06/21/21 06/21/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this march is defy the coup d'état. this leadership is taking advantages of the circumstances the election is but a fraud. since sisters have come to ask for their votes to be respected. amy: thousands march in lima, peru, as fears grow the daughter of peru's former dictator will

lead a coup to prevent her rival, the socialist teacher and union leader pedro castillo, who declared victory in the june 6 election. we will go to lima for the latest. plus, we will look at iran where hardline cleric ebrahim raisi won friday's presidential election. do u.s. policy and sanctions push iran to the right? then gasping for air. the progressive international holds an emergency summit to prevent vaccine internationalism. >> it is essential we broadcast the news for everyone to listen to. they could have ended the pandemic for the world. amy: we was to ecuador's former blic hlth minister. the current pandemic laid bare of our representatives of certain countries come the economic elite, large

pharmaceutical companies are willing to protect their interest. they have valued profits in the concentration of wealth more than human life. amy: and we will go to india as well. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the world health organization warns the delta coronavirus variant first identified in india is becoming the globally dominant variant globally. a delay britain's planned reopening. it is now the most common variant in moscow, where cases are on the rise. here in the united states, the centers for disease control warns it could become dominant source of infection the summer. president biden urged unvaccinated people to get the

shot to protect themselves and their communities. pres. biden: it can cause more people to die in areas where people have not been vaccinated. for people of god to shut the delta variant is highly unlikely to result -- amy: cuba's soberana dos vaccine has shown a promising 62% efficacy after two of its three doses, as cuba sees its worst surge since the beginning of the pandemic. mexico city is suspending in-person classes again starting -- admits mounting covid-19 infections. as brazil topped half a million covid deaths, tens of thousands of people took to the streets for anti-government protests saturday. >> we are protesting against the genocidal bolsonaro government that did not by vaccines and has done nothing to take care of its people in the last year. amy: experts warn the situation in brazil could get even worse as the coronavirus continues to spread and a severe drought

threatens water supply, farming, and the devastating fire season in the amazon. in japan, the governor of tokyo canceled public viewing sites for next month's contested summer olympics, with some sites to be used as vaccination centers instead. uganda has imposed strict new covid restrictions, including banning both public and private transportation as uganda and other african nations face mounting outbreaks. in iran, ebrahim raisi, the conservative head of the judiciary won an expected landslide victory in friday's presidential election. the vote was marked by a historically low turnout and after iran's guardian council disqualified many potential candidates. raisi, who enjoys the backing of supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei, was targeted by u.s. sanctions in 2019, accused of being involved in thousands of executions of prisoners in the late 1980's. amnesty international has called for the hardline cleric to be investigated for crimes against

humanity. raisi's win comes as talks continue to revive the iran nuclear deal, which the u.s. unilaterally withdrew from in 2018 under president trump. analysts say they expect negotiations to conclude before the transfer of power. on saturday, outgoing reign minister javad zarif said the talks are progressing but challenges remain. >> the problem is the united states has to come to the recognition it was the united states with an objective and that objective was not achieved and now it is coming back so it cannot dictate the objectives it could not achieve through economic -- on the negotiation tables. amy: incoming president raisi has expressed support for the deal, but on monday, told reporters he is not willing to meet with president biden or negotiate iran's ballistic missile program or its support of regional militias. we'll have more on iran after headlines. in afghanistan, the taliban are pressing a military offensive as u.s. troops continue to withdraw ahead of a september 11

deadline. on sunday, taliban fighters seized control of the provincial capitals of kunduz and faryab, taking afghan soldiers prisoner and seizing military equipment. in total, the taliban have seized more than 50 districts across afghanistan in recent weeks. in response, afghan president ashraf ghani fired and replaced his defense and interior ministers. ghani is scheduled to fly to washington, d.c., for talks with president biden at the white house on friday. in syria, aid agencies are warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe if the united nations security council does not renew its mandate for an aid corridor from turkey to syria's idlib province. doctors without borders warns more than 4 million people will lose access to desperately needed food, medical, and humanitarian aid if the bab al-hawa border crossing is closed. it's the last lifeline into rebel-held parts of northwestern

syria after russia and china vetoed security council resolutions in 2019 and 2020 that would have reauthorized three other aid corridors. in mexico, authorities believe they've found the remains of tomás rojo valencia, a yaqui indigenous leader who disappeared in the northern state of sonora about three weeks ago. he had been part of ongoing resistance by yaqui land and water defenders against gas ducts, water pipelines, and railway lines that run across their territory. for months, yaqui activists have led several highway roadblocks protesting assaults against their community. this comes as two journalists were murdered in mexico last week. enrique garcia was killed wednesday night in the state of mexico while he was reportedly working as a driver for an app and gustavo sánchez cabrera was shot to death in the state of oaxaca thursday. ethiopian voters are casting ballots in national and regional elections marred by war and

famine. the election was already delayed twice. millions will have to wait until a second phase of voting in september to cast outlets. some prominent opposition parties are boycotting the election to protest the jailing of their leaders. prime minister abiy ahmed, who -- is looking to extend his mandate after he pressed a military offensive in the northern tigray region marked by widespread reports of war crimes, including sexual violence. the conflict has killed thousands of civilians, displaced more than 2 million people, anled to massive food shortages wi aid groups warning 350,000 people in tigray are on the brink of famine. the u.n. general assembly passed a resolution condemning the february 1 military coup to "prevent the flow of arms" into burma amid the months-long deadly crackdown on protests. the international body stopped short, however, of calling for a global arms embargo against the burmese military. burma's u.n. representative chow

mo toon responded to the resolution. >> we are so disappointed that it took almost three months to adopt this watered-down resolution, even though it does not include any important points to save lives of the people in myanmar. amy: he has had sharp criticism of the military. he also warned time is running out to reverse the military takeover and prevent a full-blown civil war. a local rights group estimates 872 people have been killed by the military junta since the coup and hundreds of thousands have had to flee, particularly ethnic minorities, from the states of kayah and kayin. a wu.n. refugee agency report said over 82 million people around the world were forcibly displaced by war, persecution, and the climate crisis by the end of 2020 -- a record high. the highest number of refugees came from syria, venezuela, afghanistan, south sudan, and

burma. the u.n. said the crisis could get even worse this year with possible famines threatening displaced people. the report came ahead of world refugee day sunday. two more prisoners held at guantánamo bay have been cleared for release after 17 years behind bars without charge. 11 prisoners have been cleared to leave the military prison, but the u.s. government has yet to negotiate for their transfers with other countries. this week, activists with the group witness against torture are holding a solidarity fast and vigil with the 40 remaining prisoners at guantanamo bay. georgia's republican secretary of state brad raffensperger said friday he has removed over 100,000 names from georgia's voter rolls. raffensperger said most of the names were linked to a change of address or from residences where election mail had been returned to sender. voting rights group fair fight action warns the last time georgia carried out a purge of state voter rolls, raffensperger

was forced to admit errors that nearly disenfranchised 22,000 people. this follows georgia's passage of a sweeping voting law in march that critics call worst voter suppression legislation since the jim crow era. since then, republican officials have removed at least 10 county election officials across georgia -- most of them democrat and about half of them people of color. in related news, the senate is set to vote tuesday on the sweeping "for the people act," which republicans are expected to oppose. 10 mass shootings were reported across the united states this weekend, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens. at least two of the victims were children. the gun violence archive reports there have been nearly 300 mass shootings so far in 2021. in portland, oregon, an entire police crowd-control unit has resigned after a grand jury indicted one of its members. the mass resignation of about 50 officers came after officer

corey budworth was charged with a fourth degree misdemeanor assault charge for repeatedly

it is great to have you with us. can you talk about the significance of this election and exactly who raisi is? >> good morning, amy. this is, as you said, the change of presidency in iran. every eight years, we've seen a

change of presidency. i past experience, they should have been the most exciting and enthusiastic event. it usually brings a high number of participation. it is going up to 80% in some elections. as you said, participation has been very low. there hasn't been much enthusiasm. the significance is ebrahim raisi and the core of the deep state, the security forces, seem to have higher emotions than just presidency. he is preparing to be a potential successor to the supreme leader, who was a president before he became a supreme leader himself. so this seems to be the steppingstone the raisi team has been playing. also in 2017, the previous election, presidential election, ebrahim raisi lost to rouhani.

in this election, the hardliners tried to disqualify any serious moderate or reformist rival to raisi to clear a path to victory for him and avoid another embarrassing defeat like the previous election. amy: explain who ran and the significance of the low voter turnout, the lowest in decades. >> sure. ebrahim raisi ran along with four other hardline candidates who weren't really a serious challenge to the race, to him in the race. any viable moderate or reformist who was seen as someone to be able to bring out the vote, including someone -- hardliner disqualified because he was seen as someone the

moderates may be planning to rally behind, create a coalition in a serious challenge to raisi. only one moderate, a banker and economist who wasn't really an exciting candidate, and one reformist -- also not a very note reformist -- these were the two permitted to run against him and one of them dropped out. at the same time, the phenomenon of this election was a lack of dissipation. as you said, this was the lowest turnout in the history of the islamic republic presidential elections. there has been deep voter apathy, frustration, anger at the entire system. the country's economic situation, which is also impacted by the triangle of sanctions -- mismanagement, corruption, and corona in the

past year. there is a sense of hopelessness among the population. part of the pulation is disillusioned with any form of change from the ballot talks. there was also calls for boycotts by iranian exiles, part of the political groups inside the country. it seems like overall, the hardliners were going for hyper dissipation but -- were not going for hyper dissipation, but rather an easy win [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: talk about the selection happening at the same time not right afterwards these talks of wrapped up in vienna around the u.s. rejoining the iran nuclear deal, the significance of this, as well as raisi actually supporting the iran nlear deal. >> so raisi being a hardliner and ultraconservative with a controversial past, the closest

we can think of is the presidency of ahmadinejad. they did not really bring any results. this time around, even the country's foreign policy and domestic policy will be pushed more into a hard-line direction, nuclear deal has a possibility of surviving because this is -- it isn't already made deal. it exists on paper. the negotiations in vienna. so i have a sense this deal has a chance of surviving. it was approved by the supreme leader. raisi has said he would support a nuclear deal. there are a couple of months left until the actual change of presidency. so the current team in tehran with the negotiators, the u.s.

negotiators, unable to bring into the finish line before the actual -- are able to bring it to the finish line before the actual change in administration, will have a chance to survive but any other diplomatic engagement between tehran and the west, europe and u.s. on other issues, will be more complicated under heartland administration. amy: i want to go to the outgoing minister who said the talks are progressing but challenges remain. >> the problem is the united states has to come to the recognition was the u.s. that left with an objective and the objective was not achieved and now, back to the deal so it cannot dictate the objectives it could not achieve the economic -- under the negotiation table. amy: last month, dozens of democratic officials wrote to president biden asking him to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and demanding the lifting of the truck your deals, writing -- "the only result has been a vastly expanded iranian nuclear

program, increased regional instability, near u.s.-iran war on multiple occasions, and severe economic sanctions that have contributed to a dire humanitarian crisis inside iran." again, those are u.s. democratic leaders. if you can also talk about the effect of the sanctions -- by the way, raisi himself is under u.s. sanction. but the effect of the sanctions on the population overall in iran, particularly around covid? >> sure. so sanctions have contributed to high inflation in iran. they been crippling the iranian economy. i didn't really bring any policy goals as restated by the trump administration, but they were successful in pushing iran's economy, bringing a higher late of unemployment to iranian youth, pushing a large number of the iranian middle-class and poverty. people who were seen as

changemakers in the political scene becoming more concerned with -- sanctions have contributed to a shortage of certain life-saving medicine. over the past year and a half with the covid-19 pandemic it in, sanctions have also been part of to limit iran's fight against covid. the fighting has not been successful, have not been successful in containing the virus fully but sanctions contributed to iran's lack of access to test kits, to personal protective equipment that was need for heah workers, and other items -- humanitarian items, even though they were supposed to be exempt from sanctions. but financial and banking restrictions basically hindered any form of trade with iran, even in the form of humanitarian

trade. the economic situation overall also helped create the sense of border apathy and disillusionment and any sense of hope for a better future because part of the iranian task was seen the experience -- they negotiated with the united states and they made a deal, but president trump pulled out of the deal and the economy went in shambles. that contributed to the lack of participation in the election and the result that was all, which is the lowest voter turnout. amy: negar mortazavi, thank you for being with us iranian-american journalist and , political analyst. host of the iran podcast. next up, lima, peru. a possible coup after pedro

castillo declared victory in the recent election. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. fears are growing in peru that supporters of right-wing presidential candidate keiko fujimori will stage a coup to prevent her rival, the socialist teacher and union leader pedro castillo, from taking power. with all the votes counted castillo has a 44,000 vote lead, , but fujimori is claiming fraud without offering any evidence. she is calling for hundreds of thousands of votes to be annulled -- mostly from poor andean regions. castillo is the son of andean peasant farmers. he grew up in remote, poor region. fujimori is the daughter of imprisoned former dictator alberto fujimori. on friday, over 80 retired military officers urged the peruvian armed forces not to

recognize castillo as president if he is formally declared the winner. the retired officers called on military leaders to "act rigorously" to "remedy" the election claiming that castillo would be an "illegal and@@ illegitimate" commander in chief. this comes as keiko fujimori is fighting to stay out of jail herself. a state prosecutor recently urged a judge to send her back to prison in connection with an ongoing corruption case. michelle bachelet, the united nations high commissioner for human rights, has urged peruvians to accept election results. she also condemned racist attacks on castillo and voters from the andes. she said "i repudiate hate speech and discrimination in all its forms as it is unacceptable in any democratic society." over the weekend, thousands took to the streets of peru for rival protests. this is a supporter of pedro castillo speaking from lima.

>> this march is defied the coup d'état that keiko fujimori intends. taking advantage of the circumstances to say the election has been a fraud. our brothers and sisters from the provinces have come to ask for their votes to be respected. amy: we go now to lima, peru, where we are joined by josé carlos llerena. he is a peruvian educator and activist. recently co-wrote a piece with vijay prashad for peoples dispatch titled "the coup that is taking place in peru." welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with this. if you can start off by talking about the significance of the castillo win and who exactly he is? >> good morning, amy. it is a pleasure to be with you and other people who are watching the program. pedro castillo is a teacher, a

former -- he is a union leader of the teachers union in peru in 2017. he led a protest for almost free months of rally and protests. he turned down two ministers. pedro castillo is a popular leader because in the first round of his presidential election, 48 of his voters sai they vote for pedro castille because he is like them, a real guy, working-class peruvian. and also he had a message of

sovereignty. pedro castille has said the resources and peru have to be used for the peruvian needs. and also, pedro castillo has a feature of social justice. such message, for example -- and it in middle of the pandemic we are suffering here in peru. so when you told me about the significance of pedro castille, i have to say that it is the first time in 2000 years of republic were peruvian people choose for a popular candidate, a popular leader. but i think the best way to approach this case is not in the contradiction of right and left,

more in the poor against rich, region against region. the last part of the campaign of pedro castille was purely of hope. the campaign of fujimori was fear, as you can see right now. that is why people were in the street saturday defending their vote. more than 70,000 people in the streets of lima and many hundreds more around the country. amy: talk about fujimori, the daughter of that jailed former dictator alberto fujimori whose brutality is well-known around the world. if you can talk about the approach she is taking -- clearly, straight from the trump playbook -- of just saying, without evidence, that she won? >> yes.

well, the relic on the protest -- the rally, the protest was against the coup. the coup is ongoing. that is a fact. however, this is a coup with many combined elements from other experiences. as you said in the first phase, this group has all the features of the trump scandal of the last election in the united states. [indiscernible] fujimori's coup has trump's features. the fear here is within the arena of an election process.

also, right now we can appreciate future like the parliament brazilian coup against dilma rousseff. because while all -- votes being declared invalid, they are trying to do by means of a parliament coup and also there is the typical -- in latin america in order to avoid the popular leader participate in popular elections, right now

there is a tactic over the peruvian party's whose founder is [indiscernible] so we have all the features of a coup. amy: this is the socialist presidential candidate who according to one had a percent of the vote has one by over 44,000 votes, pedro castillo, addressing supporters earlier this month after he cast his ballot in the presidential election runoff. >> i hope today beyond the elections, peru has to understand we can't move our country forward if we do not unite. our country needs to move forward from many situations as the pandemic has demonstrated. we will make every effort to

give help to the peruvian people come education to the peruvian people, tranquility and welfare with justice. amy: that is pedro castille. if you can talk about what is the elite so afraid of? he is standing with his signature straw hat, he is indigenous, wearing a mask in these times of covid. at are ty so frful of? >> well, i think there are two ways to approach it. the first one is the people are afraid because fujimori campaign has been a campaign of fear most with the media and fake news trying to relate pedro castillo with this narrative of communist to kills people, children, and all that strategy.

that is e way to approach it. and explain very well how the distance between pedro castillo and keiko fujimori has been closing while we were near to the june 6. because all the media was spreading this message i fear, terrorism. there is another reason, colonial and racist approach. since 200 years of republic, peruvians -- have ruled everhing here in peru.

media, parliament, control everything. this hate of indigenous people, hate of everything that can be popular. that is why following even this state of revolution, the grassroots movement is weak right now it is not strong, but the grassroots movement they're promoting right now, they have plaques that celebrate here in latin america -- the spanish flag, colonial flag, and a these symbols. so i think those are two reasons

why there is fear right now in peru. one is the media but alsthe hierarchy is spreading the fear becausthey're losing the country they think they own. cannot take anymore. amy: in this last minute we have, peru's death toll from covid per capita is the worst and in the world, based on population. the per capita debt toll is more than that of brazil. the effect that has had on your country? close choose me? amy: the effect that covid has had on your country? >> as you said, we he the most all over the world, but i think

the pandemic has also impacted the election because the pandemic has put in evidence -- and poster 30 years ago by alberto fujimori has failed. we don't have health insurance. we don't have good school conditions. we don't have anything. that is why in the first wave of covid, many doctors and nurses died, a lot of poor people died. there is an outline of class here in order -- the pandemic crisis. i think the pandemic has helped new order to put evidence or put

the spotlight over the projects and that is why people are voting for pedro castillo. he represents a change, a social change. amy: we want to thank you for being with us. we will continue to follow what happens in peru. josé carlos llerena is a peruvian educator, a member of the peruvian oanization la junta, and a representative of alba movimientos peruvian chapter. his article for peoples dispatch we will link to, "the coup that is taking place in peru." next up, and emergency summit to promote vaccine internationalism. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "oman oba." this is democracy now,

democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. we look now the push to respond to what the world health organization calls vaccine apartheid with vaccine internationalism. more than covid-19 vaccines have 2.6 billion been administered worldwide, but many countries have yet to see a single shot amid mounting infections. 85% of vaccines administered worldwide have been in high- and upper-middle-income countries. only 0.3% of doses have been administered in low-income countries. last week, g7 nations pledged to donate just 613 million new vaccine doses -- far less than the 1 billion originally promised. this was the focus of a fo-day virtual summit on vaccine internationalism this weekend attended by government ministers, parliamentarians, and public health officials from countries around the world includinargentina,olivia, vietnam, kerala, greece, the united kingdom, canada, and cuba. the summit was organized by progressive international, the group founded by senator bernie

sanders and former greek finance minister yanis varoufakis. this is varoufakis. >> i want to share two numbers. 9000 billion dollars. this is the sum of money that the g7, central banks printed to give to the bankers during the pandemic between march 2020 and today. 9000 billion dollars. the second number, international monetary fund has come up with an estimate of how much it would cost at the present crisis to vaccinate the world using vaccines to ccinate everyone fully, to doses when necessary. $39 million. compar they printed $9,000 billion the bankers and thinking about how to vaccinate the world but only $39 million. we never expect the central

bankers of the capitalist west to produce the $39 billion, even the -- vaccinate community. we did not expect such humaness om them but is essential that we broadcast from the rooftops the news r everyo to listen to. that they printed $9,000 billion and only 39 billion, could have ended the pandemic for the world. onlyy demonstring to good people out there, who are not part of the progressive international, who are not leftist, only by explaining to them -- we don't even need to wait for socialism for nationalization of big pharma, big structural revolutionary changes. tiny little move of one finger thin the existing capitalis -- and they're not doing it. this is how we inject outrage in

the heart and minds of good people out there who are not radicalized yet. this is how we radicalize the world in order to be able to end the patent not believe a big pharma, in order to internationalize, nationalize, socialize -- call it whatever you will -- big pharma, so that there are no more patents that event people from access to pharmaceuticals -- vaccines, drugs, whatever is necessary -- that is available iorder to save lives. let's expose pharma, big politics, the oligarchy for their lack of willingness to do even things that are consistent with their own system in order to save humanity. ending the patent system, replacing it. how about a situation where we say, whichever company proces

vaccine against hiv, weive em 5 billion but n the patent. supporting pharmaceutical companies in cuba, africa that can produce vaccines today and start the process of convincing the world that they should be part of the progressive international, radicalizing them by means of this combination. on the one hand, demonstrating life-saving changes that can take place even within this global capitalism and harvest the ensuing hunger in order to create the revolutionary progressive economics by which we are going to change the world -- vaccinate everyone and provide basics to everyone that needs them. thank you. amy: that his former greek finance minister yanis varoufakis. the emergency summit for vaccine internationalism was held

virtually around the world this weekend. we're joined by the summits co-chair carina vance mafla. she's the former health minister of ecuador, joining us from new orleans. also with us from bangalore, india, is achal prabhala, coordinator of the accessibsa project, which campaigns for access to medicines in india, brazil, and south africa. he took part in the summit and has a new article in the atlantic co-authored with chelsea clinton headlined "the vaccine donations aren't enough." it is great to have you with us. carina vance mafla, but start with you. talk about the significance of this meeting globally, virtually, and what you're demanding -- your first speaker anyone one of the promos for this started by saying "gasping for air." >> zinke for having me -- thank you for having me. it has been an amazing

opportunity the summit with the organization of progressive ternational and have countries like cuba, mexico, argentina having -- venezuela, having their national government reprentatives at the summit. what we're looking for is an alternative to a system that has basically allowed for covid-19 vaccines to be absolutely concentrated in the higher income countries. you mentioned the g7 commitment to donating 600 million vaccines. let's think about the population in lower income and lower middle income countries. that is roughly 3.5 billion people. if we're talking about a vaccine that requires two doses, we're talking about 7 billion doses. obviously, we are for the commitment by the g7 is far from what we need in lower income and

lower middle income countries. what the summit was proposing an is proposing is the creation of this platform where we have the potential -- great potential already in the global south countries like cuba, argentina, mexico thatre producing or developing vaccine candidates that are close to the possibility of having a mass manufacturer. we saw yesterday cuba shared to the world data in terms of the efficacy of their vaccine, which is 62% above who standards so this is positive, good news. what the commitments that occurred in the summit included having -- being open to mass production in other countries from countries that have developed vaccine candidates, but also having pricing that is

based on solidarity. we have seen n only the concentration, the hoarding of vaccines in the global north -- many times against wto rules with equipment like masks -- but we have seen in this example and other examples in the region and the world that the profit margin that is being seeked by big pharma is huge. this commitment to have pricing that is based on solidarity, pricing based on the possibility of expanding access to the vaccine in the global south is a very positive thing, as well as suppting initiatives that are historically important as well as the trips waiver that is being considered in the wto -- although we all know there are countries that are dragging their feet toor instanc canada, where bolivia has any agreement with the canadian-based pharmaceutical company to produce vaccines and

candida has not given the compulsory licensing required to be able to do this. we see countries dragging their feet when we have in front of us practical solutions that could result -- resolve this horrible and equity we are seeing globally. amy: i want to also go to achal prabhala, speaking to us from india. so tragically hard-hit during this pandemic. so might say criminally hard-hit. you begin your piece in the atlantic that you co-authored with chelsea clinton by pointing out developing countries now account for the vast majority of daily global covid deaths. 85% of the vaccines are going to the richest countries. .3% to the poor countries. scores of untries, almost 100

have not seen a vaccine. that death toll, do you attribute it entirely to vaccinations and the lack of them? grandma what is happening -- >> what has been happening since may is the pandemic has mutated. what was once a global calamity is now large a developing country problem. there are many ways of measuring the effect of the pandemic. the starkest way to measure it is through modality, the number of pple who die. and since last month, the number of peoplwhoie on a daily basis from covid, from the pandemic, are in developin countries. they aren low and middle incomeountries. in the poorest countries in the world, they form a share of 43% of all deaths worldwide. middle income, the 2%. richest countries, only 15%. the reason the richest countries

in the world can open their economies and things like holiday plans, is because they are vaccinated. vaccinations are a protection against things that we saw in india the last two months, which is deaths caused as result of a feeling public health system. a public health system is not capable of treating people and this country. he never has been. vaccinations prevent people from dying you can say unnecessarily, but through the symptoms that could be treated but are not most of things like access to oxygen, steroids, basic hospital care -- which is what the majority of the deaths and india are result of. the problem with the rate of deployment of vaccines is well known. we are in a state of vaccine apartheid and could not be a greater contrast between the

inaction from the g7 -- let's be clear, donations are great. donations are especially great to the african union whi represents among the largest number of poor countries in the world, especially great if they can be sent right now and deployed immediately because there is an immediate crisis and immediate donations responded up. the g7 announcement, the number of vaccines was inflated and many of those vaccines that have been promised by g7 countries will only come to these four countries at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. keep in mind, on a daily basis last month on average, we had over 4000 deaths in india alone, 15,000 deaths a day globally. when you consider numbers like that, a day delay, week delay, years delay some is criminal. d not have been a bigger contrast from what the g7

display last week d what some of the poorest countries and in the world, as well as other countries who are by far outside the block of the richest countries on earth rot together to decide --carina vance mafla moderad and shared a session with a few leaders of states who were all in solidarity. they were in empathy. it was like going out and speaking the language and suddenly everybody understood. they understood they were going to do everything that could help crises in their own country and doubt anyone else -- to help anyone else that needed help. vaccines from cuba available to anyone he wanted to produce of anywhere in the world, including a nasal spray vaccine which has great promise. we had commitments from mexico andnk argentina to share the revelatory authority they have to assess drugs and vaccines.

this is something they have already been doing and in the region and extended this to any country and in the world who wished to take it up. we had countries like bolivia and venezuela talking about their own access to civil disobedience that they encouraged others to follow them onto create collective action around this global regime of pharmaceutical monopoly. there was and i must spiritual spirit at this conference which i must say was a breath of fresh air to have a bunch of countries with power, with real -- to commit to this pandemic be willing to do that in a way that we could all share in what each other has to survive this pandemic individually and collectively. amy: i went to ask carina vance if you can talk about one of the major themes of this emergency international vaccine summit being health sovereignty under

the global south. what exactly does that look like? and you come a person of two countries, were educated in the united states, the health minister under president korea in a quite door and lived there as well -- what youee people in the united states not understanding about this pandemic when it comes to if one person is sick anywhere in the world, we are all susceptible? >> well, it is exactly that. i think a lot of people in the united states, for instance, consider themselves lucky to have been able to access that scene given what is going on in the global south. it is not a matter of luck. we are very clear on that. that is why it is so impornt to strengthen health sovereignty. what does that mean? and pleasing our capacity to develop medications.

-- ireasing our capacity to develop medications. we have many that don't have the interest of big pharma because they don't represent enough of a profit margin. we need to strengthen our own capacity. and we have such great examples of that. cuba, five vaccine candidates, despite the unilateral sanctions by the united states. difficulty in raw materials, difficulty in terms of establishing commercial contracts with other countries around the world because of these sanctions. just a few days ago, we learned about the fact venezuela had paid the last payment for the covax mechanism to access vaccines and this last payment was frozen so they're not yet able to access a mechanism that was created -- in developing

countries. health sovereignty means strengthening our capacity to develop and investigate, research, and produce vaccines and other types of health technologies that we need. this must be upled with health system strengthening. we have great history of this and recent history of strengthening health systems in latin america and the global south, much more needs to happen because we have a counter power -- for instance, i am at has agreements witthe countries like ecuador where i am from where it is imposing new liberal policies and ecuador in 2020, we w 10% budget cuts in the health sector. you would think this is ridiculous in the middle of a pandemic but that is the type of policy we're seeing. to have progressive governments coupled with progressive leadership's around the world to say are -- we can and will rengthen our health sovereignt our capacity to

attend to our own needs because health has been used as a weapon. not only -- a lot of countries have had contracts on payments to pharmaceutical companies. amy: we have to leave it there but i want to thank you for being with

♪ hello and thanks for joining us on nhk world-japan. this is nhk "newsline." iran's president-elect has called on the united states to lift sanctions on his country in his first press conference since winning friday's election. ebrahim raisi spoke to reporters