International
Brazil’s Lula gains even more ground against Bolsonaro: poll
AFP
Brazil’s former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has gained ground against incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of the vast South American country’s October election, and could even win in the first round, a poll out Thursday found.
The Datafolha survey revealed that 48 percent of likely voters would cast ballots for the 76-year-old Lula, while only 27 percent were supporting the far-right Bolsonaro — a whopping 21-point advantage.
A previous poll by the same institute published in March gave Lula a 17-point advantage, but included scenarios featuring other candidates, some of whom have since left the race.
In late April, a PoderData poll put the 67-year-old Bolsonaro just five points behind Lula.
Thursday’s poll showed that if only valid votes were counted, excluding blank and invalid ballots, Lula would win the presidency outright in the first round on October 2, with 54 percent of the vote to 30 percent for Bolsonaro.
If the election were to go to a runoff on October 30, Lula would prevail with 58 percent of the vote, the survey predicted.
The campaign represents a remarkable political comeback for Lula, four years after the leftist icon — who was wildly popular during his 2003-2010 tenure in office, was jailed on controversial corruption charges.
In a Brazil deeply divided over Bolsonaro’s combative style, social media polemics, weak performance on the economy and chaotic handling of Covid-19, Lula returned to the ring with the immediate status of frontrunner.
For political analyst Creomar de Souza, the poll shows that Brazil’s lingering economic woes could “play in Lula’s favor.”
Thursday’s poll was the first not to include former anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro, or the former governor of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria, who have withdrawn from the race.
In third place is the center-leftist Ciro Gomes, with seven percent of the vote.
Datafolha interviewed 2,556 people between May 25 and 26 in 181 Brazilian cities, and the results include a margin of error of two percentage points.
International
Merengue concert turns to mourning as Jet Set collapse claims 136 lives
Dominican rescue teams will end search and recovery operations on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Jet Set nightclubin Santo Domingo, where the building collapsed during a live concert.
Authorities estimate that the final 20 bodies will be recovered from the rubble today, bringing the official death toll to 136. This includes 12 additional bodies found overnight in the disaster zone, adding to the previously confirmed 124 fatalities.
Outside the collapsed nightclub, desperate relatives of the missing continue to gather, clinging to hope for news. Many also visited nearby hospitals and morgues in search of their loved ones.
A list of confirmed victims has been posted on a tent set up near the site, where the bodies are being transferred for identification.
The tragedy occurred during a performance by renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among the deceased.
Central America
Colombia to host fourth EU-CELAC Summit in November
The Fourth Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will take place on November 9 and 10 in Santa Marta, Colombia, according to a joint statement released Wednesday by the Colombian government and the European Council.
The summit will be co-chaired by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in his role as pro tempore president of CELAC, and European Council President António Costa, the statement added.
The last EU-CELAC summit took place in July 2023 in Brussels, when both blocs agreed to hold these meetings every two years.
The summit brings together the 27 EU member states and the 33 CELAC countries, representing 14% of the global population, 21% of global GDP, and one-third of the members of the United Nations, the communiqué noted.
International
Russia and US to Meet in Istanbul for Diplomatic Talks on April 10
The Kremlin confirmed today a forthcoming meeting with the United States to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations, which will take place in Istanbul.
“Our participation will be through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesperson, during his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov was responding to a question about who would represent Russia in the new round of negotiations, which is supposedly scheduled for April 10.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the delegations will be led by the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Alexandr Darchiev, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Sonata Coulter.
These are the same negotiators who met in late February in Istanbul, where the expert-level negotiation format was the same, according to the source.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said a few days ago that the next meeting would be held in the Turkish city, though he did not confirm a date.
Lavrov, who participated in only one of these meetings, clarified that the upcoming discussions would address the issues still dividing Moscow and Washington diplomatically, referring to the operations of both countries’ embassies.
The Kremlin asserted that Washington has not yet responded to Russia’s security concerns, preventing a ceasefire declaration on land, sea, and air.
Meanwhile, Trump expressed discontent with Russia’s recent attacks, including one last week that killed 20 people in Krivi Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
So far, Russia has rejected a cessation of hostilities and only declared a 30-day ceasefire on March 18 against attacks on energy infrastructure, which was extended by Kyiv a week later.
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