International
The new French prime minister launches an ultimatum to the moderate parties and the left rejects his offer
The French Prime Minister, François Bayrou, tried on Thursday to accelerate the formation of his government by launching a 24-hour ultimatum to the moderate parties to decide if they want to integrate it, but it crashed with the refusal of the left-wing forces.
For three hours, the head of government met with the leaders of the ‘Macronist’ center, the moderate right, socialists, ecologists and communists, in order to advance in the constitution of his Executive, which he assured he wants to appoint before Christmas.
Bayrou had made the decision to leave out of the meeting the two most extreme parties, the far right of Marine Le Pen and the leftist La Francia Insumisa (LFI) of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
But at the end of the meeting, the left-wing parties reiterated their refusal to be part of the Cabinet, while threatening to vote on a new motion of censure in the face of what they considered a refusal by Bayrou to change political course.
“He has not given us arguments for us not to vote on a motion of censure,” said the socialist leader, Olivier Faure, whose 66 deputies are key to giving stability to the new Executive.
A single proposal
Like the environmental leaders, who have 38 seats, the socialists accused Bayrou of having come with a single proposal that they considered insufficient, to open a negotiation on the pension reform, adopted last year in the midst of a great social upheaval.
The prime minister proposed to open a social conference on this reform, which delays the minimum retirement age by two years, but does not suspend its application, as the left-wing parties claim, so they rejected the offer.
“We are dismayed by the poverty of what has been proposed to us,” said Faure, who accused Bayrou and the ‘Macronist’ parties of “seeking the left to give them stability without any counterpart, only with appeals to responsibility.”
The socialist leader recalled that it was the left-wing alliance that won the legislative elections last July, which gives them legitimacy to demand a change of political course.
Bayrou, who has the support of the 166 ‘Macronist’ deputies, had a more lenient response from the moderate right, whose leader, Laurent Wauquiez, asked the attendees for a six-month truce to give stability to the new Executive, without clarifying whether his party will enter it.
Finding parliamentary solidity
In that panorama, the prime minister, who in the coming hours will speak on public television France 2, seems to have complicated to find the parliamentary solidity that avoids a fate similar to that of his predecessor, the conservative Michel Barnier, knocked down by a motion of censure on the 4th, three months after his appointment.
Unlike the former Brexit negotiator, who expected to find stability in the extreme right, who ended up betraying him, Bayrou hopes to rely on the most moderate parties, but he has not managed to convince the left.
At the same time, they face the pressure of their parliamentary ally LFI, opposed to any dialogue with the prime minister and which demands the resignation of the president, Emmanuel Macron, whom he considers responsible for the blockade situation in France.
“Let our partners make steers. It’s time for them to return home: opposition without concessions and motion of censure without wasting time in dead-end debates,” said Jean-Luc Melénchon, leader of the LFI, in a message on the social network X aimed at socialists, ecologists and communists.
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.
International
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.
“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”
International
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.
The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.
“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”
Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
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