International
Evo Morales will participate as a candidate with a new party after losing the leadership of the MAS
The social organizations loyal to former Bolivian president Evo Morales (2006-2019) confirmed on Wednesday that he will run in the national elections in August with a new political party, after losing the leadership of the ruling Movement to Socialism (MAS), and indicated that at the end of March the “relaunch” of a new political option will be made.
The peasant leader Pedro Llanque explained at a press conference that the sectors related to Morales will meet in a congress on March 29, 30 and 31, in the central department of Cochabamba, to “publicize the refoundation of the political instrument.”
This after Morales lost the leadership of almost three decades of the governmental MAS, the party that led him to the presidency, due to a constitutional ruling that ordered the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) to recognize as the new president of the party the leader Grover García, who is close to the Government of Luis Arce.
This constitutional ruling gave for valid the congress of the government party that the “Arcista” or related sectors held at the beginning of May last year.
That congress was held after another one held by the ‘evista’ faction, so called the loyalists to Evo Morales, in October 2023 in the Tropic of Cochabamba (center), the political and union bastion of the former president and in which they proclaimed him as the “sole candidate” of the MAS.
“We are making the alliance at the national level to see with which acronym we are going to participate, once we have the acronym defined we are going to launch at the national level so that we can start a socialization of all sectors,” said Llanque.
The determination arose in an “emergency” meeting held on Monday that “unanimously” resolved that the “only legal and legitimate candidate for the left-wing political instrument of the popular bloc for Bolivia is brother Evo Morales Ayma.”
Llanque also mentioned that this bloc will bet on forming a political alliance since there is no time to create a new party to replace the MAS, now led by Grover García.
On this day, organizations loyal to Morales reiterated that the former president is qualified to be a candidate again despite the fact that there is a constitutional sentence of December 2023 that establishes that the re-election in Bolivia is for “a single time” is continuous and discontinuous.
This would prevent Morales from being a candidate since he ruled Bolivia on three consecutive occasions (2006-2009, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019).
For their part, the sectors that respond to President Arce announced for March 21 and 22 the holding of a congress of the official MAS, in El Alto, neighboring city of La Paz, which aims to reform the statutes of the party to give way to the “renewal” of it.
Some leaders said that in that meeting the lines will be set to choose the candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency of Bolivia for the MAS, to later in a “cabildo” or assembly announce the binomial that will be presented in the presidential elections that will take place in August.
One possibility is that President Luis Arce will compete for his re-election and be the MAS candidate, although so far the president has not confirmed it.
The differences over the control of the MAS and the presidential candidacy for this year’s elections have distanced President Arce from former President Morales, a situation that divides the ruling party in the midst of an economic crisis in Bolivia due to lack of dollars.
International
Cardinals seek a “unifier” as they prepare for conclave to elect new pope
Several cardinals who will participate in the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor said they are approaching the mission with “apprehension,” “responsibility,” and “hope,” while also beginning to outline the profile of the next pope: a “unifier.”
The 12-year pontificate of the first Latin American pope was marked by reforms and a simple style, which earned him strong opposition from the Church’s most conservative sectors, with his predecessor Benedict XVI as a symbol of that resistance.
“The task before us these days is greater than us, and yet it is a duty we must fulfill,” summarized French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline during a mass in Rome on Thursday evening.
A few meters away, Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich admitted to journalists that he approaches the conclave “with a certain apprehension,” but also with “great hope.”
“We feel very small. We must make decisions for the entire Church, so please pray for us,” added the Jesuit cardinal, who was a close advisor to the Argentine pontiff.
He estimated that the conclave would “probably” begin on May 5 or 6, after the nine-day mourning period at the Vatican known as the Novendiales.
International
Trump and Zelensky hold “very productive” meeting in Rome during Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky held a “very productive” meeting, according to the White House, this Saturday in Rome on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral.
No specific details about their conversation were disclosed, but the White House promised to release more information later. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, described the 15-minute discussion at St. Peter’s Basilica as “constructive.”
This was the first meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents since their heated exchange in Washington on February 28, when Trump and his Vice President JD Vance verbally confronted Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Dozens of heads of state, government leaders, and senior officials gathered in Rome on Saturday for Pope Francis’ funeral, creating opportunities for multiple diplomatic meetings.
The Ukrainian presidency stated that Trump and Zelensky “agreed to continue” their talks later Saturday in the Italian capital and shared photos of both leaders seated face-to-face, also engaging in conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The U.S. president said on Friday that a deal between Ukraine and Russia is “very close,” without providing details, following discussions between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin in Moscow about the possibility of launching “direct negotiations” between the two sides.
International
A magnitude 6 earthquake shakes the province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador, bordering Colombia
A magnitude 6 earthquake was recorded this Friday in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, bordering Colombia, causing damage to several infrastructures and leaving, so far, 20 people injured.
According to the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School, the earthquake occurred at 06:44 local time (11:44 GMT) at 1.03 degrees south latitude and 79.69 degrees west longitude.
According to the source, the tremor occurred at a depth of 30 kilometers and 9.31 kilometers from Esmeraldas, capital of the homonymous province.
According to the National Secretariat of Risk Management (SNGR), the affected people had head injuries and bruises.
While the SNGR continues with the verification of affectations, it indicated that 80% of the electricity service and 80% of the telecommunications that were affected, are gradually restored.
Among the affected public buildings are the ECU 911 due to a fall of masonry; the Vargas Torres University, which has cracks; the Los Militares building where the front collapsed and the Prefecture building, among others.
The SNGR reported that the earthquake was felt with strong intensity in seven municipalities of the province of Esmeraldas and moderately in the provinces of Guayas and Manabí, while mildly in Carchi, Cotopaxi, Imbabura, Los Ríos, Pichincha, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Tungurahua.
About twenty minutes after the earthquake in Esmeraldas, one of magnitude 4.1 was reported in the coastal province of Guayas, located in the southeast of the country, without damage or victims having been reported so far.
The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, ordered the displacement of all his ministers to Esmeraldas, in order to coordinate actions after the magnitude 6 earthquake recorded this Friday.
“I have arranged for the immediate deployment of all ministers in the province of Esmeraldas to coordinate the installation of shelters, delivery of humanitarian aid kits and assistance in everything our people need,” Noboa wrote on his social network account X.
The province of Esmeraldas was one of the most affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake recorded on April 16, 2016, which left more than 670 dead, thousands affected, as well as millions of material losses.
This earthquake also hit the province of Manabí, located, like Esmeraldas, on the coast of the Andean country, but also affected other areas and was felt strongly, even in the Ecuadorian capital.
Ecuador is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire or Belt, which concentrates some of the most important subduction areas (sinking of tectonic plates) in the world and is the scene of strong seismic activity.
In addition to Ecuador, the Horseshoe-shaped Belt comprises a large number of countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Cardinals seek a “unifier” as they prepare for conclave to elect new pope
Trump and Zelensky hold “very productive” meeting in Rome during Pope’s funeral
A magnitude 6 earthquake shakes the province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador, bordering Colombia
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