In the spotlight: the presidential election in France
Marine Le Pen candidate of the National Rally and Emmanuel Macron, again face to face for the second round of the French presidential election, April 24, 2022. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
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Photos of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen make the front page of many newspapers on the American continent, from Argentina to Canada.
According to the
Argentine newspaper
Clarin
, “
there are two Frances who voted this Sunday: the one who earns a good living, who has no identity problems, who travels, who goes on vacation and who accepts cultural diversity.
And then there are the others, the new poor of the middle class
”, who earn more than 3,000 euros per household, but whose bank account balance is negative at the beginning of the month, after having paid the mortgage, the taxes , electricity, gas, and mutual insurance.
According to
Clarin
,
they are the ones who voted for the extreme right in this first round, probably for the first time.
They thus express the anger and the humiliation that they feel
”.
The vote for the far right and in particular Marine Le Pen worries Washington
According to the Politico
news site
, NATO and the European Union will experience two weeks of great concern until the second round.
France's American and European allies "
are trying to assess whether Paris will remain a reliable partner in the war against Putin's forces in Ukraine
", particularly in view of a victory for Marine Le Pen.
Like other newspapers, Politico underlines the closeness of the president of the National Assembly with the Russian president, but also her wish to withdraw the only nuclear power of the European Union from the integrated command structure of the Atlantic Alliance.
►
To read also: French presidential election: what vote reserve for Emmanuel Macron?
“
Half a century ago
, writes the Quebec daily
Le Devoir
,
we found a Communist International as Moscow's “
fifth column
” in European societies (French, Italian, Spanish CP);
since the 2010s, the new
"
international
"
has been made up of far-right nationalists
".
According to
Le Devoir
, there exists – and the presidential election in France is a test of this –
a “strategic reservoir in public opinion and European political configurations.
This tank can undermine, even thwart the will, displayed until now, to resist the politico-military maneuvers of Moscow
".
Is Bukele's "anti-gang" policy effective?
In El Salvador, authorities have arrested more than 9,000 suspected gang members in the past two weeks.
This was announced by President Nayib Bukele.
But according to the press, it is not certain that these drastic measures produce the expected effects.
The newspaper
Prensa Grafica
denounces a strategy already used by previous governments, but which has shown its limits.
“
These police and penal measures have never succeeded in solving the problem of violence in El Salvador and in other countries of the region
”.
According to an expert quoted by
Prensa Grafica
, there is another problem preventing an improvement in the situation: "
It seems that there is neither the political will nor the capacity to tackle the problem seriously, because it is is about long-term policies that transcend electoral conjunctures
”.
According to the newspaper, the United States is increasingly concerned about acts of violence in El Salvador.
Washington is asking the government of Nayib Bukele to authorize the extradition of gang leaders who have committed crimes in the United States, which El Salvador refuses for the moment.
►
To read also: Salvador: President Nayib Bukele welcomes the arrest of 6,000 gang members
AMLO wins its bet
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has won his bet.
In a referendum yesterday Sunday, a majority of Mexicans voted in favor of his remaining in power until the end of his term in 2024. Despite a turnout of less than 20%, electoral authorities and the president's party Morane called the referendum a success,
Milenio
newspaper notes
.
The opposition will be happy to point to the low turnout and interpret it as an erosion of the president's electoral base, the newspaper adds.
The editorial of
El Universal
harshly criticizes the referendum which ended “
in a failure presented as a victory
”.
And the newspaper to denounce
a state maneuver worthy of the authoritative governments of the past
”.
►
To read also: Mexico: the revocation of the presidential mandate of López Obrador submitted to a referendum
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