22/04/2023
FTS 8.30
*Ecuador: polls show citizens rejection to central questions of referendum
*Israel´s military intelligence Chief resigns
FTS 8.30
*Ecuador: polls show citizens rejection to central questions of referendum
*Israel´s military intelligence Chief resigns
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Venezuela, citizens participated in the great national consultation called Communes
00:15Can Do More, with the objective of defining popular projects for the communities.
00:22In Ecuador, early polls show President Ariando Boa's proposals on Sunday's referendum
00:26were rejected.
00:30In Israel, military intelligence chief Aharon Haliba resigned due to his responsibility
00:35in the regime's failure before the Palestinian resistance operation al-Aqsa flood.
00:40Hello, welcome to From the South, I'm Luis Alberto Matos from Andresu Studios in Havana,
00:49Cuba.
00:50Let's begin with the news, and we do so in Venezuela.
00:53People participating in the great national consultation called Communes Can Do More,
00:57with the objective of defining by vote the election of priority popular projects for
01:02the communities.
01:0315,617 voting centers were set up in the 23 states of the South American nation for this
01:09day of voting.
01:10In this consultation, called by President Nicolas Maduro, participated all Venezuelan
01:14men and women over 15 years of age.
01:17This consultation shows among nearly 23,000 social projects proposed by the more than
01:214,500 communes located in the national territory.
01:25These projects are aimed at sectors such as health, education, food, security, environment,
01:30public services and economy.
01:32The elected ones will be financed by the government and executed by the organized communities
01:35themselves.
01:44In Venezuela, the spokesperson of the Electoral Commission, Carolina Arellano, made statements
01:48regarding the referendum that took place on Sunday in the country.
01:55As we said before, this is an unprecedented process for the people's power, whether it
02:00be the communal councils or the communes as such that make up electoral districts.
02:07This is a civic demonstration of participatory democracy, as we have always done it based
02:12on Article 5 of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Constitution, which stipulates that the will
02:17of the people is binding, and also in keeping with Article 70, which regulates these kinds
02:24of events.
02:25Likewise, the spokeswoman of the Electoral Commission expressed that since early in the
02:32morning citizens came out to vote, expressing their democratic right.
02:40We have seen the media coverage of this referendum, yawning old people queuing up since early
02:45in the morning.
02:48This has been one more instance of civism, as it has been the norm in Venezuela's participatory
02:55democracy.
02:58We are used to holding referendums, and this one organized with the support of the people's
03:04power has been a joyful, successful event.
03:12Moving on to Ecuador, proposals of President Daniel Lobo, as according to the number out
03:16of the poll stations, lose on the central questions of his referendum.
03:20Let's remember that the referendum has the goal of approving and rejecting popular consultation
03:24initiatives promoted by the Executive on security, labor and international arbitration issues.
03:29The first results show that citizens rejected by a wide margin proposals to recognize
03:34international arbitration for investment disputes and to introduce fixed-term and hourly
03:39employment contracts.
03:40Both of the proposals were on the spotlight of Lobo's administration.
03:46Earlier Diana Atamain, head of the National Electoral Council, declared that at the end
03:49of the day, 78% of citizens participated in the electoral exercise.
03:59In the midst of its worst energy crisis, a marked economic recession and the highest
04:04homicide rate in Latin America, Ecuador goes to the polls this Sunday, April 21.
04:11President Daniel Lobo promotes a referendum that, according to his promises, will allow
04:16the construction of a new country.
04:19Today, criminal organizations and corruption are trying to put obstacles in our way.
04:28But we are going to get out of this with strength and with our best weapon, which is
04:34our vote, we are going to promote the referendum this Sunday.
04:40There are 11 questions, most of them related to security, such as the role of the armed
04:45forces in the fight against organized crime and the increase of penalties for serious
04:50crimes.
04:54Traditionally, consultations have been used to validate presidential positions, but many
04:59of them are anchor questions.
05:01What are the anchor questions?
05:03Something that no one could say no to and then, taking hold of that anchor question,
05:07making a campaign to vote in favor of the other presidential intentions or pretensions.
05:13Although it worked for Lenín Moreno with the seven times yes, at the time, for Guillermo
05:18Lasso, when he proposed his popular consultation, he did it in a way that generated complete
05:23rejection from the population.
05:29Some consider that the electoral process has been used by the president to legitimize the
05:33role of the US Southern Command in the alleged fight against organized crime, the presence
05:39of the military on the streets and to justify the abuses of the armed forces, as denounced
05:44by human rights organizations.
05:49We are not talking about assistance, we are talking about forms of government, about control
05:54of prisons or the streets.
05:57We have painfully seen summary executions in the country, we have seen a young man who
06:01goes out to sell a puppy and is executed without any process.
06:06Moreover, unions denounce that behind the security questions, there are other core questions
06:13that jeopardize workers' rights.
06:16Vacation, subsidies and overtime rights are eliminated.
06:24Workers under this type of contract will have to be available 100% of the time, hoping that
06:31there will be a contract for 2, 3, 4 hours of work.
06:38Another question that does not convince progressive groups is that of international arbitration
06:43for investments.
06:46Article 422 that they want to amend in this referendum prohibits the Ecuadorian state
06:51from submitting to international arbitration and yielding sovereignty.
06:56In the annex to Question D, the article is completely changed and the state is completely
07:01exposed to international arbitrations.
07:04Gentlemen, out of every 10 arbitrations, the state loses 7, the other 3 never wins, it
07:11only reaches judicial or extrajudicial agreements before the respective award, and all of them
07:16it has to pay.
07:1913.6 million Ecuadorians are called to the polls to express their support or rejection
07:24to this electoral initiative proposed by a president whose approval, according to several
07:29polls, in March reached almost 80%.
07:32But who has now faced a strong rejection after decisions such as those of assaulting the
07:36Mexican embassy in Quito and the blackouts of more than 8 hours a day?
07:41The truth is that Noboa is risking a great part of his political capital this Sunday.
07:45Elena Rodriguez, Telesur, Ecuador.
07:50In Ecuador, on Sunday, Damián Parrales was assassinated.
07:53He was the director of the Manabe 4 detention center, also known as El Rodeo.
07:58Just five days after taking office and during the development of the National Public Consultation.
08:03In this way, local media reported that Parrales was killed by hired assassins while he was
08:08with his family in a local restaurant in the province of Manabe.
08:11On the other hand, the police and armed forces deployed in the area confirmed that the assassins
08:15apparently arrived on a motorcycle.
08:17This crime occurs despite the fact that the authorities informed that about 100,000 troops
08:21were in charge of guaranteeing security on Sunday's voting day.
08:29In Haiti, several social movements demonstrated against the increase in violence that plagues
08:36the country.
08:37The Committed Youth Movement of Haiti called for a mobilization to demand the non-installation
08:42of the Presidential Transition Council.
08:44The head of the organization made a call for unity for the sectors of national life.
08:48In this sense, he added that the installation of the members of the Presidential Council
08:52would cost the resources of the state without seeing results against violence.
08:58This is an opportunity for youth organizations to make a call for an uprising against insecurity,
09:04impunity and corruption of the system.
09:12We are going to take a short break now, but remember you can join us on our TikTok at
09:15Telesol English, where you'll find news in different formats.
09:23More coming up after a short break.
09:28Thanks for joining us.
09:58Welcome back.
09:59Israel's Chief of Military Intelligence resigned this Monday due to responsibility
10:03in Tel Aviv's failure before the Palestinian Resistance Operation al-Aqsa flood.
10:08The Israel Defense Forces reported in a statement that the Major General Aharon Aliba has asked
10:13to step down from his post, holding himself responsible for military inaction that did
10:17not prevent the incursion of the al-Qassam Brigade's military wing of Hamas.
10:21This would be the first resignation of an Israeli political or military official since
10:25then in what was the biggest breach of Israel's security since its founding in 1948.
10:31According to a poll published last week, 62% of the Israeli population believe that it
10:35is time for those responsible for the October 7th failure to resign.
10:46In the Gaza Strip, rescue teams have recovered 210 bodies after the Israeli occupation forces
10:52left the southern city of Hanjounis.
10:54Civil defense officials said the bodies, mostly women and children, were found in a
10:58mass grave near the Nasser Hospital and it is presumed they were victims of massacres
11:02perpetrated by Israeli troops.
11:04The agency said that so far 2,000 Palestinians have been reported missing who may have been
11:09killed and buried or kidnapped by the occupation.
11:12Since the start of the Israelization October 7th, over 34,000 people have been killed and
11:1776,000 wounded while thousands of the victims still remain under the rubble.
11:25In Morocco, hordes of activists protested in front of the U.S. Consulate General in
11:32Casablanca to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people.
11:36Participants raised Palestinian flags and banners denouncing the crimes committed by
11:40the Israeli occupation.
11:42Protesters urged the international community for pressing the occupation forces to reach
11:45a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and opening the border crossings for humanitarian aid.
11:50In turn, activists called on the Moroccan Kingdom to break off relations with Israel.
12:06We think this genocide is a direct aftermath of the assistance the U.S. government has
12:10been providing for years to the Zionist entity.
12:13Here, we are witnessing a crystal clear complicity in what the White House supplies in terms
12:18of logistics, funding, vetoes, military and espionage to the Zionist entity.
12:28Dozens of people went out in the streets to express their support to the Palestinian people
12:32in the face of the crimes executed by Israel since October 7th.
12:35With Palestinian flags and banners, the French citizens demanded a permanent ceasefire in
12:39the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,000 people have died, mostly women and children.
12:45France is one of the many countries that have expressed their rejection of Tel Aviv's
12:48terrorist acts against Palestine.
12:55Meanwhile, in Germany, citizens took to the streets of Berlin to reject the supply of
12:59arms to Israel.
13:01Demonstrators called to stop arming Tel Aviv to defend the future of Palestinian children
13:05and youth.
13:06Despite the peaceful nature of the mobilization, the media denounced that the German security
13:09forces carried out actions to repress and arrest demonstrators.
13:16In the United States, pro-Palestinian activists rallied outside the Capitol in Washington
13:24D.C. to demand that lawmakers not send additional funds to Israel.
13:28With Palestinian flags, they demanded that the government stop its complicity with the
13:32genocide perpetrated in the Gaza Strip.
13:35In this context, it is worth noting that more than 40 Democrat representatives voted against
13:39the delivery of $26 billion to Israel.
13:42They stated that their votes were against the supply of offensive weapons that could
13:45result in more killings of civilians in Rafah and elsewhere.
13:55We've tried very, very hard.
13:57Again, we've been coming here every day for three months now, trying to lobby against
14:02it, fight against it, and we managed to delay it for a long time, but today they're going
14:09to be voting on it to send more weapons to Israel, which is currently committing a genocide
14:13in Gaza.
14:16The Palestinian government criticized the U.S. economic aid bill for Israel and labeled
14:20it as an aggression against the Palestinian people.
14:23The Palestinian presidential spokesperson, Nabil Abu Hudaina, deemed that the economic
14:27package of billions of dollars for the Israeli armed forces questions Washington's credibility.
14:32In that sense, the authority underscored that while the United States provides military
14:35support to Israel, the Zionist army continues its aggression against the Gaza Strip.
14:41On the other hand, Washington issued a veto on the entry of Palestine as a full member
14:45of the United Nations Security Council in response to which the Palestinian president
14:50described the decision as shameful, irresponsible, and unjustified.
14:59In this context, on Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a foreign aid
15:03package of more than $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
15:07According to local sources, $61 billion from the fund will be sent to Ukraine, while Israel
15:12will receive $26.4 billion and Taiwan $8.1 billion.
15:16The bill, voted mostly in favor by the Republican representative, is awaiting approval by the
15:20U.S. Senate and then to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
15:24In the preceding month, House Speaker Mike Johnson continually refused to put aid to
15:28Ukraine to a vote.
15:30However, Iran's response to Israel last Saturday served as an excuse to at least move forward
15:34with the aid to the Hebrew country, the main U.S. ally in the Middle East.
15:43We want to take a final short break, but before we invite you to join our WhatsApp community
15:47for our English-speaking audience, you can scan the QR code that is on screen to join
15:51our community to stay up to date on all the information in the Caribbean, Latin America,
15:55and the world.
15:58More coming up after a short break.
16:20Welcome back.
16:21The President of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi, arrived in Pakistan for a meeting with the Prime Minister
16:25Shabazz Sharif, within the framework of an official visit aimed at promoting security
16:30and trade ties.
16:31Raisi and Sharif held a private meeting after the Iranian President's arrival in Islamabad.
16:35The two sides will discuss a broad agenda to strengthen bilateral ties and boost cooperation
16:40in various areas such as trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, and people-to-people
16:44contacts.
16:45Prior to his arrival, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran stressed that the
16:49two neighboring countries intend to increase the value of their trade and economic exchanges
16:53to $10 billion, given their great capacities.
16:56Leading a high-ranking political-economic delegation, the two-stage visit will also
17:00take the Iranian President to Sri Lanka, where he will place special emphasis on trade and
17:05economic issues.
17:24In Burundi, citizens continue to cope with the effects of floods, which have left thousands
17:29of people evacuated and property damaged.
17:31Felt water of Lake Tanganyika overwhelmed the port of Bujumbura, the economic capital
17:36of Burundi.
17:37According to the United Nations, since September, more than 200,000 people have been affected
17:42in the country, while some 19,000 houses have been destroyed.
17:46Climate experts say that the weather phenomena in Burundi and other countries in the area
17:50are part of the extreme conditions related to the El Niño weather pattern.
18:01Meanwhile, in China, authorities reported 11 people missing in the southern province
18:04of Canton following heavy floods.
18:06The provincial Department of Emergency Management added that a total of 53,741 people were relocated,
18:13of which 12,256 had to be urgently resettled.
18:18The agency also confirmed that three people were found dead in the city of Sakin, one
18:24of the areas with the highest level of damage caused by rainfall.
18:27Local authorities urged the public to cut off power supply in high-risk areas, as well
18:30as to suspend outdoor activities and events.
18:40In Spain, authorities have announced official results on Sunday's general elections held
18:44in the Basque Country Autonomous Community.
18:46The Basque Nationalist Party won, and now they have as many seats in parliament as the
18:51Ejvildo Party, that is, 27.
18:53The Spanish Socialist Party won two more seats, for a total of 12, and the Popular Party got
18:58seven seats.
18:59Also, the candidate representing Basque got re-elected, and the Sumatra Party got one
19:04seat.
19:05Thus, the Socialist Party has become the third leading political force in the Basque Country.
19:09Sunday's election had a 51 percent turnout.
19:17And with less than 100 days to go until the start of the Olympic Games in Paris on Sunday,
19:23World Athletic legend Carl Lewis says he believes it will be a fabulous venue.
19:30First of all, I think Paris is going to be fabulous, incredible.
19:33It's a wonderful country.
19:35It's a beautiful city, and I know they're going to integrate the culture and the ideas,
19:41and being the 100th anniversary, I think it's going to be an absolute fabulous Olympics.
19:47Olympic champion Pérez Yirgit Yirgit won the Women's London Marathon on Sunday in a
19:52world record time of 2 hours 16 minutes 16 seconds for an all-female race.
19:57In this sense, the 30-year-old Kenyan beat the women's record of 2 hours 16 minutes 17
20:02seconds set by her teammate Mary Kate Hanning in 2017.
20:06For her part, Yirgit Yirgit stated that she is very satisfied with the result achieved
20:10in her first race of the current year, and assured that she is fully motivated and focused
20:14on the Olympic Games to be held in Paris.
20:23I'm feeling good.
20:25This was the last race for Kenya to select a team for the Olympics, so I was trying to
20:31work extra hard to defend my title in the Olympics.
20:37Like this, we have come to the end of our newsmeet.
20:39For more, you can find more news on our website at www.telstraenglish.net.
20:43You can also join us on our social medias on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok and X.
20:49For Telstra English, I'm Luis Alberto Matos.
20:51Thank you for watching.