International
Inconclusive vote: Brazil wakes up to four more weeks of uncertainty
AFP | Mariëtte Le Roux
After an inconclusive first round of presidential elections, Brazilians woke up Monday to another month of uncertainty in a deeply polarized political environment and with renewed fears of unrest.
Seeking to make a spectacular comeback, ex-president and frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 76, failed to garner the 50 percent of votes plus one needed to avoid an October 30 runoff against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, 67.
Lula got 48.4 percent of the vote in Sunday’s first round, followed by Bolsonaro with a much closer-than-expected 43.2 percent that seemed to signal a high level of enthusiasm for his conservative brand of “God, country and family” politics.
Lula had gone into Sunday’s first round with 50 percent of polled voter intention, and Bolsonaro with 36 percent.
The divisive president’s surprise performance likely spells a difficult time ahead, analysts said.
“I think it will be a very stressful campaign,” Leonardo Paz, Brazil consultant for the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
“Bolsonaro and Lula will come… for each other, and I think Bolsonaro will double down on… saying that the system was against him.”
Bolsonaro has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on Brazil’s electronic voting system and has questioned the validity of opinion polls that have consistently placed him a distant second.
Now, with real-life results seeming to bear out his claims, “more people… may believe in what Bolsonaro is saying,” said Paz.
‘Emboldened’
The incumbent president has repeatedly hinted that he would not accept a Lula victory, raising fears of a Brazilian version of the riots last year at the US Capitol after former president Donald Trump refused to accept his election loss.
Bolsonaro “will be very emboldened,” by Sunday’s electoral performance, said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank.
“It will give him some momentum because he’s beaten the expectations… He will play on that the experts were wrong: ‘I’ve got the momentum and I’ll defy expectations again in the second round’.”
Late Sunday, Bolsonaro proclaimed to journalists: “We defeated the opinion polls’ lie.”
Passions will be high on both sides for the next four weeks.
Lula’s failure to pull off a first-round victory leaves Bolsonaro with “an extra month to cause turmoil in the streets,” political scientist Guilherme Casaroes of the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s (FGV) Sao Paulo School of Business Administration told AFP.
“Any kind of doubt that he casts upon the electoral system will work in his favor… demobilizing voters not to go vote for Lula.”
This would mean hammering on Lula’s flaws, including his controversial conviction for corruption — since overturned in court, but not necessarily in the court of public opinion — and the 18 months he spent in jail.
“Certainly he (Bolsonaro) is very capable of revving up his base and they could interpret that (as the all-clear) to go after Lula supporters… You can’t rule it out,” said Shifter.
“There’s just a lot of rancor and a lot of hate and a lot of distrust and it would not be surprising if some of that leads to some unrest,” he added.
Any violence, however, was likely to be in the form of isolated incidents and not organized, just like it has been so far, analysts said.
Headed for an upset?
Sunday’s election outcome also suggested Bolsonaro cannot be written off.
“Lula’s chances of being elected seem considerably slighter,” said Casaroes.
A ‘Bolsonarist’ wave energized by the first-round results “will boost the president’s campaign and may help demobilize the non-convinced voters of Lula.”
It also means Lula will have to “court centrists and even conservatives much more aggressively during the next four weeks,” said the FGV’s Oliver Stuenkel, possibly hurting his standing with more radical leftist supporters.
Conversely, the disappointing result for Lula supporters might also serve to fire them up ahead of the next round.
“People that perhaps did not… vote because they thought that Bolsonaro would lose… they might go” vote in the next round, said Paz.
Added Casaroes: “Those who really care for democracy in the country will have to get off the couch. Occupying the public space against a strengthened Bolsonarism may be difficult, but it is the only way to prevent Bolsonaro’s long-run authoritarian project from consolidating at all levels.”
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A man looks at Brazilian newspapers at a newsstand showing headlines about the election results of the first round of Brazil presidential election in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 3, 2022. - Brazil's bitterly divisive presidential election is headed for a runoff on October 30 as incumbent Jair Bolsonaro beat expectations to finish a closer-than-expected second to front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)
International
Nicolás Maduro’s Son Calls U.S. Trial Against His Father and Cilia Flores “Unjust”
Venezuelan lawmaker Nicolás Maduro Guerra on Wednesday described as “unjust” the legal proceedings in the United States against his father, ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, following their capture in Caracas on January 3 by U.S. forces.
“Faced with the unjust trial taking place today, the people raised their voices with a single demand: We demand the immediate release of President Nicolás Maduro and the First Lady,” Maduro Guerra wrote on his Instagram account.
The lawmaker attended a rally in Caracas where supporters of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)gathered to show support for the former president, who faces charges in the United States including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and cocaine importation. Flores is accused of crimes related to drug trafficking and weapons possession.
The event was also attended by PSUV Vice President for Mobilizations and Events Nahum Fernández and Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez, according to photos shared by Maduro’s son.
The third hearing in the case against Maduro and Flores concluded Wednesday at a federal court in New York after lasting only about 18 minutes. During the hearing, the judge preliminarily set June 2027 as the expected start date for the trial.
One of the main arguments from the defense will focus on immunity. Maduro’s lead attorney, Barry Pollack, who has also represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said the defense plans to request immunity for both defendants, arguing that Maduro was serving as head of state and Flores as first lady at the time of their detention.
Both Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty during their first court appearance in New York on January 5.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed power after Maduro’s capture, has not yet commented on Wednesday’s hearing in the United States.
International
Mexico Files 20 Complaints in U.S. Over Deaths of 17 Citizens During ICE Operations
The Mexican government announced that it has filed 20 legal complaints across different jurisdictions in the United States seeking investigations into the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens who died since May 2025 during immigration enforcement operations or while in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported that the complaints were submitted on July 13 by Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Roberto Lazzeri. Of the total, eight cases were filed with state prosecutors’ offices and 12 with county prosecutors’ offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas.
According to the Mexican government, the legal actions seek to clarify the circumstances surrounding each death and determine whether any immigration authorities may bear responsibility.
During meetings with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, Ambassador Lazzeri expressed Mexico’s concerns over conditions in immigration detention centers, including privately operated facilities, and requested thorough investigations into every case.
In addition to the complaints filed in the United States, Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry sent a communication to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, informing him of the deaths and requesting that the UN gather information, assess the situation under international human rights standards, and issue recommendations to prevent similar incidents.
The SRE also stated that Mexico’s consular network continues to provide support to the families of the deceased citizens, including legal assistance, help with repatriation of remains, and other procedures requested by relatives.
The announcement comes after the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araújo, a Mexican citizen who died after being shot by ICE agents during an immigration operation in Texas. The case has gained additional attention after a federal judge in Houston ordered a halt to the deportation of José Trinidad Rojas Pliego, considered a key witness in the incident.
Mexican authorities reiterated that they will continue using all available legal and diplomatic mechanisms to monitor the investigations and defend the rights of Mexican citizens in U.S. territory.
International
India Approves New Dengue Vaccine as Global Cases Continue to Rise
India has approved a new dengue vaccine as health authorities seek to strengthen prevention efforts against a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects millions of people worldwide every year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of the global population is currently at risk of contracting dengue, which causes between 100 million and 400 million infections annually.
Since 2021, India has recorded more than one million dengue cases, including at least 1,500 deaths.
The virus can cause high fever, severe headaches, muscle pain, nausea, skin rashes and, in rare cases, internal bleeding and death.
The vaccine, authorized by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), was developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda. The Indian Health Ministry said the vaccine is recommended in two doses for people between 4 and 60 years old.
The treatment has already been approved by health authorities in around 40 countries worldwide.
Meanwhile, Indian pharmaceutical company Panacea Biotec has begun the final phase of clinical trials for a single-dose dengue vaccine, aiming to provide another prevention option against the disease.
Brazil recently announced the suspension of the use of another single-dose dengue vaccine developed in the country after two suspected deaths were reported.
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