- 8 hours ago
05/02/2026
FTS 17.30
*Venezuelan National Assembly approves “Amnesty Bill”.
*Russia and Ukraine exchange 314 prisoners.
teleSUR
These and many more stories now!
FTS 17.30
*Venezuelan National Assembly approves “Amnesty Bill”.
*Russia and Ukraine exchange 314 prisoners.
teleSUR
These and many more stories now!
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel assured the government is open to dialogue with the United States as long as it is based on respect for self-determination and independence.
00:21Venezuela's National Assembly approved Thursday on first discussion the Amnesty Bill as the first step toward reconciliation and national dialogue.
00:34And Russia announced the exchange of over 300 prisoners with Ukraine as part of the agreement reached during the Abu Dhabi talks.
00:46Hello and welcome to From the South. I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesur Studios in Caracas, Venezuela. We begin with the news. Stay with us.
01:02On Thursday the President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel made statements to the national and international press regarding the complex situation facing the country in the context of the escalation of coercive measures imposed unilaterally by the United States government against the island.
01:30In this sense, the Cuban President reaffirmed his rejection of threats and actions that seek to undermine the nation's sovereignty.
01:38In this scenario, Díaz-Canel stated that the Cuban government is open to dialogue with the United States as long as it is based on respect for self-determination and independence.
01:47In addition, Cuba rejected the U.S. blockade and reaffirmed its right to receive fuel in the context of acute shortages.
01:55The head of state assured the Cuban people that measures are being taken to address the complex energy situation and that efforts are being made to minimize the impact on the population.
02:06The President also expressed his gratitude for the showings of solidarity from around the world, which have rejected U.S. interference in the island's internal affairs.
02:16The theory of collapse and the insistence of collapse are closely related to the theory of failed states and to set the construction with which the United States government has tried to characterize the situation in Cuba.
02:34Precisely, this theory of collapse is associated with one of the currents or direction in which the United States government is striving to overthrow the Cuban revolution.
02:45I say that there are two fundamental reactions, the economic suffocation that dates back to the 60s with the Madrid memorandum and military aggression.
03:00The Cuban leader emphasized that Cuba is not a failed state, but rather a state besieged by the greatest of empires.
03:10In one of the recent statements by the President of the United States, he said in the first part of a sentence that they had applied all possible pressure against Cuba,
03:19then acknowledging that there is no failed state, but rather a state that has had to face the great resistance, the maximum pressure, not from just anyone,
03:29but just from the worst leading power in the attempt to economically suffocate it.
03:34President Diaz Canel emphasizes as well that the Cuban people are resisting the blockade and defending their convictions.
03:43The thing is, I believe that the collapse is in the mentality. It is the imperial philosophy, but it is not the mentality of the Cuban people.
03:53The collapse cannot be associated solely with the pressure of intentions of an imperial government.
03:59In our view, the concept of resistance is our creative resistance, stands against collapse, which has to do with defending the ideas we believe in,
04:07defending the convention we believe in, in the conventions of victory.
04:12And now we have a short break coming up. Don't go away, because we'll be right back with more information.
04:20Welcome back to From the South. Venezuela's National Assembly approved on Thursday and first discussion the Amnesty Bill as a first step toward reconciliation and national dialogue.
04:42The bill had been promoted by the nation's acting president, Delsi Rodriguez, aimed at creating a space for reconciliation with all political sectors in the country.
04:53During the session, Deputy Jorge Arreaza expressed the need to reach an understanding among political adversaries in order to overcome polarization and called to create what he called a 21st century treaty of Trujillo.
05:07In reference to the agreement signed between Simón Bolívar and Colonial Spain to end what was known as the War to the Death Policy.
05:14And just a few hours after the U.S. attack on Caracas on the early morning of January 3rd, the Venezuelan people began the recovering operation.
05:21To tell us more about the resilience of the Bolivarian people in those difficult days, our correspondent Paola Dragnik with her third chapter of her series The Signal of Victory, this time with the episode entitled The Reconstruction.
05:28And just a few hours after the U.S. attack on Caracas on Caracas on Caracas on the early morning of January 3rd, the Venezuelan people began the recovery operation.
05:35To tell us more about the resilience of the Bolivarian people in those difficult days, our correspondent Paola Dragnik with her third chapter of her series The Signal of Victory, this time with the episode entitled The Reconstruction.
05:48The Reconstruction.
06:18The immense sadness of departure seems to subside somewhat with the pride and dignity
06:47that heroes stamp on history, like Cesar Dossett, of young Cubans and Venezuelan soldiers
06:53and civilians were killed by the United States' attack.
06:57He was shaped by the politics of our President Chavez and by the ideology which he carried
07:08in his mind.
07:09As a child, he always said he would defend his homeland with his life.
07:17As he demonstrated today, Cesar died with his boots on.
07:20Cuba, the flag is also flying at half past.
07:24The Cuban people are in pain today, in the wake of these events and because of the loss
07:37of 32 Cuban soldiers who died heroically on Venezuelan soil.
07:44A deep and sovereign internationalist friendship that is incomprehensible to those who make
07:51human existence nothing more than big business.
07:58a deep and sovereign internationalist friendship that is incomprehensible to those who make
08:05human existence nothing more than big business.
08:10Just when it seems that the world is bearing its last utopia, that money and technology are
08:23above all human dreams, that humanity is growing weary, at that very moment 32 brave Cubans
08:29offered their lives and rose up as giants in a fierce battle until the last bullet and
08:34until the last breath.
08:36A battle that continues in Cuba, in Venezuela and throughout the world because the US imperialism
08:44is always lurking.
08:46So that the world knows that Cubans are standing tall, we will continue to resist imperialism
08:56and barbarism against this plundering that has been carried out in the world.
08:59And without limit, this destruction of the Carlota Air Base in Caracas was repeated in different
09:09places where the civilian population was the victim of the attack.
09:13I'm outraged because this was not only against politicians but also against civilians.
09:25Many people left Fortetuna and when I came down everybody was horrified.
09:30I saw the helicopter from my apartment.
09:35Fortetuna is not just a military complex but a small city with about 240 buildings with
09:45more than 25,000 apartments built as part of national housing plans.
09:51It also has sports, cultural and financial facilities.
09:56May the Lord have mercy on us all.
10:04I was so scared.
10:05I thought they were going to tear down that building.
10:08I was looking at it from there.
10:10And those poor women at three in the morning running with the children.
10:14Come on, you don't do that.
10:21More than the outrage of the attack itself, there is also the outrage at those Venezuelans
10:27left and call for an intervention in this country, like that lady who will never rule this country.
10:32Because you really have to be anti-patriotic to call for those sanctions and this military
10:37intervention.
10:38And the response of the Venezuelan people was quite the opposite.
10:44Days later, at the same city that was bombed, this was happening.
10:48A reconstruction that was not only material.
10:51First, the defense of our nation colors and culturally.
11:02We have a great weapon, which is music and our culture of peace.
11:06Our culture is one of peace.
11:09And with that cultural foundation, with our traditions, we demonstrate that we are not
11:14war-mongering people.
11:15Is there any doubt?
11:20The fact is that the Venezuelan people have an idiosyncrasy which is difficult to comprehend
11:26by societies that look for their heroes in the market.
11:29Here, young and old inherit traditions, values and customs that solidify their unshrinkable
11:36dignity even after an attack.
11:43It is with culture, with our children, with activities of love, with song and with pottery
11:48that we respond to the empire.
11:50Here, they only find love.
11:52And with this same love, we will defend our country.
11:55Let them not make any mistake about it.
12:00Because with such dedication and dignity, they are recovering every space that was violated,
12:06most of them civilian, like this library in the coastal city of La Guayra,
12:11nestled in the middle of the historic center, a national heritage site.
12:16It is not new.
12:18We saw in Iraq.
12:19We saw in Syria.
12:20Everything, that it's culture, that it's our patrimony, must be destroyed.
12:25And so they are military targets.
12:27It is not only the military base that you have in front of us, the Wiscopana House, with
12:32more than 400 years of history.
12:34And here we are fighting, standing up to fight, a space that will soon be recovered, so that can
12:40continue providing culture and wisdom.
12:43A wisdom that is also popular and expressed in its cohesive social fabric.
12:50A people who are ready to rebuild with their own hands if necessary.
12:54They said the attack broke concrete, but not the community.
12:57Mr. Trump decided that it was Venezuela's turn to be invaded by foreign boots.
13:12I call on all Venezuelans to get together as one force.
13:19And on a global level, we must also get together.
13:22Because today was our turn, but he has Colombia, Mexico and Brazil in his crosshair.
13:27And they know it, which is why solidarity quickly emerged.
13:34The attack on a huge warehouse of dialysis supplies left thousands of Venezuelans without treatment.
13:40But within days, Brazil had already sent 90 tons of supplies to prevent more deaths.
13:50Of course, there is fear.
13:53It was an unprecedented cowardly attack.
13:56That device entered the apartment next door and went into the room and exploded there.
14:07I even saw the fireball that formed and the blast immediately threw me out of the room.
14:12Causó un trauma fuerte.
14:14It was horribly traumatic.
14:16But in the middle of the attack, this signal of victory seems to embody everything and is present everywhere.
14:29In La Guaira, in the hillside neighborhoods or by the sea.
14:34And here, on the other side of the Venezuelan capital, where prestigious scientists assessed with distress the destruction left by the imperial attack.
14:43Because, yes, the country's Institute for Scientific Research, IVIC, was also bombarded.
14:50Venezuela is our mother.
14:57Venezuela is our mother.
14:58Regardless of one's political leanings, this is our mother.
15:03We live here in the IBIC, and we love the IBIC.
15:12And this was not only a flagrant violation against military facilities, but also against a very important research institution, and that leaves a message.
15:20Between these walls, the most important scientific advances in Venezuela and the region in recent decades took place.
15:29The IVIC even participated in the development of the human genome, a science that improves the lives of Venezuelans.
15:37That is what the empire attacked.
15:39The real effects of a criminal junkie bomb before a contract manifold.
15:54But the problem is not the material damage, rather the mortal damage caused by imperial aggression.
16:11The mortal damage.
16:13When you're a Bolivarian and you feel that your homeland has been attacked in this way, it feels it was your own mother who was attacked.
16:21Perhaps that is also why there is such a powerful force springing from the deaths of the Venezuelan people to recover the material and the human sides of the damages in a stronger, bigger and more beautiful way.
16:42And now we have a second survey coming up.
16:44Don't go away because we'll be right back.
16:46Welcome back to From the South.
16:59On Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 314 prisoners had been exchanged with Ukraine as part of the agreement reached during the Abu Dhabi talks aimed at finding solutions to the conflict.
17:13In this regard, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement detailing the return of 157 Russian servicemen from territories controlled by Kyiv, as well as 3 Russian citizens from the Kyrgyz region who had been illegally detained.
17:28In exchange, Russia handed over 157 Ukrainian armed forces prisoners and the Ministry specified that the Russian servicemen are currently in Belarus where they are receiving necessary psychological and medical assistance.
17:43Let's recall that this prisoner exchange is part of peace talks mediated by the United States and the Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.
17:50According to the US Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff, the discussions will continue and further progress is expected in the coming weeks.
18:01Also, Russia denounces that the United States is attempting to expel Russian companies from Venezuela and prevent the trade of hydrocarbons between the two nations through sanctions.
18:18Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that following the latest events in Venezuela, attempts are being made by the US government to expel Russian companies from the Latin American country.
18:30In this context, Lavrov pointed out that for the first time in a long time, harsh sanctions have been imposed on Russia's largest oil companies, Luke Oil and Rosneft.
18:41The Russian Foreign Ministry highlighted Washington's ban on purchasing both Russian oil and gas, noting that the intention is to replace them with US oil and liquefy natural gas.
18:58Meanwhile, in the United States, survivors and victims of sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein accused the Department of Justice of revealing information about their identities.
19:07Epstein's victims and survivors have condemned the disclosure of personal information without consent by the US government agency.
19:17Those affected said they are outraged by the mismanaged additions, including the statements they made to the FBI and indicated that the publication was made without complying with a law that states their names should be redacted in the documents and their faces and bodies should be hidden in the documents.
19:36In this regard, the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged that mistakes were made, but argued that the Department of Justice acted quickly to correct any information that was unintentionally disclosed.
19:51In this context, the ripples from the so-called Epstein files have also reached Europe, where members of the British and Norwegian royal families are mentioned, as well as former ministers from Slovakia, France and Spain, among other public figures.
20:15In Slovakia, the scandal has involved Miroslav Lashkak, who was foreign minister on two occasions.
20:22Lashkak has admitted to contacts with Epstein, but denied having any knowledge or knowledge of involvement in the crimes, although the files revealed intense communication between the two.
20:34In France, former socialist minister of culture and education, Jacques Lang, had a long-standing relationship with Epstein that included several business deals, but the affected party has ruled out resigning from his position as president of the Institute of the Arab World in Paris.
20:52On the other hand, among the latter's files released is a payment from Epstein to his travel agent in the name of former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar for more than $1,000 and dated October 17, 2003 and the sending of two packages.
21:09Thank you very much.
21:38In Palestine, Israeli occupation forces killed 24 civilians and dozens resulted wounded in another violation of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
21:48Over the past 24 hours, hospitals across the Strip reported receiving 24 dead and 38 wounded.
21:55Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 11, 2025, Israeli violations have resulted in at least 556 people dead, over 1,500 injured and 717 bodies recovered from beneath the rubble.
22:10The total death toll since the start of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023 has risen to 71,825 with 171,608 wounded as Gaza continues to face relentless military assaults, widespread destruction and severe humanitarian conditions under occupation.
22:34And like this, we have come to the end of this news brief for Telesur English.
22:50For Telesur English, I'm Alejandra García. Thank you for watching.
22:54Brought to you, next time.
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