International
Biden says goodbye to the Americans: it’s time to “pass the baton” to save the country
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is “passing the baton” to a new generation to unite the United States and “save” democracy, in what were his first public statements since he ended his re-election campaign for the November elections.
From the Oval Office of the White House, Biden gave a speech of about 11 minutes, which was broadcast live by the country’s main television networks, and in which his goal was twofold: to explain the decision to end his re-election campaign and begin to define his legacy.
“I have decided that the best way to move forward is to pass the baton to a new generation. This is the best way to unite our nation,” Biden said, sitting at the desk of the Oval Office, so that several photographs could be seen behind him, including one of his son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015.
Biden has only given four speeches to the nation like tonight’s throughout his term, two of them have been in recent days.
Biden framed his decision not to be re-election in the need to “defend democracy” in the face of the rise of authoritarianism, an idea that dominated his electoral campaign and also guided his decision to run in the 2020 elections, in which he defeated former President Donad Trump (2017-2021).
Biden did not mention Trump by name at any time, but it was clear in his speech that he was referring to the possibility of him returning to power.
“I deeply respect this position, but I love my country more. It has been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But, I think that defending democracy is more important than any title,” he emphasized.
Trump, for his part, responded just a few minutes after the speech ended. In a message on his social network Truth Social, he considered that “The speech of the corrupt Joe Biden from the Oval Office was barely understood and was soooo bad!”
Trump’s name, however, was not the only one that Biden omitted. Nor did he refer to the pressures of recent weeks from dozens of members of Congress and personalities of his party to end his presidential campaign after a nefarious performance in the debate against Trump on June 27.
However, in a serene tone, Biden reviewed the achievements of his almost four years of presidency and considered that he deserved a second four-year term in this historic speech with the flavor of a farewell.
“I believe that my record as president, my leadership in the world and my vision for the future of the United States, everything would justify a second term, but nothing can get in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition,” he said.
When he ended his electoral campaign on Sunday, Biden asked for the vote for the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, who in just two days was able to secure the necessary support to be the party’s candidate, in addition to beating a fundraising record.
In the speech, Biden described Harris as an “experienced”, “hard” and “capable” policy. Harris herself followed the president’s speech live from Houston (Texas), where she plans to give a speech tomorrow, Thursday.
Inside the Oval Office, the president was accompanied by several members of his family, including the first lady, Jill Biden, and his son Hunter, who in recent weeks has been one of his father’s greatest supporters and tonight watched him attentively as he read the speech of a teleprompter.
Once Biden finished the speech, Biden’s relatives and advisors who were in the Oval Office burst into applause and the few journalists inside had to leave in a hurry.
Without the presence of the press, Biden went out to the White House Rosaleda to talk to the employees of the presidential team that had gathered to see his speech. While serving ice cream, he stressed the importance of Harris being elected in November, a source present told CNN.
Biden’s speech had a historic character, since never before had a presidential candidate withdrawn from the race so close to the elections.
The closest precedent dates back to March 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) announced that he would not be eligible for re-election, but he did so at the beginning of the party’s primaries.
In contrast, Biden made this decision with the primaries already concluded and just three months after the elections.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
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