International
Protests wane in Brazil, but diehards stand by Bolsonaro
| By AFP | Luján Scarpinelli y Florian Plaucheur en Rio de Janeiro |
Protests in deeply polarized Brazil have dwindled since presidential elections nearly two weeks ago but some hard-core supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro remain in the streets.
A retired metalworker, Jose Carlos Flamino, stood at his encampment on Friday near a military barracks in Sao Paulo and vowed to remain “as long as is necessary.”
He still doesn’t accept that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president who squeaked out a 50.9 percent victory over Bolsonaro’s 49.1 percent in the October 30 vote, won fairly and squarely.
“The balloting that gave victory to Lula is not reliable,” said Flamino, 53, demanding the military overturn the vote.
He’s not alone. Other diehard Bolsonaro supporters are camped out with him at the Sao Paulo garrison and at military barracks across Brazil.
Bolsonaro, a retired army captain, “was a victim of an injustice but we are fighting here for the fatherland,” said Aguinaldo Coimbro, a 52-year-old market analyst, a Brazilian flag draped over his shoulders.
About 100 people with him outside the Sao Paulo military base chanted, “SOS, armed forces,” and called on the military to “save Brazil.”
Most wore green and yellow clothing, the colors of the national flag that has turned into a symbol for Bolsonaro followers.
“Brazil didn’t elect anyone. The people don’t accept this. We don’t want to become Venezuela. Our freedom doesn’t have a price,” said Lena Pasqualini, 62, a jewelry saleswoman resting at a support center with donated food for the protesters.
At a temporary encampment of protesters next to the central Duque de Caxias garrison in Rio de Janeiro, around 100 people remained on Friday morning, down from several thousand in the days after the October 30 runoff election.
Even as demonstrations melt to only a few dozen people, protesters insist they represent multitudes.
The election “was stolen, and that’s why all of Brazil is in the streets,” said Paulo Campelo, 70, a retired soldier.
“We want the army to eliminate those bastards who want to authenticate the fraudulent elections,” Campelo added.
Lula: ‘One wins, one loses’
The Armed Forces said Friday in a statement that “the solution to possible controversies… must make use of the legal instruments of the democratic rule of law.”
Protesters assert that a “fraud” was perpetrated with the electronic ballot box system, used in Brazil since 1996, and questioned without proof by Bolsonaro.
Numerous international observers and a report by the Armed Forces themselves released on Wednesday fully dispute that allegation.
Lula on Thursday appealed to the “minority in the streets” to go home.
“Democracy is that, one wins, one loses,” the president-elect said. “How many times have I cried because I lost?”
Bolsonaro, who has not openly acknowledged his defeat and has practically disappeared from public life for more than a week, asked his supporters to take down hundreds of roadblocks they threw up after the vote, but supported protests elsewhere.
On Friday Brazilian roads were completely back to normal, the Federal Highway Police told AFP.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
International
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Seven inmates were killed and eleven others injured in a violent riot and clash inside a penitentiary in the Mexican state of Veracruz, local authorities reported on Sunday.
The disturbance began on Saturday afternoon at the Social Reintegration Center in the port city of Tuxpan, in northern Veracruz, when inmates staged a protest over extortion and assaults allegedly carried out by members of the criminal group known as Grupo Sombra.
The protesting prisoners clashed with another group of inmates and set fires inside and outside the facility, seizing control of the prison for more than 12 hours.
During the takeover, the rioters released several videos, including one showing four prisoners —believed to be members of Grupo Sombra— accusing them of being behind the violence and extortion inside the prison.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and local police forces managed to enter the prison and regain control. The state’s Public Security Secretariat confirmed that around 9:00 a.m. local time a coordinated operation restored full order and reestablished control of the facility.
Authorities also reported that the fires set by inmates were fully extinguished.
Official figures confirmed the “tragic” deaths of seven inmates and injuries to eleven people, who are now receiving medical treatment in various regional hospitals.
This is the second deadliest riot in Veracruz in the past eight years. In 2018, a violent uprising at the La Toma medium-security prison left seven people dead (six police officers and one unidentified man) and at least 22 injured (15 officers and seven inmates).
The riot follows the kidnapping and killing of retired teacher and taxi driver Irma Hernández, a case that shocked the entire country and was attributed to Grupo Sombra. Images of Hernández kneeling, surrounded by armed men in the municipality of Álamo, sparked nationwide outrage. She was murdered after refusing to pay extortion demands from the criminal organization.
Despite these incidents, Veracruz has not seen a spike in the daily homicide average. In fact, there has been a 1.6% decrease in homicides in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
In 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported 3,094 incidents in Mexican prisons —an 18.5% increase from the previous year— resulting in 100 deaths and 892 injuries.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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