*Spain: Power outage hits Spain, Portugal, and parts of France
*Trinidad and Tobago: General elections underway
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*Trinidad and Tobago: General elections underway
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Brazil, senior diplomats from the BRICS country meet this Monday in Rio de Janeiro
00:13to present a united front in the face of a complex international situation.
00:21A nationwide power artist has hit Spain, Portugal and regions of France on Monday,
00:26reportedly leaving millions without power.
00:30And in Trinidad and Tobago, citizens go to the polls on Monday's general elections
00:35to elect the next parliamentarians who will be responsible for appointing the Prime Minister.
00:45Hello, welcome to From the South. I'm Luis Alberto Matos from EDRS2 Studios in Caracas, Venezuela.
00:50We begin with the news. Stay with us.
01:00In Brazil, senior diplomats from the BRICS countries meet this Monday in Rio de Janeiro
01:11to present a united front in the face of a complex international situation.
01:15The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Integrationist Bloc will focus on strengthening the multilateral trade system,
01:22reforming the organizations that govern the international order and cooperation between the countries of the South.
01:28For Brazil, which holds the presidency of this year's Cooperation Forum,
01:32these issues will help to strengthen the position of developing and emerging countries
01:38and send a message about the need for a less unique one-fair world.
01:42The meeting comes at a critical time for the world economy
01:46after the International Monetary Fund cut growth forecasts due to the impact of radical new U.S. tariffs.
01:53In this context, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Sunday
02:04aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and debate on multilateralism and Washington's tariff aggression.
02:11At the end of the meeting, the Heads of Diplomacy announced that they had discussed issues
02:16related to cooperation between Moscow and Brazil as well as the agenda of the BRICS ministerial meeting.
02:22Russian President Biden reported declared a three-day ceasefire with Ukraine to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Day.
02:40The Kremlin said it expected Ukraine to reciprocate the ceasefire but vowed that only violation would be met
02:47with an appropriate and effective response.
02:49The surprise ceasefire comes as Donald Trump pushes for a peace pact between Russia and Ukraine to be agreed this week,
02:56and is the second in a month following the previous Easter ceasefire less than two weeks ago.
03:02Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9, marking the end of World War II.
03:07Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Monday workers and the people to pay their dues for rejuvenating the nation.
03:19The national rejuvenation emerged as the main domestic goal, which already leaves behind the old policies.
03:25Currently, economic sectors count up with astonishing figures, such as the three million new urban jobs.
03:32In addition, the Chinese head of state made clear that his government would not demand global factories except those in the U.S.
03:38to pay an additional margin of 145% tariffs.
03:42In this regard, President Xi invited those companies to acquire all inputs they need in China.
03:48The leader announced so within the framework of the centenary of the Pan-Chinese Federation of Trade Unions.
03:55Let us rally more closely around the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee.
04:20Get down to earth with strenuous efforts and unyielding dedication.
04:27Embrace the new era with creativity and strive for new successes.
04:43So that one step at a time, we turn the grand blueprint of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation into reality.
05:00A nation-wide power artist hit Spain, Portugal and regions of France on Monday, reportedly leaving millions without power.
05:18Around midday, users throughout Peninsular Spain reported the interruption of the power supply for reasons still unknown.
05:24The outage affected telecommunications, traffic lights and hospitals, as well as operations in public transport systems,
05:30among them the subway and airports, including the Madrid's Barajas International Hub.
05:35In addition, citizens of Portugal, Andorra and parts of France bordering Spain were also reporting being hit by the blackout,
05:41as further outages have been reported as far as Belgium.
05:45The country's managing electric network company informed that replacement plants were activated to recover the supply generation in around 6 and 10 hours,
05:53and that causes are being investigated.
05:57And after meeting in the Vatican on Monday, cardinals have agreed on May 7th as the date to begin the conclave to elect a new pope.
06:16This way, cardinals made the decision at the 5th General Congregation held in the Vatican Synod Hall.
06:22The conclave to elect the 267th pope will begin on May 7th, following the conclusion of the Noemdiales Masses to pray for the late Pope Francis.
06:32The two previous ones, in 2005 and 2013, lasted only two days.
06:37However, the Swedish cardinal Anders Arborelius assured that this one would last longer because many cardinals do not know each other.
06:45The conclave will take place in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, which will remain close to visitors during those days.
06:51Now we have a short break coming up, remember you can join us on TikTok at Telespringlish, where you'll find news in different formats, news updates and much more.
07:02We're going to be right back, stay with us.
07:04Welcome back.
07:05Trinidad and Tobago host this Monday the 2025 general elections to elect the next parliamentarians who will be responsible for appointing the new prime minister.
07:19More than 1 million citizens are eligible for these elections, which will have an electoral observation mission from the Caribbean community in order to guarantee the transparency and legitimacy of the process.
07:30The ruling National People's Movement and the opposition party, United National Congress, seek to obtain the majority of the seats in the Chamber of Representatives in the midst of the economic crisis the country is going through.
07:55In this context, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Stuart Young addressed the media after casting his vote early on Monday.
08:08Now I am not one who worries about those things. Once I am satisfied, which I am, that we ran a good, hard campaign and we put forward as much as we could to the population.
08:21The population has to measure and that's what I've been saying. Today is your day to go to the polls to either give me a mandate to continue or not. Simple.
08:30I will be in my constituency and once I've secured my constituency, which I believe I will quite easily, then I will make my way to Balizzi House.
08:41We expect to not only retain my constituency, but hopefully with record numbers. That's what I'm setting out to do.
08:47Let's now go a bit deeper on the analysis of Trinidad and Tobago's election day. We are joined by research and education official Candice Zebro.
08:59Welcome to From the South, Ms. Candice.
09:02Hello, good day. Can you hear me?
09:06Candice, what are the defining issues driving voter sentiment in this election? Are there specific concerns that dominate the discourse?
09:14In these elections, there's a lot of contention. The PNM has been serving for the past years and at this point we see the major opposition, the UNC, joining with what they're referring to as a coalition of interests.
09:33Now, over the past 10 years, we would have seen heightened insecurity, large elements of crime. As you know, we would have been under state of emergency to deal with the increased number of murders.
09:50And also, we have a situation where many people would have been sent home.
09:56Now, I personally operate within the labor sector, so we would have seen a lot of attacks on this on this structural, this social fabric in terms of what is there to support the ordinary people.
10:12Many of them would have been sent home and many of them would not have had recourse to the labor sector due to the inability to have recognition.
10:20And also, there have been challenges in advancing some of the concerns in the industrial court.
10:26There was also the removal of the president of the court. Now, what we have, normally the labor sector works closely with the movement for social justice, a political party that has decided that they will not be participating this year.
10:40However, there are two persons that would have come out of labor that have joined the coalition of interests, because there is a very strong feeling on the ground that the PNM is disconnected with ordinary people.
10:54They have undergone many levels of living, and the PNM has, we've seen ministers receive a salary increase.
11:06So these are some of the major issues that have been facing people on the ground.
11:10And we know that there's a heightened level of frustration, even in terms of some foreign policies.
11:16For example, England or the United Kingdom, where we would have had a strong relationship, we would have seen that we would have seen that they would have removed our ability to enter into that country without visas, etc.
11:32due to the due to some concerns around insecurity.
11:36So the level of crime is a major concern, and I think it's a priority for all of us.
11:42And we see the continued advancement of new neoliberal politics with the people's national movement.
11:49And so the other options, there are many other smaller parties, but in Trinidad and Tobago, the main parties that have been operating continue to be the people's national movement, which is the current administration, and of course, the United National Congress.
12:05And Stuart Young, who is our current prime minister, he has been newly appointed, and there's a strong campaign about the fact that he's young, he is one of the younger politicians, but there isn't a lot of confidence in his strength of leadership at this time.
12:24So a lot of people are looking at that, and there's also a party that comes out of, it's called the Patriotic Front, and she's the daughter of a well-recognized Labour leader called Pazio Pandey, who is also campaigning a lot.
12:41She's campaigning on the fact that we need something new.
12:44So she has also taken the forefront because her father was well-recognized, not only as a Labour leader, but also as a politician.
12:51And so she too is new, would be new in terms of her advancement within her political career with that level of leadership.
13:02So there are a lot of people who are observing what has been happening.
13:05The MSJ has stated clearly that they will not be supporting any particular party.
13:10But they do recognize that there's need for fundamental change on the ground, and ordinary people need to come back to the forefront, and the interests of the masses of the people need to be saved.
13:23As a CARICOM member, how do you envision other candidates addressing, together with CARICOM, regional challenges that the region is facing?
13:34Well, as a CARICOM member, we have had strong positions coming out of, I mean, the PNM has had a good relationship with the CARICOM over the past 10 years.
13:46And they have taken positions on, well, of course, national sovereignty and self-determination.
13:53And these are things that the PNM has generally been consistent on over the years.
13:58And one quick question, if neither party secures a clear majority, how might a minority or coalition government impact policy making in the country?
14:09Well, I suppose that all sorts of things, including myself, we would be a little nervous to see new administrations in terms of what we could get.
14:21Some may be hopeful, some may be nervous, some may have no confidence at all.
14:26But we have had coalition governments before. The last, from 2010 to 2015, we would have had the People's Partnership, which was a coalition, which included the opposition at the time, which would have been the UNC, when Kamala Fasabi Sasa became the first female prime minister.
14:52So that is a possibility. It is a strong possibility.
14:58But of course, there would be many new faces as well that would be involved on the ground.
15:04But of course, persons who have been campaigning for a while and who have set forth their policies.
15:09So it will be a new introduction. So we wait to see what the result is going to be.
15:20Finally, looking ahead, Candice, how might this election shape Trinidad and Tobago's trajectory for the next decade?
15:26Well, for the next decade, we will have another election, but also too, it is possible that there may be a shift in direction in terms of who is leading.
15:42However, I do think that based on the level of insecurity and the challenges within the economy.
15:52I do think that there may be some continuation of policies that are currently undergo.
16:02But speaking as someone who is within the labor sector, we do have some major concerns that we hope to see advance based on the outcome of this election.
16:12And generally, we are hopeful that we will see advancements within the reintroduction and the restoration of things that we would have lost over the years.
16:24Thank you, Candice, for your input and time here from the South and everything that is happening right now in Trinidad and Tobago on this election day.
16:33And thank you for having me.
16:35It was our pleasure.
16:36Well, like this, we have come to the end of this news brief.
16:38You can find this and many other stories on our website at TelesoryEnglish.net.
16:42So join us on social media, Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok.
16:47For Telesory English, I'm Luis Alberto Matos.