- 2 hours ago
19/10/2026
FTS 12.30
*Brazil enters final week ahead of runoff.
*Teachers in Spain continue indefinite strike over better wages.
teleSUR
FTS 12.30
*Brazil enters final week ahead of runoff.
*Teachers in Spain continue indefinite strike over better wages.
teleSUR
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NewsTranscript
00:10Venezuela reaffirmed the participatory and proactive nature of democracy following the
00:16second national popular consultation of 2026. Brazil enters the final week ahead
00:26of the presidential runoff set for October 21st with candidates Lula and
00:31Bolsonaro stepping up campaigning events to win crucial votes. On Monday, an
00:40indefinite strike set by teachers in the community of Madrid entered its second
00:45week amid protests over better salaries.
00:54Hello and welcome to From the South. I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesur Studios in Caracas,
00:59Venezuela. We begin with the news, so stay with us.
01:16In Venezuela, millions participated in the second national popular consultation of 2026. Now that
01:23voting has concluded, the focus is on turning these popular decisions into concrete results. Our
01:29correspondent Denise Arabi takes a closer look. The second national popular consultation of 2026 took
01:36place this Sunday, October 18 across the Venezuela territory. A direct democracy exercise that empowers
01:42the people to work on their communities, strengthening unity and promoting local
01:47development framework in the seven transformation plan promoted by the Bolivarian government.
01:53Each troop holding sound assembly with this communal council and then we gather at the communal
01:58level to assess the needs presented by each of these communal councils and we identify the most relevant
02:04ones, those that need to be prioritized and their ones being presented here today in this popular consultation.
02:13The initiative gives residents in over 48,000 communal councils an active role in identifying their
02:20needs, selecting priorities and deciding on local projects that will be executed through state funding. Across the
02:26country, more than 37,000 projects were submitted with proposals addressing issues ranging from water
02:31supply and electricity to road repairs, health services, education and community production.
02:37This addition introduced a new dimension to grassroots democracy with the incorporation of 428
02:43condominium boards into the community-led decision-making process, expanding participation to more urban
02:49communities and residential buildings. I think this is an excellent process because it provides
02:56supports that have been channeled to the condominium boards and especially now that all buildings were
03:02damaged after the earthquake. We weren't as hard hit as others but we did suffer some damage and this is
03:10a
03:10benefit we can use to make repairs. The initiative builds on a process launched under commander Hugo Chavez,
03:18who promoted the creation of communal councils in 2006. Two decades later, the National Popular
03:24Consultation advances that vision by placing communities at the heart of public decision-making.
03:29What's the overall idea? That we move towards self-management,
03:34our communal state where we can manage our own income and resources, make our communities self-sufficient
03:39and support the national economy. As Acting President Elci Rodriguez said,
03:43the communal economy driving the country's development.
03:47With voting concluded, attention now turns to the next stage, turning those decisions into concrete
03:52results. The impact of previous consultations is already visible in the field through community
03:57spaces, local infrastructure and productive projects that respond to the realities of each territory.
04:05Through the popular consultation, we have seen many results. Throughout the consultations,
04:10we have implemented 14 projects that have directly and indirectly benefited the community,
04:14as we have improved their quality of life.
04:17Today's process has once again evidenced Venezuela's commitment to push the country forward with unity and
04:23popular participation. From Venezuela, Denise Arabi, Jesus Romero, for Telesur English.
04:31Also, Venezuela's Acting President, Elci Rodriguez congratulated the Venezuelan people on the
04:36occasion of their participation in the Second National Popular Consultation on Communes and Condominium Boards.
04:44I want to congratulate all Venezuelan citizens who have participated in this consultation because this
04:54reflects a genuine belief in a democracy that is growing stronger, a democracy that consults its own
05:01people, in a democracy that respects the decisions of organized communes in communal circuits, among neighbors,
05:10and in condominium boards, and with extraordinary participation. I can only say that I feel very happy.
05:17I thank you and congratulate you. Now it's time to carry out and implement those projects. The investment funds
05:25for these projects are ready to be allocated for their implementation.
05:44We go to Brazil now. We are going to join our special envoy Belen de los Santos, who is in
05:50Recreo dos Banderantes in Rio de Janeiro,
05:53where a football game organized by musician Chico Huarque in collaboration with social movements and
05:58evangelical pastors is being held. Go ahead, Bel. We hear you.
06:05Hello, Ale, how are you? Exactly. Well, we are at a game, a very important game, and it's not
06:11just any other game. I will step outside so that you can see what is happening right now.
06:16It is political and cultural history, we can say. This is not just any football game. It was organized,
06:23but we were just saying by Chico Huarque, and he is playing right now, you know, the famous,
06:29the worldly renowned musician and songwriter from Brazil. You know that this weekend we've been talking about
06:37about the participation of the key artists in this final run, and so the runner we've seen
06:44Caetano Veloso playing in Rio, as well in Salvador, and now we have Chico Huarque, who organized this
06:51football match, not with just any team, but he invited the evangelical pastors to be part of the game,
06:59and they are playing right now. Again, I was saying, Chico is playing with the number 13, of course, 13
07:07with Mula in these interactions. And a couple of things regarding this game. The importance of this cultural artists that
07:15are taking part in the final part of this campaign, let's recall that Chico Huarque, just like Icona Veloso, just
07:22like Chico Huarque, just like Chico Huarque. They lived through Brazil's civic military dictatorship, and they were
07:28victims of victims of that moment of depression. And now they are standing strong and playing this part of really
07:37bringing people to stand in favor of democracy and again for the turn of the far right. But not only
07:44that, in this case, they are joined by the evangelical pastors to know that the religious goal is so important
07:51in Brazil's Symmetris, and particularly an important part of the evangelical world
07:56is closely aligned with the far right, and also in direct connection with Bolsonaroism. In this case, it's a way
08:07of reaching the side of this evangelical world that is also progressive, that is also on the left, that has
08:16a deeply religious understanding.
08:17understanding. Well, we have a broad score behind us, deeply religious understanding, but they understand that the word of the
08:26Bible has more to do with the left than with the far right. And building those bridges is so important
08:32for this election as well, because it speaks directly to a lot of that population. So important in Brazil, so
08:39important in Latin America, Ale.
08:40So that is what we have right now, and a special day with culture, with music, with people working, and
08:47with religion, with the evangelical pastors taking part here, in this case, in favor of the medicine, in favor of
08:54the re-election of Lula, and calling to all sectors of society to take part. We are just a week
09:00away from the Rana Valley.
09:02Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will be back to you in the upcoming emissions to know
09:08more about everything that is happening there in Brazil in the final stretch of elections.
09:16And now we have a short break coming up. First, remember, you can join us on TikTok at Telesur English,
09:22where you'll find news in different formats, news updates, and much more. We'll be right back, so stay with us.
09:50Welcome back to From the South. And now we go back to Brazil. We are joined now by Julie Ricard,
09:56a PhD candidate in public administration.
09:59She is a professor of the Gretulio Vargas Foundation at the Gretulio Vargas Foundation of the Sao Paulo School of
10:03Business Administration and researcher, as well as the Desinfopop.
10:08Her research focuses on information, disorder, and public policy, with an emphasis on the manosphere, digital violence against women, and
10:18health, as well as environment-related disinformation.
10:21So, welcome, Julie, to From the South. Thank you very much for your time.
10:28Thank you. Good afternoon and thank you for having me.
10:31First, how would you describe the political landscape in Brazil ahead of elections regarding threats to democracy, political violence, and
10:41also the rise of fascism?
10:45We are in a very unique election, not only because it's a very tight race. It's one of the tightest
10:52race we've seen in the past decades. We're talking about a gap of 2.2 million votes from the first
10:59round.
11:00But we're also seeing an incredible mobilization from voters, from artists, from civil society overall, because people understand that what
11:12is at stake is really the health of our democracy.
11:16From the first round, what we've observed is already that the far right in Brazil has consolidated an unprecedented amount
11:24of power. So, over 120 seats in Congress, over 28 seats in the Senate.
11:31So, we are looking at a scenario where the balance of power is at risk. And that's a very concrete
11:41and material worry, right?
11:43That is mobilizing not necessarily people that have always voted for President Lula, but also people that worry that we
11:51will be able to maintain a state of democracy.
11:54So, besides this balance of power, which is at risk currently, we are also very worried about what the candidate
12:05from the Bolsonarista camp, Flávio Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro's son, represents, not only in terms of who he is and what
12:13he's done,
12:13but also in the numerous corruption accusation that he hasn't been able to prove to this day, but also of
12:20some of the declarations and some of the imaginary that he mobilizes, right?
12:25So, we're talking about a candidate that has a very tough line in terms of combating violence, though, has not
12:33had a problem in saying that he wants to lower the majority,
12:36the majority for penal accusations to 14 years old, which is very young, but also all these symbolic and all
12:49the symbolism that he's mobilizing, for example, having a young kid in a pro-Claven Bolsonaro protest holding a gun
12:57upright, right?
12:57These are symbols that we know represent an attack that we've built so far since the fall of the dictatorship
13:06in Brazil,
13:07which is a democracy that has lived in a pluralistic society that has allowed people to actually evolve and embrace
13:18their diversity.
13:19So, yes, we're worried. There has been a lot of attacks over the past weeks, not only from and to
13:27politicians, but also to anyone in civil society that is involved in politics.
13:34Colleagues of mine that have been attacked, that has had to report attacks to the police, of course, elected politicians,
13:42for instance, very young,
13:43and Elisa, who's been elected as the youngest congresswoman in Brazil and has suffered horrible, misogynistic and racist attacks.
13:52So, people are standing up and we know that it's important to do so, but there's a lot at stake
13:59in this election.
14:00And also, how has this information played out on social media in the midst of this election process?
14:08We've had since 2018 important legislation that has passed in Brazil that has reinforced our institutional ability to fight this
14:18information.
14:19But that's far from being enough. We also are leaving the election that has had the most elevated number of
14:27reports in terms of false information circulating,
14:31in terms of using new technologies, search as artificial intelligence, deep fakes, to also promote more compelling stories and videos.
14:42So, just to give a few examples, last week there were massive protests in defense of democracy in favor of
14:49President Lula here at Paulista, where we're speaking from.
14:53And right after the protests, there were a lot of false videos, misplaced images that were circulated and associated with
15:03the protests,
15:04that were proven false or out of context, and that were requested to be taken down, right?
15:10So, this is, of course, something that has happened in past elections, but we've seen it with a lot of
15:16strength.
15:16And we've never had an election in a context of such advanced technological tools.
15:22And this is most likely the scenario that we're going to leave from now on, right?
15:26Every election in any country will be in a context of most advanced tools that are able to better impersonate
15:34reality,
15:34impersonate voices, faces, etc.
15:38So, of course, there's also a lot of civil society trying to mitigate those harms.
15:49We've seen that it's been hard on social media.
15:53There's been, including from the Supreme Electoral Court in Brazil,
15:58requests for Meta to explain what appears to be different treatments given to accounts from Flávio Bolsonaro,
16:06President Lula, and recently, a few days ago, there were messages, exchanges between Meta employees that were released,
16:15showing that they knew that there were restrictions put on Lula's account versus Flávio Bolsonaro's account
16:22that was being algorithmically promoted.
16:25There is even a protest today at Meta's headquarters in Brazil because it feels like an interference, right?
16:32Of course, Meta says it's not the case, that it's been a technical error, etc.
16:38But it's been felt empirically by people that are active on social media,
16:43and then there has been a lot of mobilization on social media,
16:47although the weak thing since the first round, right? Because, again, we know what's at stake.
16:55Also, Alfredo Gaspar, running mate of Flávio Bolsonaro, has been accused of raping a minor.
17:01What does this case tell us about what is at stake in Brazil for women?
17:08It's unfortunately very illustrative. Flávio Bolsonaro said from the beginning of his case,
17:14he really wanted to have a woman as a vice president.
17:18And that's a big question of why he didn't go through with that.
17:21And instead of choosing a woman, he chose someone that has been accused of sexual assault on a minor.
17:30Unfortunately, what we've seen is that the far right and misogynistic ideologies,
17:36including what we find in masculinist groups on social media, have a lot of overlap.
17:43So there is a tendency of incorporating certain aspects of the misogynistic repertoire.
17:51For example, language, right? Alpha, beta, males, and this hierarchy that is created between men and women,
18:00that is being used for political mobilization.
18:04Because what we're seeing there is that there is a construction, an ideological construction,
18:09in those groups that is repercuting outside of them.
18:13So what we're facing here is not only a vice president that has these types of accusations,
18:18but is also a former president, right, that is the father of the current candidate,
18:25that has a lot of history in terms of attacking journalists,
18:29in terms of saying that a certain congresswoman didn't deserve to be raped
18:35because she was not pretty enough.
18:37And that's in terms of saying about Venezuelan teenagers,
18:44that he felt that there was something, like, going on between them after talking with them.
18:51So we're talking about a family that has a history of considering women as inferior to men,
18:59and as very much associated with their sexual identity.
19:04So definitely what is at risk here is a regression in terms of women's rights.
19:11And again, this is also why people are so mobilized.
19:16Thank you. Thank you, Julie, very much for your analysis,
19:18and also helping us understand what Brazil, how Brazil is arriving to this runoff election.
19:27And now after this interview, we have a short break coming up.
19:31Before we want to invite you to visit our Facebook page,
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19:46We'll be right back, so don't go away.
20:09Welcome back to From the South.
20:10On Monday, an indefinite strike set by teachers in the community of Madrid entered its second week,
20:16amid protests over better salaries.
20:19Schools and high schools in the nation began to protest on October 14th
20:24to demand higher salaries, smaller class sizes,
20:27a reduction in the number of students per classroom,
20:30and fewer teaching hours for teachers.
20:32Continuing these mobilizations, a fresh wave of protests broke out
20:36to pressure the regional government into opening a new channel of negotiation
20:40to address their demands.
20:42This week's schedule of protests began with a rally in front of the Regional Ministry of Education,
20:49and another protest is scheduled for Thursday at the Madrid Assembly,
20:53along with a new demonstration between Atosha and Alcala Street.
21:20Hundreds gathered in Gaza City for the funeral of 75 victims recovered from buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks in the
21:28Al-Darash neighborhood.
21:29The recovered remains, which include children, pregnant women and the elderly,
21:34were wrapped in Palestinian flags for a public memorial before burial at the Sheikh Radwan Cemetery.
21:41Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal warned that an estimated 8,000 bodies remain trapped beneath the rubble across the Gaza
21:48Strip,
21:49pointing out that identification procedures have been severely delayed due to a critical lack of specialized equipment and DNA testing
21:56supplies.
22:06Also, United States embassies in the Middle East issued security alert amid a possible escalation of the conflict between Saudi
22:12Arabia and the Houthis.
22:14U.S. diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia, Kauai, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates urged their citizens to
22:22exercise extra caution given the complex security situation in the region
22:27and urged U.S. citizens to monitor flight information and prepare contingency plans.
22:33They also issued a warning about possible flight cancellations and noted that hostilities could spread rapidly due to the conflicts.
22:50Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kuwait to begin a three-day golf tour aimed at securing critical oil
22:57and gas supplies for France.
22:59In a televised address, Macron defended the diplomatic mission despite severe domestic unrest,
23:05stating the trip is essential to guarantee energy security and price stability.
23:10The Energy Diplomacy Initiative seeks to strengthen economic defense and security ties,
23:16while France faces widespread social discontent and strikes back home.
23:22As working-class families in France demonstrate against inflation and declining social services,
23:27the French government continues seeking external fuel agreements to alleviate the crisis.
23:41And with this information, we have come to the end of this news brief.
23:45I am from Tele소리 English, my name Alejandra Garcia.
23:47Thank you for watching?
23:51I am from Tele소리 English, my name Alejandra Garcia.