State TV channel Telesur reviews that Maduro’s channel has been ‘eradicated’.
Printed On 21 Sep 2025
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s YouTube channel, used to publish speeches and clips from his weekly present on state TV channel Telesur, has been taken down amid rising tensions with the US.
Telesur reported on X on Saturday night time that Maduro’s channel had been “eradicated” the night time earlier than, with out justification. The account had greater than 200,000 followers earlier than it went offline.
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On YouTube’s web site, the elimination of accounts happens if the channel has dedicated “repeated violations of group tips”, together with publishing hate speech, misinformation and content material that “interferes with democratic course of”.
Maduro has been accused of stealing final yr’s presidential election, which, in keeping with tally sheets gathered by opposition activists, he misplaced by a landslide.
The nation’s election company additionally by no means printed tally sheets to help its declare that Maduro had gained the election.
Within the midst of his channel’s elimination, the US has taken harsher steps in the direction of Venezuela on immigration and drug trafficking.
On Saturday, Maduro wrote a letter to US President Donald Trump, rejecting that Venezuela performed a major function in drug trafficking and stated solely 5 p.c of medicine produced in Colombia had been shipped by means of his nation, of which Venezuelan authorities neutralised 70 p.c.
“President, I hope that collectively we are able to defeat the falsehoods which have sullied our relationship, which should be historic and peaceable,” Maduro wrote within the letter seen by the Reuters information company.
“These and different points will all the time be open for a direct and frank dialog along with your particular envoy [Richard Grenell] to beat media noise and faux information.”
Maduro’s letter, dated September 6, was 4 days after a US strike on a vessel that the Trump administration claimed, with out proof, was carrying drug traffickers.
The assault killed 11 folks, whom Trump alleged had been members of the Tren de Aragua gang and engaged in drug trafficking. There have been questions over Trump’s claims, with ideas that these on board that boat and others attacked weren’t concerned in drug trafficking in any respect. Authorized analysts have warned that the assaults amount to extrajudicial killings.
Extra lately, on Saturday, Trump introduced {that a} third strike focusing on a ship he claimed was “trafficking illicit narcotics” passed off, which killed a minimum of three folks on board.
Washington has deployed seven warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and F-35 stealth fighters to worldwide waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35 fighters despatched to Puerto Rico, within the greatest US naval deployment within the Caribbean.
Trump says the army is engaged in an anti-drug operation, however has not offered particular proof to again up claims that the boats focused to date had really been trafficking medication.
Trump additionally threatened Venezuela on Saturday with “incalculable” penalties if the nation doesn’t “instantly” take again immigrants he described as “prisoners” and “folks from psychological establishments”.
Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the US is attempting to drive him from energy.
Whereas Trump stated final week that he was not taken with a Venezuelan regime change, final month, his administration doubled its reward for data on Maduro to $50m, accusing him of drug trafficking and hyperlinks to prison teams.
