India opened the polls for the seventh time in the last phase of the general elections, the longest and busiest in the world, which conclude today with the vote of eight regions, including the constituency that elects the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

The polling stations of 57 constituencies in eight territories and states of the country opened around 7:00 local time (02:00 GMT) for the seventh phase of the Indian general elections, according to the Indian Electoral Commission (ECI).

“This will mark the grand finale for the largest electoral marathon in the world that began on the 19th of last month and has already covered 6 phases and 486 seats of the Lok Sabha (Lower Chamber),” said the ECI.

For the last phase, more than 100 million voters are called, including 52.4 million men; 48.2 million women, 3,574 third-gender voters.

In the center of the sacred city of Benarés, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the electoral district by which the current prime minister is measured, at the time of the beginning of the voting the schools were full of voters who come in groups to participate.

In the Hindu temple Vishvanath in Benarés, where one of the more than ten schools in the millennial city is located, hundreds of people remained in the queue even before the start of the voting.

“The Electoral Commission has done a very good job, now we can only wait for the results patiently, but for us it was a fairly fast process, because our life went on while other states voted. Today is our big day,” Mahesh Purohit told EFE, after casting his vote.

These elections have been marked by high temperatures in the northern regions, including Uttar Pradesh, with temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius, which has required special arrangements, the installation of fans, shade spaces or the distribution of moisturizing drinks for people waiting in the queues.

This has been a concern of the ECI for the impact it may have on participation in general, which in the first six phases has been below the average 70%.

India’s seven-phase general elections for 543 seats of the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Parliament, began on April 19, which marked the largest democratic exercise ever held in the world, with almost 969 million registered voters.

On the other hand, at least 62 people have died because of the heat wave that affects northern India, including dozens of electoral officials, while the country celebrates this Saturday the last phase of general elections marked by temperatures that have exceeded 50 degrees.

Nayib Bukele, elected president of El Salvador for a second consecutive term and who will be inaugurated on Saturday, received in San Salvador the King of Spain, Felipe VI, whom he met privately.

The Royal House shared some photographs in which Bukele and King Felipe VI are seen shaking hands and then reuniting.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Susana Sumelzo, who accompanies King Felipe VI on the trip, as well as the ambassador of Spain in El Salvador, Carlos de la Morena Casado, and officials of the Salvadoran Government.

Felipe VI landed around 14:40 local time (20:40 GMT) at the international airport San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez, the main airport in the country, and was greeted by the chancellor, Alexandra Hill.

Subsequently, after going through a Cordon of Honor and the interpretation of the National Anthems of the two countries, Felipe VI received the greeting from the staff of the Embassy of Spain in El Salvador, according to the Royal House in a statement.

This is the first time that Philip VI has traveled to El Salvador since he was king. The last one was as a prince, on June 1, 2014, to attend the inauguration of the then president, Salvador Sánchez Cerén (2014-2019).

El Salvador and Spain have maintained bilateral relations since the 1980s and cooperate in different areas.

Bukele will take office this Saturday in the Plaza Capitán General Gerardo Barrios, known as Plaza Cívica and located in the heart of the Salvadoran capital, to preside over El Salvador in the 2024-29 five-year period in a second consecutive term.

The presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; of Honduras, Xiomara Castro; of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chávez, and of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, who would arrive around midnight, will also attend.

Felipe VI and Milei will be at the Bukele investiture event in the midst of the crisis between the ruler and the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.

Former presidents Alberto Fernández, from Argentina, and Evo Morales, from Bolivia, lead the electoral observation mission for the Mexican elections this Sunday, June 2, of the Puebla Group, a laboratory of ideas of the Latin American left.

This was announced by the organization through a statement, where it also highlighted the presence of Spanish deputy Gerardo Pisarello, as well as Argentine researcher Silvina Romano.

“The entourage will be led by former Argentine president Alberto Fernández; former Bolivian president Evo Morales; former Chilean presidential candidate Marco Enríquez-Ominami, and former Secretary of Climate Change and Argentine Mercosur parliamentarian Cecilia Nicolini,” the text explained.

In addition, the former president of the Upper House of Bolivia Adriana Salvatierra and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador Ricardo Patiño, among other personalities, will be part of the observation mission, which arrived in Mexico on Thursday.

This entourage is part of the more than 23,000 national and international observers who will be present during election day, as announced on Wednesday by the president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Guadalupe Taddei.

“The participation of national observers and foreign visitors in the elections on June 2 not only guarantees the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, but also strengthens our democracy,” he celebrated.

Sunday’s elections will be the largest in the history of Mexico, since more than 97 million people are called to the polls to renew, at the federal level alone, more than 20,000 positions, including the Presidency of the Republic, the 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the 128 seats in the Senate.

At the regional level, Mexico City, the states of Chiapas (south), Guanajuato (center), Jalisco (west), Morelos (center), Puebla (center), Tabasco (south), Veracruz (south) and Yucatán (south) will renew the heads of their Governorships and, all municipalities, their agencies.

These elections will also go down in history as the most violent, with at least 30 candidates murdered and more than 200 political homicides, while the opposition denounces that organized crime puts votes at risk in almost 30% of the territory.

“During the stay, we will have the important mission of being able to observe the electoral process and, in this way, guarantee the transparency and freedom of the Mexican people,” the statement concluded.