 It's your same daily debrief and it's your same people's dispatch. But we have got a completely new look starting today. And it's not just this big screen. In the coming days, you'll be seeing more guests from across the world in this new show which keeps asking the important questions. What are the people's movements struggling for? How are people across the world mobilizing against imperialism? And how do geopolitical developments that are happening around us today affect our future? In this spirit, we go today to the summit between Russian and African leaders. Think about what lies ahead for BRICS and also take a look at the struggles in Latin America. But before you go any further, if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit that subscribe button under the video, just so that you can watch future episodes of this show and other videos we produce from across the world. So there we have it. Let's start off with this revamped daily debrief. Our first story in today's episode is from Russia, where heads of 17 African countries and leaders from many more have gathered for a summit. The two-day summit between Russia and the African countries began on Thursday. Now there's a lot of interest in this summit due to the war and the recent debate about the grain deal. Russia withdrew from the Baltic Sea grain deal saying that none of its conditions had been met. But it also made a very important point. It said that most of the grain had not gone to poor African countries as had been the plan. Now the Western media has been actively trying to portray this summit as a failure. But is this really so? We go to analyst Kambali Musawili to find out. Kambali, thank you so much for joining us. Very significant summit. Of course, leaders from many countries going to Russia. The Western media seems intent on portraying this as a massive failure. And you get the sense that there have been some behind the scenes moves to ensure that some of the leaders from Africa don't make it to Russia as well. I believe the DRC where you're from is also one of those countries. Indeed. I mean, it's not even a question of failure or success that the way we have to look at it, right? We have to look at it on a historical background. There have been a China Africa summit. There have been a US Africa summit. And there is a Russia Africa summit. The way I'm looking at it is that Africa is at the center of the transformation of the world. And people are engaging Africans in seeing what is the contribution to the transformation of the world. If some leaders have not attended, it's not an issue. It's the same for any other forum that existed before. You mentioned the DRC. It's quite fascinating. Whenever we're looking at the Russia Africa summit and the fact that the Minister of Defense is actually the one who's attending at the moment. Champion member and not the President of the DRC is to go back to the egg contradictions that the tri-continental has shared in terms of how we look at this moment in the world. The President of the DRC visited China not long ago. He has also shown that he's close to the West. And how do we look at a President where he's speaking to everyone? That's not clearly show the political ideology. On the ground in DRC, we are understanding why he's taking that posture. He wants to be able to protect his reign. But at the same time, there are some gains that can happen from that. But concretely, what unfolded? Before he traveled, before he was announced that the President of the Congo will travel to Russia, it was the government did share that before he arrived to Moscow, he will go to Kiev. He will meet Zelensky prior to arriving at the Russia Africa summit. That was already a problematic inside of the DRC. There were a lot of discussions around technocrats within the government and advisors of the President from primary sources that we have. This was a political suicide that he should not actually go to Kiev before going to Moscow. And a day later, he was announced that he has cancelled the entire trip and that the DRC government will be represented at the meeting. And as you know, the DRC government is represented by the Minister of Defense. And the Minister of Defense did not go to Kiev. So clearly, the Congolese government or the Congolese President was influenced by outside forces. There is no clear evidence, but the way is very close to the United States on some issues. Reminds me of Modi in India and how he is fendering to the United States and so on. But I think when we look at the Russia Africa summit, when we look at the China Africa summit, when we look at the US Africa summit, the message that people should read is that Africa is at the center of the change of the world. Africans are taking agency that didn't exist before. When we had the Berlin conference, Africans were not participating at the Berlin conference. Now we just found out what the decisions were. But today Putin, his government, Russia as a country, they are looking at Africa as partners. And they want them to come to Russia and discuss not just peace and security, not just development, but how we could engage as equal with dignity we respect. Right, Kamala, it's an interesting point. I want to push that a bit further, because if you look at a lot of the coverage, one, it's centered on the fact there are two things that come up when these issues come up. One is this talk about Wagner, etc., etc. Or there is talk about the grain deal and how African countries are really struggling without the grain deal. And of course, grain is an issue. We must talk about it. But I want to take the point you said, which is about the people in Africa, the countries of Africa, being taking far more agency than before. So could you maybe elaborate a bit on that, especially the factors which are kind of contributing to it? Yeah, you mentioned Wagner, and that's something sometimes that also gave me a bit worried about the analysis. I remember the United States went to Iraq and Afghanistan and destroyed the world. And there was a mercenary group called Blackwater, if I recall. I don't remember these analysts speaking about Blackwater the way they are speaking about Wagner today. Wagner is a private company. They are working with some African countries. And these African countries have security objectives that they want to attain. They may decide to work with Wagner. They may not decide to work with Wagner. That's really a national decision. What? Countries deciding what would be good for them. Specifically now for the agency for Africa. This is really fascinating what is happening right now. And I will go back to the point about Ukraine. President Zelensky of Ukraine wanted to meet with African president at the African Union. I think almost all of them did not attend the meeting at the African Union. He pretty much just spoke to a room of diplomats. Why did that happen? Africans are saying we are in 2023. This is not the time where there is European conquest. Western invasions are still ongoing. But Africans are saying that if we need to change the conditions of our people, we need to get the expertise of the world. Humanity has a long history of how we solve problems. And there is not one country that has the monopoly on how to solve problems that African countries have. So Africans are saying we are going to speak to the east, to the west, to the north, to the south. Some nations are very clear about what they should speak to the east. What they should go to China? What they should go to Russia? Because let's say, for example, in the case of China, China achieved one of the biggest fits in the history of humanity. They eradicated extreme poverty, right? Took out of poverty the majority of the population. Africans are looking at what is happening on our continent and say that we have arable land. We have resources, human resources, and natural resources. How can we harness that in a way where we don't destroy the environment, but we put the human at the center? We know we have the response, the answer to that in Beijing. I'm looking at also Russia for energy, right? How can Africa have electricity? How can Africa learn all the astrology of agriculture? So these African leaders, they're looking, or some of them, of course, at what they can learn from the world to improve the condition of their people. Unfortunately, the west, particularly the United States, sticks to have a monopoly on who the African people have to engage with. And African leaders are saying no. That's why you're seeing many Africans, I think over 40 of them, are currently in Moscow to discuss how they could work with Russia to improve the lives and the conditions of their people. Thank you so much, Kambali, for speaking to us. Very valuable analysis, and I think very essential summit to look forward and to analyze also for the reasons you've mentioned. From an ongoing summit to another, which is going to be held in just a few weeks from now. We're talking, of course, about the BRIC summit. It's going to be held towards the end of August. Now, BRICS currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the last of which will be the host country. There's a lot of interest around this summit, as BRICS is re-emerging as a major poll in world affairs. Many, many more countries want to join the platform as well. More importantly, there's also interest in this summit because of the possibility of what a BRICS bank can do. There's been a lot of talk about even a new currency. We go to Vijay Prashad, who's in Brazil now, and has been chronicling the re-emergence of BRICS and its significance. Vijay, less than a month left for the BRICS summit, and I think in Brazil you would have also heard quite a few discussions. Brazil very much in the center of this summit because Lula has come back. There's, of course, a fresh push. Dilma has been appointed as the head of the bank. How do you say about a month before, what do you see as the main possibilities of BRICS at this point? See, this is the 15th summit of the BRICS heads of state, but in a way I think this is the most exciting summit. This is the first real summit where we've got this new mood across the countries of the BRICS. Of course, the political alignments within the countries are all very different. India is a far-right government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Brazil has a left-of-center government led by Lula da Silva, and so on. You know, these are not all of the same political tradition. Nonetheless, there is a common mood in all these countries, a mood that says that they want to now try once again, and I want to exercise once again. They want to try once again to establish a kind of southern pole that isn't entirely subordinated to Western interests. I say once again, Prashant, because this was indeed the reason why BRICS was created in 2009 as a way to exit the reliance upon the United States as the market of last resort, reliance upon Western investment, reliance upon the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Well, that first attempt to establish some sovereignty for these countries which is create separate institutions didn't quite take off. The institutions were created, but they were pretty hollow. Now, with this new mood across these countries, mood suggesting, look, we don't want to be, as the South African Foreign Minister Nalini Pandore said, we don't want to be bullied by the West. This mood is now what is going to come to South Africa. And really, let's see what the mood produces. Right, Vijay, of course, that's a very important point you made because we're talking about, say, the BRICS Bank, the possibility of a new currency, et cetera. So in many of these circles, what have you sort of seen as far as the economic aspect is concerned? Because I think that's really where a lot, and that is also maybe why many of the other countries who want to join BRICS seem so interested right now. Well, to be frank, and if you look at the statistics, investment rates inside Europe have declined precipitously. And foreign direct investment coming from the West to Southern countries on favorable terms has declined quite dramatically. It's pretty clear to most people that right now, the surplus-holding countries are not in the West. At least those that are willing to lend on favorable terms were infrastructure development. Not to finance debt servicing. So that means, of course, China is in the lead here, but also India to some extent and so on. So the idea is that countries are interested, thinking, look, the game is there. I mean, maybe at the G7 meeting, G20 meeting, the West is the powerhouse in terms of military power and diplomatic power and information power and so on. But if you want a good deal, you've got to come to the BRICS summit. I mean, in a sense, this is returning to the source of what the BRICS was. It was meant to be a South-South commercial entity. It wasn't really a political or security alignment. There are some problems, though, both at the BRICS level and at the BRICS bank or the new development bank. Well, what are the problems? One, this BRICS process is only as strong as the central banks in the separate BRICS countries. Now, in Brazil, as an example, the government of Mr. Lula is in a pitched battle against the central bank regarding interest rates. The central banker is a person appointed by Mr. Bolsonaro, the previous president, is not popular at all. But nonetheless, there are some protections that are afforded to the central bank, not only the central banker, but there are structures in the bank that are not willing to go out in front and put money on the table. Forget for a BRICS currency. They're not even willing to assist in producing a currency of South America, a digital currency called the Sur. So one problem is the central banks. And by the way, the central bank in India, the reserve bank of India, doesn't have a robust attitude towards the potential creation of a BRICS currency. That's one big problem. Secondly, the politics of the world do impact these institutions. The new development bank, for instance, has been keen on lending in what are called local currencies, not in the dollar. On the other hand, most trade invoices in the world today are basically denominated in dollars. So it's not the case that it's so easy to shift to non-dollar trade regimes, not so easy. Look at the trade between India and Russia. India is sitting on rupees that it owes to Russia. Russians can't claim it, and they don't seem to want to buy enough Indian goods. These pose severe challenges. And then on top of that, there is the question of sanctions on Russia. Dilma Rusev was at the sidelines of the Russia Africa summit. She talked with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and essentially said, look, I don't think we can make new loans to Russia. This is an important statement of the fact that the sanctions policies around the world do impact the new development bank based in Shanghai. It's not immune from these pressures. So on the one side, there's the limitations posed by central banks often run by neoliberals. And on the other, there are the international currents that in their own different ways impose themselves on these countries. Right, Vijay. Thank you so much for that analysis. It does like the mood is very suitable. The objective conditions are very suitable for bricks to even soar further. But like you said, there are a lot of, we can call them nitty-gritty elements, but which are very concrete, which also have to be dealt with before we can take things further, these countries can take things further. Thank you so much for that. And finally, Friday, July 28th is the Independence Day of Peru, a country we have been covering actively for the past many months. This is because the people have been taking to the streets time and again against the de facto regime of Dina Baluarte. Now, it's important to remember that Dina Baluarte came to power after President Pedro Castillo was overthrown in a coup in December 2022. There have been multiple rounds of protests in Peru since then, and the Baluarte regime has responded with brutal repression. Despite this, people recently took to the streets of the capital city for what was called the third takeover of Lima. We have with us Zoe, who was in Peru a few months ago and has been actively following the story. Zoe looks like not a happy Independence Day for a large number of Peruvians who have been dealing with a huge amount of repression, brutal attacks by the government, just for expressing their dissent, for expressing their unhappiness with the government. So maybe for the benefit of our viewers, could you take us through what has been the trajectory of the past few months? Definitely. Well, I'll just say that in the past week, it has been these takeover Lima protests leading up to Peru's Independence Day. People for the past several months have been building towards this week of protests, which is not only taking place in Lima, but in cities across Peru, people once again, trying to raise these demands to demand structural changes, to demand that Dina Buaduarte resigns, to demand that the Congress be dissolved, that there be new elections held. And so once again, they're on the streets and as you said, they're facing a lot of repression. Organizations, as I said, for the since December, have been organizing, have been mobilizing, have been making these demands and in the past several months, we've seen serious setbacks in some senses because in the first couple of months, there was a lot of international attention on what was happening because of the multiple massacres that had taken place. We can remember that official numbers, don't say this, but all leading human rights organizations in Peru estimate that in the first several months of protest, anywhere between 60 to 70 people were killed by the armed forces, by police forces. The world's attention was on Peru, what was happening, what Dina Buaduarte was doing. This has somewhat decreased and this has seemed to be part of their strategy in a lot of senses to kind of wear people out to make it not a front page issue. And meanwhile, the United States has given its tacit approval and support throughout and in recent months, some of the positions that Dina Buaduarte previously held, such as being more open to maybe changing the date of elections, has shifted. She seems to be more emboldened than before. She in June said that she did not see that she would be stepping down any time before 2026. Her, the sex of power in the Congress that have rallied behind her, the far right parties which traditionally supported the Fugimorista trend have also really consolidated their support behind her and even made alliances with other parties from the left and from or formerly from the left, maybe they can't be considered left anymore. So there's been a strong kind of rallying behind this government despite what is an outstanding and utterly complete rejection of the government by the people. A recent poll said that 90% of people in Peru, 90% do not approve of the Congress, 80% do not approve Dina Buaduarte and 70 want a new constitution. So all of these moves that are being made in Congress by Dina Buaduarte are completely not a reflection of the desires and of the will of the people and that's what's especially concerning that despite the fact that there's this mass popular rejection, people on the streets mobilizing against her, she still is able to consolidate this power despite being isolated internationally as well. She's still kind of moving forward and completely disrespecting what the people actually want. Right, Zoe also to sort of get a bit more detail on the current ruling regime in Peru. We know that Dina Buaduarte herself was associated with Castillo before but there's been this coalition of various interests like you said. So maybe could you take us a bit more into what are the sections that have come together to run this government which is very clearly unpopular. Well, just to give to roll back a little bit in history if we remember that in 2021 when Pedro Castillo won the elections this was a very, very tense election. There had been, I think over 10 candidates in the presidential elections in the first round. In the first round, I think he maybe got he got less than 20% being the front runner in these elections. And right behind him was Keiko Fujimori who's from who's the daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori. And in the second round of the elections we saw face off between progressive and left forces that had rallied behind Pedro Castillo and the traditional right in Peru that has always held power that has really had a stranglehold on many of the institutions that it controls the media that controls business. These are the traditional parties of the ruling class that are also extremely enveloped in corruption schemes that are many of them are under investigation. There's dozens of members of Congress that are from these far right and center parties that have been under investigation by Peru's prosecution. And all of that being said is that they united and rallied behind Keiko Fujimori attacked Pedro Castillo at every single possibility. When Pedro Castillo was president there were three different impeachment motions put forth. These were given a lot of support by the far right by centrist parties. They were never successful because they didn't have an absolute majority. However once the coup actually does take place Dina Boluarte quickly proves that actually she despite having been the vice president of Pedro Castillo and having come from the Peru Libre Party she was quite willing to fall in line with these right wing sectors that for all of these years had been rallying behind Fujimori and had been trying to tear down Pedro Castillo. And so these are the major sectors that have been supporting her. If you look at who's in her government it's very clear but also I think beyond the actual names it's clear in terms of the media coverage it's clear in terms of if you look at the kind of challenges that were put forth in front of Pedro Castillo investigations of corruption of being involved in illegal criminal activity despite Dina Boluarte having been responsible for over 70 protesters being killed despite many many more irregularities during her government she has seen no such roadblocks. So it's very clear that the sectors of power in the country have rallied behind her and that they will continue to do so as long as she carries forward with their program which is not allowing the left to come back not giving any sections any concessions to people's movements not engaging in any sort of negotiations and doing everything possible to undermine them to belittle them to stigmatize them and to consolidate this project which involves denying people rights. Pedro Castillo was very gravely actually trying to take on many of the vested interests in the country mining corporations oil corporations he also wanted to tackle the issue of informal labor and subcontracting in Peru which is one of the major forms of employment the majority of the people are employed in the formal sector he wanted to actually create more stable jobs dignified jobs and this is the response so it's very important to understand that despite her having been part of this left party all of the major sectors of power have completely rallied behind this and it's they've made it possible for her to continue in government and to continue with a minimum level of governability absolutely thank you so much Zoe for that update as well as I think going through the trajectory of what has happened in Peru very tragic situation for the people of Peru but nonetheless they seem to continue their struggles for their basic rights as well as for democracy thank you so much for talking to us thanks so much for having me from the halls of diplomacy at the Russia Africa summit to discussions about building a different kind of world a different kind of order through bricks through the streets of Peru where people are struggling for democracy we have covered all these topics in today's episode of daily debrief we'll continue to do so in future episode talking about the struggles of people talking about the issues that matter talking about the present and the future keep watching and if you haven't hit that subscribe button already please do