00:00Vote counting is underway in San Vincent de Granarines as the island nation is set to elect its Prime Minister for the next five years.
00:08The current Prime Minister, Ralf Gonsalves, who is seeking for a new term, has already exercised his right to vote during the early hours of the day.
00:17Gonsalves faces the leader of the new Democratic Party, Godwin Friday, in this contested election.
00:23Likewise, the polling stations were open until 5pm local time, recording a steady flow of citizens throughout the day.
00:32Voter turnout, which was 66.95% in 2022, will be a key moment of civic engagement in a society term between continuity and change.
00:43In this context, the Prime Minister of San Vincent de Granarines, Ralf Gonsalves, reiterated his call for dialogue between the imperialist governments and Venezuela
00:56and warns about the dangers of a conflict in the region.
01:00Well, if you remember my statement at the General Assembly in September, I urged that a mature conversation be held between the United States of America and Venezuela to reduce tensions.
01:24A mature conversation without preconditions.
01:27When people talk, when nations talk, when nations talk, they do not fight.
01:36And invariably, when you fight, when the fight ends, you have to talk.
01:44So it is better if you talk in advance.
01:46And I would like also to see a mature conversation, and also without preconditions, between the government of Trinidad and Tobago and the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
02:00The tensions are not good for our region.
02:04For St. Vincent de Granarines, any escalation, any war which arises, would mean, among other things, death and mayhem.
02:22And similarly, Ralf Gonsalves expressed optimism regarding the start of preliminary talks between the government of Venezuela and the United States.
02:30Yes, well, I think many have spoken and some have not spoken, but I'm heartened by the recent news that have come that there's at least some back channels for the commencement,
02:47at least for some preliminary conversations about talks between Venezuela and the United States of America.
02:56And I hope that those talks bear fruit, and that we can have a normalisation of relations between two countries, which historically have had good relations.
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