- 9 months ago
07/01/2026
FTS 8.30
*U.S. DOJ admits non-existance of “Cartel de los Soles”
*5 dead in France as cold snap hits Europe
FTS 8.30
*U.S. DOJ admits non-existance of “Cartel de los Soles”
*5 dead in France as cold snap hits Europe
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00The Venezuelan acting president, Delsi Rodriguez, prized the heroism of those who failed defending the homeland during the U.S. attack and announced a seven-day national mourning in their distribution.
00:22The U.S. Department of Justice recognized that the Cartel de los Soles does not exist as a criminal organization.
00:37And the polar cold SNAP affecting Europe has claimed five lives in France and paralyzed the continent with critical impacts on services and transportation.
00:50Hello and welcome to From the South. I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesurias in Havana, Cuba. We begin with the news.
01:01Venezuela's acting president, Delsi Rodriguez, led Tuesday a working group at the Socialist Communion of José Feliz Rivas to evaluate first-hand the projects approved through national popular consultations.
01:25In this context, and during the visit, Rodriguez supervised not only the finished projects but those still underway, such as the replacement of roofs and the creation of the new community gymnasiums.
01:38With her visit, the Bolivarian government reaffirms that public management is carried out at grassroots level and that it is the people who govern the nation.
01:48In talking with the residents of the commune, the acting president reiterated that peace is a right of the Venezuelan people and urged Washington to set free president Nicolás Maduro and first combatant Celia Flores.
02:06During the visit to the commune, the Bolivarian leader prized the heroism of those who fell defending the homeland during the U.S. attack and announced a seven-day national mourning in their tribute.
02:21That is the most important thing, that the harassment against Venezuela ends, that the aggression against the valuable people of Bolivar ends, and from here a message to our young martyrs who gave their lives in defense of our country.
02:36Young martyrs, I have decided to declare seven days of mourning in honor and glory to the young people, women and men who died, who gave their lives defending Venezuela, defending President Nicolás Maduro. For them, our recognition.
02:58Also, Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez presided over a high-level meeting with the nation's top officials of the agri-food industry covering the fisheries, communes and industry sectors.
03:12During the meeting, ministers presented the agri-food results to a comprehensive level and also valued the nation's planting cycle and food security.
03:22The meeting reviewed the current status of seeds, harvest levels and food distribution mechanisms throughout the territory and highlighted the fact that Venezuela has had the highest economic growth over the last five years.
03:36Likewise, authorities closely monitored production balances, ensuring that the connection between the field and the table of Venezuelans functions efficiently.
03:52In this sense, the acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, stated that the country is going through a painful time after the attack by the U.S.,
04:02but that the people are marching in the streets for the freedom of President Nicolás Maduro in the first combat in Celia Flores.
04:09As I said yesterday in my oath-taking ceremony, Venezuela is now on a painful path, painful because of the aggression it suffered.
04:20An unprecedented aggression in our history, unprecedented also in the history of South America, but the Venezuelan people are active.
04:34They are in the streets marching at this very moment.
04:37The women of Venezuela are marching for peace in our country, marching to demand freedom for our heroes, for President Maduro and the first combatant.
04:51We Venezuelans are people that don't surrender.
04:58We are here ruling together with the people.
05:03The government of Venezuela is ruling our country. No one else is.
05:07There is no external agent governing Venezuela. It is Venezuela. It is its constitutional government. It is the consolidated power of the people.
05:22And the Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, toured the streets of Caracas on Tuesday night, noting the calm atmosphere that prevails and emphasized the Venezuelan people's conscience strive to preserve national peace.
05:39Good evening. Today is January 6th, and it is exactly 11 p.m.
05:49All of Caracas is in calm. Here we are on the main avenue of Chuao. Everything is calm, peaceful.
06:00Our conscious people know what to do. Working to restore the normality that should prevail in the country, and work towards that.
06:11Today, businesses opened without any problems. We are in Las Mercedes. Everything is calm. We are heading to Petare, traveling.
06:23We have already come from the center. From the center where the Vice Presidency is. Where the palace is. The whole area is in calm. The Plaza Oliari is calm. Hooks and see you soon.
06:38Also, the government of Colombia condemned the U.S. aggression against Venezuela, recognizing the acting president of Telsey Rodriguez in accordance with a legal framework in peace in the country, in place in the country.
06:52During a press conference, Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio made Colombia's position clear regarding the situation Venezuela is going through after the illegal operation carried out by the United States.
07:05Therefore, she urged Washington to respect international law and the principles of democracy, also the international order contained in the United Nations Charter.
07:15Villavicencio stated that only Venezuelans can decide for their sovereignty and reaffirm that she recognizes Telsey Rodriguez as the acting president of Venezuela after the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and first combatant Celia Flores.
07:31We have said it and we will repeat it. Only the Venezuelan people exercising their sovereignty can decide their destiny at this time. In the absence of President Maduro, the Vice President has been elected and remains in office.
08:00This is in accordance with the internal legal system of this country. We respect the sovereign decisions of that legal system. We have also said that we reject all threats made against any country and that we reject colonialist type administrations when we have achieved the sovereignty of countries.
08:28For his part, in exclusive remarks to Telesur, Colombia's deputy minister for multilateral affairs condemned the lack of action by international organizations regarding the recent U.S. attack on Venezuela.
08:41We are very concerned that there are countries not committed enough to this international right. We are concerned to see that the Security Council has not unanimously condemned what is happening. It is also a concern in the community of Latin American and Caribbean states in this zone of peace historically committed to international law. In 1968, we signed the Treaty of Plata Loco and we were the first region in the world to declare itself free of nuclear weapons.
09:09And now we have a short break coming up but first remember you can join us on Tik Tok at Telesur English where you will find news in different formats, news updates and much more. We'll be right back to stay with us.
09:21Welcome back to From the South. The United States President Donald Trump has announced the pressures of millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela through his
09:51social media platform Truth Social Trump affirmed that the Venezuelan authorities will bill the U.S. between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil at the market price. This is Venezuelan crude oil that is blocked by the unilateral coercive measures imposed by Washington against the country.
10:10Likewise, Trump stated he would personally manage the revenues from the sale which he thought would be used for the supposed benefit of the peoples of Venezuela and the United States and that will administer the revenues from this energy exchange.
10:26It should be noted that this announcement comes after the assault and illegal kidnapping of the constitutional president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, first combatant Celia Flores.
10:41The U.S. Department of Justice also modified one of the main charges against Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, removing the claim that he allegedly led a criminal organization known as the Cartel de los Soles.
10:57In the updated indictment, the prosecution maintains the charges of conspiracy to traffic drugs against President Nicolás Maduro, but no longer presents the Cartel de los Soles as a criminal organization itself, now describing it as a system of sponsorship and a culture of corruption driven by drug money, very different from the hierarchical organization that President Donald Trump used to justify military deployments
11:25and blockades against Venezuela. The revised indictment filed in New York reduces references to the Cartel de los Soles from 32 to just 2, dismantling the media, fables spread by major global media outlets.
11:41This shift comes days after President Maduro's kidnapping on January 3, an act condemned internationally for violating international law.
11:55In November 2025, the Venezuelan government rejected the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's manoeuvre to designate the non-existent Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization.
12:09According to Caracas, the strategy sought to perpetuate an infamous and vile lie to justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela.
12:19In the classic U.S. style of regime change, the Cartel de los Soles is not mentioned once in the annual National Drug Threat Assessment from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,
12:31nor in the annual World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
12:49Renowned U.S. trial lawyer Barry J. Pollack will defend Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following his kidnapping by White House forces.
13:00Let's learn more about his career.
13:02Pollack is a criminal defense attorney with 30 years of experience.
13:07He was responsible for negotiating the agreement that led to Juliana Sanchez's release.
13:13The criminal litigator obtained a full acquittal for an end-run executive in financial fraud trial as well.
13:21Pollack is noted for specializing in high-profile cases pertaining national security and financial law.
13:31His involvement places the case in the hands of a lawyer with in-depth knowledge of the U.S. criminal justice system and experience in high-pressure situations.
13:46Also, senior advisor to the United Nations Jeffrey Sachs demanded that the Security Council take decisive action to stop the United States military escalation against Venezuela.
13:57Precisely, Sachs called for an end to the naval quarantine and the withdrawal of all the U.S. intelligence forces and military assets deployed illegitimately in the Caribbean Sea.
14:10The senior advisor stressed that all member states of the Council must refrain from issuing unilateral threats or imposing unilateral coercive measures against any nation.
14:21Moreover, he emphasized the need to enforce the United Nations Charter, warning that world peace depends on respect for the treaty which prohibits the use of force against the political independence of any state.
14:34The Chinese government condemned as an act of bullying the recent aggressions perpetrated by the U.S. government against Venezuela, preaffirming in this scenario Caracas sovereignty over its national resources.
14:53Venezuela is a sovereign state and under international law holds full and permanent sovereignty over its natural resources and all economic activities within its territory.
15:04The United States' recent use of force against Venezuela coupled with this demand that Venezuela prioritize U.S. interests when managing its own oil resources is a blood and active bullying.
15:13This conduct constitutes a serious violation of international law, a grave infringement upon Venezuela's sovereignty and a severe harm to the rights of the Venezuelan people.
15:22China has strongly condemned those actions.
15:24I wish to emphasize that the legitimate rights and interests of China and other countries in Venezuela must be fully protected.
15:30Meanwhile, the non-aligned movement and member countries condemned the act of aggression perpetrated by the United States government against Venezuela in early hours of the morning of January 3rd, 2026.
15:42Through an official communique, the entity stressed immediately demands the cessation of all hostilities against Venezuela, full respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, the political independence and inalienable right to self-determination of Venezuela and that those responsible for these acts be brought to justice.
16:05Furthermore, in the document, the coordinating bureau of the organization reiterated its full solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela at this critical time and insisted that military solutions are not viable ways to address any issue which may be a cause for concern among members of the international community.
16:26Also, in this context now, we are going to the Dominican Republic, in other information.
16:39Left-wing groups in the Dominican Republic, as we inform jointly, condemn the United States military attack against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and first combatant Celia Flores.
16:51In a joint statement read by Dominican leftist leader Carlos Felix at a press conference on Tuesday, several organizations such as the Communist Labour Party, the Dominican Popular Movement and the Caminista Movement denounced Washington's aggression against Caracas as a genocide.
17:11In this context, they also rejected the American government's support for Washington's aggressive policy towards Caracas, labelling it as complicit with the aggression.
17:31Meanwhile, in the United States, thousands of people condemned the Trump administration's aggression against Venezuela and demanded the government ceases its offensive escalation.
17:42In Washington, protesters gathered in front of the White House, shouting slogans against the attack on Venezuela and carrying signs in support of the aggressed nation.
17:53The demonstration, organized by social movements and solidarity groups, denounced the imperialised interests of the United States behind the military attack and demanded respect for Venezuela's sovereignty.
18:05Now we have a second show break coming up. Before we invite you to visit our Facebook page at Telesur English, there you'll be able to watch our top stories, special life coverage and much more.
18:22Follow our page and activate the notification button to stay up to date on the world's most recent events.
18:27Final show break, we'll be right back.
18:52Welcome back to From the South. We go now to Europe, the polar cold snap affecting Europe has claimed five lives in France and paralysed the continent with critical impacts on services and transportation.
19:09Among the victims, three people are reported to have died in traffic accidents caused by ice in the southwest of the country, in addition to two drivers in the Paris region.
19:20Transportation chaos is spread across the continent with temperatures dropping to minus 12 degrees Celsius in the United Kingdom and below minus 10 degrees Celsius in the Netherlands.
19:32Although the major airports in Paris, Orlais and Charles de Gaulle managed to remain operational, the French Ministry of Transport warned that airlines will have to cancel part of their schedule for Wednesday in view of the imminent arrival of new snow fronts.
19:49The Philippines suggested a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on the southern coast of the country this Wednesday. Authorities reported that the earthquake occurred about 27 kilometers east of the city of Santiago on the island of Mindanao.
20:11They noted that no tsunami warnings were issued and that no deaths or injuries were reported.
20:17Previously, during the past month of October, eastern Mindanao was shaken by two earthquakes of magnitude 7.4 and 6.7 respectively, causing the death of at least eight people.
20:29And at least 16 people were killed by flash floods triggered by torrential rains in Indonesia's north Sulawesi province on Tuesday.
20:47On Monday morning, the monsoon rains caused the riverbanks to burst, triggering fast-moving torrents of muddy water mixed with rocks and debris.
20:57These torrents swept away people and submerged villages in the Siahu, Tagulandang Viaro district.
21:05In some places, access was hampered by damaged roads and disrupted communications at least.
21:11Seven houses were washed away and more than 140 homes were damaged when the deluge surged down hillsides.
21:19In addition, according to local authorities, the flood forced more than 680 residents to seek shelter in churches and public buildings.
21:36Now we move on to other topics. In Nepal, the government ordered a curfew in the city of Birgunj after vandalism and a mask sparked a series of protests.
21:46Armed soldiers and police officers patrolled the streets of the city located 130 kilometres south of the country's capital,
21:54a key border crossing for the import of oil, goods and supplies from neighbouring India to Nepal.
22:01The orders were issued by the Parse district administration and state that no one will be allowed to remain on the streets
22:09and that all meetings and demonstrations will be prohibited.
22:13Last Sunday, Muslim groups protested in the streets against the vandalism of a mosque in a nearby town,
22:19which led to another demonstration by Hindu supporters later that day.
22:24Let's talk about Palestine.
22:50The Israeli regime continues to violate the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip through raids and airstrikes in various areas of the enclave.
22:59In northern Gaza, military vehicles of the occupation advance to the Habalia region, while warplanes launch missile attacks on areas in the north.
23:08At the same time, Zionist artillery bombarded neighbourhoods adjacent to the yellow line east of the city, while its forces opened fire east of Al-Burej.
23:18Israel remains reluctant to fulfil its humanitarian commitments by drastically restricting the entry of aid, goods and supplies for the Palestinian population.
23:29Also in Palestine, the city of Bethlehem became the epicentre of Eastern Christianity with the Salem Christmas Eve liturgy in the Nativity Basilica.
23:44This celebration brings the festive spirit back to the Holy Land, just when much of the Western world and Catholic traditions have left their December celebrations behind.
23:59This chronological system runs 13 days behind the international standard, which places the Holy Day of Christmas on this Wednesday.
24:08The ceremony not only represents an act of deep religious devotion, but also functions as a bridge to the earliest roots of the church.
24:17And now, with this information, we have come to the end of this news brief.
24:25Remember, you can find this and many of the stories on our website at www.telesurenglish.net.
24:30Also join us on social media, we are on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok as well.
24:36For Telesur English, I'm Alejandra Garcia. Thank you for watching.