International
Fresh protests to mark anniversary of Chile revolt
AFP
Hundreds of Chileans, mainly students, protested in Santiago Tuesday, erecting burning barricades to mark three years since a social uprising they say has not yet yielded the desired societal change.
Demonstrators wearing goggles and facemasks as protection against tear gas stopped car traffic on the central Alameda avenue, and several metro stations were shuttered.
Police deployed 25,000 officers to keep the peace, and used water cannon to disperse trouble-making demonstrators in at least one venue.
Many shops closed early, or did not open at all, while schools sent pupils home early in a country where demonstrations in recent years have frequently been marred by clashes with the security forces.
“We have gained nothing” in the three years since the movement began, said Andrea Valdebenito, a 43-year-old social worker who was among those gathered.
The protests came exactly three years after the start of a mass revolt against a rise in metro fares in 2019 that quickly escalated into a general clamor for better conditions and social equality.
The government suspended the price hike but protests continued, and dozens were killed over months of clashes. Hundreds of people were injured.
The demonstrations kickstarted reforms that included the government’s agreement to the drafting of a new constitution to replace the one inherited from the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and perceived as market-friendly.
Last December, Chile elected a leftist president in Gabriel Boric, who supported the constitution-writing process.
But last month, nearly two-thirds of voters rejected the proposed draft despite the new revolutionary mood, amid concerns that parts of the document were too far-reaching.
A constitutional provision to legalize abortion was a key stumbling block in the conservative, majority-Catholic country.
Boric, a former student leader who had supported the 2019 protests, on Tuesday called for a new social dialogue to give shape to much-needed social reform.
The 2019 uprising, he said, “was an expression of pain and fractures in our society that politics, of which we are a part, has failed to interpret or answer.”
Boric came to office with promises of turning the deeply unequal country into a greener, more egalitarian “welfare state.”
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A demonstrator takes part in a protest in the surroundings of the Baquedano square in Santiago, on the third anniversary of a social uprising against rising utility prices, on October 18, 2022. - The sustained movement forced then president Sebastian Pinera to increase tax spending and expand social programs, resulting in 2021 in the largest increase in public spending in the country's history at 33 percent. (Photo by Martin BERNETTI / AFP)
International
Putin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday that holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump would be a “mistake” without certainty of concrete results, following the cancellation of the planned meeting in Budapest.
“Without a doubt, such a meeting must be well-prepared. For me and the U.S. president, it would be a mistake to treat it lightly and come out of that meeting without the expected outcome,” Putin told local media from the Kremlin.
The Russian leader said the initiative for the summit came from the U.S. side and that he had accepted the proposal. “In our last phone conversation, both the meeting and its location were proposed by the U.S. side. I agreed,” he said.
Putin added that Moscow continues to support dialogue, even in the current context. However, he admitted uncertainty about whether a meeting with Trump could take place later. “Now I see that, in his statement, the U.S. president has decided to cancel or postpone the meeting. Most likely, it is a postponement, since dialogue is always better than confrontation, disputes, or especially war,” he emphasized.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reaffirmed that Moscow does not consider a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine that does not meet its original demands. “We see no alternative other than achieving the objectives of the special military operation,” Zakharova stated.
Among the conditions Russia has set for resuming dialogue with Washington and other international actors are: ensuring Ukraine’s neutral and non-aligned status, its demilitarization, the removal of elements considered “Nazis,” full respect for the rights of Russian-speaking populations, and unrestricted operation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
International
Colombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
Colombian President Gustavo Petro downplayed on Thursday the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend all economic aid to the country, asserting that the measure “changes nothing” structurally, although he acknowledged potential effects on military resources.
“What happens if they take away our aid? In my opinion, nothing (…) I have never seen a single dollar of aid in Colombia’s budget,” Petro said during a press conference at the Casa de Nariño, a day after Trump publicly announced the suspension of all payments and subsidies to Colombia.
The Colombian leader explained that U.S. funds are not allocated directly to the government but rather to organizations linked to the now-defunct USAID. “U.S. aid is not for the government; it is for the NGOs managed by USAID, that is, for themselves,” he argued.
Petro also questioned the effectiveness of this cooperation, stating that Washington’s decades-long anti-drug strategy has failed by focusing on forced eradication of illicit crops, which, according to him, has perpetuated violence in Colombia. “They have condemned us to violence,” he asserted.
Although he acknowledged that the suspension could create difficulties in the military sector—such as the withdrawal of combat helicopters and limitations in arms supply—he assured that his government is prepared to replace that support with the national budget. “Colombia buys its own weapons,” he emphasized.
International
Cristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández (2007–2015) described this Thursday as “decisive” the legislative elections taking place this Sunday in Argentina, urging voters to support Peronism as a way to put a “brake” on Javier Milei’s government.
“The brake on Milei starts this Sunday, but the work continues the next day to think about how to get Argentina out of the disaster this government will leave. This October 26 is Milei and permanent austerity, or Argentina, our common home,” Fernández said in a recorded message from her Buenos Aires residence, where she is serving a six-year prison sentence for irregularities in the awarding of road construction contracts during her presidency.
Fernández emphasized that the elections are not only about choosing deputies and senators but also represent “a great democratic opportunity” to “set limits on Milei’s mismanagement.”
“The libertarian experiment has failed, and everyone knows it. People cannot make ends meet, they have to go into debt to pay for electricity, buy food, or medicine,” she added.
The former president also criticized the government for changing the voting system “without proper training, putting transparency at risk,” referring to the introduction of the Single Paper Ballot, which lists all candidates, offices, and political parties on a single sheet.
Putin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results
Colombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
Cristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
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