*Venezuela: special commission to design 2025 electoral schedule
*Russia accuses Ukraine and the U.S. of terrorist acts against Europe’s energy supplies
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*Russia accuses Ukraine and the U.S. of terrorist acts against Europe’s energy supplies
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to From the South, I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesur Studios in Caracas, Venezuela.
00:10We begin with the news, stay with us.
00:24The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it has removed Cuba from the list of
00:28countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism.
00:31The decision revokes the National Security Memorandum approved by former President Donald
00:36Trump in July 2017 and orders the Secretary of Treasury to begin a process to implement
00:42the measure.
00:43The decision also includes the suspension of the Title III of the Helms-Bottin Law,
00:48which allows U.S. citizens to claim damages for what the law describes as trafficking
00:52on U.S. properties confiscated at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution.
00:57The measure also left several financial sanctions decreed by Trump administration against the
01:02Caribbean island.
01:04According to the White House officials, the decision was part of a deal facilitated by
01:08the Catholic Church for the release of prisoners.
01:11Cuba had been reinstated in that list during the last days of the Trump administration
01:16in January 2021.
01:18We will go deep into this topic in our second segment.
01:26The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, made a statement on his ex-account
01:31about the recent removal of the Caribbean country from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism
01:35list.
01:36The statement by the Cuban head of state reads,
01:38I thank all those who contributed to the decision announced today by the U.S. to remove Cuba
01:44from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, of which it should never have been part and
01:49which, together with two other measures taken, has had a severe impact on the country and
01:55Cuban families.
01:56The communiqué continues as follows,
01:58It is a decision in the right direction, although belatedly and with limited range.
02:04The blockade and most of the extreme measures that were enforced since 2017 to suffocate
02:09the Cuban economy and cause shortages to our people are still in force.
02:14Finally, it concludes,
02:16We will continue to confront and denounce the economic war and the actions of interference,
02:21disinformation and discredit financed with U.S. federal funds.
02:25Likewise, we will not give up on developing a civilized and respectful relationship of
02:31our sovereignty with the U.S.
02:40Cuba's foreign minister described the U.S. government's decision as a positive one and
02:45moving in the right direction, but affirmed that the U.S. blockade against the Caribbean
02:49island was still in force and continued affecting the Cuban people.
02:54Through an official communiqué issued on Tuesday, the Cuban ministry expressed that
02:58the U.S. decision excludes Cuba from the State Department's list of countries that allegedly
03:03sponsor terrorism, makes use of the presidential prerogative to prevent action in U.S. courts
03:10in relation to lawsuits filed under the Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, and removes the
03:15list of restricted Cuban entities that designates a group of institutions with which U.S. citizens
03:21and institutions are prohibited from engaging in financial transactions and which has had
03:26effects on third countries.
03:29The statement of the government agency affirms that despite its limited nature, the decision
03:34goes in the right direction and in line with the sustained and firm claim of the government
03:39and people of Cuba, and with the broad, emphatic and reiterated call of numerous governments,
03:46especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, of Cubans living abroad, of political, religious
03:51and social organizations, and of numerous political personalities in the United States
03:55and other countries.
03:57The text also ends by thanking everyone for their contribution and sensitivity.
04:15The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced that she will not attend the inauguration
04:19of the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, scheduled for January 20th, 2025.
04:24During her morning press conference, the Mexican President explained that Mexican Ambassador
04:29to the United States will attend the inauguration ceremony on her behalf.
04:34There are tensions between both countries due to the threat of the U.S. President-elect
04:39to apply tariffs and massive deportations against Mexico.
04:42Claudia Sheinbaum has ratified Mexico's sovereignty and her intention to maintain
04:47good commercial relations with Washington.
04:55In Venezuela, the National Assembly held a meeting on Tuesday following the summons to
04:59political parties to decide the 2025 electoral timetable.
05:04National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez detailed that the Special Commission for the
05:09Review of the Rules and Laws on Electoral Processes and Political Parties will go over
05:14the necessary arrangements to carry out the local, regional and parliamentary elections
05:19scheduled for the year 2025.
05:22The aim is to set out the different guidelines on election days, what qualifies a candidate
05:27to run, and period for election awareness and campaigning.
05:38The level of convening and attendance that this meeting has had, by this special commission
05:43appointed by the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to work on
05:47issues related to electoral laws, election timetables, and what better expression of
05:58exchange of conversation, dialogue, proposals and deepening of democratic practice than
06:03achieving consensus than to do it all together in these processes that also determine the
06:13characteristics of the political practice in Venezuela.
06:20The President of the Venezuelan Parliament recalled that during the Bolivarian Revolution
06:24the country has not failed to comply with the electoral obligations contemplated in
06:28the Constitution.
06:32During the times of the Fifth Republic, Venezuela has not failed to carry out a single one of
06:37the elections that are scheduled according to the constitutional obligations.
06:45In this case we are in the presence of a particularly important year in terms of elections.
06:50We are not only referring to the new forms of consultation with the people of Venezuela,
06:57which are also established in this Constitution, the approval referendums, the consultation
07:03referendums such as the consultation referendum for the Guayana Esequiba that we have already
07:07carried out, the revoking referendums for the positions of popular election, the different
07:14forms to consult the people on the projects such as the case of the communal circuits,
07:19the communes and the communal councils.
07:24Venezuelan Foreign Minister Iván Gil announced the decision to limit to three the number
07:28of diplomats accredited in the embassies of the Netherlands, France and Italy in the
07:32country.
07:33The move comes in response to the hostile conduct of this government, marked by their
07:37support for extremist groups and their interference in internal affairs.
07:42In addition, diplomats must have written authorization from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry to travel
07:47more than 40 kilometers from Bolívar Square in Caracas.
07:51The measure is to be complied with within 48 hours.
07:54Caracas demands respect for sovereignty and self-determination, principles established
07:59in the United Nations Charter.
08:05Within the World Festival of the Anti-Fascist International, Caracas hosted anti-fascists
08:10from all over the world.
08:12Among the participants were several delegates from European countries who have described
08:17the neo-fascist wave and its purposes to our special envoy, Jono Zuner.
08:23The European continent was the birthplace of fascism, with the expression being derived
08:29from the Italian word fascio, bundle, referring to gangs of Mussolini.
08:34After its defeat in the Second World War, Italy became a parliamentary republic, which
08:38is being challenged today again.
08:41And they are trying to change our constitution, to make, to delete every democratic power
08:52like the parliamentary power, they want to make an executive power.
08:58We have a strong independent magistratura and they want to put judges under the government.
09:14Fascist challenges against established parliamentary order are not limited to Italy.
09:19Because in their nature, they want to destroy the democratic institution as a whole.
09:27So yes, it's like opening the cage and letting the wolves in.
09:35Who are the sheep that fascists are after?
09:38Different countries, different answers.
09:39They are making the law against the demonstration outside.
09:44They make the straddle block, the typical way of battle of the workers.
09:51In Italy now, it's a penalty that you can go to jail for this.
09:57Why?
09:58Because they want to curtail our rights, rights which we take for granted now, because they
10:03are our rights.
10:04For example, all the rights that feminism has brought to, not only women, but society
10:11as a whole.
10:12For example, the right to abortion, to a legal and safe abortion for all women.
10:19The European delegates say that neo-fascist wave rejects to accept political competition
10:24defining its opponents as enemies.
10:26Romanian politician Socioacca was barred by her country's constitutional court from
10:31becoming a candidate in the presidential elections in 2024.
10:36And because I'm against oppression of USA, oppression of European Commission and oppression
10:44of Israel, and because I said free Palestine, I'm anti-Semite.
10:50And that's why constitutional court forbid me to candidate.
10:55Socioacca says that the United States and the European Union act as Romania's masters,
11:00calling everyone who calls for peace in Ukraine Romania's neighbor, a pro-Putin extremist.
11:06The fight against fascism needs to be international, agrees Aricale.
11:10The topic is the same.
11:13The fight for the peace, for new peaceful world, for a multipolar world is common for
11:21us.
11:22And only if together, if we stand together against the power of the West, imperial West,
11:29we can fight them, because they are the less, they are few.
11:33The events organized in Venezuela play a key role in constructing that net against fascism.
11:38Yunus Soner, Telesur, Caracas, Venezuela.
11:43In Ecuador, the electoral campaign moves forward with the candidates touring different provinces
11:48to present their proposal amidst violence and power struggles.
11:52In total, there are 16 candidates running on this occasion.
11:55All of them are using social media to try to win votes by appealing to local needs as
12:02well as to national challenges.
12:04The campaign has been marked by the brutal murder of four children after a military operation
12:10and the ongoing controversy between President Daniel Navoa and his vice president, Veronica
12:16Abad.
12:17In addition to the murder of Arenilla's major, Eber Ponce, which led Navoa to retake the
12:23presidency after he asked for a three-day leave of absence.
12:34And now we have a short break coming up, but first remember you can join us on TikTok at
12:38Telesur English, where you'll find news in different formats, news updates and more.
12:43We'll be right back, stay with us.
12:47Welcome back to From the South.
13:04And as we informed, the Biden administration announced Tuesday that it has removed Cuba
13:09from the list of countries that allegedly sponsored terrorism.
13:13And to go deep into the relevance of this announcement, we contact Annalise Layar-Fuleihan
13:18from the People's Forum.
13:19Hi, Layar, and thank you for your time here in From the South.
13:23Thank you so much for having me.
13:25For four years, the island has been included on this list, despite there being no evidence
13:30that would justify this inclusion.
13:33But what does this list mean?
13:37This list has no meaning at this point.
13:38I mean, the fact that Cuba is on this list means the list has no meaning.
13:43The greatest terrorist, sponsors of terrorism in the world right now, we can see them with
13:47our own eyes.
13:48It is the United States and Israel who have been massacring the people of Gaza, the children
13:53of Gaza, for over 15 months.
13:56The fact that Cuba is included on this list just goes to show that the list is a political
14:00tool used by the United States to try to isolate the countries that it is waging hybrid war
14:06against.
14:07So the fact that Biden took so long to take Cuba off the list, it's a great thing that
14:12Cuba is off the list, but Biden should have done it the first day that he came into office.
14:19So President Miguel Diaz-Canel assured today that this measure has had a high cost for
14:24the country.
14:25How does that translate into the real impacts of this list on the lives of Cuban ordinary
14:30people?
14:31Well, this list adds another layer to the very intense blockade that has been imposed
14:41on the people of Cuba for over 60 years.
14:45This list makes it an extra level of difficulty for Cuba to be able to make any financial
14:50transactions in the international sphere and to work with any other entities in any kind
14:57of exchange in purchasing necessary items like food and medicine.
15:03And it creates a level of intimidation because the United States is indicating with this
15:08list that they also will take action against those who do work with Cuba.
15:14And it's of course very complex and very varied in the economic and legal spheres, but it
15:19creates an environment in which other parties and other countries think twice about making
15:25exchanges with Cuba because they do not want to incur the consequences that the United
15:30States would impose on them.
15:32This is a criminal level of blockade.
15:36It is designed to cut off the Cuban economy from the global economy.
15:43And it has already been said very clearly since the beginning that this is a tool used
15:49by the United States to try to starve the Cuban people into submission.
15:53It has not worked for decades.
15:56Precisely.
15:57And also the removal of Cuba from the U.S. unilateral list of countries sponsors of terrorism
16:03is a victory, of course, for the Cuban people.
16:06But the struggle continues.
16:08What does this decision mean just a few days before the inauguration of President Donald
16:12Trump, who actually re-included Cuba on this list in his previous administration?
16:18And also let's recall that the blockade is yet very much in force.
16:22So what does that mean?
16:25Well, we can take this as a victory for the Cuban people and also a sign that the sustained
16:33grassroots pressure in the campaign to remove Cuba from the list from the peoples of the
16:39world inside the United States, all who stand in solidarity with the Cuban people, and across
16:44the Americas and across the world, there has been a sustained campaign to remove Cuba from
16:49the list and lift the blockade.
16:51This is one victory on that path.
16:54But we know that the struggle does not end here.
16:56We have to continue advocating for the lifting of the entire blockade.
17:02It is in no one's interest to have this blockade.
17:05It is not in the interest of the United States people for there to be a blockade.
17:09Cuba is a neighboring country with much to share with us and much to exchange.
17:13And it is the right of neighborly people to be able to have international solidarity and
17:19to exchange.
17:20So the struggle will continue.
17:22Biden, in a very cowardly move, waited to the last week of his administration to do
17:28what he could have done the first day that he came into office.
17:31In fact, he could have done it with no real opposition because it was a policy of the
17:37Obama administration.
17:38The Obama administration was moving insufficiently, but moving towards more openings with Cuba.
17:45Biden could have said, we will undo what the Trump administration did, but he did not.
17:50He kept all of the Trump additional coercive sanctions.
17:54He kept Cuba on the list, which Trump was the one to first bring Cuba on, and he waited
18:03until this moment.
18:04Now, Trump is coming back into office, and we will continue advocating that Cuba remain
18:09off the list and that we go forward with the lifting of the blockade.
18:14But of course, Biden has basically left it open for Trump to make a decision before Cuba
18:19can really recover economically from this brief moment of being off of the list.
18:25So we hope that Trump does not return Cuba to the list, but we have to notice that Biden
18:32should have done this four years ago.
18:35What's the role that the activism from the U.S. is going to play in this moment of uncertainty
18:41ahead of the upcoming new government in the U.S. for Cuba?
18:49Well, the people of the United States are going to continue calling for friendship and
18:58cooperation with the people of Cuba, with Cuba, with the country of Cuba, our neighboring
19:05country.
19:06There is a level of consciousness around Cuba that is very important, that is also continuing
19:11to grow.
19:12The United States has isolated itself from its own population and from the world population
19:18over the past year in unprecedented ways.
19:21Now it is, the White House is synonymous with genocide and the blockade, what's happening
19:26to the people of Cuba is also a form of genocide, not through bombs, but through sanctions and
19:32through a blockade.
19:33The people of the United States are waking up to this reality and the struggle in solidarity
19:38with Cuba will continue to grow.
19:41Thank you, Laian, for your time here and from the South.
19:45Thank you very much for having me.
19:47We were listening to Laian Fuleihan from the People's Forum in the framework of the
19:52U.S. President Joe Biden's lifting of state's sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba.
19:57And like this, we have come to the end of this news brief, but you can find these and
20:02many other stories on our website at telecityenglish.net and join us on social media.
20:07We are on Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok as well.
20:12For Telecity English, I'm Alejandra Garcia.