International

Lula’s lead holds steady ahead of Brazil vote: poll

Photo: Maira Erlich / AFP

AFP

Leftist front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s lead over far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro remains steady at six percentage points ahead of Brazil’s October 30 presidential runoff election, according to a poll released Friday.

Lula has 53 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Bolsonaro, the Datafolha institute found, the same numbers as its last poll on October 7.

The figures exclude voters who plan to cast blank or spoiled ballots — five percent of respondents, Datafolha found.

The margin of error for the poll, which was based on interviews with 2,898 people Thursday and Friday, was plus or minus two percentage points.

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The latest numbers came as a battle brewed in Brazil over pollsters, which largely underestimated Bolsonaro’s support in the first-round election on October 2.

Datafolha, for instance, had found Bolsonaro trailing Lula by 14 percentage points on the eve of the first round.

In the event, the incumbent finished just five points shy: 48 percent to 43 percent.

Bolsonaro cried foul after the election, accusing polling firms of trying to muzzle his popularity.

“We beat the lie,” he said.

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Federal police reportedly opened an investigation into polling firms Thursday at the request of Bolsonaro’s justice ministry over alleged “criminal practices.”

Competition regulators, meanwhile, opened a separate investigation into whether the firms had carried out an “orchestrated action” to “manipulate” the elections.

However, the head of the Superior Electoral Tribunal, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the investigations halted late Thursday, saying they were “usurping” electoral officials’ authority.

The probes “appear to show an intent to satisfy (Bolsonaro’s) will,” wrote Moraes, instructing electoral officials to open an investigation of their own into a possible “abuse of power.”

Bolsonaro hit back at Moraes, who doubles as a Supreme Court justice and is a frequent target of attacks from the president.

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“The polling firms are going to keep lying. How many votes are they dragging to the other side? People generally vote for whomever’s in the lead,” Bolsonaro said.

Supporters of Brazil's former President (2003-2010) and presidential candidate for the leftist Workers Party (PT), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, take pictures during a rally of the candidate in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, on Friday, October 14, 2022. - President Jair Bolsonaro, 67, exceeded polling predictions by coming a closer-than-expected second to ex-president Lula da Silva, 76, in a first election round on October 2. The two men will face off in a deeply polarized second round on October 30. (Photo by Maira Erlich / AFP)

International

Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío

Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.

Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.

According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.

“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.

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In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.

On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.

International

Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.

International

U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster

A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.

This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.

The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.

The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.