26/04/2023
FTS 8.30
*Israel orders massive West Bank raid
*France leaves military base in the Ivory Coast
FTS 8.30
*Israel orders massive West Bank raid
*France leaves military base in the Ivory Coast
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00A flight with Venezuelan migrants who had been detained at the Guantanamo Naval Base
00:14arrived on Thursday evening at Caracas International Airport as part of the return to the homeland
00:20plan.
00:23Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive raid against the West Bank
00:28after the earlier blast of three empty buses in Batllam City.
00:35And France withdrew from its only military base in the Ivory Coast.
00:41Hello and welcome to From the South, my name is Belén de los Santos and from Tercero Studios
00:48in Havana, Cuba, we begin with the news.
00:51A flight with Venezuelan migrants who had been detained at the Guantanamo Naval Base
00:55arrived on Thursday evening at Caracas International Airport as part of the return to the homeland
01:00plan.
01:01The group was welcomed by a delegation of high government officials, headed by Venezuelan
01:07Minister of the Interior Diosado Cabello.
01:10Earlier on Thursday, President Nicolás Maduro asserted that the Bolivarian revolution was
01:15the only one which guaranteed the safe return of Venezuelan migrants to their homeland and
01:21accused the far-right opposition of manipulating public opinion about a migration that they
01:27themselves had provoked.
01:36I am now being told that the plane is on its way back from Honduras, at the direct request
01:44of the Venezuelan government to the United States government, with 177 new migrants that
01:54we have rescued from Guantanamo, the naval base that the United States has in Cuba territory.
02:02177 boys that we rescued there under the return to the homeland plan.
02:12And in this context, the Venezuelan president also affirmed that the criminal group El Tren
02:16de Aragua is now extinct in the country and urged his US counterpart to investigate the
02:22truth about this criminal organization.
02:29If anything can be said about the terrorism of the Tren de Aragua, the extinct Tren de
02:34Aragua, it is that they wanted to attack the cities of the country with terrorism and we
02:39prevented it with intelligence, with action.
02:42President Trump asked for those reports so that you can see, I say this with sincerity
02:47and respect, so that you can see the truth about the infamous Tren de Aragua.
02:51Our migrants are not criminals, they are not bad people, they were people who migrated
02:56as a result of the sanctions, they are good people, they are working people, and in Venezuela
03:02we welcome them as a productive force, with a loving embrace.
03:07Welcome back to the homeland, a family reunion, welcome everyone.
03:14And more on the migration crisis.
03:16Mass deportations from the United States are a reality in El Salvador, however, the government
03:21has not revealed any plan to deal with an eventual mass return of migrants.
03:25From San Salvador, our correspondent Roberto Hugo-Presa with the details.
03:34As every week, planes from the United States arrive at Monsenor Romero Airport full of
03:39deportees.
03:40There are officially no figures, but it is certain that deportations will increase in
03:43the coming weeks without any state plan for returnees being known.
03:50El Salvador has 210,000 deportation orders for Salvadoran citizens who are living in
03:55the United States with or without residency.
04:01We also have a considerable number of Salvadorans who are requesting asylum and have an appointment
04:05in court and when they get to court they are going to be told no.
04:14This implies that the profile of deportees coming in the coming weeks is different from
04:17the traditional ones, warn migration experts.
04:21They may be older people with chronic illnesses, people who have lived 30, 40 years in the
04:28United States, who have never settled their situation and who are already accustomed to
04:33a reality different from that of El Salvador.
04:35Therefore, the impact which they are going to have on this reintegration process is extremely
04:39complicated.
04:47In the face of this bleak outlook, organizations working on behalf of returnees are doing their
04:52part.
04:53The Integration Center for Migrant Workers, for example, runs support programs that include
04:57psychological help, training, community organization and seed capital for entrepreneurship.
05:05And many families that we have supported have improved their basic basket of goods, their
05:09access to basic services.
05:11So, we see that they even have the possibility of some, so to speak, some leisure activities.
05:16So, this has improved at different levels, not only at an economic level, but also at
05:21a psychosocial level for families and communities.
05:30Iris is one of the beneficiaries and says she would not attempt to risk her life and
05:33the lives of her children once again on the so-called death route.
05:41Because what we went through was not easy and, as I said, I almost lost my son's life
05:46and if we had a second chance, I don't think I would waste it like that, with ups and downs,
05:50but as I said, I have my business, I am with my children and I know we can get ahead here.
06:01Although no mass deportations have been officially registered so far, U.S. immigration authorities
06:06have reported dozens of arrests of Salvadorans who will sooner or later be repatriated.
06:16On a related note, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro called on his compatriots to unite against
06:22U.S. foreign policy on immigrant deportations.
06:25During his speech at the Governor's Summit in Boyacá in East-Central Colombia, Petro
06:29criticized the submissive attitude of some compatriots towards Washington's interests,
06:35as shown in the recent incident in which the Colombian government turned back two U.S.
06:41military planes that were trying to land with dozens of deported Colombians, many of them
06:46in chains.
06:47This action, which provoked a brief diplomatic friction between the two countries, generated
06:52criticism in the Colombian press and among the country's richest sectors, which he accused
06:57of being accustomed to kneeling before U.S. policy.
07:01Petro added further that it was necessary to defend the nation and that kneeling is
07:06not the way to do it.
07:12The United States government decided on Thursday to revoke the immigration benefit known as
07:17TPS, which grants temporary protected status to more than half a million Haitians in the
07:23country.
07:24The Secretary of the Homeland Security, Christine Noem, announced the decision to revoke the
07:29extension that ex-President Joe Biden had given to Haitians, arguing that for decades
07:34the benefit had been abused.
07:37Consequently, TPS for Haiti will expire on August 3rd, leaving more than 520,000 Haitian
07:45migrants without a legal status and therefore vulnerable to deportation.
07:50It is important to note that TPS is a program established by Congress that grants residency
07:56and work permits to foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their country.
08:01So with this benefit, people can live and work legally in the U.S. without the risk
08:06of deportation.
08:13And now we have a short break coming up, but first, remember you can join us on TikTok
08:16at TELUS for English, where you will find news in different formats, news updates and
08:20much more.
08:22Stay with us.
08:36Welcome back here from the South.
08:51We continue with more information in Argentina.
08:53On Thursday, the Senate approved the bill promoted by President Javier Millet that suspends
08:58the primary, open, simultaneous and compulsory elections, also known as PASO, in the run-up
09:04to the legislative elections of next October.
09:07The project to eliminate the PASO elections was presented by Javier Millet with the argument
09:12that these primary elections, in which the vote of the citizens is obligatory, are costly
09:18and in reality are useless because most of the candidacies are already defined beforehand
09:24and there are practically no internal elections in the parties.
09:28The initiative was endorsed with 43 votes in favour, 20 against and six abstentions
09:34becoming law and it only needs the promulgation of President Millet to enter into force.
09:41Other sectors call this as a turn against democracy.
09:49In Bolivia, former President Evo Morales announced his presidential candidacy for the Frente
09:53para la Victoria party.
09:55Morales will run in the general elections of August 17th for the FPV party.
10:02The agreement signed between the former president and leader of the FPV establishes Morales
10:07as the only candidate for the presidency and that he will focus on resolving justice and
10:13economic issues in the country.
10:15However, the Supreme Electoral Court announced a few days ago that the FPV party might not
10:21participate in the general elections due to alleged irregularities in the election
10:26of its board of directors.
10:33And Lula da Silva's government expanded delivery of free medicines from the popular pharmacy,
10:38a program that benefits 24 million people in Brazil.
10:42Our correspondents tell us more.
10:4641 medicines for the control of blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, among other pathologies,
10:54will be available to all inhabitants of Brazil 100% free of charge.
10:59The initiative benefits approximately one million people per year who are still paying
11:02co-participation to acquire the products.
11:10For example, Losartana is a drug for which you will pay a little less than a dollar,
11:15but there are patients who take two tablets, which is double the price.
11:19That's 20 dollars in the pocket of the customer who uses it for a year.
11:23Customers buy not only Losartana, but also other medicines, so the monthly bill of a
11:27customer who buys from a popular pharmacy can be a little less than 10 dollars.
11:38The popular pharmacy's program was created in Lula da Silva's first term in 2004 and
11:43foresaw the opening of state-run delivery points.
11:46But this initiative was cancelled after the coup against Dilma Rousseff, when Michel Temer
11:50restricted the program only to the delivery of medicines in private pharmacies with a
11:54reduction in free medicines.
11:56The Bolsonaro government then cut 59% of the program's budget.
12:07We had more than 24 million people benefited in 2024, and we will increase that reach even
12:12more, mainly in the most remote areas of the country where there are more difficulties
12:20of access.
12:24And I must tell you that this program was practically destroyed in the previous government.
12:32The program will reach all Brazilian municipalities with the opening of registration in more than
12:37700 cities that did not already have the popular pharmacy program.
12:41It will also include nappies for the elderly in view of studies that reveal the demographic
12:45aging of Brazil's population.
12:53That causes a huge cost of living, it increases impoverishment, people need more consultations,
12:57more examinations, remedies all their lives, so it is very important, as it is in our constitution,
13:02our unique health system, the SUS, seeks to treat the different in an unequal way to try
13:06to equalize them.
13:13So we understand that chronic diseases should have more support from the state.
13:22The actions in the popular pharmacy program may be the last major action in the mandate
13:26of Nidia Trindade, who could leave office in the next few hours as part of a ministerial
13:31reform that seeks to leave behind the post-Bolsonaro reconstruction stage.
13:36Or a second half of the mandate with transcendental projects that will leave marks of the government.
13:46Now we have a second short break coming up, but before we invite you to visit our YouTube
13:49channel at Telesofo English, there you will be able to re-watch our interviews, top stories,
13:54special broadcastings and more.
13:56Hit the subscribe button and activate the notification bell to stay up to date on the
13:59world's most recent events.
14:01Final short break, don't go away.
14:37Welcome back to From the South.
14:39We continue with more information on the case in the Middle East.
14:43Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive raid against the West Bank,
14:48justifying this genocidal offensive by the earlier blast of three empty buses in Badyam
14:54City near Tel Aviv, capital of Israel.
14:57Israel decided to tighten up the military iron wall operation which occupation forces
15:02had launched since January against the West Bank.
15:06Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, made such decision following a meeting he held with both the
15:10police and the intelligence machine Bet Agency.
15:14Likewise, human rights organizations recall that since January, Israel has expelled over
15:2045,000 Palestinians from this territory.
15:24So they fear that the Israeli government used this explosion, which there is no conclusive
15:30evidence yet, to keep up its military intervention.
15:33And Israeli authorities claim that one of the four bodies returned from Gaza was not
15:43one of the captives to be handed over by Hamas.
15:47The Israeli army said early Friday morning that it has completed the process of identifying
15:52three of the bodies of the hostages handed over earlier that day by the Islamic resistance
15:58movement Hamas, and they said that one of them does not match.
16:02The announcement comes at a fragile time for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas,
16:06which began on January 19th, and which has been marked by a series of Israeli violations.
16:12And now, this alleged discovery has caused Israel to announce restrictions on the Palestinian
16:18movement and closure in parts of the West Bank as part of its security operations in
16:24the area.
16:30In other news, the summit of Arab countries to work out a coordinated response to the
16:34White House plans for Gaza has begun in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
16:39The member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, plus Egypt and Jordan, agreed to
16:44reject the U.S. president's plan.
16:47With this agenda, the representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman
16:52and Bahrain, the host country Saudi Arabia, and the two countries that are not part of
16:57this coalition are holding this meeting, which they have defined as a fraternal meeting.
17:03For experts, however, it is one of the most important meetings in recent times and represents
17:08an unprecedented historical turning point.
17:15And in a ceremony marked by the raising of the Ivory Coast flag, France has withdrawn
17:21from its only military base in the African country.
17:25Parisian troops had occupied the military base at Port Bouet, near the capital Abidjan,
17:30since 1978.
17:33Teneh Virhima Ouattara, Ivory Coast's defense minister, said that this act marked a new
17:38stage in relations between the two nations, while his French counterpart Sébastien Leconneau
17:44described the act as a historic event and acknowledged that changes must also take place
17:50in military relations.
17:52French troops, who have a long and dark history in West Africa, have been expelled from several
17:57countries in the sub-region.
18:05We go now to Germany.
18:06As the Union Party, the centre-right force leading German election polls, has lost two
18:12percentage points in the last few hours.
18:14By contrast, the far-right Alternative for Germany has risen slightly to 21% off the
18:22vote.
18:23Germany is on edge.
18:24Less than 72 hours before the early election, there is already talk of pacts.
18:29The aim is to strengthen the cordon sanitaire in order to prevent the advance of the far-right,
18:35which is only seven points behind the centre-right, which currently has 28% of support.
18:41The Social Democrats currently in government have been hit hard by the performance of Chancellor
18:46Olaf Scholz and remain at a modest 16%, as the Socialists of the left could cross the
18:535% threshold.
18:55While more than a quarter of the vote, 27%, remains to this point undecided.
19:16We now move on to other topics.
19:21In September of 2021, one of the largest wildfires in Spain occurred in Sierra Bermeja.
19:27A study now shows that this forced fire could increase the floodable area in western Costa
19:33del Sol by up to 300% in case of possible droughts or any other high-intensity event.
19:40Let's see more.
19:42Pablo walks over the Beaver River Basin, an area of high flooding at its mouth but
19:49which may be increased due to the destruction of the mountain range after a fire in 2021.
19:55Flood-prone land is marked topographically and orthographically.
20:00The negligence of the administrations in allowing houses to be built so close to flood-prone
20:03areas not only happens here but perhaps in all the coastal areas, because the soil of
20:12the coast is very exquisite, it's very greedy, isn't it?
20:18Sierra Bermeja is a natural park that was the target of a sixth-generation fire in 2021,
20:25an extreme phenomenon that devastated more than 8,400 hectares of this Mediterranean
20:30forest.
20:31It is not only from here that it seems to be a fire that is taking on a great virulence,
20:40there are several causes.
20:42Global warming, the average rise in temperatures, water shortages, but also factors that are
20:46attributable to human causes are undoubtedly contributing factors.
20:53Heat, wind and extreme phenomena spread the fire despite the work of nearly 6,000 troops
21:02and more than 200 aerial resources point one of the worst fires in the history of Spain
21:07occurred in Sierra Bermeja.
21:09Now, however, scientists are warning that the effects of possible tears or major floods
21:13could radically affect the populations adjacent to this mountain range.
21:23Now a study by the Geography Department of the University of Málaga the Sierra Bermeja
21:28Fire in 2021 could increase by up to 300% the floodable area in areas of the western
21:33Costa del Sol in case of possible droughts.
21:39There is another series of problems, such as the increase in the speed of the flows,
21:43which makes them more dangerous, or the increase in shear stress.
21:47All of this has been measured and specific numbers have been drawn up to show that shear
21:50stress increases, which is the capacity of the flow to erode or cause damage to infrastructure,
21:56for example.
22:04Experts warn that the extreme events we are facing are a consequence of climate change
22:08and the authorities' inaction to curb the climate crisis.
22:18And like this we have come to the end of this news brief.
22:21You can find these and many other stories on our website at tellusorenglish.net.
22:24And also join us on social media, we are on Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram, and also
22:29on TikTok.
22:30For Tell Us Your English, my name is Belén de los Santos, thank you for watching.