Brazil head to polls for presidential elections
Brazilians go to the polls this Sunday for presidential elections that will determine the future of US influence not only in Brazil, but in many ways, all of South America.
Ultra-right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, and son of convicted ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, is facing off against current progressive president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as “Lula.”
Here at PWS, we’ve reported extensively on the race’s dynamics, including the candidates’ positions on security, the environment, and submission to US will.
After a wave of right-wing elections, and the installation of a US puppet state in Venezuela, Brazil is one of the last countries in South America that isn’t openly subservient to US interests.
Flávio outperformed polls in the first round, and leads slightly heading into Sunday’s elections. The US has made it clear who it prefers: Bolsonaro.
Lula has had a couple big victories since the first round, however. A new report shows deforestation of the Amazon is down significantly, and new law pushed by Lula’s party cleared Congress for final approval this week.
Workers in Brazil will now be working a 5 instead of 6-day workweek for the same pay. Despite the last-minute boon for Lula, however, Flavio is still favored to win.
It will be one of, if not the most, closely watched election in the region. This is definitely the story to watch this week in Latin America.
Protests are growing in Argentina, and Colombia
Argentina and Colombia both have right-wing presidents who are implementing budget cuts and rollbacks to worker protections. And both governments are facing growing pushback to the pro-elite policies.
Police attacked protesters this week at public universities who were demonstrating against austerity measures in Argentina, which resulted in running skirmishes spreading across Buenos Aires.
In Colombia, student groups, activists, and indigenous communities staged a test-run for a national strike in November. Regardless of whether they are able to organize demonstrations on that level, pushback against the new right-wing President, Abelardo de la Espriella, is growing.
Both countries have a long tradition of street protests, and both have presidents who have promised crackdowns on protest movements.
These stories bear watching, especially in Colombia, where a national strike in 2022 effectively turned then-President Ivan Duque into a sitting duck, in part because of rampant police violence.
Punk Rock mouse rediscovered in Colombia
Colombian researches found a species of field mouse that hadn’t been sighted for over one-hundred years, and was presumed to be extinct.
The “tree-tailed fieldmouse” has a distinct red crest on its back that reminds of the mosh pit at a Fertil Miseria concert. Seems pretty punk rock to us. He is welcome anytime on the Good Ship Capybara here at Pirate Wire Services.
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Hasta pronto, piratas!
