In the spotlight: questions about the new interim Peruvian president
Manuel Merino, new president of Peru, November 10, 2020. AP Photo / Martin Mejia
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
5 mins
Publicity
Read more
The Latin American press questions the personality of the new president, Manuel Merino de Lama.
According to the Argentinian news site
Perfil
, Manuel Merino de Lama, former head of Congress and since yesterday the new interim president, is rather unknown to the general public.
Coming to power after a disputed impeachment procedure against Martin Vizcarra, his legitimacy is fragile, continues the news site.
Perfil also recalls that Manuel Merino, member of the conservative Accion Popular party, was elected to Parliament with just over 5,000 votes.
And this in a country of 33 million inhabitants.
The power of Manuel Merino does not come from these few votes, continues Perfil, but from a Congress determined to take revenge on former President Martin Vizcarra.
The latter was very popular with Peruvians, because he dared "to
confront parliamentarians whom he accused of corruption on several occasions
".
Manuel Merino suspects "influence peddling"
The Brazilian newspaper
Folha de Sao Paulo
, the former agronomist is under investigation for influence peddling.
He is accused of facilitating contracts between his family and the government.
Her sister, an architect, was able to secure a government contract for a rural sanitation project.
His mother rented an office reserved for employees of the Ministry of Defense.
And his brother owns a business that supplies fertilizer to the agriculture ministry.
Manuel Merino denies him having played a role in the award of these contracts.
The Perfil news site specifies that he has become the third president since 2016, since the election of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, which generally shows the "
political and institutional fragility of Peru
".
Accusations of fraud are unfounded
"
There is no evidence of fraud,
" headlines the
New York Times
.
The newspaper investigated the field, spoke with election officials from 45 states.
And their opinion is unanimous: there is no proof of fraud.
And they add: given the sanitary situation, the ballot took place in a remarkable way.
The
New York Times
quotes Frank LaRose, a Republican who works in the Ohio administration.
He denounces these rumors and these conspiracy theories that are popping up all over the country.
“
I don't understand,
” he said, “
why elections generate this kind of mythology
”.
Earlier this week, his team officially challenged the results in seven counties in Pennsylvania.
The argument put forward by lawyers: postal voting and the fact that ballots sent by mail were counted only from election day would make the system unfair.
However, as the
New York Times
notes
, this same system also applies in other states, which Donald Trump has won - and whose results are not contested by the outgoing president.
The dangers of a complicated transition
The Republicans' refusal to concede victory not only slows down the transition process, but poses a real danger to the security of the country.
This is what a law professor in the Canadian newspaper
Le Devoir points out
.
According to Paul Schiff Berman, "
It should not be underestimated that the more time that passes before Biden's transition team can have access to government documents, the more it poses a real danger to the government. proper functioning of our government
”.
The expert recalls that "
the commission which looked into the attacks of September 11, 2001 had underlined the importance of the transition from power to the top to take place quickly
".
Haiti and the hope of a vaccine against Covid-19
The announcement of the finalization of two vaccines against Covid-19 raises a lot of hope in the world.
In Haiti, the health authorities hope for a fair acquisition in the event that a vaccine is recognized.
According to the director of the National Public Health Laboratory, who spoke in Le
Nouvelliste
, "
the road which will lead to the acceptance of a vaccine in Haiti will be long
".
Doctor Jacques Boncy specifies that “
we will have to question
ourselves
about the type of vaccination and the acquisition and distribution strategy
”.
In fact, several studies are currently underway in Haiti, to find out how many Haitians have been in contact with the virus and to know the type of virus circulating in the country.
This latest study "
will be decisive in strategies aimed at blocking the circulation of the virus,
" explains the professor at the State University of Haiti in Le
Nouvelliste
.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Peru
Newspaper
Manuel Merino