but that's not what i want. i want to live in good gone since i live. i don't want to live at guilt and sadness knowing that killing people. i don't regret my deficient. former army, captain lynde had on set up a facebook group to encourage soldiers to join the resistance and estimates about a $1500.00 have deserted the military. as of last september, he has left me on my and says he's unable to return home. so im here, yes, on word for my family, i don't know whether they're safe. i've had to cut off contact with them for my country and my people's future. but i do worry for my family and all of your resistance groups, including the national unity government, a shadow government working to reverse the qu, are encouraging more people from the security forces to join them. they say those numbers are growing, but that may not be enough to challenge me on mars well equipped military florence louis algebra. ah,

this is edge 0. it's get a round up now the top stores, the u. s. president says he is convinced russia has made the decision to invade ukraine. joe biden added intelligence suggested it could happen in the coming days . make no mistake. if russia pursues his plans, it will be responsible for kit catastrophic and needless or of choice. united states and our allies are prepared to defend every inch of nato territory from any threat to our collective security as well. we also will not send troops in to fight in ukraine, or we will continue support ukrainian. people separate us leaders in east, in ukraine. se civilians are being moved to russia from dun yeske and the concert they blamed an increase in shelling in the region. at least 12 people are still missing after a greek fairy court firewall on its way to italy. the greek coast guard says 278

people rescued from the vessel off the island of cor food. one was not on the passenger list and there are fears. more undocumented passengers could have been on board police in the canadian capital have arrested at least a 100 people while time trucks that were blocking the streets of downtown or 2 hundreds of offices are trying to take back control of some streets. a few have been turned into a camp for protesters angry over pandemic restrictions. a former u. s. police officer convicted of manslaughter after killing of black men during a traffic stop was sentenced to 16 months in prison. kimberly potter will then serve another 8 months on supervise release, or to say she mistook her gun for a taser before shooting dante wright in minneapolis last april. those are the headlines up front is next. on counting the cost to red hot oil market is wearing consumers will prices keep going up looking east. russia finds

a new gas and oil deal with china. what fun put in mind and a stock split in silicon valley, our google shares becoming more affordable. counting the cost on al jazeera, decades of a so called war on drugs have had a devastating effect in latin america. today in many places, cartels continued to operate with impunity. corruption runs rapid while ordinary people face dead, the consequence. the who's benefiting from the militarization of the drug war. and what's been the human heart back conversations coming up. but 1st regal, the term as president of the philippines. the soon coming to an end with filipinos getting ready to elect a new leader in may from crackdowns on the press to his own controversial war drugs . what legacy will president do? they leave for the country and what happens if he is replaced by the son a former dictator for non marcos is which head lighter former spokesperson to president to charity. now candidate for the senate, harry rookie. the

harrier. okay, thank you so much for joining me. on. upfront filipino president, rodrigo detect, they has only a few months left an office and perhaps his most memorable legacy will be his so called drug war. that includes a free of killings that has left thousands of people dead. your own government reports some 6200 while at 2020 you and report says the number of killings could be more than 20000. that same you in report found that of more than $42000.00 anti illegal drug operations carried out by the police. only 1.2 percent were based on an actual arrest warrant. you're a lawyer, you identify the human rights champion. how do you explain these numbers? well, that's a matter of being investigated now by the prosecutor of the international criminal court. and i leave it to the prosecutor. and of course the i, since the prosecutor is now looking into whether or not there is liability,

because these crimes are ongoing and domestic chords are unable or unwilling to take part in terms of the matter. right now the evidence is being examined by the prosecutor and we leave it at that. well, i don't want to leave it at that, but i want to pressure just a little bit because just looking at the raw numbers, it feels a bit odd. that 1.2 percent could be based on an arrest warrant. that means that we see a large number of anti drug operations that happening. and it's not clear how or why i don't know where you got the figures. i don't have personal knowledge about this figures and i can comment on something that they don't have any parts done that job them. but i will say that the present has enjoyed the highest satisfaction rating ever in philippine history. that is, that 72 percent. and the price $3.00 thing of 69 percent. no other flipping president has come close to this numbers in terms of satisfaction rating and trust

rating. i don't know where your statistics are coming from, but i don't know what the polls say, and the people are very happy. the filipino people at least are very satisfied and have trusted the president until now, which is unprecedented into the been history, which is understandable. this is the only president that gave us universal health care, the philippines, which is now covered 100 daniel and will be, knows what was going on there. i mean, again, if you've been acknowledged all college students now and the people that are competing and why they have given in less than 10 trask. mr. satisfaction rating. mr. ok, i mean, these are competing claims, though it is entirely possible to give people college access. it's completely possible to give people all sorts of resources and still have a very stunning violation of human rights taking place in the country. and for

those tens of thousands of people who have been subjected to these drug operations . and for the thousands of people who have been killed, those other issues that you raised wouldn't be sufficient to justify what happened if as far as the numbers go, as far as the numbers go, nothing out of the plan initial. no, no but but but, but just 11 second is something that you and i can really show that matters which have to be brought to the point and you're not the judge. i am not a judge or in judge, i'm not, i'm not attempting to fax got cases without the facts. i'm a lawyer, you're not. and i'm telling you you can do that. now they are investigations ongoing. we cannot pre solve supposedly 50001000 thousands of deaths, whether or not their murders. you know, talk show you do that in a court of law. well, it's adjudicated in a court of law, but just to be clear, i'd like to finish this, this sentence in the stop one, the number of people who died. you say you don't know where these facts come from.

even the most conservative number comes from the philippine drug enforcement agency of 6221. and as far as the percentage of people who have been who, who are investigated because of a warrant, that 1.2 percent number that said, comes from the report of the un high commissioner for human rights. and you said we should appeal to international bodies in order to decide these medicines, the international bodies is coming up with the numbers that you're finding skip that you're skeptical of. and as far as the international criminal court do tend to say himself, this has said that he doesn't respect the international criminal court. and he has also been quoted as saying i will never apologized, never apologized for the death. kill me, jo, me, i will never apologize. does that sound like someone who is willing to respond appropriately to the decision of any, any governing body? what is your point? as i said, is that for you and i discussed it now being that gave her the proper authorities, international and domestic. let's leave it that,

that if there is recess would be and if there is proportional to be, then the killings become legal because they are legal and that's pointing to human, great standards. but as i said, you have to go through each and every one of these cases and you can conclude carte blanche not going to talk sure. i agree that we have the impact these cases. i disagree that we this isn't the place for us to do it. this is exactly the place for us to interrogate people about issues that matter. your country is ranked 100 and 38th in press. freedom by reporters without waters with the organization, citing quote, the authoritarian course taken by detecting the philippines is one of the most dangerous places in the world to practise journalism. and it's notorious libel law has been used to target to criminalize and create impunity for the killing of journalists. what does that say about the state of democracy? well, you, when you read timothy, asked the philippine government to the criminal libo. it hasn't happened and that's far part that part of my legislative agenda,

that the criminalized label. now i don't know what standards the point is without borders have, but i can tell you we have one of the free yes press us in the world and, and prove of these. of course, as far as the president has been saying, is that for any single lego case against the joint lives, he would answer back in the manner that they ask questions. but that's fair play because you've got to expect the president to be meek and polite. know when number, when, when you're being subjected to a bunch of questions now. so i would say that's an opinion, but as far as i know, and i represented many, joined the list in this country that join the lives are doing their job and doing it well. yeah, the issue here though, and i appreciate your analysis of the criminalization of libel. that's a piece of it. but we're also talking about the killing of journalists in the country that the ranking of $138.00 and press freedom is something that still must be understood and, and, and examined. but what we're looking at cases,

i mean getting very nuts, for example, and it's late as global. impunity indexed. the committee to protect journalists noted that the philippines of 13 unsolved media killings from 112028 data cpg also shows the 85 journalists were murdered in the philippines between 1990. 2 and 2021 and rodrigo detected the president to turn to the day in june of 2016. he issued this, this, this warning, after being sworn in said, just because you're a journalist, you are not exempt from assassination. if you are a sort of freedom of expression cannot help you. if you have done something wrong, what do you make of that quote? nothing. it's a statement of an opinion that journalists also have to be careful with what they do know for the nation. if it's not exempt from assassination, it's not just a statement you can. would you agree that that'd be a threat of some sort. you know, you can make your own conclusions. i'm not here for the day. no, no, i'm not debating. i'm asking what you are. i respect you and want to know your as a human rights attorney, i'd be curious, know what your analysis is. if you heard that the president of

a country where that is where sort of statement of opinion we're talking about freedom of expression who says he doesn't have a fever of expression to ok. what's important is andy is regime. he started an official office that has to deal with me to feelings and it has resulted in unprecedented convictions. ok, so i don't that, but as you like to say, we won't agree. so let's move forward. let's talk about who will soon replace president do 10 to the day bungling marcos junior, the son of former dictator ferdinand marco's is the current front runner. he's been caught repeatedly trying to siphon away some of the billions of dollars that his father stole from the filipino people during his rule. 6 years of which bung bung served in government. he's also routinely minimize the severity of the human rights abuses that were committed by his father's regime. is the unapologetically really the best choice, but he has not been. he has not been found guilty of siphoning money. he was in

bleed dead as for administrator of the marcus estate, but he was never charged with an anti graph law violation. and there's not been a decision again, simply human rights violations either be in the philippines or under the claims act in the united states. so i'm and really surprised that where this is coming from because not as a lawyer, i did a due diligence on the market and i found the cases against him either down in his representative capacity as assistant deputy administrator of his father's he was found guilty of tax evasion, no can no one that activation failure to file tax returns, which is from activation. it is a distinction without a difference, would argue over, but that's a lot that you're laughing very good lawyers. well, i do a lot more for you. you are, you are, you are a very good lawyer, sir. my question though is do you feel like having do you feel that he has

demonstrated the character and then he and after your due diligence that you say you perform? do you feel like he's the appropriate person to, to be the next president. you know, you know, the mark i see the people with, i'm sure that it's not for you and me and not the and opinion baker. so allow, i will allow that people to decide that the issue. that's how it mostly works. whether or not we like the person, he made me the most violent for some part there is a concern, but if the people will choose him, so be, you know, they're say, is seeing the voice of the people, the voice of god, that the people to say that's a political question, only the sovereign people can answer that. all right, and you're a citizen and a vocal supporter of his candidacy. so i would imagine if you're a vocal support of his candidacy, then you could answer the question as a supporter of his candidates. you know, when i will see him, the most qualified because i think the most important experience to be president is experience in an executive position. and he has had the longest period to have

served as a local government executive as governor of the province now. so i think it's most qualified. so before we go to one more question, you have been a celebrated human rights attorney. you have champion many important causes. someone would view your current position both running for office and defending some of the most horrific dimensions of a repressive government. as a kind of moral fall from grace, what would you say to those people who say that you had been co opted sold out or otherwise? marley corrupted. nothing. those are the thoughts of very big offense and narrow minded individuals. i value freedom of expression. so be, let the people decide that's why i'm studying for elections to i stood for elections, one was elected. we'll see what the people say us where that the people who say so thank you so much for joining me on up front. ah, in latin america, hundreds of thousands of people have died from the so called war on drugs and tens

of thousands still remain forcibly disappeared. the power of cartels is not waning and many still feel the dire effects of failed counter drug policies. it's now been more than half a century since you as president nixon started the war on drugs and the u. s. port billions of dollars and to combating transnational drug trade. the result, ordinary people throughout latin america felt the run of the violence in the us. black and brown communities suffered the most from punitive counter drug policies. so is this really a war on drugs, or is it a war for control and profit? joining us to discuss this are renowned mexican investigative journalist, annabel hernandez, an author of several books, including narco land, the mexican drug lords, and they're godfathers, and maria mcfarlane sanchez moreno, senior legal advisor at human rights watch focusing on the americas us and canada. she's also the author of there are no, did hear a story of murder and denial in columbia. thank you both for joining me on up front,

annabel. i'm going to start with you. back in 2006, mexico's former president philippe called their own launched a u. s. backed war on drugs in the country dispatching the army and federal police to combat drug violence. but it actually had the opposite effect of violence increased in since then. more than 3 100000 people have been killed, and more than 90000 people had been registered as forcibly disappeared. despite the initiatives to supposedly stop the drug war and billions of dollars and us aid. why does the violence continue? well, ah, really is a separate complex in explanation, but for me there for a main em issues that caused that they did the tragedy in mexico's still being there. one is that they may get their principal drug cartel. sina lacardo sealed very powerful, not just in mexico,

also in only the american continent and you know, their bus of the wool. and of course ed day kuntal is still impugn. second, that unfortunately the cock does, he have been having baby, many times strong thighs and tights with their, with their butts of the mexican government. i mean the military, they bullied, they put their police, many parts of the government in mexico still connected with a gartner. this very issue is that, you know, even even, even with a coby issue, that demand of drugs in all that wall east is more than ever. and therefore issue is of course, that we are talking about i blow by bro. problem. he's not, i look at each in mexico in. he makes it good. you can see that there's that

tragedy, but the responsibility, the east in all the world. maria, let me turn to you because in columbia, we're seeing an interesting development as well. the drug cartels don't have as much power as they did in the 1980s, 900 ninety's, but columbia still the world's biggest producer of cocaine. drug trafficking has had a just a devastating impact on the population for, for decades in you have research the connection between drug traffickers in columbia and very high levels of government or how deep is state involvement the drug trade in columbia. so the pattern that you see in columbia is in many ways, very similar to what you see in mexico in afghanistan and many other countries. which is that prohibition, this war on drugs, heavy handed enforcement extradite, arrest, kill, drug traffickers, approach. all it does is make the value,

the price of drugs higher rate in that fuel organized crime. so you have the drug business actively engaged in violence and very involved in corrupting public officials to protect themselves, to protect their drug corridors, to allow them to do all their business with impunity and, and to allow them to keep their, their wealth. and no matter how hard you try with the heavy handed line, for some approach, they're going to keep going and about use documented similarly in many ways, state involvement in the drug trade, at the highest levels of the mexican government. you exposed how former president called her owns ahead of public security was not only involved with this in a lower corto. he was on the payroll of this in a low corto. so when the government says it's fighting, the drug war is this, just a cover is, is complete dishonesty. but why would the state be protecting these cartels?

well, i say is already explained, we are talking about a global issue, jess, in mexico. we know, because this is a fact that the mexican government, the mexican c stem, is very corrupted. we have a lot of examples of that. but what about the rest of the world? what about united states? you know, is there me guess consumer of, of drugs in the world? what about eop, what about us? yeah, i mean, because the drugs does not the just stay in mexico columbia and that then of the story for they don't got this to be able to drastic dis, thumbs of drugs, throw that what they need. corrupted connections, not just in mexico, not just in columbia, also in germany, in, you know, in amsterdam, in pire, east, in new york. so we are talking about dad in these wire and

drugs that group sion east everywhere because we are talking about the profits of these geared to business create millions of dollars. it's a great point and maria, we're out about saying is very important, right? so many people stand to benefit from, ah, the war on drugs or the enterprise, it's connected to the war on drugs. you have security contractors, you have banks or that launder money to corrupt politicians. this can't be isolated to one entity to one state, to, to one person in your view who stands to benefit the most from the world, wrote her i mean, i think that organized crime ultimately stands to benefit the most because it makes them so powerful. and so wealthy and organized crime plus all of their cronies in the state. and as i've pointed out, it's not just in mexico or in columbia that you're,

that you're looking at issues. so yes, it's those networks. it's not the growers, for example, who often get targeted or the people who get prosecuted in the united states for low level sales. and certainly not the people who get prosecuted for using drugs, right. you know, all of those groups of people stand to lose, right? people overwhelmingly low income, black and brown, people in the united states and mexico and, and columbia end up prosecuted, imprisoned for drug offenses in this war on drugs push and that achieves nothing except destroy their lot. will take a step back and talk a little bit about sort of the united states getting involved in the war on drugs in latin american countries. there had to be a geo political logic, a geopolitical reasoning for it. oh, why does the united states invest itself?

why does it make that decision to invest itself? was it a new form of sort of control so to speak? you know, the us, his interest in siding drug trafficking though, are very hard to pin down in the sense that plan colombia money that the u. s. than invested in, you know, billions of dollars in columbia starting in, in the late ninety's early to thousands. this was bill clinton, bill clinton initiative. that money was mainly used to go after the fark girl us. they said it was to fight drug trafficking, but very little of it was focused on going after the paramilitaries were the biggest drug traffickers at the time. and most of it was used to go after the park . so the motivations get very murky because what you end up it with is a government that is, you know, very connected to the paramilitaries in the early 2,

thousands going after the fart. so the u. s. seemed to be backing one group of drug traffickers against another, and about governments if their continued business as usual and their approach to the drug war, you know, bolster insecurity forces with us funding or deploying military's fueling corruption criminalizing victims. what can we do? what would be a more effective and humanitarian approach to really ending a wall drugs if that's at all possible. worry sir, is a complicated question. you know, because in, in my point of view really had never exceed one real war against drugs. what i do know, i have been investigating the drug cut this in mexico. also the connection with of these got this with their countries in a specific way with united states. you know,

i got information inside, once or inside one source that used to used to work with this in a la carte. and even the source told me, rebel me a how, how did some parts of the u. s. government start to have some relation, you want to see what them call it, like that with the senior members of this in a la carte, that. so when i had, what i have understand is that doesn't exceed a why. again, strokes exceeds a why to try to control, to administer the business. i think the united states government had had had been a bereaved. and how can i said a double face about these issues, because they call it and what against drugs. but i thinking the deep, they don't want to destroy their business, they want to administer the business. and of course, these are the same,

these purpose to my nash, and not destroy their business. create a lot of big themes. the main of the big themes are in e, in gone trees, like long. yeah, like mexico lay center make. i mean, and we have to, we have to start to talk about these c shoes. we that know the language, these east and international issue or the current is, should do a big plan. how to approach to these problem. i mean, we have to just try to, to let, let live away. then the old is, is beach. her bowed. the c shoe, i start to and start to talk about these in a new way. maria annabel. thank you so much for joining me. everybody. that is our show up front. we'll be back next week.

sediment and development have altered the course of the revenge. it. no longer flows to the sea, and around 10 years ago it became more susceptible to red tights. the boom of elk a calls as discoloration in the water. i'm going to scoop some of this water out. and you can see there's a rust colored tinge to it, checked by the fisheries department, show the l. he in the getting river is of the alexandria species which produces toxins. ra, sleep in a bra, him is a fisherman, fibrillation don't, but district in collect that. in the 1990s, the giddy river was clear. you could see the said, we didn't have any problems here. now the river is polluted and it smells bad. fisheries officials have they should notice this banning people from selling or eating malice found along the getting river. the area affected by the red tide is

small, but news of the algae blue has affected seafood trade is in the area. americans are increasingly saying authoritarianism might not be so bad. there were several steps along the way where the chain of command it seemed like tried to cover what's your take on why they've gotten this so wrong? that to me is political malpractice. the bottom line on us politics and policies and the impact on the world on al jazeera, discarded clothes from rich nations, are funneled through charities and sold to impoverished nations. on an unprecedented scale. a massive industry sift through the unwanted garments to re so to some of the world's poorest inhabitants. but much of what arrives is on fit for purpose and is fueling and environmental catastrophe. people in power travelers to gonna to uncover the dirty secret behind the world's fashion addiction. that white

man's clothes on edge is either a showcase of the best documentary films from across the network on al jazeera. ah, the u. s. president says he's certain russia will attack ukraine in the coming days . russia can still choose diplomacy. it is not too late to de escalate in return to negotiating a spike and fighting raises the alarm in the eastern ukraine. separate to say civilians are being moved to russia. ah matheson and this is al jazeera alive from dough ha also coming up here.

clearing the capital canadian police break up a truck drivers, protest making dozens.