Press Review of the Americas

In the News: Heat wave and power cuts in Argentina

Heat records for a month of March were recorded in Buenos Aires, up to 40 ° C. © REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian

Text by: Christophe Paget Follow

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No light, no water and no response " writes Pagina12. Argentina is going through one of the hottest austral summers in its history... In Buenos Aires, it is even the hottest since records began in 1906. On many occasions, temperatures have exceeded 40°C in recent weeks. And the electricity grid is unable to keep up with the high demand for electricity in the capital – to run fans and air conditioning among others: cuts are multiplying, and leading to demonstrations.

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We can't take it anymore, and some are starting to hate where they live. " says a protester in the Almagro district, where some buildings have had no light for ten days, intermittently. What worries us is the lack of response, says Julia, another protester, criticizing the electricity distribution company Edesur: "No one comes, no one answers, on the phone." In the region, this Thursday, 33,500 users remain without electricity, writes Clarin – last Tuesday, this was the case of 200,000 people, in the middle of the heat wave.

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We must stop playing with life " wrote in a statement quoted by the newspaper the Argentine Association of People Dependent on Electricity, which denounces power cuts "that threaten the lives" of people who need to be connected to electronic devices to survive. The association points out that it has once again asked providers to "prioritize restoring service for these people and providing them with generators."

El Salvador, a state of emergency extended

In El Salvador, President Najib Bukele is extending a state of emergency first put in place a year ago after a wave of killings attributed to gangs left 80 dead in three days. 354 days of state of exception, wrote Wednesday, March 15 Diariocolatino, extended for the twelfth time during a vote of the National Assembly.

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Constitutional guarantees of the right to be informed of the reasons for one's detention are still suspended, and the time limit for administrative detention has been reduced from 72 hours to 15 days. " El Salvador recalls. The newspaper quotes opposition MP Claudia Ortiz as saying that the government should already have "a comprehensive and permanent plan to combat insecurity and gangs, instead of continuing to prolong this measure that violates human rights."

Currently, according to Contrapunto, 65,795 people are detained. On Wednesday, a new group of 2,000 gang members was transferred to CECOT, a mega-prison where terrorists are held. Contrapunto says the transfer was done by bus, guarded by helicopters, drones and military vehicles. The site publishes a photo of prisoners, shaved heads, covered with tattoos, advancing in single file, leaning forward, hands and feet handcuffed.

In the United States, the government threatens to ban TikTok

The US government is threatening to ban TikTok, the hugely popular video app, if it remains in the hands of China's ByteDance. She asked him to sell his shares, reveals the Wall Street Journal. The daily sees it as "a major change on the part of the Biden administration, much criticized by some Republicans that it had not been firm enough against TikTok, seen as a threat to the security of the country".

In the Washington Post, Chris Stokel-Walker, an English journalist and author of a book on TikTok, believes that a ban would be "an anti-American, anti-democratic and inappropriate response to an unproven risk: that the Chinese platform would share its users' information with Beijing for a nefarious purpose. ». The journalist claims to have tried for years, without success, to prove that TikTok officials are lying when they say they are not under pressure from China.

Next week, TikTok's chief executive is scheduled to appear before the U.S. Congress.

In Canada, a former governor general to investigate accusations of Chinese interference

Canada is appointing David Johnston, a former governor general, to investigate allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections, writes The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail from which everything started, since it was this newspaper that, on February 17, wrote, based on Canadian secret service documents, that China had used a "sophisticated strategy to disrupt Canadian democracy during the campaign for the 2021 election," and that it also tried to intervene in the 2019 election.

Following criticism from the government over its handling of the revelations, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed former governor general – the king's representative in Canada – David Johnston to oversee an investigation. "There are few, if any, figures in Canadian life who speak more trustworthy," the Globe and Mail said. But in the Toronto Star, several Liberals – members of the Prime Minister's party – expressed their doubts, believing that only a "public" inquiry could answer the growing concerns of Canadians on this subject.

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