International
Brazil rivals Lula, Cardoso hold anti-Bolsonaro meeting
AFP/Editor
Brazilian ex-presidents and longtime rivals Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Fernando Henrique Cardoso said Friday they had met to discuss their shared opposition to current far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Leftist leader Lula (2003-2010), who is eying a run against Bolsonaro next year, confirmed on Twitter he and Cardoso, his centrist predecessor (1995-2002) and political enemy for decades, had met over lunch.
“The ex-presidents had a long conversation on Brazil, our democracy and the Bolsonaro government’s negligence in fighting the pandemic,” which has claimed nearly 450,000 lives in the country, Lula wrote.
He posted a picture of the pair exchanging a fist bump at the meeting last week in Sao Paulo, both wearing face masks — a protective measure Bolsonaro has often shunned, along with much of the expert advice on containing Covid-19.
Cardoso meanwhile said he was holding out hope his centrist PSDB party would reach the runoff in the October 2022 presidential race — but that if not, he would back “whoever is running against the incumbent, even Lula.”
“If you don’t have a dog, you hunt with a cat,” he tweeted.
Lula, 75, has not formally entered the 2022 race. But it is shaping up to be a polarizing battle between him and the man dubbed the “Tropical Trump.”
Lula leads Bolsonaro in the polls, and appears to be the only candidate with a chance to unseat him.
It would be the sixth presidential run for the former steelworker and union leader, who lost three elections, including two to Cardoso, before winning the presidency in 2002 and 2006.
Lula presided over a poverty-slashing boom for Latin America’s biggest economy, but lost much of his aura when he was jailed for corruption in 2018.
The Supreme Court recently invalidated his convictions, ruling there was bias on the part of the lead judge in the cases, Sergio Moro, who went on to become Bolsonaro’s justice minister.
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
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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