The CIA helped him defect and change his name. Years later, he appeared on TV in the US repeating neoconservative talking points in the 80s. But I guess he was just your ordinary Canadian.

He defected to Canada, but in 1970. The interview in the 1980s took place during the Reagan administration. The gp's argument is that there was a market for Bezmenov's just-so explanations, due in part to Reagan's policies. Anti-Soviet sentiment in the US was also high at the time, due to the USSR's brutal invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

The more serious criticism in my view is that not many of Bezmenov's specific allegations have been well-corroborated since, although a great deal of information about the KGB became available, eg the Mitrokhin archive - although parts do remain classified (by the UK).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitrokhin_Archive

> This has nothing to do with Reagan. Bezmenov defected to Canada.

And the interviewer is an American. They're talking about American conditions. Where he defected isn't that important within that context. Additionally, he moved to Los Angeles a couple of years before this interview was conducted. Specifically to have an easier time connecting with his audience.

He was back in Canada by 1989 until he died in Canada in 1993.

He was obviously powerless to influence US politics from Canada, but from Russia..