AMERICAS PRESS REVIEW
In the spotlight: ten days before the first round of the presidential election, tension is rising in Colombia
Gustavo Petro, the left-wing Colombian presidential candidate, here on March 29, 2022 in Bogotá.
© AP / Fernando Vergara
Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow
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The left-wing candidate, Gustavo Petro, is still leading the polls, followed by the conservative candidate Federico Gutiérrez.
The prospect that the country may be able to elect a left-wing president for the first time in its history is apparently frightening part of the business sector.
So much so that some business leaders do not hesitate to threaten their employees with dismissal if they ever vote for Gustavo Petro, reports the Colombian newspaper
El País
.
The most emblematic case was that of Sergio Araújo Castro: "
An employee who votes for Petro does not fit into my business plan and must simply leave
", wrote on social networks this former right-wing politician and head of several companies.
For the Colombian Electoral Observation Mission, these are "
electoral crimes against the right to vote freely
", considers this institution which has called for "
the opening of investigations and severe sanctions against each leader of company which would have tried to influence the vote of its employees
”, reports for its part
El Tiempo
.
Brazil: Lula da Silva remarries
In Brazil, we vote in five months.
Which gave poll favorite Lula da Silva time to remarry.
The ex-president and opponent of the current head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, said yes to Rosangela da Silva, 21 years his junior.
This sociologist and early activist of the Workers' Party is called to become the First Lady of Brazil if her new husband wins the presidential election in October.
“
His two previous wives having died, it is already the third marriage for Lula
”, recalls
La Folha
.
"
The party took place in a residential area of São Paulo.
Among the 200 guests were politicians, like former president Dilma Roussef, but also many artists, like singer Gilberto Gil.
»
In a climate of heightened political polarization, the marriage of the strongman of the Brazilian left has sparked strong attacks from supporters of Jair Bolsonaro.
These far-right activists questioned Lula's luxurious lifestyle, presented by his supporters as the voice of the poor.
"
Several individuals appeared in front of the residence where the wedding party was held and shouted 'Lula thief'
", reports
O Globo
.
“
Subsequently, four military police units were deployed on site to reinforce the security of the event.
»
Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June: who comes, who doesn't?
In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega makes it known that he is “
not interested in the Summit of the Americas
”.
This event should theoretically bring together all the countries of the American continent in Los Angeles, California at the beginning of June.
But the Biden administration does not want heads of state who have not been democratically elected.
Washington therefore decided not to invite the presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
“
Daniel Ortega castigated yesterday in Managua what he describes as the 'marginalization' of the three countries
,” writes the newspaper
La Prensa
.
"
It's a shame, this show that the Yankee leaders offer with this famous summit they call the Summit of the Americas
", exclaimed the Nicaraguan president whose re-election was contested by a good part of the international community.
Three Latin American countries were therefore not invited to the summit in Los Angeles.
Others announced that they would not go.
Like Mexico, whose president declared that he would only come if all the countries of the continent were there.
This prompts the American magazine
Americas Quartely
to question "
the raison d'être of these Summits of the Americas
: is it a reward for good conduct, an opportunity for countries that share the same values to plan for a better future or an opportunity to talk about common challenges, even between neighbors who strongly disagree
?
".
Anyway, summarizes the magazine, this summit in Los Angeles looks like “
a major moment in the relationship between the United States and its neighbors to the south.
Many Latin American governments believe Mr Biden's handling of the guest list is an unwelcome attempt to return to the 1990s, when Washington ruled the entire continent.
But that time is over
."
And
Americas Quartely
concludes: “
Latin American countries now have China as a partner.
And it is clear that the Biden administration does not have much new to offer them in terms of trade or investment.
For many Latin American countries, this is therefore the perfect opportunity to stand up to Washington… and thus show that we are indeed in 2022
”.
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