International
The blackouts mark the electoral campaign in Puerto Rico
The tension of Puerto Ricans over the frequent blackouts, for which they blame the electricity company LUMA Energy, has marked the electoral campaign for the November 5 elections in Puerto Rico, forcing the candidates for governor to position themselves.
The candidates for the governorship – Juan Dalmau, of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP); Jesús Manuel Ortiz, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD); Jenniffer González, of the New Progressive Party (PNP); and Javier Jiménez, of Proyecto Dignidad (PD) – have promised to cancel the contract with LUMA, although offering different solutions.
Puerto Rico’s electricity grid has been very fragile for decades, but many complain that the arrival in 2021 of LUMA, in charge of the transmission and distribution of energy, has not improved service and has meant an increase in the electricity bill.
Various proposals for change in Puerto Rico
In this context, the candidate for the alliance between the PIP and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), said in a televised debate of the candidates for governorship that Puerto Rico cannot be “economically competent if LUMA continues.”
Dalmau, if he wins the elections, proposes “a new energy governance model that is not in private hands.”
“LUMA did not arrive in Puerto Rico out of nowhere, it came because of the bankruptcy to which the Popular Party and the PNP took us,” he said in one of his interventions in the debate.
For her part, the PNP candidate promised during a party assembly at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico that, in the case of obtaining victory in the elections, she will take out LUMA Energy.
LUMA “is leaving”
“I tell him that LUMA is leaving. But we are going to do it by appointing a tsar who collects the information, who coordinates with federal and state agencies to look for second operators, so that when they leave we are not left without electricity, so that there is a transition and it costs less to the people,” González said.
In addition, in the debate of the candidates, she remarked that she brought to “Puerto Rico the largest amount of federal funds in history” and intends to “put them to run starting with the electricity system.”
As for Ortiz, he advocated in a recent forum of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Puerto Rico to cancel the contract and replace LUMA with a “depoliticized and regionalized” system.
“If it’s a private company, let it be a private company. If it is a public sector, let it be a public sector,” he said.
Clamor for a “resilient” electrical system
These promises are, in the opinion of LUMA Energy’s director of External Affairs, José Pérez, “political distractions at a specific time.”
“I reaffirm that we are not leaving,” he stressed in a recent interview with EFE.
Pérez explained that the company is carrying out “the possibly largest electrical transformation in the world” and that the island’s network will take “about three years to be resilient.”
This reconstruction comes after the devastation of the network by the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and years of inefficient management of the previous administration of the Electric Power Authority (AEE), which ended in a bankruptcy of 10 billion dollars.
Natalia Santiago, vice president of Únete, one of the organizations that have called demonstrations against LUMA, reminded EFE that many citizens, especially with respiratory problems, “died because their equipment could not be connected,” as happened to her mother.
To the cry of ‘They privatize energy and steal it from us every day’, ‘energy, we claim it because it is a human right’ or ‘Puerto Rico is not for sale’, citizens have demanded in various protests a change in the electricity system, pressuring politicians in the face of the elections.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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