AMERICAS PRESS REVIEW
Headline: Will there be a between-two-rounds debate in Colombia?
A campaign poster of left-wing Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro days before the first round of the election in Bogotá on May 27, 2022. © REUTERS / LUISA GONZALEZ
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
3 mins
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New controversy in Colombia three days before the second round of the presidential election.
Will there be a debate between the two candidates this Thursday evening?
The Bogotá Superior Court issued the order, after considering an appeal from a group of supporters of Gustavo Petro.
The Court considers that a State “
which claims to be democratic cannot deprive Colombians of hearing their candidates for the presidency
”.
This is unheard of, writes
El Espectador
, which adds "
spice to this already hectic race
".
Rodolfo Hernández does not hear it that way.
As of June 3, the businessman had said it in a campaign clip: he has no intention of participating in these “
hate
” dynamics where the candidates are invited to “
kill each other in 1 minute 30 minutes
”.
El Colombiano
writes that the candidate has requested "
clarifications
" from the court.
“
What is he afraid of
?
“, laughs Gustavo Petro on
.
He accepts this debate.
But all the press recalls that the ex-guerrilla has often avoided such encounters in the past.
Can candidates be forced to debate
?
For a debate to be organized this evening, a joint request would be needed, which is unlikely, summarizes
El Colombiano
.
If the editorialist of
El Espectador
deplores the absence of debates of ideas, he believes that a country "
which has not institutionalized presidential debates cannot today, by a court decision, force someone one to appear in a space where he does not want to be
”: “
freedom of expression
”, he adds, “
also implies the freedom to be silent
”.
Even the National Electoral Council considers that one cannot “
force a candidate to take part in a debate
”, notes
El Tiempo
.
How to get out of the crisis in Ecuador
?
In Ecuador, checkpoints and makeshift barricades now stand in eleven of the country's 24 provinces.
Access to the capital Quito is partially cut off.
For three days now, demonstrators have denounced the rise in fuel prices, but also the lack of jobs and the granting of mining concessions in indigenous territories.
La Hora
wonders “
where are the concrete proposals
”.
In its editorial, the newspaper notes the presence
of "exalted egos
" and invites the two parties to talk to each other and keep the national interest in mind.
"
Both the government of President Guillermo Lasso and Conaie [the main indigenous organization] have the opportunity to demonstrate that they are able to put their proposals into practice with the same verve with which they measured their strength in the streets. .
»
However, it seems that nobody wants this dialogue, regrets
El Comercio
.
La Conaie “
remains implacable on 10 points of its agenda
” and on the other side, “
the arrest of the president of this organization does not contribute either to the holding of a high-level meeting
”.
The daily regrets the fear that is taking hold in the country and “
not only within the middle and upper classes
”.
"
It would be a mistake to believe that all '
the people'
support the strike, just as it would be a mistake to say that the whole middle class is against it
", insists the editorialist.
And "
meanwhile, another part of the population watches the days go by, the roads closed, wonders if there will be classes the next day, and wants to continue living
”.
Microsoft buries Internet Explorer
Finally, the American press returns with nostalgia to this disappearance, which is quite old.
Internet Explorer is no more.
Microsoft on Wednesday disconnected its famous browser born in 1995, "
when Bill Clinton was in the White House and the tube
"Waterfalls"
of TLC number 1 in the United States
", specifies the
New York Times
.
So yes, Internet Explorer "
was buggy all the time, it was slow
", recognizes the newspaper, but this browser "
has been there forever
".
Today is “
the end of an era
”.
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