*UN denounces Israeli blockade of Rafah crossing point.
*Putin sworn in as President of Russia.
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*Putin sworn in as President of Russia.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 In Colombia, President Gustavo Petro launched the "Government with Popular Neighborhoods"
00:16 initiative.
00:19 The United Nations denounces Israel's denial of access to Rafa crossing point in Gaza.
00:28 In Russia, President Vladimir Putin was sworn in to officially take office as head of state
00:33 for the next six years.
00:42 Hello and welcome to From the South.
00:43 I'm Alejandra GarcĂa from Telesur Studios in Havana, Cuba.
00:46 We begin with the news.
00:48 On Monday, President of Colombia Gustavo Petro opened the initiative known as the "Government
00:53 with Popular Neighborhoods".
00:55 The plan, which aims at assessing, monitoring and accelerating the implementation of programs,
01:00 projects and investments, was opened at the En Sueño Theater in the BolĂvar city, Bogotá.
01:06 Alongside several members of his executive team, including Vice President Francia Márquez,
01:12 President Petro announced an array of measures to benefit impoverished communities and denounce
01:17 acts of corruption in his administration.
01:27 Officials fell into the temptation to save their penalties by accusing.
01:34 And some very famous lawyers for their intellectual line took the matter into their hands.
01:43 And some are extorting officials under the thesis constructed journalistically by the
01:47 usual lady that "the President bribed with public money congresspersons to approve the
01:56 reform".
02:03 And that is false and it has to do with a coup strategy.
02:11 In Venezuela, the Attorney General Tarek William Saab on Tuesday offered details of the progress
02:16 made in the investigations regarding the PDVSA-Crypto case.
02:20 During a press conference, William Saab pointed out that the public ministry is constantly
02:25 advancing in the fight against corruption.
02:27 Meanwhile, the official denounced that the former Minister of Oil Tarek El Aysami had
02:32 a phantom payroll with which he allegedly financed an extortive media structure with
02:38 public money.
02:40 In this sense, the public prosecutor informed that around 290 people have been prosecuted,
02:45 76 of them were sentenced for the corruption scheme.
02:55 Later appeared one after another in different companies in the oil belt, as well as in different
03:02 management of PDVSA.
03:04 After almost seven years of this investigation, we have managed to process 32 corruption plots
03:09 linked to the oil industry, including PDVSA-Crypto plot.
03:20 In all these 32 plots, so we have judicialized 290 people.
03:25 That number should not be forgotten, only referring to the fight against oil corruption.
03:33 76 have already been convicted, among those persecuted, including apart from the former
03:42 Orinoco oil belt, Chief Pedro LeĂłn and former President of PDVSA.
03:55 This public service, our officers, under our leadership, have consolidated in an unquestionable
04:02 way a work, a reality, a vocation of service that is unique in the Western Hemisphere and
04:16 within this important line of actions.
04:26 The fight against common crime in all its forms, organized crime in all its forms, from
04:32 structural organized crime groups to the major drug mafias.
04:41 In Venezuela, new voices have joined the national rejection of the coercive measures that Joe
04:45 Biden's regime is applying to the South American nation, while billboards condemning the United
04:50 States' aggression have been erected in different parts of Caracas.
04:54 Our correspondent, Roberta Hugo-Presa, has more details.
04:59 The youth raise their voice of condemnation against the blockade imposed by the United
05:03 States on Venezuela.
05:05 These young people are clear that they must join a citizens' campaign to shout out the
05:11 US government that the sanctions are illegal, inhuman and criminal.
05:21 The youth reject the sanctions imposed by imperialism, by the United States, but beyond
05:25 rejecting, here they are, these young people.
05:30 Many young people left, but they decided to stay.
05:32 We decided to stay and fight for our homeland.
05:36 Despite the blockade, here are these young people who believe in the future, who believe
05:40 in Venezuela, who believe in the revolution, but who also move forward so that everyday
05:46 youth policies are better.
05:48 They believe that all media resources should be used to raise awareness nationally and
05:53 internationally and to spread the message of repudiation.
06:00 The alternative media that we achieved with President Chavez, that is to say, the alternative
06:04 radio stations, the alternative media, how do we use all these tools to attack these
06:10 measures?
06:11 How do we use the networks, how do we visualize all the consequences, to hold each of the
06:17 victims just like the issue of Palestine, which has gone viral everywhere because of
06:21 the bombings?
06:22 Well, our people are also receiving bombs.
06:26 A hospital that is not receiving supplies because of the blockade is a bomb that falls
06:32 on the hospital.
06:33 Other sectors also joined the rejection of the United States.
06:37 The inhabitants of Cochab Parish took to the streets massively to demonstrate and send
06:42 a message to President Joe Biden.
06:46 Today we take to the streets as always united, full of love, of hope, because we believe
06:52 in the homeland and we are sure that the sanctions will never defeat us.
06:56 They have had a thousand sanctions against Venezuela and we will always take to the streets
07:01 to say that we are free, we are sovereign, and that our homeland defends itself.
07:08 I ask for the sanctions to be removed so that we can have a country like Venezuela and deserve.
07:14 Beyond that, we have been fighting against the empire for a long time.
07:18 Since we come from the belly of our mother, I hope that Biden and the gringos understand
07:23 this.
07:24 Gringo, go home!
07:26 In various parts of the country, billboards have been erected with messages condemning
07:31 the opposition leaders who promoted the sanctions.
07:34 It is a citizens' campaign of repudiation in which they also warn that they will not
07:39 be able to defeat the peoples of Venezuela.
07:42 The messages are signed by the Venezuelan people.
07:45 Roberto Hugo Presta, Telesur, Caracas, Venezuela.
07:51 During an exclusive interview for a multiplatform Telesur, Argentine journalist and writer Estela
07:56 Caloni affirmed that the government's decision to censor Telesur's signal on open digital
08:01 television is part of the political persecution that the country is going through.
08:11 This is a clearly political decision as a result of the political persecution that we
08:16 are living in these moments.
08:19 It was kind of foreseeable that Telesur was bothering them infinitely, because this is
08:24 a country where they are not allowing the channels to publish anything of international
08:29 politics.
08:30 Here, nothing is known, and the only thing that many of us could see was our own production.
08:38 Of course, we journalists have other sources, but Telesur was very important to us and to
08:43 all of Latin America.
08:47 We know this.
08:48 Besides, Argentina is a partner of Telesur from the beginning.
08:52 Estela Caloni also stated that the government is attacking the media, starting with the
08:57 TELAM news agency, whose headquarters have been closed indefinitely.
09:04 Television has been persecuted from the beginning.
09:08 Also in Macri's government, the first thing they did was to end the whole new project
09:14 of the audiovisual media law, so important for the country, because it was a democratizing
09:19 law by essence.
09:22 So the first thing he does is to attack the public media, to promise that the public media
09:27 was going to disappear.
09:30 Media like public television, radio and the news agency TELAM, which also, similar to
09:36 this issue with Telesur, they have decided to close all internal correspondents.
09:55 Brazilian President Lula da Silva sent to Congress a draft legislative decree establishing
10:00 a public calamity in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
10:03 The death toll after heavy rains in the state rose to 90.
10:07 Authorities also reported several people missing and considerable damage to infrastructure.
10:11 The executive wants Parliament to authorize the transfer of resources to the regions hit
10:16 by the strong storms without subjecting it to compliance with the fiscal rules.
10:22 The measures include an extraordinary credit and the suspension of the monthly payment
10:27 of its debt obligations, among other incentives.
10:34 The ALBA-TCP member states expressed on Tuesday their solidarity with the people and government
10:39 of Brazil due to the heavy rains and floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
10:44 The Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of our America People's Trade Treaty deeply
10:48 regretted in a communiqué the human and material losses and expressed its condolences.
10:54 It pointed out that this historic catastrophe surpasses the flood of 1941 and is the fourth
11:00 such environmental disaster in a year.
11:02 The text points out that ALBA-TCP is closely following the rescue works and supports of
11:08 all the efforts being made by the Brazilian state, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula
11:12 da Silva, to provide a rapid response to the emergency and assistance to the affected families.
11:19 Let's take a short break.
11:24 If you remember you can join us on TikTok at @telesottinglish where you will find news
11:27 in different formats, news updates and more.
11:30 Other stories coming up, stay with us.
11:31 Welcome back.
11:56 The United Nations denounced Israel's denial to access to Rafah crossing a point in Gaza.
12:02 The multilateral body joins Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Palestine, Belgium and other
12:07 governments and organisations denouncing Sionist operation at Karim Shalom crossing.
12:13 Israel has completely blocked the entry of humanitarian aid, as denounced earlier by several
12:18 organisations that claim that Tel Aviv's real intention is to continue starving thousands
12:23 of Palestinians.
12:25 With timid protests from its allies in Washington and Paris, the Sionist government ceased the
12:30 border crossing in the midst of an unfinished negotiation process.
12:40 The Palestinian Ministry of Health informed that more than 50 people died and 96 others
12:46 were wounded in Gaza during the attacks launched by Israeli forces against that Palestinian
12:51 region in the last 24 hours.
12:53 According to the health authority, the Palestinian death toll from Israel's deadly aggression
12:57 since October 7th, 2023 has now surged to 34,789.
13:04 At least 78,204 others have also been injured in the onslaught against the Gaza Strip.
13:11 Medical sources on the grounds have reported that many victims are still trapped under the
13:15 rubble and on the roads as rescuers are still unable to reach them.
13:24 Meanwhile, Rafah residents expressed their anguish after overnight Israeli attacks on
13:32 Rafah disrupted their celebrations over a possible ceasefire.
13:36 "All the Palestinian people were overjoyed after Hamas approved a ceasefire proposal
13:42 from Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
13:45 Everyone felt an indescribable joy.
13:47 People are suffocated and they couldn't believe for a moment that they were going to feel
13:50 a sense of safety.
13:52 We were surprised to see that it turned out to be a bloody night, without joy or anything.
13:56 They stole our joy.
13:57 We couldn't be happy for over two hours.
14:00 Our joy didn't last longer than two hours.
14:02 There were surprising Israeli strikes with various goals, using jets and artillery bombings.
14:08 It was a terrifying night."
14:11 For their part, locals are hopeful that a ceasefire could end the suffering of the people
14:16 of Gaza.
14:17 "We hope for a ceasefire, even if it is just for a few moments, so that we can save
14:23 our children, just to give them a period of rest, some time to rest.
14:27 For us, for any human being, our greatest ambition in life is to build a house, to have
14:32 a child, to raise that child, to send that child to school.
14:36 For us, in one moment, our child is killed, our house is destroyed, our whole world is
14:41 destroyed and we lose everything in one moment."
14:44 On Tuesday, relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas issued an ultimatum to Prime
14:51 Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire agreement already reached by the
14:55 Palestinian Resistance Movement.
14:58 In this regard, hundreds of Israelis rallied and blocked major local highways to warn the
15:03 Tel Aviv government that they will intensify demonstrations if it does not accept the ceasefire
15:08 proposal.
15:09 The mobilization was called after it was learned that the Zionist government decided to advance
15:15 militarily on Rafa, despite Hamas' acceptance of the latest ceasefire agreement.
15:20 For its part, Hamas warned that the Israeli deployment in the area, in addition to the
15:25 humanitarian catastrophe for thousands of displaced Palestinians, also would put an
15:30 end to any possibility of an agreement.
15:39 In Germany, the police intervened and pro-Palestinian protests by hundreds of university students.
15:45 Protesters gathered on campus at Freire Universität Berlin, where students set up tents, carried
15:51 Palestinian flags and wore keffef scarves to denounce Israel's occupation of the Gaza
15:56 Strip and Germany's support.
15:59 The group was conformed by students from various Berlin universities, who followed a call to
16:04 action organized by the Initiative Student Coalition Berlin.
16:08 The German police broke up the protests by force, using paper spray and detaining activists.
16:14 These protests in Berlin followed similar actions in support of Palestine at universities
16:18 in several European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium,
16:23 among others.
16:31 Russian President Vladimir Putin was sworn in to officially take office as head of state
16:35 for the next six years.
16:37 During his speech at the inauguration ceremony, President Putin did not hint who his candidate
16:42 to prime minister might be.
16:44 According to the Russian legislation, the head of state has until May 20 to propose
16:49 to the state Duma a name to occupy this position.
16:53 Putin focused his speech on issues related to his country's ability to succeed in any
16:58 challenge.
16:59 He highlighted his nation's ability to overcome current obstacles and his willingness to contribute
17:04 to the construction of a new world scenario.
17:14 We will be open to good relations with countries that see Russia as an efficient and honest
17:19 partner, that is, with the majority of them.
17:23 We do not engage in dialogue with Western governments, which try to delay the development
17:30 of Russia with aggressive policies.
17:34 They do not cease to pressure, they do not cease to exert pressure.
17:42 I repeat, dialogues, including on security issues, are possible, but not from the point
17:51 of view of violence or exclusion, but on an equal level with the partners of the Eurasian
17:59 integration.
18:02 In this context, the President of Cuba, Miguel DĂaz-Canel, arrived in Russia to participate
18:06 in the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union.
18:10 In this meeting, Cuba would be participating as an observer nation.
18:14 The Cuban head of state is set to develop a work agenda, which includes a reunion with
18:18 his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
18:21 DĂaz-Canel travelled to the Russian Federation, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno
18:25 RodrĂguez Parrilla and Emilio Lozada, head of the International Relations Department
18:30 of Cuba's Communist Party.
18:32 The Cuban President is also scheduled to attend the military parade of May 9th, on the occasion
18:38 of Victory Day, this year celebrating the 79th anniversary of the triumph of the Soviet
18:43 Union over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.
18:51 We have a final short break coming up, but before we invite you to join our WhatsApp
18:55 community for a reduced speaking audience, you can scan the QR code on screen to join
18:59 directly and share the link to reach more people.
19:02 Constant news coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the rest of the
19:05 world.
19:06 Stay connected and informed with Telesur.
19:08 Final short break, don't go away.
19:19 Welcome back to From the South.
19:21 The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Chikisegi, confirmed on
19:25 Tuesday he has filed a complaint against the US technology giant Apple for the use of minerals
19:31 associated with human rights violations.
19:34 In this regard, the head of state denounced that the US company based in California obtained
19:38 supplies of the so-called "3T" minerals, which have been smuggled into Rwanda from
19:44 the Democratic Republic of Congo.
19:46 In this regard, the Congolese President also denounced that violence and massacres are
19:50 taking place in the mines where these minerals are obtained.
19:54 The legal process initiated by Kinshasa demands responsibility and reparations from Apple
20:00 for the damages caused by the use of these illegally sourced materials.
20:10 On Tuesday, humanity celebrates World Asthma Day, a chronic disease that affects a high
20:15 percentage of the world's population, with children being the most vulnerable.
20:19 The event, organized by the Global Asthma Initiative, takes place on the first Tuesday
20:24 of May to involve patients in the care and control of the disease, reduce possible risk
20:29 factors and teach people what to do when faced with a possible asthma attack or crisis.
20:36 Asthma causes the airways of the lungs to swell and narrow, causing breathing difficulties
20:42 such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing.
20:47 This day aims to raise awareness of asthma and its consequences, promote the study of
20:52 its association with the environment, reduce morbidity and mortality from this condition
20:57 and improve the availability and accessibility to therapies for this pathology.
21:07 Now we go to the world of sports.
21:09 On Monday, Barbados initiated an agreement with Jamaica to receive assistance in the
21:13 preparation of athletes and athletic trainers in order to raise the level of education in
21:18 the country.
21:19 In this regard, the Barbados Minister of Sports, Charles Griffith, stated that the project
21:24 emerges as a result of conversations with his Jamaican counterpart, Olivia Grange, since
21:30 Kingston, capital of Jamaica, had a similar collaboration with Trinidad and Tobago.
21:35 He also stated that the idea of the agreement is to promote the exchange of experience in
21:39 order to better train coaches and thus raise the quality standards in the preparation of
21:45 athletes.
21:51 We have come to the end of this news brief, but you can find this and many other stories
21:54 on our website at www.tellus.english.net and join us on social media, Facebook, Instagram,
21:59 Telegram and TikTok.
22:00 For TELUS English, I'm Alejandra Garcia.
22:03 Thank you for watching.
22:04 [Music]