International
Bolsonaro ‘authorizes’ transition without acknowledging defeat
| By AFP | Marcelo Silva De Sousa |
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday “authorized” the transition to a new government, without acknowledging his defeat to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro, 67, broke two days of silence after his razor-thin loss to Lula on Sunday, which sparked protests from his supporters across the country and fanned fears he would not accept the outcome.
In a speech that lasted just over two minutes, the far-right incumbent neither acknowledged defeat, nor congratulated Lula on his victory.
Bolsonaro started by thanking the 58 million Brazilians who voted for him, before commenting that the roadblocks erected by his supporters across the country were “the fruit of indignation and a feeling of injustice at how the electoral process took place.”
“Peaceful protests will always be welcome,” he said, adding that people should not be impeded from coming and going.
“As president of the Republic and a citizen I will continue to comply with our constitution,” he said, before handing the podium to his chief of staff Ciro Noguiera, who said Bolsonaro had “authorized” the “start of the transition” process.
Lula’s Workers’ Party announced Tuesday that his vice-president-elect Geraldo Alckmin would lead the transition process which would begin on Thursday. Lula will be inaugurated for his third term as president on January 1.
No concession call
Bolsonaro’s appearance, however succinct, capped two days of tensions over how he would respond to such a narrow loss after months of alleging fraud in the electoral system.
“Anyplace else in the world, the defeated president would have called me to recognize his defeat,” Lula said in his victory speech to a euphoric sea of red-clad supporters in Sao Paulo on Sunday night.
Bolsonaro remained silent even as key allies publicly recognized his loss, including the powerful speaker of the lower house of Congress, Arthur Lira.
Federal Highway Police (PRF) on Tuesday reported more than 250 total or partial road blockages in at least 23 states by Bolsonaro supporters, which they were attempting to disperse, in some cases firing teargas at demonstrators.
Protesters wearing the yellow and green of the Brazilian flag, which the outgoing president has adopted as his own, said they would not accept the outcome of the election.
“We will not accept losing what we have gained, we want what is written on our flag, ‘order and progress’. We will not accept the situation as it is,” Antoniel Almeida, 45, told AFP at a protest in Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro.
On Monday night, Judge Alexander de Moraes of the Supreme Court ordered police to disperse the blockades immediately. He was acting in response to a request by a transport federation that complained it was losing business.
‘Strength of our values’
Bolsonaro became the first incumbent president in Brazil not to win re-election in the post-dictatorship era after a four-year term in which he came under fire for his disastrous handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which left more than 680,000 dead in Brazil.
He also drew criticism for his vitriolic comments, polarizing style and attacks on democratic institutions and foreign allies.
Bolsonaro used his brief speech to reflect on his time in office and said the victory of a majority of right-wing candidates in Congress “shows the strength of our values: God, homeland, family, and liberty.”
“Our dreams are more alive than ever. Even in the face of the system, we overcame a pandemic and the consequences of a war,” Bolsonaro said, referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has reverberated around the globe with rising prices and concerns of a major food crisis. “I was always labeled undemocratic and unlike my accusers, I always played within the limits of the constitution.”
Lula gets to work
The post-election drama follows a dirty and divisive election campaign between Bolsonaro and Lula, who returns to office in a dramatic comeback.
Brazil’s president between 2003 and 2010, Lula crashed into disgrace in a corruption scandal that landed him in jail before his conviction was thrown out due to bias from the lead judge. However, he was not exonerated.
The election outcome showed just how polarized the country is between the two very different leaders.
Lula scored 50.9 percent to Bolsonaro’s 49.1 percent — the narrowest margin in Brazil’s modern history.
With a massive to-do list, Lula leaped into action, meeting Argentine President Alberto Fernandez in Sao Paulo and holding a series of phone calls with US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and others.
International
Colombian president Gustavo Petro denies alleged ties to criminal networks
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday rejected claims made by Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, who suggested that the president might be involved in a criminal network linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Petro called the accusation “criminal and arbitrary” in a post on social media platform X.
“Leopoldo López’s attempt to link me to drug trafficking structures is criminal and arbitrary,” wrote the Colombian president, responding to statements made by López from Madrid, where he has been exiled since 2020.
During a press conference, López claimed that Petro “has become the first international spokesperson supporting Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship” and suggested that this support could stem from a direct relationship or shared interest with what he described as a “criminal structure.”
President Petro responded that he does not have accounts or assets abroad and that his income comes solely from his salary as a public official. “Not a single peso more. I have no accounts abroad or assets. My only property is the house I built for my children, completed before becoming mayor; I owe money on it to the bank and no one lives there. I have no other assets in Colombia or abroad, so stop being foolish,” the president said.
These statements follow the U.S. Treasury Department’s inclusion of Petro, his wife Verónica Alcocer, his son Nicolás Petro, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti on the so-called ‘Clinton List’ by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) due to alleged links to drug trafficking.
Being on this list blocks assets in the United States and prohibits financial transactions with U.S. entities.
Central America
El Salvador’s FGR prosecutes 89,875 gang members under state of exception
Records from the Office of the Attorney General of El Salvador (FGR) show that under the state of exception, 89,875 gang members from various criminal organizations have been arrested, of which 91.3% (82,078) are currently in the preliminary trial stage before the courts specialized in organized crime. The FGR anticipates favorable rulings with maximum sentences for all convicted criminals.
During a recent visit to the Legislative Assembly, Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado provided details about the work carried out under the state of exception. A dedicated team of 291 legal professionals has been assigned to these cases, including office chiefs, coordinators, assistant prosecutors, and legal collaborators.
“The team working on state-of-exception cases includes 291 professionals, plus personnel from the Telecommunications Intervention Center and supervisory staff, representing roughly 30% of the FGR’s total prosecutorial workforce,” Delgado explained.
The prosecutors have prepared 590 criminal cases with formal charges:
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299 cases against Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) members
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281 cases against the 18th Street gang
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3 cases against Mao Mao
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5 cases against Mara Máquina
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2 cases against Mirada Loca
The Attorney General emphasized that the investigation and prosecution of 89,875 gang members is unprecedented in the country’s history. “Over the next two years, we expect to gradually reduce the number of defendants in the preliminary trial stage and move them toward final convictions,” he said.
Delgado also highlighted the work of the Analysis Section, which has processed 25,412 pieces of evidence, of which 19,658 are related to the state-of-exception cases, while the remaining 5,754 belong to other cases, reflecting the unit’s dual role in defending the interests of both the state and society.
International
Mexican journalist reporting on drug cartels killed in Durango
A journalist covering drug trafficking and security on social media in the northwestern Mexican state of Durango was murdered, the state prosecutor’s office reported to AFP on Monday.
The victim has been identified as Miguel Ángel Beltrán, a reporter who had previously worked in print media, according to local news outlets. Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with more than 150 media professionals killed since 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Beltrán’s body was discovered on Saturday along the highway connecting Durango to the beach resort of Mazatlán in the neighboring state of Sinaloa, local media reported.
The journalist had been reporting through TikTok, under the pseudonym Capo, and on Facebook through the page La Gazzetta Durango, AFP confirmed.
In one of his latest reports, published last Wednesday, Beltrán covered the arrest of a leader of the local Cabrera Sarabia mafia, which operates in Durango and is a rival of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels, the country’s most powerful criminal organizations.
Like Beltrán, many journalists targeted in Mexico work in areas dominated by organized crime and often publish on small outlets or social media, usually under precarious working conditions.
Since December 2006, when the government launched a controversial military-backed anti-drug strategy, more than 480,000 people have been killed in Mexico.
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