The Tudor Dixon Podcast – “Maduro Captured, Venezuela’s Collapse & China’s Latin America Push”

Date: January 12, 2026
Host: Tudor Dixon
Guest: Jorge Jurasati, President of the Economic Inclusion Group, Venezuelan native

Episode Overview

This episode of The Tudor Dixon Podcast focuses on the dramatic recent removal of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s economic and social collapse, and the expanding influence of China and other adversaries in Latin America. Guest Jorge Jurasati, a Venezuelan expatriate and economic expert, gives personal insights on Venezuela’s downfall, the repercussions of socialism, the realities on the ground, and why events in Venezuela matter to the United States. The conversation strongly connects Venezuela’s fate both to American security and global geopolitical strategy, particularly regarding energy resources and China’s ambitions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Venezuela’s Collapse: Root Causes and Lived Experience

• Contextualizing Decay (00:34–02:14):
  • Venezuela, once one of the world’s 20 richest countries in the 1980s, is now among the poorest in its region.
  • Extreme stories—like people resorting to eating their family pets due to food shortages—are true and underscore Venezuela’s dramatic descent.

“Venezuela exemplifies how a country can fully collapse."
— Jorge Jurasati (01:59)

• How Socialism Destroyed the Economy (02:52–05:11):
  • Government interventions eliminated market mechanisms, making it impossible to produce, distribute, import, or export goods.
  • Centralized decisions led to corruption and economic paralysis—”It’s called socialism. And it has never functioned. It has never worked.”

“The economy works when you have this decentralized network of people making individual decisions. It cannot work if a government is making all these decisions.”
— Jorge Jurasati (04:10)

The Collapse of Oil Production

• Oil as Venezuela’s Economic Engine (05:11–08:33):
  • At its peak, Venezuela produced 3.5 million barrels of oil a day, now less than a million.
  • Competent professionals were replaced by political loyalists, causing industry collapse and widespread corruption.
  • The country broke longstanding, beneficial oil partnerships with the U.S., kicking out foreign companies and refusing compensation after confiscation.

“They fired the entire executive board from the state-owned oil company and put politicians, bureaucrats, people without experience … If you combine that lack of experience with insane amount of corruption, that’s why oil started to decline year by year.”
— Jorge Jurasati (06:34)

Corruption Beyond Borders: Iran and China in Venezuela

• Layers of Corruption and Global Entanglements (09:56–13:16):
  • Venezuela’s oil industry is now heavily influenced and operated by Iranians, who help evade U.S. sanctions and facilitate oil shipments to China.
  • Venezuela sells oil at a large discount to China, often via oil rebranding schemes, feeding “a corruption supply chain.”

“In Venezuela, the oil industry is right now run to a bigger extent by Iranians … Iran had this know how on how to evade US sanctions … and it end up in China.”
— Jorge Jurasati (09:56 & 10:54)

Hope and the Impact of Maduro’s Removal

• Venezuelan Reaction to Maduro’s Ouster (13:54–17:49):
  • Widespread emotional relief and hope among Venezuelans at seeing Maduro captured and facing justice—”what all Venezuelans want.”
  • For decades, daily life was marked by injustice, election fraud, the closure of businesses and media, and forced exile.

“This is the moment that made every Venezuelan extremely emotional when they saw this … We all saw hope again because there was a chance that Venezuela would have been forgotten.”
— Jorge Jurasati (15:26)

• The Speed of Collapse & Longevity of Recovery (17:49–21:33):
  • “Destroying a country … can happen in just a few years. It takes decades, sometimes centuries to build something.”
  • Jorge shares the personal story of returning after four years and finding his home unrecognizable, reflecting profound societal change.

“In four years, my country became irrecognizable for me … all the places you used to hang out, these places are no longer there. The people … are now living in different countries.”
— Jorge Jurasati (20:10)

China’s Strategic Stranglehold in Latin America

• Chinese Expansion: Threat to U.S. Security (21:33–24:34):
  • China has built ports and expanded their naval presence in Venezuela, Peru, and Chile, using Venezuela as a hub for adversarial regimes.
  • The Trump administration is described as reviving the Monroe Doctrine to counter Chinese and other adversarial influences.

“The Chinese threat is being taken into consideration … They need to protect their hemisphere … from their biggest adversary, which is China.”
— Jorge Jurasati (22:30)

Supply Chains, Manufacturing, and Values

• Why Manufacturing Should Move Closer to Home (25:24–29:41):
  • Latin America shares culture and values with the U.S., making it a logical partner for manufacturing and supply chains over China.
  • Reliance on adversarial countries like China (with poor human rights records) is both immoral and strategically dangerous.

“There is this interconnection besides the geographic location that we share ... this idea of giving away your manufactured production to countries that are your adversaries”
— Jorge Jurasati (27:20)

• Jorge personally avoids buying products made in China due to ethical concerns and encourages others to do the same.

Critical Minerals, Oil, and Energy Security

• China’s Control of Essential Resources (29:41–32:58):
  • China lacks oil but controls much of the world’s rare earth minerals, vital for batteries, electronics, and the green transition.
  • The West is dangerously reliant; in Europe, mineral dependence on China is “almost 100%.” China is moving fast to replicate this control over Venezuelan and South American minerals.
  • The demand for energy is set to double in the next decade due to AI centers, making free access to resources even more vital.

“If they are controlled by China, which is your adversary, then you are not safe as a country.”
— Jorge Jurasati (32:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Insight | |-------------|---------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:59 | Jorge Jurasati | “Venezuela exemplifies how a country can fully collapse.” | | 04:10 | Jorge Jurasati | “The economy works when you have this decentralized network of people making individual decisions. It cannot work if a government is making all these decisions.” | | 06:34 | Jorge Jurasati | “They fired the entire executive board from the state-owned oil company and put politicians, bureaucrats, people without experience …” | | 09:56 | Jorge Jurasati | “In Venezuela, the oil industry is right now run to a bigger extent by Iranians…” | | 15:26 | Jorge Jurasati | “This is the moment that made every Venezuelan extremely emotional… We all saw hope again…” | | 20:10 | Jorge Jurasati | “In four years, my country became irrecognizable for me. … The people I used to see are now living in different countries.” | | 22:30 | Jorge Jurasati | “The Chinese threat is being taken into consideration… They need to protect their hemisphere…” | | 27:20 | Jorge Jurasati | “There is this interconnection besides the geographic location that we share…” | | 32:20 | Jorge Jurasati | “If they are controlled by China, which is your adversary, then you are not safe as a country.” | | 34:05 | Jorge Jurasati | “America cannot be like Switzerland or Austria … America has a special role because of its size, because of its magnitude.” |

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:34–02:14 – Introduction to Venezuela’s collapse
• 02:52–05:11 – Economic mechanisms: why socialism failed
• 05:11–08:33 – Oil industry decline and loss of U.S. partnerships
• 09:56–13:16 – Iran and China’s involvement, corruption explored
• 13:54–17:49 – Emotional and societal reaction to Maduro's removal
• 17:49–21:33 – The speed and irreversibility of societal collapse
• 21:33–24:34 – China’s Latin America play and Monroe Doctrine reboot
• 25:24–29:41 – Supply chains, shared Western values, and moving manufacturing to Latin America
• 29:41–32:58 – Rare earth minerals, critical resources, and the energy race
• 32:58–34:05 – Call for American engagement and global partnerships

Tone and Delivery

The conversation is earnest, heartfelt, and pragmatic, blending jarring personal testimony with clear-eyed geopolitical analysis. Tudor Dixon and Jorge Jurasati speak frankly about failures, the lived cost of socialism, and why U.S. foreign policy must be both moral and strategic. The tone is one of urgency—underscored by a sense of hope and possibility in the aftermath of Maduro’s removal.

Summary Takeaway

This episode delivers a sobering account of Venezuela’s decline—rooted in socialist policies and corruption—and the domino effect of mismanagement on society, the economy, and regional geopolitics. Jorge Jurasati’s firsthand perspective and economic expertise illuminate why Venezuela’s fate matters far beyond its borders: China’s and Iran’s growing foothold in Latin America threatens U.S. interests, global markets, and human rights. The podcast calls for reinvigorated U.S. leadership, smarter economic strategy, and moral clarity in an interconnected world.