TELESUR — broadcast 20260808 010000 UTC 443 transcript segments Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive. Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record. [00:00:00] extreme event that severely punishes vulnerable communities, [00:00:03] peasants and the working class. [00:00:09] BRICS national committee of and we are defenders of Popular sectors will continue to pay the cost of the climate crisis. Learn [00:00:12] more on [00:00:13] Realidades. [00:00:16] Saturday, only on [00:01:11] a place completely different from the Congress [00:01:25] democracy will [00:01:32] joined remotely by Elmer [00:01:45] spoke of fracking, the Shield of the [00:01:59] Thank you for following us. In the world from the south, I am Luis Francisco Blandón, from [00:02:02] Caracas, Venezuela. Abelardo de la Espriella assumes the [00:02:09] assumption of Abelardo de on two: President de presidency of Colombia amidst strong polarization, popular mobilization to defend [00:02:12] popular power against possible aggressions against [00:02:16] the rights of the people and social reforms achieved during the last [00:02:19] administration in that country, but also under the shadow of [00:02:23] accusations of fraud in the elections and the lack of [00:02:27] opposition, as digital security guarantees to protect the popular will expressed at the polls. We [00:02:31] are going to analyze this presidential inauguration in an atypical [00:02:34] ceremony, as many analysts say, behind the [00:02:38] people's backs for the first time outside of [00:02:41] municipalities there were Bogotá, which constitutes a [00:02:42] uses for the coca symbolic maneuver to confront southwestern Colombia, considered a progressive [00:02:46] stronghold, where the popular option represented by Iván Cepeda [00:02:49] obtained more than 60% of the votes compared to [00:02:52] 26% achieved by the extreme right. An inauguration [00:02:56] that also responds to a geopolitical reconfiguration [00:02:59] subordinated to the interests of Washington to conservative [00:03:02] governments of the Southern Cone. We are going to be talking [00:03:05] about all this, before reminding you through social [00:03:09] at the moment he has to networks throughout the day, we have also proposed a question [00:03:11] on this topic in Colombia, many of you have already responded, however here [00:03:15] is the QR code in case you have not done so, later we will see the [00:03:18] answers: Abelardo de la Espriella assumed the presidency of Colombia under the [00:03:22] rejection of popular sectors, how do you interpret this unprecedented [00:03:25] inauguration for Colombians, there are the options, [00:03:29] we invite you to... anticipate now, later, as [00:03:31] I said, we will review [00:03:34] into that quagmire your opinion. [00:03:38] Let's go immediately to the analysis, I am joined by Daniel Guerra, [00:03:41] political scientist from Colombia, regarding this whole [00:03:45] scenario, Daniel, thank you very much for your time, [00:03:54] interpretation, Daniel, regarding this whole [00:03:57] issue, in an atypical inauguration ceremony, [00:04:01] as we said, for the Colombian people and according [00:04:05] Cepeda had won or as Abelardo de to experts, at the expense of a population that [00:04:08] has not, shall we say, been invited because it has been very [00:04:11] closed, and on the other hand, there is the other scenario, [00:04:15] popular mobilization against precisely [00:04:18] city that are that act, that inauguration, how are you seeing the scenario in Colombia? [00:04:21] Well, the scenario here in Colombia is quite [00:04:25] atypical, I would dare to say that it is the first time there are [00:04:29] so many powers in confrontation and that was [00:04:33] the issue of reflected in this presidential inauguration, first of all, [00:04:36] politics has not been alien to the transformation of [00:04:40] social networks and [00:04:43] decided to hold an act of it is no longer enough to do the formal, the legal, what institutions usually asked for, [00:04:46] but rather there has been an increasing wave of [00:04:50] presidents and leaders who seek to bring the show [00:04:53] to their inaugurations and public events, this [00:04:56] inauguration in Cali breaking all the norms and [00:05:00] protocols that were generally established in Colombia in the [00:05:03] commission on that, on the one hand, on the other hand, an atypical clash [00:05:06] between three forces has been seen, look, [00:05:10] Colombia has generally been a country where... [00:05:12] Until the elections, everyone was rivals and after the elections, the [00:05:16] powers realigned to continue governing, that broke with the arrival of [00:05:19] Gustavo Petro 4 years ago and has continued now. [00:05:23] What is happening? At this moment there is a very strong force of "petrismo" [00:05:27] that represents 50% of the Colombian population. And there [00:05:31] is approximately another 20, 25%, which is [00:05:34] "uribismo". And there are others who are accompanying Abelardo de la [00:05:37] Espriella. So, in this presidential inauguration, the clash of the three [00:05:41] forces was seen. Look. it was an unprecedented, unheard of event for some [00:05:45] that former President Uribe would not show up for the inauguration, [00:05:49] because there was already a break between them, as well as [00:05:52] President Petro's refusal to hand over the [00:05:55] mandate, because President Petro, for the first [00:05:58] time since republican history, refused [00:06:01] to hand over the mandate, for the first time [00:06:05] since republican history, he refused [00:06:07] to hand over the mandate, well, and what he said, [00:06:11] let's listen to the... president of Colombia, Abelardo del [00:06:14] Espriella, who addressed a message to the citizens upon assuming the head of [00:06:18] state, there he threatened indiscriminately, that he would not [00:06:21] allow any maneuver that threatens stability. [00:06:24] Let's listen. [00:06:27] I tell all [00:06:28] citizens, [00:06:31] in the tiger's government all [00:06:34] rules of [00:06:37] be respected. There will be no room for maneuvers [00:06:41] that threaten the stability of the [00:06:44] nation, nor against the legitimate [00:06:47] exercise of the mandate that begins [00:06:50] today. Well, there we saw President [00:06:54] de la Espriella, Daniel also [00:06:57] Americas, eradication of crops with [00:07:00] herbicides, threats against those who threaten his government and that, of course, [00:07:04] there will be no room for dialogue in his government, what to expect from now on after [00:07:08] this first speech. [00:07:11] Well, there are several analyses of the proposals he has made and [00:07:15] I would dare to focus [00:07:19] la Espriella today has two options, either he fulfills what he [00:07:23] promised, which from what I see, he has every intention of doing, and for [00:07:26] that he has to bypass the majority of [00:07:30] impediments and constitutional norms in Colombia, or [00:07:33] he simply fails and his mandate is diluted, [00:07:37] something similar happened to Iván Duque, the right [00:07:40] that elected Iván Duque was expecting a lot from him and when he did not deliver, his [00:07:44] popularity fell, he is known today as one of the worst [00:07:47] presidencies, something similar could happen to President de la [00:07:51] Espriella, the only option he has to fulfill [00:07:55] his electorate is to fulfill all those promises that many times [00:07:58] cross the line of illegality, for example, [00:08:01] let's talk about fumigation, in Colombia it is currently forbidden [00:08:04] to fumigate illicit crops, so I don't [00:08:08] understand how they are going to fulfill that promise, the only option is [00:08:11] to bypass the norm. Two, the issue of bombings. [00:08:15] Today Colombia has an armed conflict that is strong, but it is very different from the internal [00:08:19] armed conflict that existed when the ELN or FARC existed, for example, that [00:08:23] moved structures of 50, 100, 200 men who were in [00:08:27] camps in the middle of the jungle. Today the groups outside the law, the FARC dissidents [00:08:31] and the other groups walk around in civilian clothes in groups of two or [00:08:34] three people camouflaged in the villages, in the towns, in the municipalities. How is he [00:08:38] going to resume bombings? In light [00:08:41] of international humanitarian law, human rights cannot be done, it comes back to the same thing, [00:08:44] so how can they do it? Well, by bombing indiscriminately and [00:08:48] bombing indiscriminately would also be bypassing [00:08:52] constitutional norms, so as I see [00:08:55] things, if he wants to fulfill all those promises that many people [00:08:59] voted for because they wanted to see this reflected, well, the only option [00:09:02] is to bypass the norm and I don't know how far that [00:09:06] can take us because bypassing the norm will lead to [00:09:09] confrontation with the other half of the country. This is an atypical [00:09:13] presidency because if Iván [00:09:17] la Espriella won, it is not an absolute majority. The country [00:09:20] that Abelardo de la Espriella assumes, who affirmed [00:09:24] precisely about all these issues and the eradication of crops through [00:09:27] precisely fumigation with [00:09:30] herbicides, this is what the president of [00:09:32] Colombia said. [00:09:35] The eradication of illicit [00:09:37] crops by all [00:09:40] means. [00:09:43] It will be possible, it is a national [00:09:46] priority, coca is not fought with [00:09:49] doctored statistics, nor [00:09:53] with manipulated maps, [00:09:55] doctored statistics, nor [00:09:59] with manipulated maps, doctored [00:10:03] statistics, nor with manipulated [00:10:06] maps, [00:10:09] to hold the head of state. [00:10:13] We do not recognize, let that be [00:10:15] clear, [00:10:20] we are an opposition [00:10:23] from today. [00:10:25] Responsible, [00:10:27] we are defenders of democracy [00:10:33] national [00:10:34] sovereignty. [00:10:39] The reason that has led us to [00:10:43] this decision as a historical pact has [00:10:47] a solid foundation, [00:10:50] for being a citizen of the United [00:10:53] States. who will be sworn in by Congress [00:10:57] in a few hours, has [00:11:00] sworn that above our constitution, [00:11:03] he will be faithful to the constitution [00:11:06] of the United States, [00:11:09] to its laws and to the orders that [00:11:13] the government [00:11:15] nation dictates. There was Iván [00:11:19] Cepeda from the opposition to Delespriella's government, [00:11:22] Daniel, again the foreigner and of course, the position of [00:11:26] Colombia now. [00:11:29] Indeed, this is quite a sensitive issue, I think [00:11:32] if you want let's break it down into parts, first [00:11:36] the United States, with the message that they sent today from the delegation that [00:11:40] they sent to the presidential inauguration, the United States is telling us one and only one [00:11:44] thing, I am interested in drug trafficking ceasing to exist in [00:11:47] Colombia and crime ending, but the United States is not open to talking about economic [00:11:51] growth for Colombia nor a strategic alliance. [00:11:55] nor the things that can really allow Colombia to transform its [00:11:58] realities, drugs arrived in Colombia because [00:12:01] Colombia was and is a country that does not control [00:12:05] 50% of its territory, it does not control it and it has high [00:12:09] rates of poverty and lack of employment and that is why drug [00:12:12] trafficking was able to establish itself here in Colombia, if those structural causes are not [00:12:16] resolved, this simply will not happen, so that message from [00:12:19] the United States worries me because again it goes in only one direction, in a [00:12:23] direction that until now has not shown victories, the [00:12:27] closest the United States came to eliminating drugs, issuing old [00:12:30] formulas does not work, it simply will not work, so that [00:12:34] worries me because it will raise the rates of [00:12:37] violence and confrontation without delivering the results that the citizens [00:12:41] want, first point, second point, the issue of [00:12:44] drugs, the issue of drugs as an entrepreneur, [00:12:47] President Abelardo de la Espriella should know it, like most [00:12:51] people, norms and activities cannot go against [00:12:54] the logic of the market, as long as there are [00:12:58] millions of people in the world asking for Colombian drugs, we will [00:13:02] not be able to eliminate it, we have to find other alternative [00:13:07] plant, I resist believing that the coca [00:13:11] plant can only be used for cocaine, it surely has [00:13:14] many additional uses, that is where we have to focus, because [00:13:18] so far we have tried everything, look, fumigation, it didn't work, [00:13:21] forced eradication didn't work, eradication [00:13:25] didn't work, crop substitution didn't work, what do [00:13:28] we have left, repeating the same formulas to continue making mistakes or [00:13:32] looking for, as I have proposed with other groups of thought [00:13:36] here in Colombia, and that is alternative industrial uses for the coca [00:13:39] plant so that that dynamic that leads us nowhere to [00:13:43] seek eradication is suspended once and for all and instead [00:13:47] we give a reconversion to this crop, I think it can be done, [00:13:50] Colombia can achieve it, but we have to transform discourses and [00:13:53] realities. without a doubt and a discourse as you say [00:13:56] quite disruptive in the midst of all [00:14:00] economic and, of course, from the social scope of [00:14:03] President Gustavo Petro, very attentive to this whole scenario, we, of course, [00:14:07] continue to be there reporting on this whole reality in [00:14:11] Colombia, Daniel, thank you very much for your time with [00:14:13] us. Thank you for the invitation [00:14:17] and again send a message to the country and the region, this will not be [00:14:21] transformed only with violence, this is transformed [00:14:24] with economy, giving opportunities to people and hopefully [00:14:28] that the processes, for example, I speak of my region of Nariño, the dialogue processes that [00:14:31] had begun, hopefully will not have an abrupt end because today the consequences [00:14:35] of an armed reactivation would be seen and we will [00:14:39] pay for it with blood, which is what we do not want, yes, an important [00:14:42] message, thank you very much Daniel for your time, Daniel, [00:14:45] from Colombia regarding this inauguration [00:14:49] of President Abelardo del Espriella, we bid farewell to the first part of the [00:14:52] program and I remind the audience that you have time to participate in the survey with this QR [00:14:56] code on the [00:15:00] assumption of President Abelardo del Espriella in Colombia in [00:15:03] Cali, something atypical in the history of that country, we will be right back. [00:15:31] Hello, I'm Jorge Gestoso, I invite you to join me in a [00:16:18] Thank you for following us. In the world from the south, various social, [00:16:21] peasant, student and indigenous organizations [00:16:25] of Colombia began a massive day of mobilizations in the city of [00:16:29] Cali, in rejection of the inauguration of Abelardo del [00:16:33] Espriella today, August [00:16:36] Puerto Resistencia, the demonstrators called for a [00:16:39] cacerolazo (pot-banging protest) and a day of peaceful civil [00:16:42] disobedience, after pointing out that the new far-right government [00:16:46] represents a dangerous advance in the fascism [00:16:49] process in the region, but in Colombian [00:16:52] society, the mobilization has the support of the indigenous [00:16:55] minga and delegations from the Cauca valley, whose spokespersons [00:16:59] rejected the incoming president's stance and his past defenses of [00:17:02] police officers involved in the protests. of [00:17:06] 2021, I am [00:17:09] Montaño, lawyer, columnist, political scientist, he has [00:17:12] also surely been very attentive, Elmer, to this whole scenario, [00:17:16] welcome to the world from the south. [00:17:25] scenarios today, right? An unprecedented [00:17:29] inauguration, atypical, according [00:17:32] to analysts, behind the people's backs, and on the other hand, we see [00:17:36] this great day of mobilization, a very important [00:17:39] stronghold in that place [00:17:43] to reject this [00:17:46] la Espriella in Colombia, what does this polarization mean and [00:17:50] how are you seeing the scenario? Well, [00:17:53] the election of Abelardo de la [00:17:56] Espriella generated, of course, a whole series [00:17:59] of reactions in our country, especially from the [00:18:05] it turns out. that a monumental fraud was found, according to the investigations carried out [00:18:09] by former President Gustavo Petro, [00:18:12] candidate Cepeda, that there was a monumental fraud in [00:18:14] the same, in about 500 [00:18:18] atypical excessive votes in favor of the right, [00:18:22] many more people voted than were registered, this [00:18:25] simply to make a point in addition to the very serious [00:18:29] questioning that has been made of Abelardo del Espriella for the fact that he is an American [00:18:32] citizen who took an oath of allegiance to the [00:18:36] government and to the United States [00:18:39] and that, of course, calls into question what [00:18:43] the president would be [00:18:46] assume some kind of negotiation [00:18:50] with the United States, whose side would [00:18:53] Abelardo del Espriella be on? There are a series of very serious questions [00:18:56] that led the opposition to [00:19:00] take a very firm [00:19:04] stance of rejection of the election [00:19:07] of Abelardo del Espriella and to state [00:19:11] that he is a president who lacks legitimacy [00:19:14] from at least 50% of Colombians [00:19:17] who are part of that opposition. Abelardo del Espriella [00:19:20] comes to the presidency of the republic, he [00:19:23] chooses Cali for the inauguration, [00:19:26] but not as has been said now [00:19:29] as a consequence of an action [00:19:32] or a message of decentralization of power, [00:19:36] no, he said it very clearly that he had [00:19:39] chosen the city as an act of solidarity [00:19:43] with Cali, because the city was [00:19:46] controlled by delinquency, that is, he did not say [00:19:50] if he was referring to those who governed us if there are [00:19:52] criminal organizations in the [00:19:56] exercising that control, both things are false, we have had problems [00:19:59] and serious complaints about acts of corruption in relation to the [00:20:03] departmental and municipal government, but neither can we go to the extreme of saying [00:20:07] that a criminal organization is governing us and in the streets we have serious [00:20:11] security problems, of course, but neither can we go to the extreme of [00:20:14] saying that Cali is controlled by insecurity [00:20:18] or crime. What was the meaning? What was [00:20:21] Abelardo del Espriella looking for with this inauguration so full of [00:20:25] symbolism? No more and no less than to send a [00:20:28] message to the citizens of Cali and the country in the sense that he will keep [00:20:32] an eye on Cali to discipline this city, a city [00:20:35] that truly has national and international recognition [00:20:39] as a city that has [00:20:43] protested and in what was known as the [00:20:47] social outburst, in some way, [00:20:50] led those protests against the government of Iván Duque, that is, [00:20:53] a rebellious city, so to speak, untamed, [00:20:57] that has taken very dignified and firm positions [00:21:01] against far-right governments, so it was his way of [00:21:05] saying, I'm going there and I'm going to start taking the first measures [00:21:09] to discipline that city, that generated enormous [00:21:12] tension in the city, we were all [00:21:15] expecting that the first decisions of Abelardo de la Espriella [00:21:18] were going to be perhaps to decree an internal [00:21:21] commotion, to generate some type of [00:21:24] situation of alteration of public order to [00:21:28] justify those measures, etc., and in addition to [00:21:32] that, the local government practically confined us to our [00:21:35] homes because today there is a car-free day, no motorcycles, no public [00:21:39] transport, so it was practically impossible [00:21:42] to move around the city and most of the roads were closed, so a kind of curfew [00:21:46] that prevented people from living their normal [00:21:50] lives today, commerce was closed, a [00:21:54] supremely tense situation and the other thing, the choice of the [00:21:57] Serra Santiago de Cali University, [00:22:01] of the Republic, where traditionally and historically the inaugurations [00:22:05] of presidents have been held, that Abelardo de la Espriella [00:22:09] and his government will be based fundamentally [00:22:12] on public force for the exercise of his [00:22:16] authority and not in Congress where [00:22:19] debates are held from a democratic point of view and [00:22:23] that in some way allows democracy to be strengthened, no, here we are going to have [00:22:27] a government and that has been the message of Abelardo de la [00:22:30] Espriella, with an authoritarian tendency, [00:22:34] authoritarian and that was made clear today when he pointed [00:22:38] out that there will be no dialogue with [00:22:41] any of the organizations, there will [00:22:43] now be an open war against armed [00:22:47] groups. it is to be assumed [00:22:51] that all the negotiation and dialogue processes that President Gustavo [00:22:54] Petro had started and was carrying out will end [00:22:58] and the national government will launch an [00:23:01] offensive. Now, what Mr. Abelardo del Espriella has not taken [00:23:05] into account is that the support that, in quotation marks, the [00:23:08] United States government is giving him to start [00:23:11] that offensive against these organizations and [00:23:14] to resume the war [00:23:17] against drug trafficking, will not count, as he would [00:23:21] expect, on the financing of the American government, [00:23:24] a few days ago [00:23:26] the State Department of the United States [00:23:30] said that it encouraged countries [00:23:34] that have security problems, problems [00:23:37] related to drug trafficking, to increase [00:23:41] the allocations, [00:23:44] the money, the budget dedicated to that [00:23:47] type of situations, both the war against [00:23:51] criminal organizations and the war against drug trafficking, it is [00:23:55] telling all countries, including Latin American countries, [00:23:59] that is, the government of the United States, which we all [00:24:02] know is going through a very difficult situation from an economic point of view, [00:24:06] even militarily due to the war in Iran that it is losing, is telling the other [00:24:10] countries that it cannot continue financing their [00:24:13] security nor can it continue financing the war against drug [00:24:17] trafficking, they will have to do it themselves and Abelardo de la [00:24:20] Espriella gets [00:24:24] of that war against drug trafficking and against these organizations [00:24:27] an open war disregarding that but [00:24:30] also pointing out that he is going [00:24:33] to eliminate important taxes such as the [00:24:37] wealth tax, especially [00:24:39] for the wealthiest in the country, if that is [00:24:43] the case, how will he finance that [00:24:46] war? And not only that, he already said that he was also going to eliminate [00:24:50] other taxes, for example, the tax that [00:24:53] has been levied in Colombia [00:24:56] against ultra-processed foods, so if he starts with [00:25:00] the elimination of these taxes, then he will not be able to solve the [00:25:04] the problem of attending to public spending, [00:25:07] much less that armed confrontation that he intends to carry [00:25:11] out now against drug trafficking and against these organizations [00:25:14] outside the law. So, in the midst of all that [00:25:18] situation, of all that bullying, Abelardo de la Espriella was [00:25:21] finally sworn in Cali with many tensions. The [00:25:25] political and social [00:25:28] organizations in Cali, Valle del Cauca, [00:25:33] opposition to this to this position of Abelardo de la [00:25:37] Espriella in an emblematic place in Cali known as [00:25:40] Puerto Resistencia, where, among other things, there is a monument that [00:25:44] Abelardo de la Espriella promised that he was [00:25:47] going to destroy. That also generated a law on the part of [00:25:50] these sectors that considered it necessary to meet there, among [00:25:54] other things, to protect that installation that [00:25:58] people consider emblematic and [00:26:01] that, well... resulted in many people from Cali, Valle del Cauca, [00:26:04] including indigenous communities, gathering there all day long in the midst [00:26:08] of a suffocating heat in Cali [00:26:12] today, but very happy, very content, and peacefully. [00:26:15] Fortunately, nothing happened in Cali. It was a fear that [00:26:19] some of us had that some kind of attack or [00:26:23] provocation could take place at that site so that Abelardo de la Espriella [00:26:26] could justify the taking of decisions against the rights [00:26:30] and individual guarantees in the country. But fortunately, nothing happened. [00:26:34] What is clear to us is that [00:26:37] the message that the new president of the [00:26:40] republic is sending at this moment is that he will [00:26:43] exercise an authoritarian government [00:26:47] based on military power. That's why today he told the military [00:26:50] that he would have the unrestricted support of the [00:26:53] government. He told the public force, the police, the [00:26:57] army, the navy, the air force, "You will have the [00:27:00] absolute support of our government so that you can carry [00:27:04] out the pursuit of criminals." That has a very [00:27:08] bad precedent in our country, because during the government [00:27:11] of Álvaro Uribe, that was his discourse, that there [00:27:15] was unconditional support for the military forces, which [00:27:19] resulted not only in abuses, [00:27:22] systematic violations, war crimes, [00:27:25] crimes against humanity by many military personnel, but [00:27:28] also the perverse alliance between [00:27:32] the Colombian military forces, a sector of the Colombian military [00:27:35] forces, and paramilitarism. That was the [00:27:39] consequence of that benevolent, [00:27:42] complacent attitude of President Álvaro Uribe, [00:27:46] who always turned a blind eye to those situations, because his [00:27:49] discourse was to give that unrestricted, [00:27:53] almost absolute support to the military, and look at the consequences today. [00:27:57] We have a large number of military personnel who are [00:28:00] appearing before justice for the crimes they [00:28:03] committed before the special jurisdiction for peace, which, among other [00:28:07] things, Abelardo de la Espriella had already threatened that it was [00:28:11] the special jurisdiction for peace, which is, well, that.