00:00And in this context, let's take our signal to our headquarters in Caracas with our colleague
00:04Ana Marrero to have more details as she has a very special guest with her
00:07to talk about this important election that is going to be held in Venezuela this Sunday.
00:13Hello Ana, welcome to This From the South.
00:17Hello Luis and hello to our audience from the South.
00:21We are here in Caracas where our special guest, Mr. David McDonnell Denny.
00:26He is here with us in From the South with a special interview about the elections that are being held tomorrow here in Venezuela.
00:35Hello Mr. David Denny, how are you?
00:38I am fine and I am very happy to be here with you.
00:41Thank you very much.
00:43Well, we can start with this interview.
00:46Thanks.
00:46Okay.
00:48The first question will be like in what context the elections take place
00:54and of course the part that are going to be the first time regional elections from the Venezuelan side in Guyana.
01:02Well, my organization, the Caribbean Move for Peace and Integration, endorsed this position by Venezuela
01:11to hold an election in that section of Guyana
01:16because we see this as part of an integration process for the government and people of Venezuela.
01:25We also see this as a process that would allow genuine independence for the people who are living there
01:34because we are totally against ExxonMobil, which is backed by U.S. imperialism.
01:44We are totally against them in terms of the mining in Guyana
01:49because we feel that there should be a greater level of discussion between Venezuela and Guyana
01:54as it relates to this area rather than U.S. imperialism,
02:00enforcing themselves on the people of Guyana and the people of Venezuela
02:05and also threatening the government and people of Venezuela with military maneuvers in that area.
02:11Yeah, and also you came here to Venezuela as an observer of these elections.
02:19Can you tell us a little bit of context of these and how you came here to the country to observe these elections?
02:27Okay, the Caribbean Move for Peace and Integration have a very good working relationship
02:31with the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
02:34And the party invited us as an international observer
02:40and we are very happy to be here to be in Venezuela to participate in this process
02:46because when I return to Barbados and the Caribbean,
02:49I will be in a better position to report to the people of Barbados and the Caribbean
02:56about the positive nature of this election in Venezuela.
03:01So far, I had the opportunity of participating in rallies and talking to Venezuelan people on the streets
03:08and tomorrow, election day, we'll get the opportunity where we'll be able to visit a number of the polling stations
03:16and I will speak with several of the political parties there at the polling stations.
03:21I will also get an opportunity to speak with the people in Venezuela
03:25so that when I go back to Barbados, I can honestly report on the election in Venezuela
03:32that not only means a lot to the people of Venezuela, but the entire Caribbean region.
03:37Yeah, and also here in Venezuela we have a fight against the fake news
03:49and the harsh news that have been made about these elections, about here is no democracy,
04:00about here is all manipulated, but here is democracy because the people are directly voting,
04:07they are secretly voting for what they want.
04:09So what can you tell us about this situation, because we can see and we have seen that we have here a clear method of vote.
04:22You know, we have a clear way of deciding ourselves for what we want,
04:27but the fake news are saying the opposite.
04:31Yeah, you're correct because the Western media is spreading a lot of misinformation about the situation in Venezuela
04:40in terms of the conditions and in terms of the electoral process in Venezuela.
04:46That's why it is so important for us in the Caribbean to have representatives here at this,
04:53you know, as international observers so that we can properly report to our region about the situation in Venezuela
05:00and I must say that the Western media is spreading a lot of negative and fake news about the situation in Venezuela
05:10and we have to find a way to reach our people, especially in the English-speaking Caribbean,
05:18so that they will better understand what is happening in Venezuela
05:22because Venezuela is one of our sister countries and Venezuela is a nation that has always stand in solidarity with our region.
05:33Yeah, and now we go back to Guyana, because what's the significance do you grant to these elections in Venezuela,
05:43taking into account that this will be the first time the territory of Guyana's Cuba will exercise the right to the vote?
05:49Well, as I mentioned just now, I told you that this electoral process in Guyana is very important for that area
06:01because it creates the conditions for the people in that area to have representation in your national assembly, one.
06:13Two, it also creates the conditions for the people to develop the region as part of Venezuela
06:23and as an independent state away from some kind of exploitation by U.S. imperialism.
06:33So it's really a people's election that is taking place in Guyana
06:41and my organization, the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, fully endorsed that process.
06:49Yeah, and now we can move to another important topic,
06:53which is the solidarity that Venezuela has taken with the Palestinian cause, with Haiti
07:00and also with Burkina Fassal, because is it being a sister nation with those countries?
07:07Well, let me say, as I mentioned, Venezuela is one of the leading countries in our region
07:14that express solidarity to Caribbean people.
07:19When Haiti finds itself in a crisis situation immediately after a major earthquake,
07:24it is Venezuela that went into Haiti and helped with the constructing of houses in Haiti for the Haitian people.
07:35Cuba has always been there also to extend solidarity with the Haitian people
07:40in the area of medicine and academic scholarships.
07:44So I fully endorse your solidarity with the Haitian people.
07:48Venezuela has also offered academic scholarships to the children of Palestine.
07:56You have sent solidarity materials to Palestine.
08:02You have stand in full solidarity with the people of Palestine
08:06against what is happening to the people of Palestine.
08:10And I was very happy to know that Venezuela also have developed a working relationship
08:18with the president of Burkina Fassal, because when President Maduro visited Russia
08:26just a couple of weeks back, both presidents met.
08:31And I think that was a very important meeting,
08:35because Africa is right now boiling and the African society is moving in a progressive direction
08:43and we need to develop South-South relationships.
08:48And I think that Venezuela can lead that process for our region,
08:54because I remember when Venezuela led the process against the free trade areas of the Americas
09:00and created a space for our region against that agreement.
09:07And you created the Bolivarian Alternative.
09:11And then you created the Petro-Caribbean Agreement
09:14that would have benefited many of our Caribbean nations.
09:17So for me, the solidarity work from Venezuela is very, very important,
09:24especially for small nations in our Caribbean region,
09:28so that we are very happy to work with Venezuela.
09:33We are very happy for the work that Venezuela is doing in terms of solidarity with Africa, Asia, the Caribbean.
09:44And we are very happy with this kind of work, and it's very important work.
09:47So for our movement in Barbados, we stand in full support of the government, the people of Venezuela.
09:56And we are also happy to know that you can do that kind of solidarity work
10:02that can help the poor and powerless people of the world.
10:05Yeah, and something to, it's like common to ask, but the relations between Venezuela and Barbados?
10:16Well, so far I can say that, you know, that Venezuela and Barbados have very good relationships
10:22because Venezuela have an embassy in Barbados.
10:26Barbados have an embassy in Venezuela, so they're very good working relationships.
10:32Venezuela and Barbados have started some trade, you know, in the agriculture industry,
10:39so there's some trade relationship between Barbados and Venezuela.
10:42There's an airplane or travel arrangement between Barbados and Venezuela on Saturdays and Wednesdays
10:54where Conviesta visits Barbados and bring people from Barbados to Venezuela
10:59and then people from Venezuela to Barbados.
11:02So in terms of people-to-people contact and working relationship, that's a very good relationship.
11:08So for me, I think that there are very, very good relationships between the government
11:13and people of Barbados, you know, and Venezuela.
11:17And that's something very good.
11:19Well, with these last questions, we have come to the end of this interview, Mr. David,
11:26but we were glad to have you here in our program.
11:29Thank you very much.
11:30Thank you also, and I'm very happy to be here, you know.
11:33Well, we'll be back to La Havana, Cuba, with From the South and Luis Alberto Matos.
11:41We're back to you.
11:48Thank you, Ana, and of course, thank you to your special guest for all this information
11:52and all the inputs on this historical day that is going to happen tomorrow in Venezuela
11:56as Venezuelans would vote in these regional and legislative elections.
12:00Let's now take our first break.
12:02Remember, you can join us on TikTok at Tepesu English,
12:04where you'll find news in different formats, news updates, and much more.
12:09Stay with us.
12:22Bye.
12:22Bye.
12:22Bye.
12:22Bye.
12:22Bye.
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