In the spotlight: last day of the campaign before second round of the presidential election in Ecuador
Candidate Guillermo Lasso meets voters on April 7, 2021 in Quito.
© AP / Dolores Ochoa
Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow
5 mins
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It is therefore the final straight line for “
Andrés Arauz, aged 36, who represents the ideological line of former President Rafael Correa and therefore the Ecuadorian version of 21st century socialism, and for Guillermo Lasso, 65, representing liberal conservatism
, ”says
El Mercurio
.
The newspaper recalls that voting is compulsory in Ecuador and that voters who do not go to the polls risk having to pay a fine.
"
A risk that some Ecuadorians say they want to take, others explain that they will vote white, so great is the distrust of the population towards the political class as a whole
".
In this context, the two finalists are trying by all means to mobilize the voters.
"
We must not forget that 47.5% of Ecuadorians voted in the first round for candidates other than Andrés Arauz and Guillermo Lasso,
" recalls
El Comercio
.
The daily emphasizes that the two finalists have both focused in recent days “
on indigenous and Amazonian communities.
Another target was the vote for women.
Lasso also obtained the support of the business community, Arauz that of the trade union centers
”.
"
And this is how an atypical campaign ends, marked not only by the pandemic, but also and above all by attempts at disinformation and violence
", notes the columnist of
El Universo
who concludes: "
We are at a decisive moment for the country and for each of its inhabitants.
It is not just a question of complying with the obligation to vote.
It is a question of exercising a right which can tip the scales towards better days for the whole population
”.
Colombia: towards the first post-pandemic tax reform in Latin America
How to close the budget gap due to public spending required by the coronavirus epidemic?
To answer this question, Colombia is preparing the first post-pandemic tax reform in Latin America.
"The
fourth largest economy in Latin America, Colombia has spent since the start of the epidemic the equivalent of 5.7% of its gross domestic product to support the most fragile families
," recalls
El Pais
.
“
These measures have increased the country's debt, which this year stands at 64.8%.
The government of Bogota warns that, even by adopting a tax reform, the level of the debt will not drop significantly before 2031
”.
A commission of experts submitted proposals to President Ivan Duque's team.
Among them, "
the widening of the taxpayer base, since almost half of the Colombian economy is informal, the fight against tax evasion and the elimination of certain tax advantages
", details El Pais.
But what has aroused the anguish of Colombians in recent days is the announced increase in VAT.
The population fears a rise in the prices of basic products such as sugar, salt, chocolate and coffee, explains the daily
El Tiempo
.
Yesterday, faced with the swelling controversy, President Ivan Duque wanted to reassure Colombians: “
The VAT rate on these four products will not change.
The objective of tax reform is to enable us to continue to serve the most vulnerable.
And for that a stabilization of the finances of the Nation is necessary
”, estimated the Head of State.
The bill will be transferred to Congress in the coming days, announces
El Tiempo
.
United States: worrying increase in Covid-19 cases in Michigan state
The state of Michigan, in the American Midwest, has been facing a surprising new rise in Covid-19 cases for several days.
And the profile of patients is changing, warns the news site
The Bridge
.
"
Over the past week, the largest number of new confirmed cases in Michigan have been among young people aged 20 to 29 and 10 to 19.
"
To counter this new outbreak, the authorities are launching a large-scale vaccination campaign in public and private universities.
The idea: administer the Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine to as many students as possible before they finish their spring semester on April 27 and leave their campuses to go home.
Chile: a new 72-million-year-old mammal species in Patagonia
A new species of mammal has been discovered in Chilean Patagonia.
This species lived during the Late Cretaceous period and therefore in the era of the dinosaurs.
The announcement was made yesterday by the Chilean Antarctic Institute.
According to the newspaper
La Tercera
,
a team of paleontologists in Chilean Patagonia discovered the fossil of a five-toothed jaw, 72 to 74 million years old and in excellent condition.
The new species was named “
Orretherium tzen
”.
Its discovery is of crucial importance for researchers, because “
the evolution of mammals in the age of dinosaurs is still very little known.
Each discovery of a new species is therefore a breakthrough that attracts the attention of the whole world
”, rejoices a member of the paleontological team in the columns of the newspaper.
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