In the spotlight: Chauvin trial, the United States holds its breath
Protesters sporting a portrait of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter slogans on the sidelines of Derek Chauvin's trial in Minneapolis on April 19.
REUTERS - OCTAVIO JONES
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
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The Chauvin trial with the deliberations of the jury which began to make the headlines of the press. "
A nation holds its breath,
" writes the
Washington Post
, for example
.
"
Now the fate of Derek Chauvin is in the hands of the jury,
" which began its deliberations last night. "
The eyes of the entire country are on Minneapolis while awaiting the judgment of a trial which has already marked the history of the United States,
" said the
Washington Post.
Sign that the tensions are at the maximum point, the debate around the words of the African-American federal deputy Maxine Waters. During a demonstration last weekend in Minneapolis against the death of young black Daunte Wright, killed by a policewoman last week, she said she hoped that Derek Chauvin would be found guilty. Words that according to the trial judge give arguments to the defense to appeal. It's on the front page of
USA Today.
Other newspapers are interested in what the members of the jury are going through. "
A jury that is under maximum pressure
," writes the local newspaper
Star Tribune.
Protesters demand that the accused be convicted as his lawyers plead for an acquittal. Jurors know their decision will be commented on by the world and will have an impact on American society. "
It is difficult to manage this emotional stress
", explains a professor of psychology in the columns of the
Star Tribune,
especially as the jurors will not be able to benefit from individual assistance in these moments of deliberation.
Their situation is very paradoxical, concludes the
Star Tribune
: "
they are at the same time reclusive, work behind the scenes, and are exposed on the international media scene
".
One element, however, reduces the pressure a little, adds a former judge, he also expresses himself in the
Star Tribune
: the fact that the sentence excludes the death penalty.
It is not a question of deciding on the life and death of a person but on the number of years that he could spend behind bars.
Goodbye Castros?
Not really…
The retirement of RaUl Castro is of course the front page of the official press. The
Granma
newspaper
congratulates President Miguel Díaz-Canel who took over from Raúl Castro as first secretary of the Communist Party yesterday. With the old and new one-party leader holding hands at the closing of the Eighth CPC Congress, this photo is on the front page of
Granma.
So, goodbye Castros? Not quite, because according to the
Miami Herald,
some family members will continue to occupy high positions in the Cuban administration. RaUl Castro's daughter runs an organization that defends the rights of the LGBT community. One of his sons who "
worked for rapprochement with the United States
" works in the intelligence services. Not to mention a former son-in-law who is "
at the head of a powerful group of military companies
". The
Miami Herald
which also collected testimonies from Cubans living in Florida who fled the Communist government. According to these exiles, nothing will change in Cuba with the departure of Raul Castro. "
I left the island because of Castro and Díaz-Canel,
"said Yglesias, 36, before adding:"
the country is sinking into crisis and they are pursuing the same policies that have no sense
”.
Health, social and economic crisis in Argentina
The Covid-19 crisis in Argentina has also led to a serious social and economic crisis, it is a report to read in the
New York Times.
“
We have lost everything
!
»
,
This bitter observation, it is Carla Huanca who draws it up, a resident of Buenos Aires.
At 33, she needs government help to support her family.
And this young woman is not an isolated case.
Four in ten Argentines now live in poverty, the newspaper writes.
The peso, the national currency, fell sharply against the dollar, making imports, including food, more expensive.
To feed her family, Carla Huanca, depends on free meals provided by volunteers in the neighborhood.
With what she has left in savings, she wants, among other things, to pay for the internet connection so that her children can continue to attend her online classes at their school.
Uruguay also hit hard by the crisis
Another Latin American country is increasingly affected by the pandemic, it is Uruguay whose death rate per capita is now the highest in Latin America, according to the newspaper
Folha de S. Paulo.
The newspaper recalls that this small country was at the start of the pandemic a model for managing the health crisis.
A crisis which has worsened, however, and which endangers the social cohesion of the country.
Local authorities and doctors are pushing President Luis Lacalle Pou to put in place tougher restrictions.
In the meantime, the Uruguayans go to the beach, numerous and without masks, as shown on the front page of the newspaper
El Observador.
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