International

‘Brazil is back,’ Lula hails at Latin America leaders summit

Photo: Luis Robayo / AFP

January 25 | By AFP | Philippe Bernes-Lasserre / Mauricio Rabuffetti |

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared Tuesday that his country is “back in the region” after joining more than a dozen other Latin American leaders at a summit in Buenos Aires.

Less than a month after his inauguration, Lula arrived in the Argentine capital looking to rebuild bridges after his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro had pulled out of the grouping.

“Brazil is back in the region and ready to work side-by-side with you with a very strong feeling of solidarity and closeness,” said the 77-year-old leader during the seventh Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit, which brings together 33 nations.

Lula, who previously served as Brazil’s president from 2003-10, was one of the founders of CELAC during the first “pink wave” of leftward political shifts on the continent over a decade ago.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

But Bolsonaro pulled Brazil out of the group over what he perceived as its support for undemocratic governments in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba.

Lula spoke Tuesday about the “multiple crises” affecting the world — from the pandemic to climate change, geopolitical tensions, food insecurities and threats to democracy.

“All this happens in the midst of an unacceptable rise in inequality, poverty and hunger,” said Lula, the only leader to publicize his speech at the summit.

Democracy and its threats — especially from the far right — were a central theme of the summit.

“We cannot allow the recalcitrant and fascist far right to put our institutions and our people in peril,” said the host of the forum, Argentina’s center-left President Alberto Fernandez, in opening remarks.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

He pointed to the riots by Bolsonaro supporters at the seats of power in Brasilia earlier this month and the alleged attempt to assassinate his vice president, Cristina Kirchner, in September.

But Fernandez made no mention of communist Cuba or the accusations of political oppression made against radical leftist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

In fact, with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in attendance, Fernandez called for an end to the US-led blockade of Cuba and Venezuela.

They are “a perverse method of punishment, not of the governments but of the people,” Fernandez said.

‘Latin America is bankrupt’

Host Argentina this week hailed a “new climate in Latin America,” with the region ushering in a fresh wave of left or center-left governments since 2018 — including Mexico, Argentina, Honduras, Chile, Colombia and Brazil.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

A forum for consultation and cooperation, CELAC has no power to enforce any agreements between its members.

And while Fernandez stressed the need to “strengthen the institutions in our region,” CELAC is struggling to unite members over successive regional crises, such as in Peru.

“Latin America is bankrupt from the institutional point of view,” Ignacio Bartesaghi, an international relations expert at the Catholic University of Uruguay, told AFP.

“There is not even certain basic consensus in Latin America, as on the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship,” he stressed.

“There are (at CELAC) presidents who do not even recognize each other,” he noted, alluding to situations such as Paraguay’s Mario Abdo Benitez, whose country broke diplomatic relations with Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela in 2019.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

‘Absence of dialogue’

Maduro called off his own trip to the gathering at the last minute, citing “a risk of aggression” from “the neo-fascist right,” a possible reference to some Argentine opposition politicians calling for him to be arrested on arrival.

He was due on Monday to meet with Lula, who instead held talks with Diaz-Canel.

He sent a message to the forum blasting the “criminal sanctions” against his government, in particular against the state oil company PDVSA.

Other significant absentees in Buenos Aires include Mexico’s left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, leader of the second largest economy in Latin America and host in 2021 of the last CELAC summit.

CELAC however remains the partner of choice for China and the European Union to negotiate when cooperating with the region.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

But the last joint-EU summit was in 2015, highlighting the lack of regional consensus, says Bernabe Malacalza, researcher at the CONICET Argentine national research center.

In this sense, the return of Lula could give a boost to certain sub-regional issues, such as the free-trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur group which comprises Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The deal was finalized in 2019 but never ratified, due in particular to concerns about Bolsonaro’s environmental policy.

Lula has indicated a willingness to resume contacts.

Meanwhile, Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou proposed a free-trade zone extending from “Mexico to the south of South America.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Related Topics:Brazil Latin America Lula

Up Next

Fresh clashes in Lima as president seeks ‘truce’

Don't Miss

Peru president calls for ‘truce’ after weeks of unrest

20260224_estafa_mh_300x250

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.