International
‘Make it stop!’ Brazilians fed up with long, dirty election campaign
| By AFP | Anna Pelegri, Ramon Sahmkow, with Lujan Scarpinelli in Sao Paulo and Louis Genot in Rio de Janeiro |
Marcelo feels it is making him sick. Alexia has stopped chatting to her neighbors and Luciene is desperate for it to end: Brazil’s lengthy and nasty election duel has left many voters fed up.
Latin America’s largest nation is four days from deciding whether to re-elect far-right President Jair Bolsonaro or leftist former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is leading a very tight race.
The two men, both tarnished but with fervent supporters, are locked in a fierce battle for the four percent of voters who plan to spoil their vote and the one percent who remain undecided.
The candidates have flooded the media and social media with their presence, and the election has dominated conversation for months.
“I am getting sick because there is a lot of disagreement,” said 51-year-old Marcelo Brandao Viana, a Bolsonaro supporter who laments a campaign “overloaded” with “fake news” and attacks between the rival parties.
“I am living this 24 hours a day, and it is horrible,” the bank receptionist told AFP. Nevertheless, he cannot resist looking at his WhatsApp groups during his lunch break outside a mall in the capital Brasilia.
Meanwhile, on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, 65-year-old Jose Guilherme Araujo sits on a beach chair in a tight, bright green swimsuit bearing the Brazilian flag as he tries to escape the electoral noise.
“I feel exhausted. I am fed up,” the lawyer told AFP, adding he plans to spoil his ballot.
“The main television channels are only talking about the election. It is horrible. I try to watch cable to escape the subject.”
Don’t talk about politics
A final showdown between Bolsonaro and Lula had been on the cards since last year when the leftist former president had longstanding corruption charges overturned for procedural reasons, and was freed from prison, without being exonerated.
Many Brazilians feel the election campaign began then, long before voting season, especially because both candidates draw strong measures of adoration and hatred.
In Sao Paulo, Alexia Ebert put her apartment building WhatsApp group on mute after it became an endless thread of political information and disinformation.
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” said the 22-year-old student.
Some, like Aline Tescer, a 35-year-old from Sao Paulo, said that any policy proposals for the next four years are conspicuous by their absence.
“I see myself the same as in the last election. It is always the same things, the same accusations, and I feel I have no choice in who to vote for.”
Luciene Soares, a businesswoman from Brasilia, feels “disappointed” by the “disrespect” instigated by Bolsonaro.
“People are afraid. I prefer not to say who I am voting for because one is afraid of people’s reactions. I don’t talk about politics because it creates problems,” said the 48-year-old.
“Among friends and family, we say: ‘God! Make it stop.’”
Anesthetised electorate
This fatigue has not shown up in weekly election polls, but experts have picked it up on the streets and online, in this country which has 171.5 million users (80 percent of the population) on social media, according to a study carried out by the Hootsuite and We Are Social agencies.
The constant bombardment of information “ends up anaesthetizing the electorate” and “tiring them out”, said Amaro Grassi, a sociologist with the Getulio Vargas thinktank.
“The permanent presence of campaign content is not new in this election, but has become much more accentuated,” he added.
Grassi remarks that most Brazilians just want to get back to their normal lives and “turn the page” on the bruising campaign.
“Today, politics has even become a topic of conversation on gossip sites,” said Sao Paulo resident Iamylle Kauane, on a visit to Rio.
This 21-year-old social assistant is waiting for the elections to end “to return to normalcy.”
Nevertheless, some are indefatigable.
“I don’t feel tired,” said Leandro Albino Oliveira, 36, selling hats on a Rio beach.
“We will not rest until our president is re-elected.”
They have been an advocate for the rights of non-binary people since high school, and paid for a qualification in social work by selling sex.
Today, Cienfuegos is a senior figure at the Organizando Trans Diversidades (Organizing Trans Diversities) advocacy group.
Over the past decade, Chile has been moving away from the conservatism inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and the influence of the Catholic Church.
Still, last year, 1,114 complaints of discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons were registered in Chile — 127 from transgender people — according to the Movilh gender activist group.
In 2012, Congress passed the Anti-Discrimination Act, and three years later legalized same-sex civil unions.
In 2018, a law was passed that allows for a sex change from the age of 14, and last year, Chile approved gay marriage and adoption.
In July, an appeals court in Santiago finally recognized Cienfuegos’ non-binary gender.
But the fight is not over.
Chile still does not legally recognize genders other than male or female and anyone else who would want an “X” on their ID will likely face a legal battle similar to Cienfuegos’.
“The non-binary identity card is a milestone among a range of milestones for the advancement of fundamental rights,” Cienfuegos said.
“But conservatism is about enduring daily discrimination against… sexual diversity,” they added.
In July last year, Chile’s neighbor Argentina became the first country in Latin America to allow a gender other than male or female to be listed on a person’s identity document, following in the footsteps of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States among other countries.
International
Washington declares State of Emergency as atmospheric river brings severe flooding
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in response to severe flooding affecting several counties, where more than 75,000 people remain under evacuation alerts following heavy rainfall that has caused significant water accumulation.
An atmospheric river has battered the state since Monday, dropping several centimeters of rain and threatening serious flooding in communities near major rivers. More precipitation is expected in the coming days, and the National Weather Service (NWS) has forecast between 15 and 20 centimeters of rain from Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon in communities along the far western region, worsening the emergency.
Rainfall totals in higher elevations near the Canadian border could exceed 20 centimeters, further increasing the risk.
“Lives will be at stake in the coming days,” Ferguson warned during a press conference.
The governor underscored the severity of the situation and said he will request an expedited federal disaster declaration from President Donald Trump’s administration to access additional resources for the emergency response.
“I want to urge all Washington residents to pay close attention to alerts from their counties and emergency management departments. If you receive an evacuation order, please follow it,” he added.
Most rivers from the Canadian border down to southwestern Washington are in flood stage. Several are expected to reach record levels, including the Skagit River, which could exceed its 1990 flood peak when water levels rose 1.2 meters.
Around 75,000 people are at risk of flooding in Skagit County, where authorities continue to maintain an evacuation watch.
The Washington National Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been activated to assist with evacuations and response efforts in rural areas affected by flooding.
International
U.S. to require five-year social media history from tourists under Visa Waiver Program
Tourists from 42 countries covered by the U.S. Visa Waiver Program would be required to provide their social media history from the past five years in order to enter the United States, according to a new proposal released Wednesday by the administration of President Donald Trump.
The initiative, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), aims to more thoroughly review the activity of travelers entering the country through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). When asked about the plan’s potential impact on tourism, Trump insisted that the United States is “doing very well.”
“We just want people to come here and be safe… We want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people into our country,” the president said during a press conference at the White House.
The proposal, published in the Federal Register, seeks to expand the information collected from visitors entering the U.S. for up to three months under the visa waiver program.
ESTA applies to travelers from 42 countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Japan, Israel and Qatar.
In addition to requiring a five-year social media history, the plan would increase the amount of personal data requested, such as phone numbers and email addresses used over the past ten years. It also calls for family details, including names, dates of birth and places of birth of the traveler’s relatives.
The proposal further includes a new mobile tool that would allow any foreign visitor to record their departure from the United States.
International
Six ecuadorian soldiers jailed pending trial for alleged extrajudicial execution
Six Ecuadorian soldiers were placed in pre-trial detention on Wednesday by a civilian court over an alleged extrajudicial execution, the Attorney General’s Office reported.
As part of his war on drug trafficking, President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict in 2024 and deployed the Armed Forces to the streets. Human rights organizations have since denounced military abuses and a rise in disappearances attributed to state agents.
A judge in the coastal province of Santa Elena ordered pre-trial detention for six soldiers for alleged extrajudicial execution, the prosecution stated on X. It added that the troops, now under investigation for the suspected crime, were in charge of an operation in the resort town of Salinas, during which one of the detainees died.
In a separate case involving alleged abuse of authority, a group of 17 soldiers is currently on trial for the forced disappearance of four minors whose bodies were found burned near an Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) base.
In December 2024, Saúl Arboleda, Steven Medina, and brothers Josué and Ismael Arroyo — aged 11 to 15 — were detained by a military patrol in southern Guayaquil.
According to Amnesty International, Ecuador’s Prosecutor’s Office has received reports of at least 43 possible cases of forced disappearance since 2023, the year Noboa took office pledging a tough stance against organized crime.
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