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[00:00.000 --> 00:11.100]  Show intro music
[00:11.100 --> 00:21.100]  Show intro music
[01:21.100 --> 01:44.100]  We'll be following up on two very important events that are currently taking place.
[01:44.100 --> 01:50.420]  The situation in Japan after that 9-point earthquake on the Richter scale and that powerful
[01:50.420 --> 01:55.620]  tsunami that has left a social, political, economic and, above all, nuclear drama in
[01:55.620 --> 01:56.620]  that country.
[01:56.620 --> 02:01.500]  We'll also be following up on the situation in the Arab world, specifically Libya, where
[02:01.500 --> 02:06.500]  international pressure continues on this conflict and also the loyal troops of leader
[02:06.500 --> 02:10.680]  Muammar al-Gaddafi continue to advance on the rebel zones.
[02:10.680 --> 02:14.580]  To talk about these topics, I have two guests today.
[02:14.580 --> 02:20.140]  Gladys Hernandez, Specialist at the Center for World Economic Research, CIEM, and
[02:20.140 --> 02:25.220]  my colleague Leonel Nodal, journalist and analyst on international issues related
[02:25.220 --> 02:29.540]  to the Middle East, and who has also been a correspondent for the Latin Press Agency
[02:29.540 --> 02:31.260]  in many countries in that region.
[02:31.260 --> 02:40.220]  Today on La Mesa Redonda, the Japanese government talks about around 3,400 deaths and about
[02:40.220 --> 02:45.860]  7,000 disappeared due to the earthquake and the tsunami that shook that country on Friday,
[02:45.860 --> 02:50.380]  so the number of victims will surely exceed 10,000.
[02:50.380 --> 02:55.580]  After the earthquake, uncertainty has taken over the Japanese economy, which has been
[02:55.580 --> 02:58.820]  affected for more than two decades due to the low growth and deflation.
[02:58.820 --> 03:05.100]  And the second most important city in Libya, and the main opposition enclave, lives moments
[03:05.100 --> 03:06.100]  of tension.
[03:06.100 --> 03:10.880]  It is expected that in the coming days the loyal forces of Muammar Gaddafi will enter that
[03:10.880 --> 03:11.880]  locality.
[03:11.880 --> 03:19.420]  And first, I propose to give you a reading of the most recent reflections of Commander-in-Chief
[03:19.420 --> 03:23.500]  Fidel Castro Ruz, entitled Disasters that Threaten the World, and which were published
[03:23.500 --> 03:27.460]  in the Cuban press on March 15, 2011.
[03:27.460 --> 03:33.100]  Fidel says, if the speed of light did not exist, if the star closest to our sun
[03:33.100 --> 03:38.460]  was not four years away from the Earth, the only inhabited planet in our system, if the
[03:38.460 --> 03:43.540]  UFOs really existed, the imaginary visitors to the planet would continue to travel without
[03:43.540 --> 03:47.220]  understanding the things of our suffering humanity.
[03:47.220 --> 03:51.780]  Just a few centuries ago, in the millennial history of man, no one knew what was happening
[03:51.780 --> 03:53.700]  on the other side of the globe.
[03:53.700 --> 03:59.220]  Today we can know them instantaneously, and sometimes they are events of great transcendence
[03:59.220 --> 04:02.140]  that affect all the peoples of the world.
[04:02.140 --> 04:06.420]  Without further introduction, I will limit myself to the most important news of the last two
[04:06.420 --> 04:07.420]  days.
[04:07.420 --> 04:10.700]  Telesur, March 13, 2011.
[04:10.700 --> 04:14.260]  Eruption of the volcano in Japan activates a new alarm.
[04:14.260 --> 04:18.940]  The Japanese Meteorological Agency reported that the Shimoedake volcano, located on the
[04:18.940 --> 04:24.620]  island of Yushu to the southeast of Japan, threw ash and stones this Sunday up to 4,000
[04:24.620 --> 04:30.660]  meters high after two weeks of relative calm and two days after the earthquake and tsunami
[04:30.660 --> 04:32.700]  that hit the country.
[04:32.700 --> 04:37.340]  It began activity in January last year for the first time in 52 years.
[04:37.340 --> 04:43.460]  According to a BBC report, constructions located at a radius of 4 kilometers away had
[04:43.460 --> 04:48.940]  suffered damage and hundreds of people fled from the surroundings in panic.
[04:48.940 --> 04:54.980]  The seismic movement of magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale, according to the Japan Meteorological
[04:54.980 --> 04:59.460]  Agency, already had repercussions in other volcanoes.
[04:59.460 --> 05:04.540]  They were overwhelmed by earthquakes, tsunamis and explosions in nuclear power plants.
[05:04.540 --> 05:07.660]  Sendai, Japan, March 14, 2011.
[05:07.660 --> 05:08.940]  AFP.
[05:08.940 --> 05:14.980]  A double explosion in reactor number 3 of Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant fed this
[05:14.980 --> 05:20.360]  Monday the fear of an atomic disaster in Japan, a country already overwhelmed by a earthquake
[05:20.360 --> 05:24.620]  and a tsunami that could have left more than 10,000 dead.
[05:24.620 --> 05:32.980]  Tokyo Electric Power, TELCO, Fukushima-1 operator, 250 kilometers northeast of Tokyo,
[05:32.980 --> 05:39.180]  in parentheses, also admitted the possibility that the reactor 2 fuel would have merged
[05:39.180 --> 05:42.580]  due to a breakdown in the cooling circuit.
[05:42.580 --> 05:46.940]  The government, on the other hand, minimized the possibility that an important explosion
[05:46.940 --> 05:49.900]  would occur in that reactor.
[05:49.900 --> 05:57.700]  Rescue teams found about 2,000 corpses on the coast of the Miyagi prefecture, northwest,
[05:57.700 --> 06:04.460]  while millions of Japanese tried to survive without water, electricity, fuel, food enough
[06:04.460 --> 06:10.000]  and hundreds of thousands were forced to stay in emergency centers because of the tsunami
[06:10.000 --> 06:12.360]  that destroyed their homes.
[06:12.360 --> 06:17.180]  Helpers from all over the world arrived at the archipelago to collaborate with more than
[06:17.180 --> 06:23.180]  100,000 soldiers who are trying to assist in a country that is still shaken by the replicas
[06:23.180 --> 06:29.340]  of the earthquake and permanently overwhelmed by the false alarms of new tsunamis.
[06:29.340 --> 06:34.980]  The fear of a nuclear disaster was added to the anguish caused by the devastation.
[06:34.980 --> 06:39.860]  The earthquake, the tsunami and the explosions in the power plants face the country to its
[06:39.860 --> 06:46.700]  most serious crisis since the end of World War II, said Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
[06:46.700 --> 06:52.180]  An explosion had occurred on Saturday in reactor number one that cost a technician his life
[06:52.180 --> 06:53.980]  and killed 11.
[06:53.980 --> 07:00.120]  The fusion occurs due to the heating of the fuel bars that begin to melt
[07:00.120 --> 07:01.500]  like candles.
[07:01.500 --> 07:07.900]  The authorities decreed the state of emergency in a second nuclear plant, the one in Onagawa,
[07:07.900 --> 07:10.140]  northeast of the country.
[07:10.140 --> 07:15.180]  Another nuclear power plant, the one in Tokai, suffered an accident in its cooling system.
[07:15.180 --> 07:21.940]  The earthquake of magnitude 8.9 and the subsequent tsunami of 10 meters high, destroyed on Friday
[07:21.940 --> 07:25.100]  the northeast coast of the Japanese archipelago.
[07:25.100 --> 07:30.180]  More than 10,000 people could have lost their lives in the coastal prefecture of Miyagi,
[07:30.180 --> 07:31.860]  northwest of Japan.
[07:31.860 --> 07:36.980]  At least 5.6 million homes remain without electricity.
[07:36.980 --> 07:37.980]  Data.
[07:37.980 --> 07:40.580]  What happens inside the nuclear reactors of Japan?
[07:40.580 --> 07:41.820]  A question.
[07:41.820 --> 07:47.300]  On March 14, Reuters, a second explosion shook the Japanese nuclear plant, damaged
[07:47.300 --> 07:53.300]  by an earthquake, where the authorities work in a desperate way to avoid the fusion of the
[07:53.300 --> 07:55.500]  core of the reactors.
[07:55.500 --> 08:01.780]  The core of a reactor consists of a series of tubes or metal bars of zirconium that
[08:01.780 --> 08:07.620]  contain fuel pellets of stored uranium in which the engineers call fuel
[08:07.620 --> 08:09.060]  equipment.
[08:09.060 --> 08:14.860]  The cooling of support had problems several times during the last three days in reactors
[08:14.860 --> 08:18.820]  1, 2 and 3 in the Fukushima plant.
[08:18.820 --> 08:24.620]  However, the natural degradation of the radioactive materials in the core of the reactor continues
[08:24.620 --> 08:30.980]  to produce heat, called residual heat, which falls to a quarter of its original level during
[08:30.980 --> 08:34.860]  the first hour and then disappears more slowly.
[08:34.860 --> 08:41.380]  Normally that heat is eliminated by cooling pumps, which in the Fukushima plant lost
[08:41.380 --> 08:47.060]  the emergency energy supply due to the earthquake, the tsunami or both.
[08:47.060 --> 08:52.420]  It was that hydrogen gas that caused the two explosions in the Fukushima plant, in unit
[08:52.420 --> 08:58.900]  1 on Saturday and in reactor 3 on Monday, according to experts and officials.
[08:58.900 --> 09:04.820]  If a steel dome was broken inside a reactor, the radiation levels would rise.
[09:04.820 --> 09:10.580]  But at this point there is not enough heat to destroy them, say experts.
[09:10.580 --> 09:15.220]  There is still the risk that the core will melt, which could make it much more difficult
[09:15.220 --> 09:21.660]  or even make it impossible to remove the fuel, which is what happened in Three Mile Island
[09:21.660 --> 09:25.380]  in Pennsylvania in 1979.
[09:25.380 --> 09:31.820]  March 14, the United States moves ships off the Japanese coast by detecting radioactivity
[09:31.820 --> 09:34.140]  in 17 military ships.
[09:34.140 --> 09:39.660]  The Pentagon reported that 17 soldiers who participate in the assistance work in Japan
[09:39.660 --> 09:45.860]  gave positive to low levels of radioactivity and ordered to temporarily reposition the
[09:45.860 --> 09:52.220]  ships of the Seventh Fleet based in the Japanese city of Yokosuka.
[09:52.220 --> 09:59.820]  The US aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan concentrated 160 kilometers northeast of the energy plant
[09:59.820 --> 10:04.900]  at the time of the escape after the tsunami that followed the 9-degree earthquake on the
[10:04.900 --> 10:07.980]  Richter scale that shook Japan.
[10:07.980 --> 10:14.220]  They fight to refrigerate reactors 2 and 3 in Fukushima and the number of deaths is growing.
[10:14.220 --> 10:20.500]  International reaction, March 14, from the EFE agency, the responsible for reactor 2
[10:20.500 --> 10:27.080]  of the Fukushima Japanese plant, try to refrigerate it after it could have suffered
[10:27.080 --> 10:33.140]  today a partial fusion by overheating, as well as cooling the reactor 3 where there was
[10:33.140 --> 10:36.660]  an explosion that did not produce radioactivity leak.
[10:36.660 --> 10:41.980]  While the authorities are eager to control the nuclear risk, the number of victims
[10:41.980 --> 10:48.180]  of the earthquake that has caused the worst tragedy in Japan since World War II is growing.
[10:48.180 --> 10:53.780]  The tremor could be felt strongly in Tokyo, the largest city in the world with more than
[10:53.780 --> 10:59.940]  30 million inhabitants, where the environment is sad and citizens resort to alternative
[10:59.940 --> 11:05.660]  means of transport such as bicycles in the face of the cuts in electric supplies.
[11:05.660 --> 11:10.820]  The country's meteorological agency has warned the Japanese population of a week of replicas
[11:10.820 --> 11:19.740]  and a 70% probability that a 7-degree earthquake will be recorded by this Wednesday in Japan.
[11:19.740 --> 11:23.660]  Germany suspends nuclear extension plans for three months.
[11:23.660 --> 11:27.540]  Berlin, March 14, German agency DPA.
[11:27.540 --> 11:32.940]  The accident recorded this weekend at the Fukushima Japanese plant as a result of the
[11:32.940 --> 11:38.200]  earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated the Asian country on Friday has completely changed
[11:38.200 --> 11:41.040]  the global situation, said Merkel.
[11:41.040 --> 11:46.380]  The accidents in Japan show that what we believed impossible is possible and the risks that
[11:46.380 --> 11:50.940]  we considered improbable are not so improbable, he continued to point out.
[11:50.940 --> 11:57.140]  AFP, Jemen, three protesters killed, including a 12-year-old boy.
[11:57.140 --> 12:01.460]  March 12, 2011, Sanaa AFP.
[12:01.460 --> 12:06.740]  Three protesters died, including a 12-year-old boy and hundreds were injured on Saturday
[12:06.740 --> 12:14.100]  in Yemen, where the subordinates accused the police of having used toxic gases to disperse
[12:14.100 --> 12:15.100]  them.
[12:15.100 --> 12:20.340]  A protester died and about 300 were injured or intoxicated by the gases.
[12:20.340 --> 12:25.660]  According to the UN, 37 protesters and at least six police officers died from the beginning
[12:25.660 --> 12:27.380]  of the riots in Yemen.
[12:27.380 --> 12:30.340]  Abu Dhabi, March 14, Reuters.
[12:30.340 --> 12:36.620]  The rise in crude prices and the recent and hasty reduction in global cereal supplies
[12:36.620 --> 12:42.740]  could lead to a supply crisis, said the director of the FAO organization in English,
[12:42.740 --> 12:44.940]  Jack Tufts, to Reuters.
[12:44.940 --> 12:51.700]  The highest prices are worrying and we have a strong decline in existence.
[12:51.700 --> 13:00.620]  London AFP, the defense company BAE Systems, PLC, with headquarters in Great Britain, bribed
[13:00.620 --> 13:06.340]  Saudi Arab authorities to obtain million-dollar arms contracts, according to an American
[13:06.340 --> 13:11.580]  diplomatic telegram leaked and disseminated by WikiLeaks.
[13:11.580 --> 13:17.020]  The BAE, the largest defense contractor in Europe, had delivered more than 70 million
[13:17.020 --> 13:23.020]  pounds, 113 million dollars, the equivalent of a Saudi prince.
[13:23.020 --> 13:24.020]  F.
[13:24.020 --> 13:29.020]  Ashton does not rule out the possibility of imposing a zone of air exclusion over Libya.
[13:29.020 --> 13:34.820]  The head of foreign policy of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, did not rule out today
[13:34.820 --> 13:40.300]  in Cairo the possibility of imposing a zone of air exclusion over Libya after meeting
[13:40.300 --> 13:44.420]  with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.
[13:44.420 --> 13:51.820]  Tripoli, March 14, ANSA, the forces of Mohammed al-Gaddafi attacked today Abu Dhabi to the
[13:51.820 --> 13:56.740]  east of Libya and the locality of Subara to the northwest, while the National Council
[13:56.740 --> 14:01.740]  of the Opposition assured that it will recover positions and said that it has international
[14:01.740 --> 14:05.700]  commitment to establish a zone of air exclusion.
[14:05.700 --> 14:10.500]  The Council assured today that it obtained the commitment of the United States, Great Britain
[14:10.500 --> 14:14.020]  and France to have an area of ​​air exclusion.
[14:14.020 --> 14:19.540]  General Ab al-Fattah Yunis, a member of the Rebellious Military Council, assured that they will
[14:19.540 --> 14:24.540]  recover positions in the coastal zone and in the eastern region of the country.
[14:24.540 --> 14:29.140]  We will regain control of those cities and they will soon feel that our army advances
[14:29.140 --> 14:30.860]  towards Sirte and Tripoli.
[14:30.860 --> 14:37.180]  100,000 volunteers joined the forces of Gaddafi, Tripoli, March 14, ANSA.
[14:37.180 --> 14:42.080]  Some 100,000 volunteers joined the Libyan armed forces from the beginning of the combats
[14:42.080 --> 14:48.220]  among the troops that support Mohammed al-Gaddafi and rebel groups, said today sources of the
[14:48.220 --> 14:49.220]  government.
[14:49.220 --> 14:54.100]  Bahrain, opposition denounces occupation after the arrival of Saudi soldiers.
[14:54.100 --> 15:01.580]  Manama, March 14, 2011 AFP, the people of Bahrain faces a real danger, that of a war
[15:01.580 --> 15:07.780]  against Bahraini citizens, without declaration of war, the seven members of the opposition
[15:07.780 --> 15:11.220]  including Uefaq Chihita highlighted in a statement.
[15:11.220 --> 15:17.360]  We consider the entry of every soldier, of every military vehicle, to the terrestrial,
[15:17.360 --> 15:23.100]  aerial or maritime spaces of the Kingdom of Bahrain as a flagrant occupation, a conspiracy
[15:23.100 --> 15:27.420]  against the people of Bahrain, disarmed and a violation of international agreements and
[15:27.420 --> 15:30.780]  agreements, added the opposition.
[15:30.780 --> 15:37.660]  More protests in Yemen, Bahrain and Morocco, Manama and Aden, March 13, ANSA, the demonstrations
[15:37.660 --> 15:43.020]  of protests continue today in Yemen, where three people died, Bahrain and Morocco in
[15:43.020 --> 15:48.180]  claims against the governments of those countries, reported today local sources.
[15:48.180 --> 15:52.900]  In Saudi Arabia, dozens of people gathered today in the vicinity of the headquarters of
[15:52.900 --> 15:57.300]  the Ministry of the Interior in Riyadh to ask for the release of a group of activists
[15:57.300 --> 15:59.620]  arrested by the police.
[15:59.620 --> 16:06.020]  Manama, AP, tens of thousands of protesters in Bahrain surrounded a royal palace on Saturday,
[16:06.020 --> 16:11.380]  where they demanded political freedoms and the resignation of the king a day after the
[16:11.380 --> 16:16.020]  security forces repressed with violence a similar protest.
[16:16.020 --> 16:21.300]  The mobilizations in this country are similar to those of Egypt and Tunisia, Bahrain has
[16:21.300 --> 16:27.620]  a peculiar importance for Washington because there stands out the fifth fleet of the United
[16:27.620 --> 16:29.180]  States Navy.
[16:29.180 --> 16:32.980]  United Arab Emirates are going to send troops to Bahrain.
[16:32.980 --> 16:39.580]  Dubai, March 14, 2011, AFP, the United Arab Emirates announced on Monday that they are going
[16:39.580 --> 16:45.260]  to send troops to Bahrain to contribute to preserve order and stability in that neighboring
[16:45.260 --> 16:49.500]  country, which they have already reached with the same Saudi military purpose.
[16:49.500 --> 16:56.220]  Manama, March 14, 2011, AFP, the opposition of Bahrain said on Monday that any foreign
[16:56.220 --> 17:02.780]  military presence will be considered an occupation when reacting to the arrival of Saudi troops
[17:02.780 --> 17:04.180]  to the kingdom.
[17:04.180 --> 17:10.060]  More than a thousand Saudi soldiers who are part of the Common Force of the Gulf Cooperation
[17:10.060 --> 17:16.180]  Council, CCG, arrived in Bahrain shaken by a wave of demonstrations, as indicated by the
[17:16.180 --> 17:19.460]  AFP, a responsible Saudi.
[17:19.460 --> 17:25.780]  Mexico AFP, the so-called fast and furious operation in the United States, which presumably
[17:25.780 --> 17:31.820]  allowed the delivery of almost 2,000 weapons to Mexico, put in a delicate moment the relationship
[17:31.820 --> 17:36.620]  between the two countries, according to experts, and caused the unanimous annoyance of Mexican
[17:36.620 --> 17:38.140]  legislators.
[17:38.140 --> 17:43.620]  If the United States acted without including any Mexican importance, it is an intromission
[17:43.620 --> 17:49.180]  totally unacceptable and a clear sign of Washington's distrust of the police
[17:49.180 --> 17:56.460]  Mexican police, commented AFP Jorge Montaño, former ambassador to Mexico in the United States.
[17:56.460 --> 18:02.380]  Mexico faces a spiral of unprecedented violence that has left almost 35,000 deaths since
[18:02.380 --> 18:08.940]  December 2006 in confrontations between drug traffickers and anti-narcotic operations,
[18:08.940 --> 18:13.220]  in addition to a hundred victims trapped in crossfire.
[18:13.220 --> 18:18.740]  The Mexican Senate described fast and furious as an aggressive and unilateral operation
[18:18.740 --> 18:21.340]  and an aggravation of Mexico's sovereignty.
[18:21.340 --> 18:25.260]  IPS, March 14, 15 and 4.
[18:25.260 --> 18:30.700]  Tonight it was reported that reactor number two of the central Fukushima 1 was melting
[18:30.700 --> 18:36.300]  after the emergency cooling systems failed, which aggravated fears of
[18:36.300 --> 18:38.300]  radioactive contamination.
[18:38.300 --> 18:43.700]  On Saturday and Monday, explosions occurred in reactors 1 and 3.
[18:43.700 --> 18:51.540]  Reactor number two works with fuel called mix of M O X oxides that contains plutonium,
[18:51.540 --> 18:54.500]  a substance especially harmful to health.
[18:54.500 --> 19:02.900]  Roma 14, Italian agency ANSA, a total of 442 are the active nuclear reactors in the world,
[19:02.900 --> 19:07.740]  concentrated in 29 countries and built by no more than 10 companies.
[19:07.740 --> 19:14.700]  Europe, whose governments began today to review its policy in the sector, has 148
[19:14.700 --> 19:16.860]  active reactors in 16 countries.
[19:16.860 --> 19:21.180]  The already active are added 65 in construction phases.
[19:21.180 --> 19:26.260]  The world record for the number of nuclear reactors in operation is 30 United States
[19:26.260 --> 19:32.180]  with 104, followed by France 58 and Japan 54.
[19:32.180 --> 19:36.620]  News of the last hour that has just arrived in Cuba report that there was a third explosion
[19:36.620 --> 19:42.700]  in Fukushima on March 15, 20 and 13.
[19:42.700 --> 19:47.180]  There is a fear of radioactive leak by fusion of the nucleus of a reactor in Fukushima.
[19:47.180 --> 19:51.900]  Tokyo on March 15, Spanish agency EFE, the operating company of the nuclear power plant
[19:51.900 --> 19:57.500]  of Fukushima, northeast of Japan, recognized today that it fears a radioactive leak by a
[19:57.500 --> 20:03.620]  possible fusion of the nucleus of reactor number two, which this morning suffered an explosion.
[20:03.620 --> 20:09.140]  Tokyo Electric Power, TEPCO, admitted that it may have emitted radiation after being
[20:09.140 --> 20:14.460]  damaged the structure that surrounds the reactor number two, while the levels of radioactivity
[20:14.460 --> 20:21.880]  in the area marked 8,217 microsieverts per hour compared to the 500 allowed.
[20:21.880 --> 20:27.500]  The complex situation reigning in the Arab world, in whose peoples has been unleashed
[20:27.500 --> 20:30.440]  a revolutionary wave, continues Fidel.
[20:30.440 --> 20:34.980]  The Saudi king supports the war of the OTAN in Libya, while in Bahrain the OTAN supports
[20:34.980 --> 20:36.860]  the Saudi invasion.
[20:36.860 --> 20:41.460]  The blood of the Arab peoples will be spilled for the benefit of the great transnationals
[20:41.460 --> 20:48.020]  of the United States, while the oil prices will reach unpredictable limits as wars
[20:48.020 --> 20:52.760]  are unleashed in the areas of greater production and nuclear disasters.
[20:52.760 --> 20:57.860]  From Japan multiply the resistance of the peoples to the proliferation of nuclear plants.
[20:57.860 --> 21:02.900]  The devastation and the societies of capitalist consumption in its neoliberal and imperialist phase
[21:02.900 --> 21:09.220]  are taking the world to a dead end, where climate change and the growing cost of food
[21:09.220 --> 21:14.580]  lead millions of people to the worst indices of poverty.
[21:14.580 --> 21:22.100]  Fidel Castro Rus, March 14, 2011, 9.35, Meridian past.
[21:22.100 --> 21:26.400]  And already concluded the reflections of our commander in chief, Fidel Castro Rus, we
[21:26.400 --> 21:33.020]  begin our roundtable, the topics that occupy our roundtable, the first of them, the situation
[21:33.020 --> 21:49.900]  in Japan.
[21:49.900 --> 21:55.580]  And before we begin our analysis with our guest, Gladys, I propose to read some of
[21:55.580 --> 21:58.700]  the most recent information that is known of Japan.
[21:58.700 --> 22:04.380]  A very strong replica shakes the province of Chikwosa, southeast of Tokyo.
[22:04.380 --> 22:08.980]  It says that an earthquake of 6 degrees in the open scale of Richter has occurred this
[22:08.980 --> 22:13.620]  Tuesday in southwest Tokyo, in the province of Chikwoka, according to the Japan Meteorological
[22:13.620 --> 22:14.700]  Agency.
[22:14.700 --> 22:18.620]  And it says that the earthquake has also caused material damage in that region.
[22:18.620 --> 22:22.940]  The Fukushima nuclear power plant, of which so much has been talked about these days and
[22:22.940 --> 22:28.420]  Fidel refers to it in his reflections, reached the level of 6 of nuclear alert, let us remember
[22:28.420 --> 22:33.580]  that they are within the scale of levels 7, it is the highest, and Fukushima reaches the
[22:33.580 --> 22:35.020]  level number 6.
[22:35.020 --> 22:39.500]  And it is also said, according to some media, that the economic impact of the catastrophe
[22:39.500 --> 22:44.740]  in Japan will exceed 2% of the gross domestic product of this country.
[22:44.740 --> 22:49.060]  On the economic impact in that country is the following material that we propose.
[22:49.060 --> 22:57.620]  Well, they suffer very serious damage, in three of them there have been explosions, like this
[22:57.620 --> 22:59.620]  yesterday in reactor 3.
[22:59.620 --> 23:03.500]  The last one was last night, in 2, and it is the most serious of all because it has damaged
[23:03.500 --> 23:08.260]  the concrete wall that protects the reactor so that there are no radioactive escapes.
[23:08.260 --> 23:12.580]  So both this accident and the fire that has been in reactor 4 have been able to cause
[23:12.580 --> 23:13.580]  some escape.
[23:13.580 --> 23:17.700]  For now, the Prime Minister has recognized in a press conference that the level of radiation
[23:17.700 --> 23:22.420]  in the area has increased.
[23:22.420 --> 23:26.140]  Then he has been the spokesman for the government, which has ensured that the level of radiation
[23:26.140 --> 23:31.100]  is worrying for health, and a few hours ago the maximum French nuclear security authority
[23:31.100 --> 23:36.220]  has said that the alert level in Fukushima is 6 on a scale of 7, and that there have been
[23:36.220 --> 23:41.820]  two consecutive explosions, and not one, the ones that reactor 2 has suffered.
[23:41.820 --> 23:46.620]  In the power plant there are only 50 workers trying to avoid a tragedy, and the cities
[23:46.620 --> 23:51.140]  less than 20 km from the power plant are deserted, but the concern, as we have
[23:51.140 --> 23:56.340]  been told by some Spanish residents in Tokyo, reaches there, 200 km from Fukushima.
[23:56.340 --> 23:59.780]  The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that in the last few hours the radiation
[23:59.780 --> 24:04.700]  in the area has been reduced by half.
[24:04.700 --> 24:09.260]  First they evacuated those who lived 10 km from Fukushima, then they have committed
[24:09.260 --> 24:14.140]  to rescue those who live less than 20 km from the power plant, and in the last
[24:14.140 --> 24:21.180]  few hours Prime Minister Naoto Kan has recommended this to those who live less than 30 km.
[24:21.180 --> 24:26.140]  We would like to ask you to stay inside the buildings, at home or in the office.
[24:26.140 --> 24:29.540]  Up to there, they are seeing it, the security perimeter arrives for now.
[24:29.540 --> 24:34.300]  The Japanese government, through public television, recommended a few hours ago to close the
[24:34.300 --> 24:39.420]  windows, not to use ventilation systems, not to drink tap water, to be careful with the food
[24:39.420 --> 24:42.500]  they eat, and even not to hang their clothes outside.
[24:42.500 --> 24:47.820]  And the replicas are happening, a new strong earthquake has occurred in the Tokyo area.
[24:47.820 --> 24:54.220]  The Japanese government speaks of around 3,400 deaths and about 7,000 disappeared due to
[24:54.220 --> 24:59.540]  the earthquake and the tsunami that shook that country on Friday, so the number of victims
[24:59.540 --> 25:02.300]  will surely exceed 10,000.
[25:02.300 --> 25:06.940]  Of the total confirmed deaths, only a little more than 1,000 have been identified.
[25:06.940 --> 25:12.020]  According to official sources, about 25,000 people have been rescued, including this man
[25:12.020 --> 25:15.940]  who was found alive almost 100 hours after the earthquake.
[25:15.940 --> 25:20.480]  For the fourth consecutive day, rescue teams are facing the triple task of removing
[25:20.480 --> 25:25.900]  the ruins and debris on the coast in search of survivors or corpses, and also
[25:25.900 --> 25:32.340]  to help the victims in the areas that are isolated.
[25:32.340 --> 25:37.140]  In Tokyo, activities are resumed gradually, despite the news that assures that the radiation
[25:37.140 --> 25:40.180]  emitted from Fukushima reached the city.
[25:40.180 --> 25:45.140]  Residents feel fear for their health.
[25:45.140 --> 25:48.620]  This citizen assures that there is no need to worry about radiation because of the magnitude
[25:48.620 --> 25:49.620]  of the escape.
[25:49.620 --> 25:55.700]  However, he expects the government to tell them the truth about this.
[25:55.700 --> 26:01.020]  Meanwhile, the lack of food and medicine is already being observed in Tokyo and puts
[26:01.020 --> 26:03.620]  the reserves in danger for the next few weeks.
[26:03.620 --> 26:07.900]  The tragedy that Fukushima is experiencing is considered the worst nuclear accident since
[26:07.900 --> 26:11.900]  it occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986.
[26:11.900 --> 26:15.900]  In the streets of Tsumak, the devastation is part of the panorama.
[26:15.900 --> 26:21.060]  The levels of high radiation after the explosion of a third nuclear reactor in the Daiichi
[26:21.060 --> 26:25.140]  complex represent a serious threat to those who still remain in the area.
[26:25.140 --> 26:31.940]  In the destroyed coast of Fukushima, this housewife says that she does not know what to do
[26:31.940 --> 26:34.020]  and that she is worried about radiation.
[26:34.020 --> 26:41.660]  Well, and we saw some information from foreign TV about the situation in Japan, especially
[26:41.660 --> 26:46.700]  the social impact that has been very related to the thousands of lives that have been lost
[26:46.700 --> 26:51.420]  that still today have not been able to account for and also with the impact that has been
[26:51.420 --> 26:55.780]  the spills in the explosions in the nuclear plants, in the nuclear reactors of several
[26:55.780 --> 26:59.700]  nuclear power plants of that country, which of course has increased the fear about the
[26:59.700 --> 27:04.620]  possibility of radiation and also of contamination in people.
[27:04.620 --> 27:09.300]  But there is also a fundamental economic impact, not only for Japan, for the Japanese
[27:09.300 --> 27:14.700]  economy, which has been presenting problems for several years, but also at an international
[27:14.700 --> 27:16.380]  and regional level.
[27:16.380 --> 27:21.380]  On that topic, I propose to talk to our specialist, but first see the material
[27:21.380 --> 27:24.700]  that I had promised them previously on this economic issue.
[27:24.700 --> 27:30.300]  After the earthquake, uncertainty has taken over the Japanese economy, which has been affected
[27:30.300 --> 27:33.620]  for more than two decades due to the low growth and the deflation.
[27:33.620 --> 27:41.540]  It comes from what has been called a lost decade, Japan has suffered a very, very strong crisis
[27:41.540 --> 27:44.860]  that is taking a long time to recover.
[27:44.860 --> 27:50.500]  Japan, a market of 127 million people, leader in electronics and automobiles, is the
[27:50.500 --> 27:52.380]  third world economy.
[27:52.380 --> 27:56.780]  The light and road cuts keep a large part of the industry paralyzed, and this complicates
[27:56.780 --> 27:59.140]  the departure of its urgent recovery.
[27:59.140 --> 28:05.460]  Japan, that crisis was starting to emerge in the last year, but unfortunately this earthquake
[28:05.460 --> 28:07.500]  has interrupted that recovery.
[28:07.500 --> 28:11.940]  In the short term, the earthquake has affected the infrastructures and threatens tourism and
[28:11.940 --> 28:12.940]  consumption.
[28:12.940 --> 28:19.380]  Estimations of damage are between 100,000 and 200,000 million euros, magnitudes
[28:19.380 --> 28:21.260]  to some extent acceptable.
[28:21.260 --> 28:25.580]  The reconstruction of the country will trigger the already overburdened public debt, equivalent
[28:25.580 --> 28:31.060]  to 200% of gross domestic product, although the positive reading of analysts is that it will increase
[28:31.060 --> 28:32.060]  investment.
[28:32.060 --> 28:36.100]  Japanese insurance companies have to repatriate many of their investments that they had made
[28:36.100 --> 28:37.540]  abroad.
[28:37.540 --> 28:41.340]  That now causes the repatriation of foreign currencies.
[28:41.340 --> 28:46.140]  The catastrophe of Japan will be felt, experts say, in the accounts of insurance
[28:46.140 --> 28:47.620]  and energy companies.
[28:47.620 --> 28:51.260]  At the moment, it has given wings to the Yen, which since Thursday has been revalued more than
[28:51.260 --> 28:52.260]  1.5%.
[28:52.260 --> 28:55.740]  And well, the figures are impressive.
[28:55.740 --> 29:00.380]  The Japanese Central Bank, we commented on it yesterday, has had to inject more than
[29:00.380 --> 29:07.500]  180 billion dollars into the Japanese economy, and it is also said that the insurers of that
[29:07.500 --> 29:12.060]  country will have to reimburse more than 35 billion dollars.
[29:12.060 --> 29:17.100]  What has been the impact, Gladys, you who have been studying the economy of the region for so many years,
[29:17.100 --> 29:21.980]  specifically the Chinese economy, the Japanese economy, what has been the real impact of this
[29:21.980 --> 29:28.860]  natural catastrophe on the Japanese economy, which, as we said at the beginning, also already
[29:28.860 --> 29:30.820]  faced problems a few years ago.
[29:30.820 --> 29:34.820]  What were these problems and how does the situation get worse now?
[29:34.820 --> 29:43.900]  Well, experts have started a series of arguments, comments, but well, in good law, it would be
[29:43.900 --> 29:50.900]  totally irresponsible to make a stopped approach on the possible impacts of this
[29:50.900 --> 30:14.460]  catastrophe, because as we have been observing, it really turns out that it is not only the