Belligerence Abroad, Repression at Home: From Venezuela to ICE, with Steven Gardiner
About this episode
Koki interviews Steven Gardiner about U.S. actions in Venezuela and domestic repression related to ICE enforcement.
In this season bonus episode, Koki talks to Steven Gardiner, PRA Principal Research Advisor, about the Trump administration’s early-January attack on Venezuela and escalating domestic confrontations around ICE enforcement, including the Minneapolis protests around the murder of Nicole Good. Gardiner describes how the kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro represents both a familiar extension of U.S. imperial power and a dangerous acceleration of presidential authority, bypassing Congress and normal democratic oversight. He explains that this belligerence largely resonates with the MAGA base, which accepts violent action when framed as efficient, hypermasculine, and rooted in authoritarianism rather than democracy or human rights. Gardiner concludes with guidance for organizers: increase participation to prevent fatigue and stress; build strong, offsite support networks off the front lines; maintain the practice nonviolence, prepare for right-wing provocation, targeting, and doxing; and apply sustained pressure on those with the biggest voices. Effective action, he argues, must extend beyond the streets to counter an increasingly authoritarian state. Steven Gardiner is…
More episodes of Inform Your Resistance
- Prosecuting "Antifa": The Prairieland Case and Its Implications for Organizers
- Fracturing the MAGA base: A conversation on the War in Iran and its Reverberations at Home, with Steven Gardiner
- All Eyes on Minneapolis: Lessons on Resisting Authoritarianism
- Beyond the Ballot: the Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism with Steven Gardiner
- How 287(g) Expansion Fuels Mass Deportations
- The New Frontlines of Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
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