Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades said on Monday that he “won corruption, but democratically” after the presidential triumph on the eve of José Raúl Mulino, the dolphin of former President Ricardo Martinelli, with 34% in the general elections in Panama.

“I write these lines with great regret. I was categorically mistaken in believing that J. R. (José Raúl) Mulino would not be elected president of Panama,” Blades wrote on his blog ´La Esquina´.

“On the contrary, in a public demonstration of support for corruption, a candidate chosen ‘by finger’ by a convicted and fugitive declared corrupt, with only 33% of the votes in today’s election, May 5, 2024, has become the new president of the Republic of Panama, despite the combined rejection of 67% of the rest of the electorate,” the famous singer added.

Mulino replaced Martinelli as a presidential candidate in these elections after he was disqualified by the sentence of more than 10 years in prison for money laundering, which led him to take asylum at the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama.

Mulino had a controversial in extremis candidacy that up to 48 hours before the elections was pending the Supreme Court of Justice after being sued for her alleged “unconstitutionality” because she was not elected in primaries or having a candidate for vice president, as established by the Magna Carta.

Blades, a critic of former President Martinelli who on other occasions has called him “corrupt,” questioned the “How can we insist on the youth that civic virtue is superior to opportunism, to the trap, to the ´play alive´? Almost 900,000 (nine hundred thousand people) gave their approval to Ricardo Martinelli by voting for his chosen one.”

“That’s the harsh reality,” the winner of multiple Grammy awards and former Panamanian Minister of Tourism categorically added.

He said that “for months” he had the “hope that this result would not occur,” because he knows that the country “has a spirit, a special soul that makes it wonderfully unique.”

“Young people like Juan Diego Vásquez and Gabriel Silva, and those who participated in the ‘Vamos por Panamá’ coalition as candidates, confirm my certainty that Panama can create honest and intelligent responses with which to carve out an honorable and successful destiny, despite the sorrows and disappointments that many of us experience today,” described the singer-songwriter.

Blades refers to the platform ´Vamos´, which he himself supported when he went out to campaign with those young independent deputies who rose in these elections with 19 seats in Parliament.

“So let’s prepare our minds and souls for what is to come. I fear that it will not be what some think will happen, a magical period of prosperity, and unlimited progress for Panama,” said the former minister, since Mulino promised a “pro-private enterprise” government that will resene the Panamanian economy, one of his campaign commitments.

And Blades concluded: “Whatever it is a matter of making up, a convict, corrupt and fugitive from justice has won the presidency of our republic through his anointed front man, with the direct vote of a people self-condemned for their irresponsibility and their refusal to consider the benefit that can result from living and accepting the consequences of civic honesty and the rejection of the poison of clientelism and ‘living play’.”

The floods caused by the heavy rains in southern Brazil already leave at least 84 dead and 111 missing, according to the balance released on Monday by the regional authorities.

The rainfall, which is just beginning to diminish in that area of the country after a week without truce, has affected more than 840,000 inhabitants of 345 municipalities, who suffer from the lack of food, medicines and basic services such as electricity and energy.

Data from the local Civil Defense indicate that, of that total, 121,957 people have been forced to leave their homes and move to the enclosures of family and friends, while another 19,368 are housed in shelters improvised by the authorities.

The Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, on the border with Uruguay and Argentina, has been the most hit by the rains, with at least 83 fatalities, while the neighboring state of Santa Catarina recorded one death.

The authorities are also investigating whether four other victims are related to the climate tragedy that plagues the south of the country and that is already considered the worst natural disaster in the history of the region.

The level of the Guaíba River, whose waters flooded the historic center of Porto Alegre, the regional capital and where 1.3 million inhabitants live, stabilized above five meters, its largest mark.

With a population of 11 million inhabitants, Rio Grande do Sul has a total of 496 municipalities, of which 345 are affected.

At least 1.2 million homes and commercial establishments remain without electricity and 98 municipalities lack telephony and internet services.

Likewise, 61 roads reported total or partial blockages due to the flood of the rivers.

The Government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the whole country have turned to help the victims.

There are currently more than 14,500 professionals in the region, most of the Armed Forces that have achieved 25,000 air, land and river rescues, with the support of 30 aircraft, 182 boats and 951 vehicles.

Weather forecasts announce new rains in areas already hit by storms due to a new cold front that will cause heavy rainfall.

Live a quiet life, full of peace and for your mental and emotional well-being. Those are the main reasons that motivated Cinthia Gracast, creator of content of Salvadoran nationality, to return to the country after several years living in Chicago, United States.

Gracast has published on his social media platforms the step by step of his move to El Salvador, his country of birth and to which he returns after having recently visited him, at which time, he says, he made the decision to return.

The content creator points out that, during her visit to the country, she witnessed the substantial changes that El Salvador has undergone and that have made it the safest country in America. In addition, he remarked how that atmosphere of peace helped to improve his mental and emotional health, which was quite affected during his stay in Chicago.

“I love the lifestyle of El Salvador. As soon as I went, I just fell in love even more. I feel like that’s how you live and here in the United States you live only to work. It’s a routine that’s ruining you. A routine that has had me in depression, in anxiety. It is something that I have fought with alone,” she says in one of her videos, in which she announced her decision to return to the country.

Gracast commented in that publication that he recently visited the country and was able to witness how El Salvador has changed, moving from an environment full of violence to an environment of peace and security, thanks to the transformations driven by the current government of Nayib Bukele.

“When I went to El Salvador this time, I swear that I felt a peace, something changed in me. Being there I felt very good, I felt happy, I didn’t feel any anxiety. I feel that my mental health is priceless and I want to be there (in El Salvador) and I’m going to be there. I know it’s going to be a very good change,” he added in that video.

After this publication, the content creator published several videos showing her moving process. Finally, yesterday he published the video of his first day in El Salvador, showing his followers the preparation of a coffee with Salvadoran tradition, inherited from his grandmother, and highlighting the atmosphere of peace that is currently lived in the country.

El Salvador has undergone a positive change in terms of public safety in the last five years and under the presidential leadership of Nayib Bukele, going from being one of the most violent countries in the world to becoming the safest in America.

During Nayib Bukele’s five-year period, El Salvador has recorded 600 days with zero homicides and has seen the average of violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants categorically reduced, thanks to strategies such as the Territorial Control Plan or the emergency regime still in force in El Salvador, which has allowed the capture of more than 79,000 gang members and criminals.