International

Leftist Colombia candidate demands audit of vote count software

AFP

The campaign team of leftist Gustavo Petro, leading in opinion polls in Colombia’s presidential race, on Monday demanded an “immediate” audit of vote-counting software less than two weeks before the first election round.

Electoral judges have already ordered a software review after discrepancies arose in the counting of votes cast for a new parliament in March, but none has taken place.

The final tally of the March ballot for the Senate and House of Representatives showed 400,000 votes for Petro’s leftist coalition that had not shown up in provisional results published on election day.

Ex-guerrilla Petro’s “Historical Pact” alliance obtained extra seats in parliament as a result, ending with 45 in the two houses combined.

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This made it the biggest grouping along with the Liberal Party, though numerous legal challenges has held up the final, official allocation of seats.

Colombia’s right-wing coalition and the incumbent Democratic Center Party lost seats between the two counts, and challenged the final result.

Observers have expressed concern about possible unrest should the outcome of Colombia’s deeply-polarized presidential election also be contested. The first round will take place on May 29, with a likely run-off on June 19.

After the March debacle, the country’s National Electoral Council instructed the body in charge of the vote count — the National Civil Registry — to arrange an “international audit” of vote counting software.

But in a letter published Monday, Petro’s coalition said it was “concerned” that the registry had not yet appointed an auditor.

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It urged registry boss Alexander Vega to act “immediately” in order to “give peace of mind to political forces and citizens.”

Voting is done on paper in Colombia, but the results are processed and transmitted via two digital programs designed by private entrepreneurs.

Civil society organizations have questioned the transparency of these programs and requested a review of their source code.

Petro’s campaign also complained after the mayor of Medellin, Colombia’s second-largest city, was suspended after implicitly supporting the leftist candidate’s run.

Public officials in Colombia, even elected ones, are not allowed to publicly take political sides.

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Mayor Daniel Quintero was suspended last week pending a disciplinary probe into claims of “repeated intervention in political activities.”

He was replaced by an interim mayor appointed by the outgoing right-wing President Ivan Duque.

Petro, 62, has denounced a “coup d’etat in Medellin” and urged the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to intervene.

International

Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío

Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.

Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.

According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.

“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.

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In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.

On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.

International

Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.

International

U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster

A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.

This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.

The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.

The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.