Breaking the silence in Belarus
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 19 August 2020
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Lukashenko has remained defiant in the face of growing protests at his disputed re-election, threatening striking workers with being fired, in a stand-off that could last a long time.
Even state broadcasters are raising their voices, as former state TV presenter Dmitry Kohno explains. Ed Butler hears from two leaders in Belarus’ burgeoning tech sector, who worry both for the sector’s continued growth, and their own safety. And economists Anders Aslund and Sergei Guriev question whether Belarus can ever compete as a market economy, or move away from its reliance on Russia.
Producer: Frey Lindsay
(Picture: Protesters stage a rally in Independence Square, Minsk; Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello there, I'm Ed Butler. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:05.4 | Today, the protests and strikes gripping the nation of Belarus, from factories to the TV news channel. |
| 0:12.6 | Almost all the people are versus regime. And right now, after one swallow of fresh air of freedom, |
| 0:20.5 | people don't want to see and watch news where there is no truth. |
| 0:25.0 | We hear from protesters and business people about the struggle for reform. |
| 0:29.0 | Now people are scary. |
| 0:30.2 | They want to leave the country and we can lose the best specialist that we have right now. |
| 0:35.6 | And, you know, my friend today told that all Belarusian will |
| 0:39.2 | live. What next for Belarus? That's Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:52.3 | These are extraordinary times in the Belarusian capital Minsk. |
| 0:56.6 | Many tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people, |
| 0:59.6 | have taken to the streets over the last few days. |
| 1:02.0 | This is in a country of just 10 million souls. |
| 1:08.5 | Many workers are going on strike over what's seen as a stolen election. |
| 1:13.4 | The country's strong man, Alexander Lukashenko, is struggling to keep control. |
| 1:23.1 | That was the president on Monday, addressing factory workers, a supposedly loyal crowd, |
| 1:33.0 | who suddenly spontaneously shouted him down. |
| 1:35.9 | Uchodi, they cried, leave. |
| 1:38.3 | You have to ask, can any political leader survive all of this? |
| 1:41.9 | Even journalists at the state broadcaster are being encouraged |
| 1:45.2 | to go on strike now. |
| 1:47.0 | I appeal to the colleagues who have these problems with conscience. They align to the people |
... |
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