International
Lula, back in Brasilia, gets down to politics
| By AFP |
President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met the leaders of both houses of Congress Wednesday, calling for “dialogue” in a divided Brazil as he sought support for his agenda after his inauguration on January 1.
The veteran leftist, who narrowly defeated far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in last month’s elections, is scrambling to secure support for his social spending plans ahead of his swearing-in, but is far short of a majority in Congress.
Making his return to the capital, Brasilia, the former president (2003-2010) kicked things off by meeting the speaker of the lower house, Arthur Lira, previously a Bolsonaro ally.
“The country needs dialogue and normality,” Lula posted on Twitter afterwards, along with a video of he and Lira shaking hands.
He also met Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco.
Brazil was left torn by the October 30 runoff election, which brought a curtain down on four polarizing years under Bolsonaro — who lost by the slimmest margin in the country’s modern history.
Lula, 77, faces the task of healing the nation’s wounds — but also more pragmatic concerns for Latin America’s biggest economy.
That includes finding money for campaign promises such as a minimum-wage increase and continuing a beefed-up welfare program of 600 reais ($115) a month that was introduced by Bolsonaro but not funded in his 2023 budget.
Lula is racing to find the needed funding, with options such as passing a constitutional amendment allowing the government to break its spending cap next year.
That would likely require support from Lira, who is from a loose coalition of parties known as the “Centrao,” a group known for striking alliances with whoever is in power — in exchange for government pork.
Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, who is heading Lula’s transition team, said Tuesday the incoming administration was still evaluating other options, as well.
Lula also had meetings Wednesday with Supreme Court Chief Justice Rosa Weber and Superior Electoral Tribunal head Alexandre de Moraes.
Anticipation is meanwhile running high for his first cabinet appointments, especially from markets anxious over the key post of finance minister.
Alckmin named a four-member economic transition team Tuesday, with two market-friendly economists and two close to Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT).
International
U.S. Senate holds emergency session as shutdown threatens economy
The U.S. Senate is convening on Sunday in an extraordinary session to try to put an end to the 39-day government shutdown, which threatens to shrink GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council.
In an interview with CBS, Hassett noted that U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs had previously estimated that the partial shutdown would cost the country around 1.5% of GDP. However, he warned that “this figure will likely fall short” if the impasse continues “for a couple more weeks.” The suspension of flights due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and major disruptions in food assistance distribution are among the difficulties the government is facing as operations stall over disagreements between Democrats and Republicans, including on healthcare spending.
Throughout Sunday, Donald Trump has continued to blame former President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan and the pandemic-era subsidies paid to insurance companies. On Friday, Democrats proposed reopening the government in exchange for a one-year extension of medical tax credits — an offer quickly rejected by Republicans.
“The Obamacare scam directly benefits their allies in the insurance industry. They are getting richer at the expense of the American people, while healthcare coverage worsens. If Democrats get their way again, they will score yet another big win at the people’s expense,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
As he did on Saturday, Trump has demanded that Senate Republicans redirect subsidies directly to U.S. citizens. “Republicans should allocate these funds straight into their health savings accounts,” he argued.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced Sunday that the chamber will remain in session until the government reopens in what is expected to be a marathon negotiation.
Senators are working on the final version of a package of three long-term appropriations bills that form part of the Republican plan to break the deadlock. Thune is pushing a strategy that would start by approving the temporary funding resolution previously passed by the House of Representatives and amending it to include the appropriations package — known as a “minibus” — with the ultimate goal of extending funding for a longer term.
International
Four dead, 44 injured in riot at Ecuador prison as gang violence intensifies
At least four people were killed and 44 others injured on Sunday during a violent clash involving firearms and explosives at a prison in southwestern Ecuador, where deadly riots have become common in recent months, the country’s prison authority reported.
Ecuador’s prisons have increasingly become operational hubs for drug trafficking gangs. In their struggle for control of the lucrative trade, violent confrontations have erupted, leaving nearly 500 inmates dead since 2021.
Around 3:00 a.m. local time Sunday, residents near the city of Machala, in the El Oro province, recorded sounds of gunfire, explosions, and cries for help coming from inside the detention facility.
The National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) said in a statement Sunday morning that four people were killed in the clashes, without specifying whether all of them were inmates. Another 43 prisoners and one police officer were injured.
Elite police units entered the prison “immediately” and regained control after the uprising, according to SNAI.
In late September, another armed confrontation in the same facility left 14 people dead, including a prison staff member.
Prison authorities said the latest violence was triggered by “a reorganization” of some inmates “in the new maximum-security prison” being built by the administration of President Daniel Noboa in the coastal province of Santa Elena. The facility is expected to be inaugurated later this month.
Internacionales
U.S. to restore ambassador-level relations with Bolivia after 17 years
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced on Saturday that the United States will restore ambassador-level diplomatic relations with Bolivia after 17 years. The statement came during his visit to La Paz to attend the inauguration of Bolivia’s new president, Rodrigo Paz Pereira.
In a brief appearance before the media, Landau noted that in recent weeks Washington had maintained “very close relations with the president-elect.”
“And now that he is officially president, we will restore relations at the ambassador level, as it should have always been,” he said, speaking alongside President Paz.
Landau described it as “highly unusual” and “very unfortunate” that the two nations have spent years without ambassadors in each other’s capitals — Washington, D.C., and La Paz.
“Diplomacy is ultimately about communication. Without an ambassador in the other country’s capital, that becomes more difficult,” the U.S. official emphasized, expressing hopes that the appointment of new ambassadors will be announced “very soon.”
He also recalled that President Paz has expressed his interest in maintaining a strong bilateral relationship, adding that the United States “reciprocally wants to establish a good relationship with this new Bolivian government.”
For his part, President Paz thanked the U.S. delegation led by Landau for attending his inauguration and asked him to “convey a message of cordiality and friendship” to President Donald Trump and all levels of the U.S. government.
U.S. Senate holds emergency session as shutdown threatens economy
Four dead, 44 injured in riot at Ecuador prison as gang violence intensifies
U.S. to restore ambassador-level relations with Bolivia after 17 years
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