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
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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