FTS 16:30 29-08: New enlistment day underway in Venezuela

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29/08/2025 FTS 16.30 *Brazil has activated reciprocity law against the United States. *UNRWA warns that Israeli expansion plans will lead to a catastrophic situation. teleSUR  These and many more stories now!

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00:00A new enlistment day is underway in Venezuela as the population volunteers to defend its homeland.

00:19The Brazilian government has activated a reciprocity law in response to the United States'

00:24imposition of 50% tariffs on Brazilian products.

00:30And the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East, ONRA,

00:35warned that Israel's escalating plan for the Gaza Strip will displace around 1 million people.

00:44Hello and welcome to From the South. I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesur Studios in Havana, Cuba.

00:49We begin with the news. Stay with us.

00:54Venezuelan Vice President Delsi Rodriguez warned Friday that those who attempt to carry out a military intervention in the country

01:09will face very serious consequences. During a new day of enlistment to the Bolivarian National Malaysia,

01:15the Vice President condemned the deployment of U.S. troops near the Venezuela's Caribbean coast

01:20and questioned Washington's justification of allegedly combating drug trafficking in the area.

01:25Rodriguez also highlighted that the presence of nuclear submarines, warplanes and missile launchers in the area

01:32intends to spread civil instability in the region.

01:35The Vice President affirmed that people of Venezuela is determined to support its governments

01:40and fight for the defense of national sovereignty and peace.

01:47We're listening to the statements of the Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro called the Venezuelan people

01:57to join the Bolivarian National Malaysia amid a militarist campaign against Latin America and the Caribbean.

02:03But what other militias? The following report has the answer.

02:06Bolivarian Militia is the fifth component of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, FANB.

02:12It is a special corps organized by the Venezuelan state and made up of the people who organized, trained and armed

02:20are meant to support the FANB in the integral defense of the country's independence and sovereignty.

02:29Its mission is to register, organize, equip, train and prepare the people for its contribution to the national security

02:35at all levels of the territorial defense system.

02:39The Bolivarian National Militia was created during the presidency of Hugo Chávez,

02:44who established the cornerstone of the Bolivarian Revolution, the civic military union.

02:49In 2008, the organic law of the FANB recognized the militia as a special corps

02:56and in 2020, under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro,

03:00it was formally integrated as the fifth component of the armed forces.

03:04According to official data, the Bolivarian National Militia has five million men and women

03:11distributed across 15,751 popular integral defense bases,

03:17with more than 600,000 militia patrols operating throughout the country.

03:22The militia is present in 5,336 communities through the so-called Peace Squadrons,

03:28a political territorial division where all state security institutions are coordinated

03:33including firefighters and civil protection.

03:37Together with the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, the militia has been fundamental

03:42in defeating destabilization plans and invasion attempts promoted by the Venezuelan fire right

03:47in complicity with the U.S. government, such as the so-called Battle of the Bridges in 2019

03:53or Operation Gideon in 2020, consolidating national sovereignty and showing the importance of the civic military union

04:02in maintaining stability and peace in Venezuela.

04:06Also in this context, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations,

04:12Antonio Guterres, expressing his concern about the escalation of aggressions by the United States against the region.

04:19This way, the head of state denounced how, for years, Venezuela has been the object of a systematic policy of harassment by the U.S.,

04:27characterized by unilateral coercive measures, smear campaigns, disregard for the legitimacy of its constitutional authorities.

04:34Furthermore, President Maduro stressed that this political and legal offensive has been accompanied by incendiary rhetoric

04:42and threats of the use of force that seek to justify a foreign intervention in our country.

04:48Moreover, the Venezuelan head of state warned how, today, that aggression has escalated to a more dangerous level,

04:55stressing this is the first time that an asset of this nature has been introduced into a region

05:01which constitutes a very serious threat to hemispheric stability.

05:06President Maduro closed the massive with a request to Guterres to undertake the active defense of the United Nations' charter values,

05:14urging the U.S. to put an end to these hostile actions and to fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity

05:21and political independence of Venezuela.

05:24And now we have a short break coming up, but first remember, you can join us on TikTok at Telesur English,

05:34where you'll find news in different formats, news updates and more.

05:37We'll be right back, stay with us.

05:38Welcome back, Kuftu from the South, and now let's go back to Venezuela,

05:52where the National Bolivarian militia enlistment day is underway.

05:55And in this important event, we contact our correspondent in the country, Bruno Falsi.

05:59Hi Bruno, what can you share with us at this hour?

06:01Hello Alejandra, we are here in the central Caracas, we are still here in the Bolivar Square,

06:14where people are still coming even after a strong rain in all this city, a strong rain that affected all the city,

06:22people are still mobilizing themselves to answer the call of the President Nicolas Maduro,

06:29to defend their sovereignty against the new menacing of the United States.

06:35In this hybrid war against Venezuela, in this communication war against this country,

06:41country that is affected, already affected by almost 1,000 sanctions against Venezuela,

06:49sanctions that are illegal by the international law.

06:53As you can see, people answer the call of Nicolas Maduro,

06:56and are enlisting themselves to defend the Venezuelan sovereignty,

07:01to show national unity in this new mobilization that happened in the last week.

07:08And now, again, they are mobilized to answer this call that I was saying,

07:14this call from the President, and they answer this because they want to defend the nation

07:21against a new attack of the United States,

07:24this time accusing Venezuela of being a narcotic state,

07:29of her President Nicolas Maduro, of being a leader of a cartel of drugs,

07:35and offering a reward of 50 million dollars for his head.

07:40And the people are very brave, and they are enlisted to defend their country with arms,

07:48if necessary, to show to the world they don't believe this news,

07:53this fake news against Venezuela, these attacks against the sovereignty,

07:59these false attacks without proof.

08:02And Venezuela answered this with a United Nations document,

08:07that showed that Venezuela is not part of the international narcotic drugs rules.

08:14And they still attack Venezuela now with this news of warships,

08:21and thousands of troops going in the direction of the sea of Venezuela to attack this country.

08:29And everything is fake news because they want to cause a psychological war in the people of Venezuela.

08:37But the people of Venezuela are conscious of their right, are conscious of their revolution,

08:42and the popular power are in the streets now, today, and they're going to be tomorrow,

08:48and they're going to be every day since last week to answer this call to defend their nation against a foreign invasion.

08:56Now we go back to the studio with Alejandra in La Habana, and keep following us in Telesur in English,

09:03to know more about what's happened here in the capital of Venezuela.

09:08Thank you Bruno for all the information, we will keep in contact in upcoming emissions for sure.

09:13And also to go deep into the relevance of this event for Venezuelans,

09:17we invite Dan Kowalik, specialist in international human rights at the University of Pittsburgh's Law School.

09:24Hello Dan, welcome to From the South, thank you for joining us.

09:27Thank you for having me.

09:29Well Dan, given the US military presence in the Caribbean,

09:33and also the growing threats towards Venezuela and the region,

09:36what do you see as the underlying interest behind these destabilizing actions?

09:41Well, I think there's several. The biggest of course is oil.

09:47Venezuela has the biggest known oil reserves in the world.

09:51The US covets that oil, and so I think that's a big motivation.

09:56But I think a lot of it is also about hegemony.

10:00And, you know, going back to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823,

10:04in which the US announced that it has the sole prerogative to interfere in the Western Hemisphere to protect its interests.

10:14And I think this is really a flexing of the Monroe Doctrine.

10:23In highlight of the day is the National Bolivarian Malaysian Lisbon Day that is underway in Venezuela.

10:28In this context, what message is Venezuela sending to the world through this show of solidarity and national defense,

10:34especially in light of these external threats?

10:37Yeah, well, the Venezuelan people are showing they will not tolerate this type of intervention.

10:43They will stand up to any attack by the United States.

10:47They reject the Monroe Doctrine.

10:49They reject gunboat diplomacy.

10:53And I think it's a very positive thing, what Venezuela is doing,

10:58because the US cannot be the bully of the hemisphere or the bully of the world.

11:06In the face of these external aggressions, how would you describe the role that the Venezuelan people is playing,

11:12I mean, the grassroots organizations, also the social movements, in this strong response to these threats,

11:18and how this reflects the resilience of the Venezuelan society as a whole?

11:23Yeah, well, we're seeing the Venezuelan people lead, really, the hemisphere's resistance against the United States.

11:34That, what is it, over 4 million?

11:36I think 4.5 million Venezuelan citizens have volunteered for these militias to defend Venezuela.

11:43This is monumental.

11:46This is a show, again, of resistance, not only in Venezuela, but of all the people in the global south.

11:52So they really are a vanguard, I believe, in the world.

11:56Also, how would you describe the international solidarity that has been receiving Venezuela in this day,

12:03in the face of these attempts, these destabilizing actions?

12:06Well, I wish there was more, I guess I would say.

12:11I'd like to see some more solidarity.

12:13I think there's been a lot of good statements made by leaders in the hemisphere against this intervention.

12:21But I think we need more than words.

12:24We need action.

12:25We need the countries of the hemisphere south of, you know, the Rio Grande to really stand firm against U.S. intervention,

12:38and put some real actions behind words.

12:43Thank you, Dan, very much for your insights on what is taking place today in Venezuela.

12:48Thank you very much.

12:50Proud to be here.

12:52We were speaking to Dan Kowalik, a specialist in international human rights,

12:56and with the destabilizing plans of the U.S. government in the Latin American and Caribbean.

13:01In this context, let's take a short break, a second short break now,

13:05but before we invite you to visit our Facebook page at Telesur English,

13:09there you'll be able to watch our top stories, a special live coverage, and much more.

13:13Follow our page and activate the notification button to stay up to date on the world's most recent events.

13:18Fana Kowalik, don't go away.

13:20Welcome back to From the South.

13:32The Brazilian government has activated a reciprocity law

13:36in response to the United States' imposition of 50% tariffs on Brazilian products.

13:41In response to the imposition of taxes, the Foreign Trade Chamber launched a consultation

13:46to evaluate the application of the economic reciprocity project.

13:50Previously, President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva announced that his government intends to open new import markets.

13:58To this end, the President spoke with leaders from China, Russia and India to explore alternatives

14:04that would benefit countries affected by the U.S. trade war.

14:10Over the last few days, the Russian army has succeeded liberated six localities in the Special Military Operation Zone.

14:18The Russian Defense Ministry also reported that casualties among Ukrainian troops have reached about 8,850,

14:26while the Russian Defense Forces carried out seven group attacks with drones and missiles against air bases,

14:32tactical missile storage depots, and fuel systems of the Ukrainian regime.

14:36According to Russian authorities, all targets were hit.

15:00The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, ONRA,

15:05warned that Israel's escalating plan for the Gaza Strip will lead to more forced displacement.

15:10The organization denounced that Israel's expansionist actions will affect around one million people.

15:16It also warned that Israel's control measures expose more Gaza to catastrophic situations and famine

15:23due to restricted humanitarian aid entering the coastal enclave.

15:27Previously, all members of the United Nations Security Council except the United States issued a statement

15:33calling for an immediate ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid.

15:37The statement also called on Israel to revoke its total control order in Gaza.

15:46Palestinian health authorities confirmed that more than 70 civilians were killed in the last 24 hours

15:52as part of Israel's ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

15:55Another 22 civilians lost their lives and 203 were injured while attempting to receive humanitarian aid,

16:02which highlights the serious risk they face.

16:05Hospital records show that more than 317 people have died from starvation and malnutrition, including 121 children.

16:13Furthermore, a statement details that since Israel resumed its aggressions on March 18th,

16:19more than 11,000 people have died and another 47,225 have been injured.

16:25Meanwhile, the Jordanian armed forces, in collaboration with the World Health Organization,

16:35have welcomed a new group of 19 sick children from the Gaza Strip who will receive treatment in Jordanian hospitals.

16:42This is the 10th group to be evacuated since humanitarian operations began on March 4th,

16:47and this action brings the total number of evacuees to 518, including 153 pediatric patients and 365 of their companions.

16:59The arrival took place through the King Hussein crossing, where Jordanian military and medical personnel welcomed the children and their parents.

17:11And like this, we have come to the end of this news brief, but you can find this and many other stories on our website at telesurenglish.net.

17:17Also, we invite you to join us on social media.

17:20We are on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok as well, 24-7.

17:24For Telesurenglish, I'm Alejandra Garcia. Thank you for watching.

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