01/01/2025
FTS 12.30
*In Afghanistan Taliban’s escalate repression against women
*CARICOM reiterates support for Haitians on 221st independence anniversary
FTS 12.30
*In Afghanistan Taliban’s escalate repression against women
*CARICOM reiterates support for Haitians on 221st independence anniversary
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Palestine, a total of 45 patients from the Han Yunis Hospital in the Gaza Strip were
00:15evacuated outside the Strip in order to receive medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates.
00:24In Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken a further step in their offensive against women's rights
00:28by announcing the closure of all non-governmental organizations employing women.
00:36And the Caribbean community, CARICAM reiterated its support for Haiti, affirming that it will
00:40continue working to strengthen its national institutions and congratulating the country
00:45on the 221st anniversary of its independence.
00:52Hello and welcome to From the South, I'm Luis Alberto Matos from the Dressel Studios in
00:56Havana, Cuba.
00:58We begin with the news.
01:16In Palestine, a total of 45 patients from the Han Yunis Hospital in the Gaza Strip were
01:21evacuated outside the Strip in order to receive medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates.
01:26The Palestinian Ministry of Health currently claims that several thousand people in Gaza
01:30are in need of medical treatment abroad as the health crisis in the region continues
01:34to worsen.
01:35The United Nations asserts that the situation has reached this point due to the constant
01:39and permanent attacks by the Israeli government on the Palestinian territory, which have severely
01:44weakened the country's infrastructure in various spheres, such as medicine and public
01:48health care, and have forced the country to close most of its hospitals, while those that
01:53remain in operation are only partially functioning and facing a myriad of shortcomings.
02:04In Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken a further step in their offensive against women's rights
02:08by announcing the closure of all non-governmental organizations employing women.
02:13The move, which comes on top of a previous ban on hiring Afghan women workers for alleged
02:19hijab violations, reflects a systematic pattern of repression since the regime took power
02:24in August 2021.
02:25The regime's Ministry of Economy has warned that any NGO that fails to comply with this
02:31new order will face revocation of its license to operate in the country.
02:35The UN has expressed its deep concern, stressing that these restrictions not only affect women
02:40but also exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where millions are dependent
02:45on humanitarian assistance.
02:49On Wednesday, South Korean authorities confirmed the identification of all 179 victims of the
02:56Jeju Airplane crash.
02:58The Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Asian nation said that the five remaining
03:02unidentified victims had been recognized in the last few hours.
03:07In this regard, they specified that it took forensic doctors four days to single out all
03:13the victims due to the conditions of the bodies as a result of the powerful explosion.
03:18The Jeju Air Flight 2216, which had taken off from Bangkok, Thailand, on December 29,
03:232024, was carrying a total of 175 passengers and six crew members when it touched ground,
03:29was landing geared down, and crashed into a wall outside the runway at Muan Airport
03:34in southwest Korea, leaving only two survivors.
03:44Thai authorities reported that at least 20 migrants are missing after the boat tripwrecked
03:48off the island of Lampedusa.
03:49The Coast Guard said that chances of rescuing the missing people alive are very slim due
03:54to weather conditions.
03:56The first reports from the authorities showed that the boat left from Libya heading for
04:00Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.
04:02Migrants are originally from Egypt, Syria and Sudan.
04:06The Interior Ministry reported that to date, Italy has received about 66,000 migrants on
04:11boats coming from North Africa.
04:19And now we have a short break coming up, but first remember you can join us on TikTok at
04:24Telesul English, where you'll find news in different formats, news updates, and much
04:28more.
04:29We'll be right back, stay with us.
04:30The Caribbean Community Charter congratulated its support for Haiti, affirming that it will
04:52continue working to strengthen its national institutions and congratulating the country
04:56on the 221st anniversary of its independence.
05:00That's why CARICOM Secretary-General Carla Barnett expressed solidarity with the Haitian
05:03people and the community's willingness to collaborate with the Caribbean nation.
05:07In this regard, Barnett highlighted CARICOM's objective to help Haiti move forward in the
05:11search for peace, security and social progress.
05:14In addition, the Secretary-General congratulated the Haitian people on 221 years of independence,
05:19stating that the date is a source of pride and celebration due to Haitians' indomitable
05:24resilience who persevere despite facing multiple challenges.
05:30A Mexico-Lost Dispute Panel with the United States and Canada 2023 awarded a decree issued
05:37by former President Andres Manuel López Obrador which prohibits the commercialization of genetically
05:41modified corn for human consumption.
05:44Antonio Aranda has details.
05:49President Claudia Sheinbaum informed that Mexico will continue to defend native corn
05:54after losing the dispute panel with the United States and Canada over the ban on the importation
05:59of transgenic corn for human consumption.
06:05Mexico is intrinsically linked culturally by our origin, by what our native peoples
06:09of yesterday and today are, and the resistance with corn.
06:13Corn is Mexico.
06:14That is why it is said that without corn there is no country.
06:17So protecting Mexico from planting transgenic corn is fundamental.
06:25There are already decrees, but now we want to take it to the constitution and make it
06:29very clear that in Mexico it is forbidden to plant transgenic corn.
06:39Claudia Sheinbaum explained that one of her government's objectives is to guarantee
06:43self-sufficiency in corn for human consumption, taking care of corn biodiversity.
06:51We are impressed by what is most important for Mexico.
07:01Even though we evidently believe that it has health effects and that this must be decreased,
07:05but the part that is fundamental to protect is the seeding of corn in Mexico.
07:15Mexico is the cradle of corn domestication, which is why it is important to take care
07:19of the original genetic biodiversity, says this specialist.
07:26The Creole corn that is grown mainly in southeastern Mexico only has yields of one to five tons
07:31per hectare.
07:34That is why Mexico defends from 2020, when the decree published by President López Obrador
07:40came out, that the decree was more to prohibit glyphosate, but there was also a section that
07:46did not allow the importation of genetically modified corn.
07:55One consequence of banning the importation and planting of transgenic corn for human
07:59consumption could be the implementation of countervailing duties against Mexico.
08:04However, with the constitutional reform for the protection of white corn, Mexico can avoid
08:09the sanction.
08:13The government has established through President Scheinbaum and the Secretary of Agriculture
08:18that in February a constitutional law initiative will be in the Chamber of Deputies where the
08:22planting of genetically modified corn is prohibited, which does not contravene the treaty with
08:31the United States and Canada, but is a power of Mexico.
08:40In addition to the constitutional reform to protect native corn, Scheinbaum's government
08:44will promote agricultural production programs, provide free fertilizers and increase the
08:49creation of small and medium corn, bean and tomato producers, among other products.
08:56This also seeks to advance self-sufficiency in white corn, of which each Mexican consumes
09:02an average of 196 kilograms per year.
09:10As 2024 came to a close, several presidents of Latin America and the Caribbean bid farewell
09:14to the year by taking stock and announcing the most important projects for 2025.
09:19Mexican President Claudio Scheinbaum, President Petro and Nicaragua's Vice President Rosario
09:24Murillo sent messages to their respective peoples.
09:27Mexican presidents stressed that the changes initiated by the Fourth Transformation would
09:30not take a step back.
09:32President Gustavo Petro referred to his achievements, highlighting that two and a half million people
09:37came out of poverty in his country.
09:39For her part, the Nicaraguan Vice President shared the joint message of President Daniel
09:43Toga, assuring that they concluded a year of commitment to peace.
09:53In Ecuador, relatives of the four children abducted by the military hold President Daniel
09:57Novoa responsible for their death.
09:59The Attorney General's Office confirmed that the human remains found in the coastal
10:03region belonged to the children.
10:05After 21 days of national commotion, the suspicions of many were proved right despite
10:10the government's covering attempts.
10:11Precisely, graphic evidence and witnesses were constantly dismissed by the head of state,
10:17defense minister and the entire military high command, which referred to the serious crime
10:21as an incident.
10:22Furthermore, their relatives addressed President Novoa's decision to name the children national
10:27heroes, stressing it was made because he knew they were already dead.
10:36And with the passing of time, outrage in Ecuador grows.
10:41After more than 11 hours, the Interior and Defense Ministry spoke about the crime that
10:44killed a promising youth football player, his brother and two friends, one of them only
10:4911 years old.
10:50After criminalizing them and their families, pointing to organized crime and questioning
10:54the responsibility of the parents, they were also late with the official statement.
10:58It's worth mentioning that none of them apologized.
11:02President Daniel Novoa still does not mention them.
11:06We have a second short break coming up, but before we invite you to visit our YouTube
11:12channel Atelas for English, there you will be able to re-watch our interviews, top stories,
11:16special broadcastings and more.
11:18Hit the subscribe button and activate the notification bell to stay updated on the world's
11:22most recent events.
11:23Have a short break, don't go away.
11:35Welcome back, the Peruvian Congress is preparing regulations to prevent large companies from
11:48paying taxes.
11:49According to some estimates, it is calculated that the state would stop collecting about
11:52$7 billion in taxes that could be used to benefit education and public health, the majority.
11:58Let's see.
11:59Peru is one of the countries that collects the least taxes in Latin America.
12:06However, the Congress is preparing a series of measures to exempt large companies from
12:11paying taxes.
12:18All these incentives and privileges that are being granted will affect even more the collection.
12:23It will be difficult for Peru to reduce its fiscal deficit.
12:34Next year there will only be a temporary reduction, but from 2026 we will resume increasing deficit
12:40rates and that will undoubtedly affect the credit risk rating that our country has.
12:51The beneficiaries would be the agro-exporters, hotels and restaurants.
12:55And according to the Ministry of Economy, it is estimated that in 10 years they would
12:59stop paying the state $26 billion, that is about $7 billion.
13:12In Peru more than 70% do not have property titles and this does not allow small agriculture
13:18to develop so this is also a shortcoming of the government and the regional governments
13:24that have to give them their property titles so that they can be subject to credit and
13:29there are many issues that the state has abandoned this sector.
13:33There are many gaps to close.
13:40For example the issue of communication, both the opening of roads, basic services, in the
13:47jungle and in the Andean zone it suffers a lot, unlike the coast that has greater benefits
13:54because there is the agro-export.
14:03In this context, the most discredited Congress in Peruvian history has quintupled its budget
14:09for 2025, increasing it from 282 million soles to 14-12 million soles, an approximate
14:16of $380 million.
14:21Who are the ones who benefit?
14:27The companies, the Gloria Group, the Romero Group and other economic groups who are the
14:31ones who benefit and have the land again.
14:33And the agrarian reform of the 1960s has simply ceased to exist in our country because the
14:38land is once again in the hands of a few and they are benefiting at the expense of
14:42the exploitation of the agricultural workers.
14:51Peru ends the year with a fiscal deficit of 4% of gross domestic product, failing for
14:56the second consecutive year to meet the fiscal target of 2.8% of GDP, spending more than
15:03it collects and giving tax advantages to those who have the most.
15:11Certain sectors have been growing significantly and instead of charging them more, they are
15:16being charged less.
15:18Therefore, a tax reform is key and it is not about spending less, but about spending well
15:23and having more resources to spend as a country.
15:26The tax pressure in the country is very low, 14%.
15:29It has dropped two percentage points in the last two years and is below the Latin American
15:33standard, let alone the standard of the developed world, such as the OECD countries where the
15:38tax pressure is around 30% of GDP.
15:41We are below half of that.
15:47For the specialists consulted, there is little hope that the government will comply with
15:51these norms in case they are approved, since the executive has been acting in complicity
15:56with the Congress in favor of the power groups and to the detriment of the great majorities.
16:07In Argentina, among the many attacks by President Javier Melea on everything related to art
16:11and culture, cinema is perhaps the most damaged.
16:14Our correspondent Fabian Crestivo with the details.
16:22This is Argentine film director Adrián Jaime.
16:25Telesur spoke to him to find out how things are going in the audiovisual world, one of
16:30the sectors under attack by the government of Javier Melea.
16:33It becomes difficult to counter everything because you are not on equal footing for the
16:39fight.
16:42His films recover, among other things, the memories of the popular struggles in Argentina,
16:48which makes Adrián Jaime one of the government's main targets.
16:54Adorni accuses us of having received 15,000 US dollars to make a documentary film, which
16:59is not true.
17:00Our film is called Born on Them.
17:02It is about the Cordobazo.
17:04We reconstruct those two historic days with the pure archive material.
17:08We did all the sound.
17:09We were working on the sound during the whole pandemic.
17:12Less and less is being filmed.
17:14This year, five films were filmed via the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisuals,
17:19out of the usual 200.
17:26The Argentinean government has also established a series of prohibitions for filming.
17:31You can't talk about Perón, nor about the achievements of Kirchnerism, nor film with,
17:36for example, the popular singer Lali.
17:42There is a cultural battle, a battle that is not lost but is never settled.
17:46I don't believe that the 600,000 jobs that this industry generates, 600,000 direct jobs,
17:53plus another 400,000 indirect jobs, an important portion of the GDP, where jobs are generated
17:59not only for those who are in front of the cameras, such as actors or directors, but
18:04for everything that is part of the audiovisual ecosystem.
18:09Hotels, logistics, carpenters, electricians, all of that at some point, due to the systematic
18:27attacks that have been taking place, is surely going to emerge as a second criticism.
18:38The director's concern is not only cinema, of course.
18:45Argentina's film industry is going to be diminished.
18:49Today we are in a process of resistance and of seeing how it can be sustained.
18:57We are trying to leverage what they are trying to destroy or what they have broken.
19:02International entities, the most diverse in Latin America, Europe and Asia, have declared
19:07themselves in favor of sustaining, as Leonardo Sparaglia said, not only Argentina's cinema,
19:12but sustaining Argentina.
19:14From Buenos Aires to Telesur, Fabián Restivo.
19:19Welcome to the end of this news brief.
19:22You can find this and many other stories on our website at Telesur English, the net.
19:25Join us on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok.
19:29Telesur English, I'm Luis Alberto Matos, thanks for watching.