crackdown. All right, coming up after the break.

And the latest reminder of the threats coming through our porous southern border in the U.S., border patrol agents recently arrested three Palestinian terrorist suspects who were attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally. I'll be right back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and size. or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Some follow the noise.

Bloomberg follows the money. Because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money side to every story. And when you see the money side, you understand. what others miss. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Earlier this month, U.S. border agents detained three Palestinian migrants who illegally crossed the southern border, suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations, and that's

according to an exclusive report from the New York Post. Federal law enforcement sources report that one of the migrants had, quote, salacious photos on their phone, including an image of a masked man wielding an AK-47. Alongside the three Palestinians, a migrant from Turkey was also recently apprehended on suspicion of terrorist links. The encounters are just the latest reminder of the potential security threats that are slipping through the southern border. The Post did not specify the terrorist groups that the migrants might be affiliated with. These migrants were part of a larger group that recently surrendered to border agents in the San Diego sector. Currently, these individuals are under investigation by immigration and customs enforcement or ICE and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Border agents, especially in the San Diego sector, have reported significant challenges in vetting migrants due to limited access to international criminal and terrorist databases, and by limited, I mean almost none. Despite relying on U.S. Terror Watch lists, agents express frustration over the lack of comprehensive vetting tools, essentially, if the individual isn't already in a U.S. criminal database, then they're determined not to be a threat and subsequently released. For the most part, the agents have no resources or, frankly, time to properly vet the migrants. The San Diego Field Office Intelligence Unit, in particular, has been on high alert for individuals linked to terror groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and others traveling through the southwest border following the 7 October Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

One anonymous agent told the post, quote, knowing who these guys are, we have like no access to anything international. We really don't, and it kind of sucks. The agent added, quote, I wanted to get into border patrol and protect us from terrorists, and it's like, well, I probably let terrorists in the country, end quote. The Biden administration's recent policy shift to restrict asylum requests has instead highlighted massive loopholes, particularly affecting San Diego. migrants from over 100 countries that refuse to accept deportees can still access the asylum system. Consequently, San Diego has seen an influx of migrants from a wide variety of countries, including countries known for ISIS recruitment.

Additionally, Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who was tapped by President Joe Biden to tackle the daunting issue of immigration at 2021, well, she's been scrutinized for her role. Although the Democrat machine, Harris's campaign team also, and a compliant media, don't forget them, they've been engaged in what can really only be described as a massive gaslighting operation, attempting to persuade the nation that Harris never had border responsibilities and was never the border czar. Despite the fact that over the past three years, that same media used the czar term consistently. Now, much like the effort to put distance between Harris and her documented liberal and progressive past,

and I don't know if you've seen apparently a memo went out in the past couple of days to Democrats all around the country. The new narrative is, well, her liberal past, that was in the past. That was a long time ago. She's a changed woman. The goal is to obviously distance her from any Biden administration policies, efforts, or actions that could be deemed damaging to the campaign. But then again, it's politics, so it's not like we should really expect anything different. Oh, that sounded cynical, didn't it? At least 8 million migrants have crossed into America under Harris and President Biden's watch,

6.3 million of which were captured, or at least encountered, and then released into the U.S. under various Biden administration programs. That's according to the Post's analysis. Harris, who, according to her team, wasn't the Borders'ar, declared that the border was secure in September of 2022. Now it's just weeks before illegal migrant arrests for the fiscal year broke a new record. Federal data also shows a significant increase in encounters with illegal migrants on the terror watch list under the Biden administration, rising from just 26 under the Trump administration to 98 in the 2022 fiscal year, and then surging to 169 in the fiscal year for 2023. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 30 July.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And remember, to listen to the show ad-free. well, become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting bdb premium.com. Couldn't be easier. Bob's your uncle. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe.

Stay cool. Hey, honey, it's mom. Did you know if we switch to Verizon we can get four phones for $0, plus four lines for $25 a line? Call me back. Me again. That's just $100 a month for four lines on unlimited welcome. Plus four phones, no trade-in needed.

Call me. It's mom. America's best network, Verizon. That's the one we're talking about. I'll send you text. America's best network based on root metrics, best overall mobile network performance, U.S. second half, 2025. Four new lines and a limit and welcome and auto pay. See Verizon.com for details.