 Hello and welcome to Around the World in 8 Minutes, a show by People's Dispatch, where we bring you news from working class and popular movements across the world. In this episode, we take you to protest across the world, in solidarity with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the people of the country. Also, we look into the resistance by the Canadian Indigenous community against state repression. We also examine the results of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the brutal regime of President Joseph Cabela has been overthrown. First of all, let's look at Venezuela. On January 10th, Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as the President of Venezuela. Across the world, mobilizations were held outside the embassies of the country to show support and solidarity with Maduro and the Venezuelan people against the threat of intervention in the affairs of the Bolivarian Republic. Maduro, who rose from humble beginnings as a bus driver, was also a student activist and a close associate of former President Hugo Chavez. He won the presidential elections held in May 2018, with 67.84% of the votes. His term of office will end in 2025. Mobilizations in support of Maduro were held in Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, Catalonia, Chile, Puerto Rico and Honduras, among other countries. Hundreds of organizations worldwide have released declarations in support of Maduro and calling for respect for the sovereignty of Venezuela. Ahead of the swearing-in, tensions were high in the region as the United States and conservative Latin American governments, who were part of the Lima group, declared that they would not recognize Maduro's second term. Nicolas Maduro had also strongly warned that the Curita was being planned against him, directed by the US and executed with the support from these conservative governments. During the swearing-in, Maduro reiterated that Venezuela is at the center of a global war waged by the US imperialism and the satellite states. In August last year, an assassination attempt was made against President Maduro, using drones that were laden with explosives. The drones were successfully shot down by the members of the Venezuelan security forces and the presidential guards. The US has been carrying out a fierce campaign against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on different fronts, since the inauguration of the socialist government in the country under the leadership of the late Hugo Chavez. The attacks continued against his successor Maduro, and the campaign was intensified in 2015, when the former president Barack Obama issued a decree declaring Venezuela a threat to US national security. Obama also imposed harsh economic sanctions. His successor Donald Trump has also made repeated threats of intervention in Venezuela. Despite the economic and diplomatic war against the governments of Chavez and Maduro and the Venezuelan people, the country's socialist system has made great strides in giving power to the poorest of people. The Bolivarian Republic continues to help the working class lead a better life. In the housing sector, for instance, the public housing program has built 1,400,000 homes for Venezuelans across the country, either free of cost or only at a very small price. Only 6.68% of Venezuela's population is homeless today. More than 73% of the population has access to secondary education. The country has also successfully built independent institutions of integrity. And its electoral process has been described by observers, as among the fairest in the world. We next take you to Canada, where protests are being organized against the just-introduced Canadian government's violent repression of the First Nation communities. Last week, at the base of the oil pipeline company, Coastal Gas Link, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested 14 activists and violently evicted many more to make way for a 670 kilometer long pipeline. Indigenous activists haven't fighting a long drawn legal battle to prevent the pipeline, planned over the traditional Vetsuitan lands in British Columbia, Canada. Solidarity protests are also happening in United States and other parts of the world. The pipeline, estimated to cost over US dollars 4.8 billion, is being executed by Coastal Gas Link, a subsidiary of the TransCanada Corp, which is infamous for its involvement in the Keystone XL project. The violent breach of the checkpoint set up by the community and the arrest of the activists has attracted condemnation and protests from across the country. In Toronto, hundreds of protesters took to the streets under the banner of shut down Canada in a demonstration of solidarity. The attack on Indigenous activists has shed light on the precarious relationship between Indigenous land and the historically colonial settler Canadian state. On December 14th, 2018, the British Columbia Supreme Court passed an injunction allowing Coastal Gas Link access to the land that belongs to the Vetsuitan tribes. The legal dispute has been going on since over a decade. The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs strongly opposes the use of Indigenous land without permission from traditional leaders. The checkpoints in the camps were built and organized mostly by the members of the Unistodden and the Gidimton clans of the Vetsuitan tribe. Protesters have camped in these spots since 2010, day and night, even in the freezing winters that the region is famous for. After the court injunction, the Unistodden protesters stated that any attempt at forcibly removing them would be an act of war. The activists have vowed to continue the legal and on-the-ground resistance against the repressive attempts to take over their lands. Our last story is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the controversial elections threw up a surprise when Felix Chesekedi was elected the new president. Chesekedi won nearly 38% of the vote, far more than his nearest rival, Martin Filu, who had a lead over him in most opinion polls. The presidential elections were held amid much chaos. The polls were initially scheduled for December 23rd, but postponed to December 30th due to technical issues. Emmanuel Shadari, the candidate endorsed by outgoing president Joseph Kabila came third. Filu rejected the results and called it an electoral coup. The results produced a variety of reactions. On the one hand, there was widespread relief and joy at the defeat of Kabila's candidate. Kabila was supposed to step down in 2016, but had held on to power. It was only after a series of sustained protests by the Congolese, especially the youth, along with international pressure that forced him to call elections. Speaking about the results to people's dispatch, Kambale Musahuli, the national spokesperson for the Friends of Congo, noted that it was a partial victory for the people of Congo, as they had successfully managed to defeat the Kabila regime. He said that it was the sacrifices of the people during the course of their committed organizing that had led to this moment. He also noted that this was the first peaceful transfer of power, since Patris Lumumba became prime minister in 1960. Lumumba was later overthrown in a CIA sponsored coup and brutally executed. At the same time, Musahuli pointed out to the doubts that had been raised following the elections. An election observer coalition led by the Catholic Church, which had deployed nearly 40,000 observers, said that the conclusions of the observers did not match the results. He also noted that the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo would have to continue organizing to ensure the safety of the democratic process. Congo's mineral resources, especially cobalt and coltan, have made it a target of foreign multinationals who have been aided by the Kabila regime. Kabila and his family are believed to have benefited on a massive scale from the loot of the country's mineral resources, even as the workers suffered. All these factors were catalyst for the wave of protests that broke out, as Kabila refused to step down despite his term ending in 2016. His regime responded brutally to these protests, shooting down and even jailing protesters. However, popular protests were underlending, and Kabila finally announced that elections would be held in December 2018. That's all for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. 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