02/02/2025
FTS 12.30
*Canada imposes tariffs on the U.S.
*Israel has killed 25 civilians in the West Bank
FTS 12.30
*Canada imposes tariffs on the U.S.
*Israel has killed 25 civilians in the West Bank
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Venezuela, citizens go to the polls on the first national public consultation of
00:152025, a democratic process that strengthens communal power.
00:23In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the imposition of tariffs after describing
00:27President Trump's decision as a betrayal.
00:34And in Palestine, the Israeli army killed at least 25 Palestinians during operations
00:38against the West Bank in the last 13 days.
00:47Hello welcome from the south, I'm Luis Alberto Matos from Televisa Studios in Havana, Cuba.
00:51We begin with the news, in Venezuela the first national public consultation of 2025 is currently
00:57underway.
00:58Venezuelans go to the polls to choose the projects that their communities need.
01:03The Minister of Communes, Ángel Prado, informed that there are more than 36,000 projects nominated
01:08for Sunday's voting, where more than 5,000 will be elected.
01:12The remaining projects will also have the opportunity to be developed.
01:16All the proposals were discussed by the communities themselves in open assemblies.
01:20The more than 1,100 parishes in the Bolivarian nation go to the 5,245 electoral centers to
01:28cast their votes on these community-driven initiatives.
01:39And in Venezuela, on the occasion of the first nationwide public consultation of 2025, our
01:44team continues to tour communes and communal circuits to evaluate how this initiative has
01:49impacted the organization of neighbors of the territory.
01:53Our correspondent Belen de los Santos has the details.
01:57In Quebrada de Cuba, located within the Valles del Tui region in the Miranda state of Venezuela,
02:03is the Ña Placida Rural Commune, described by its inhabitants as the spearhead of popular
02:09organization in the region, as its residents have been working for years on collective
02:14solutions to improve the community's daily life.
02:18Like this, they arrived to the first public consultation of 2025 with the enthusiasm
02:24to continue promoting their strategic projects.
02:29We arrive here, as with all our previous consultations, with a lot of optimism, of hope, and above
02:35all, with a lot of determination to win in order to satisfy specific needs.
02:40One of the main issues faced in the area was the water supply.
02:44The implementation of the project resulted from the first public consultation of 2024
02:49has not only provided an efficient solution to this problem, but has also strengthened
02:54the unity of the community's neighbors.
02:58The self-management and self-government methods are so important to improve the quality of
03:02life of our inhabitants.
03:04The Ña Placida commune had already been without potable water supply through pipes for many
03:09years.
03:10And we even managed to make three extra houses to benefit from this project.
03:18The elderly, children, women, men, all participated.
03:22What impacted me as coordinator the most, as well as my fellow community members, was
03:27the union, because this had not been achieved in any of the 30 communities of Cabrada de
03:32Cua that an entire community went out to execute a project.
03:38In Ña Placida, when a conflict is approached creatively, it can even become a benefit for
03:43the community.
03:44This is the idea behind another of the emblematic projects of this commune, which has found
03:49in recycling not only a way to eliminate garbage dumps, but also an engine for change in the
03:55future.
03:59We must make people see, from the youngest to the oldest, that garbage is not a problem,
04:05garbage is a means of production.
04:07Nowadays we are much more prepared in terms of waste sorting, which is the most important
04:12thing in recycling, and the benefits that each recycled product brings.
04:19Emily and I are the ones who drive the garbage trucks on the pickup route every day.
04:24That's not an easy feat, but it has been achieved here.
04:30From the provision of basic services to the promotion of culture as a means of transformation.
04:35Through collective action, the commune members of Cabrada de Cua have found a way to build
04:40effective responses on a daily basis, convinced that they are on the right path.
04:48Everything we propose here in the commune is being achieved.
04:51And it will go on like that, because we will not stop pursuing that goal.
04:56And this is the way, hand in hand with the people's power.
05:02In Brazil, Hugo Mota was elected President of the House of Representatives, while Davi
05:12Alcolumbre was elected President of the Senate.
05:16Deputy Hugo Mota, supported by the Workers' Party, the Liberal Party and 16 other parties,
05:20was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies with a vote of 444 parliamentarians, the second
05:26highest vote in history.
05:29Similarly, Davi Alcolumbre will assume the Senate for the second time, obtaining 73 of
05:35the 81 votes, also backed by an arc of alliances ranging from the Workers' Party to the Liberal
05:41Party.
05:42The main guidelines of the political left in Congress include regulating social networks,
05:46enriching tariffs and reducing the working day.
05:54And young people from all over Brazil gathered in Recife this week for the Biennial Congress
05:59of the National Student Union.
06:01Our correspondent Bramir has the details.
06:08Thousands of students traveled in bus convoys from across Brazil to Recife this week for
06:12the Biennial Congress of the National University Students' Union, or UNI.
06:19After a series of debates on the political conjecture and cultural exchange activities,
06:24they held an assembly where they voted on their priorities for the next two years.
06:28In addition to school reforms, they agreed to fight for a tax on large fortunes and an
06:33end to the six-day work week.
06:40This year is important for social mobilization.
06:44The social movements have a task to do and the National Students' Union is rising to
06:48the challenge, which is to block the right-wing extremist agenda that punishes the working
06:54class and the Brazilian people.
06:59Founded in 1937, the UNI is one of Brazil's largest and oldest social movements.
07:05Historically connected to the Communist Party, it was a key player in the fight against Brazil's
07:09military dictatorship.
07:11During the Bolsonaro administration, UNI mobilized over a million people to the streets on two
07:16occasions, triggering the resignation of four education ministers and blocking the
07:21government from charging tuition in public universities.
07:28Students from across Brazil came here and spent five days discussing the future of our
07:32nation.
07:33We spoke about ideas for new public policies, including how to reform our universities so
07:38we could decide what steps we need to take to create a country that is better and fairer.
07:44The story of the National Students' Union is intertwined with the story of Brazil.
07:48Our struggle continues to defeat the far right and move forward so the people can have the
07:53dignity of the quality education needed to defend Brazil.
07:57The size and success of the event shows that 88 years after its founding, Latin America's
08:03largest student movement remains an influential force in Brazilian politics.
08:09Brian Meir, Telus Sur, Recife.
08:13We now have a short break coming up, but first remember you can join us on tiktok at Telus
08:17Sur English, where you'll find news in different formats, news updates, and much more.
08:21We'll be right back, stay with us.
08:23Welcome back.
08:44Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the imposition of tariffs after describing
08:49President Trump's decision as a betrayal.
08:52The Premier gave an extensive account of Canada's gestures of solidarity with the
08:55United States and recalled the previous agreements in force.
08:59The Canadian Chamber of Commerce also reacted to the White House's decision, calling it
09:04deeply disturbing.
09:05The head of government also announced alliances with Mexico, its other teammate partner, and
09:11explained the first round of impositions on the United States.
09:20Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the U.S. trade action with 25% tariffs
09:28against $155 billion worth of American goods.
09:33This will include immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods as of Tuesday, followed
09:40by further tariffs on $125 billion worth of American products in 21 days' time to allow
09:48Canadian companies and supply chains to seek to find alternatives.
09:55And the Bolivian government handed over new homes to the residents of indigenous communities
09:59of the Oruro Department.
10:01The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, delivers out the dignified buildings that replace the
10:06small houses of Adobe and Thatch Roof.
10:09The head of state announced that soon other houses will be assigned as part of the plan
10:14to improve the living conditions of the indigenous families.
10:17Arce's administration plans to invest over $1.28 million for indigenous autonomous communities
10:23of Oruro Chipaya.
10:29In El Salvador, at least two people were killed and one injured in a new traffic accident
10:34in the country's capital.
10:36Authorities detailed that the accident occurred in the early hours of the morning, when a
10:39motorbike and a private vehicle collided at kilometer 14 of the Pan-American Highway in
10:44San Martín, San Salvador East.
10:46Should be noted that the National Civil Police reported that so far in 2025, there have been
10:511,482 accidents, of which 82 people have died and 937 have been injured.
10:59In response to the increase in these accidents, the controls established in the traffic regulations
11:03approved in December 2024 have been increased, including the application of photo fines and
11:09other enforcement measures.
11:17And Nicaragua lived the series of the Americas in a great baseball party and the country
11:32showed its capacity to host great international events in modern stadiums.
11:36Let's see.
11:37For the first time, Nicaragua hosted the series of the Americas International Tournament,
11:48an event that brought together teams from Argentina, Cuba, Curaçao, Panama, Colombia
11:52and the host country, Nicaragua.
11:54The country proved to be more than prepared to host large-scale competitions thanks to
11:59its modern stadiums.
12:06What a tremendous tournament.
12:07I have loved more than anything the reception and the treatment that the country of Nicaragua
12:12has given me.
12:14Truly what a tremendous tournament.
12:16Very good level of the teams that are here.
12:21It is unbelievable what we are experiencing.
12:23The organization of the tournament is tremendous.
12:31Nicaragua should feel proud of these three stadiums that you have here and you can play
12:35any event.
12:36I believe that you are close to reach the level of possibly even a World Cup.
12:43I had not been here, but I had references that it was a stadium with a good infrastructure.
12:48It is a good quality stadium that is suitable for international matches, and I believe that,
12:53yes, the expectations were met.
12:59For seven days, the teams competed in an atmosphere of excitement and high level of
13:04sportsmanship.
13:05The Metropolitan Eagles of Panama were crowned champions for the first edition of the Series
13:10of the Americas.
13:11The national team of Nicaragua was crowned runner-up.
13:18I think we already had an idea of how to pitch to the hitters.
13:21The Nicaraguan hitters are very good and I think we made the necessary adjustments to
13:25pull out the victory.
13:34Baseball is considered the king sport in Nicaragua due to its popularity and the massive turnout
13:40of fans in the country's new and modern stadiums.
13:47I think that something very nice about this country is that the countries that come here
13:50will speak well of Nicaragua for having stadiums like this one.
13:58The government is building stadiums in which we as former players would have liked to play.
14:02Unfortunately, we couldn't play in these stadiums, but the new generation is acquiring these
14:08new stadiums.
14:10They already look at us with respect and that is the objective because baseball in Nicaragua
14:17reaches the top to occupy the first places in Latin America.
14:30In addition to the sporting impact, events such as this one boost the local economy,
14:34benefiting small and large businesses.
14:37Entrepreneurs and merchants take advantage of these opportunities to offer traditional
14:41Nicaraguan cuisine and other products, strengthening the country's economic development.
14:49I offered my client different types of food that we make here.
14:57First of all, we thank God and the people who support us as the good government that
15:01has come to make this stadium nice and beautiful, and also this favor that we bring a livelihood
15:05to our family.
15:13In recent years, the Sandinista government has invested more than 142 million U.S. dollars
15:19in the construction of sports infrastructure, consolidating Nicaragua as a benchmark in
15:24the organization of international events.
15:33We have a second short break coming up, but before we invite you to visit our YouTube
15:35channel at TeleSort English, there you'll be able to re-watch our interviews, top stories,
15:40special broadcastings, and more.
15:41Hit the subscribe button and activate the notification bell to stay up to date on the
15:45world's most recent events.
15:46Have a short break, don't go away.
16:03Welcome back.
16:08We will take the topic of Venezuela, let's go live to Caracas with our correspondent
16:11Belén de los Santos for the details on how this first public consultation is going on
16:16in the whole country.
16:18Belén, welcome back from the south, what can you tell us?
16:22Hello Luis, exactly as you were saying, we are right here in Caracas.
16:31We are at the El Paraíso Parish in the western part of the city.
16:36And as you were just saying, the consultation, the public consultation is still underway.
16:42They are actually voting right behind me, if you can see it across the street.
16:47This is one of the schools of this communal circuit in which the neighbors are coming
16:52here to vote.
16:53And we have been telling you throughout the day a little bit more about this experience,
16:57not just the numbers that you went over before we started this conversation, but also really
17:04what is happening in one of these communes and what is this public consultation for.
17:09So let me tell you a little bit about this parish in El Paraíso that we're here.
17:13This communal circuit, for example, in the past public consultations, they voted on a
17:18project to finance the repairment of different elevators in the different buildings of the
17:25community.
17:26And keep in mind that this is a community that has a lot of elderly people and a lot
17:31of very tall buildings and that when an elevator is not working, for example, this harshly
17:37affects the day-to-day life of the community.
17:40So the neighbors decided to put that funding on that repairment and actually over 14 elevators
17:48have been repaired in the past month with this funding from last year.
17:53So that project, the continuing of that project is also up for voting today in this third
18:01consultation since this consultation began.
18:04Also other projects have to do with other sort of repairments like water supply.
18:10Also the repair works on the streets, lighting.
18:14So every communal circuit has its different priorities.
18:18The important thing is that they are all coming here to vote and to decide on this project.
18:24One of the things that we were talking about had to do with that, the willingness and the
18:30idea that this tool, the public consultation, is giving them the opportunity to decide on
18:36what is best for their territory.
18:39Almost 1 p.m. over there in Caracas.
18:42How has the turnout been?
18:43Do you believe that the turnout is being representative of the people's will, that they want to be
18:48part of this new way of government of decision-making by giving the decision power to the people
18:53right there in these consultations?
19:02So exactly as you were saying, you know that we have been here throughout Caracas at different
19:06neighborhoods since very early in the morning.
19:09It's past noon already.
19:11And the turnout is very significant in many of the schools.
19:15I don't know if you can see the line from here, but we have like one block of line that
19:20has been constant for the past 40 minutes that we have been here and the people keep
19:25on coming and the line is moving.
19:28So some of the neighbors and also the leaders of the communal circuit were telling us that
19:34they were very impressed and also very happy about the participation.
19:39And also one important thing to keep in mind that I wanted to share with you and our audience
19:43is that they are highlighting the importance of this participation tool as a means to also
19:50overcome, for example, the political polarization and that the participation has to do not with
19:58a political affiliation, but just with the willingness to come together and decide on
20:04concrete issues regarding each territory.
20:07And that is very important and that is one of the key also elements and objectives of
20:14the tool, such as this public consultation.
20:17So that has been a very positive turnout in this sense.
20:20Thank you, Belén.
20:21We're going to stay in touch for upcoming news brief to keep updated on everything that
20:25is happening this important day for the Venezuelan people.
20:29For now, let's move on to other news, moving to the region of Palestine.
20:37The Israeli army killed 13 days, in 13 days, at least 25 Palestinians during operations
20:58against the West Bank.
20:59Health authorities report that the military shot a 73-year-old Palestinian in Jenin, whose
21:04body was taken to hospital by Red Crescent ambulances.
21:08They also report that occupation forces continue to reform control of the region by sending
21:13soldiers and armored vehicles.
21:14At the same time, Israeli forces escalated demolition of structures in several areas
21:20of refugee camps.
21:26Likewise, the CEO of Defense in Gaza warned of the humanitarian crisis that thousands
21:34of Palestinians are living in the Gaza Strip as a consequence of the Israeli aggressions.
21:40The entity ensured that freezing temperatures in the winter pose a danger for citizens who
21:45are also facing a crisis of food, medical assistance, and basic services.
21:51Meanwhile, the United Nations Mine Action Service alerted that hundreds of Palestinians
21:56are at risk due to the number of unexploded explosives buried under the buildings and
22:01rubble.
22:07And Russia denounces as a war crime the attack perpetrated this Saturday by Ukrainian forces
22:11against a boarding school in the Russian city of Sutsa.
22:14According to the Russian investigative committee, the illegal order was given by Ukrainian Colonel
22:19Rostislav Karpusha, commander of the 19th Missile Brigade.
22:23The investigation shows the colonel ordered to shell the civilian building with missiles.
22:28The committee launched a criminal legal process to find the officer and all others involved
22:32in the attack, which left several dead and wounded.
22:35The Defense Ministry assures that this aggression once again exposes the terrorist and inhumane
22:41nature of the Ukrainian leadership.
22:44Like this we have come to the end of this news brief, remember you can find this and
22:50many other stories on our website at telestroenglish.net, so join us on social media, Facebook, Instagram,
22:56Telegram, and TikTok.
22:57For Telestro English, I'm Luis Alberto Matos, thank you for watching.