International
Argentina’s presidential candidates in final debate
November 13 |
The candidates for the Presidency of Argentina, Sergio Massa (Unión por la Patria) and Javier Milei (La Libertad Avanza) starred on Sunday night in the last and decisive television debate to seek support for the ballot on November 19.
The Law School of the University of Buenos Aires, in the Argentine capital, the same venue as the second debate held before the first round, is the space chosen by the National Electoral Chamber (CNE) for this last appointment.
Throughout the debate both candidates discussed several issues and had a new opportunity to make known their proposals and plans to reach the presidency of the country.
Both Massa and Milei entered into a strong counterpoint, in which the candidate of Unión por la Patria, managed to make the right-winger uncomfortable, who could not face each of the criticisms against him exposed by the candidate of Unión por la Patria (UxP).
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, in his presentation, pointed out that “we have to decide who is going to take care of our health, our education, our work. I am here to propose a great change, with a great agreement of state policies, with dialogue, consensus and respect for those who think differently”.
Milei tried to defend his economic model saying that “Argentina has been in decline for 100 years. This is a consequence of the caste model, which assures that where there is a need there is a right. The problem is that needs are infinite and those rights have to be paid for. This manifests itself in fiscal deficit”.
Massa put Milei on the spot when he confronted him against his campaign and pre-campaign statements: “But there are many things at stake here. We are facing someone who lied during the whole campaign or is lying now”.
According to the Minister of Economy, “Argentina has the responsibility, in an absolutely convulsed world, to think its foreign policy in defense of the Argentine interest, we have to be clear about multipolarity, to have relations with all the countries that open their arms to sell Argentine work. The main partners are Brazil, China, we have to defend that commercial agenda that provides jobs to two million Argentines. This man [Milei] called the most important Argentine in history, Pope Francis, as evil, we are going to work for Francis to come to the country in 2024. And we have to defend the Malvinas cause”, says Massa when talking about Argentina and its relationship with the world.
In the same sense, Massa expresses that Milei said “that Margaret Thatcher was your idol and that the kelpers had the right to self-determination, I ask people to look up what you said”.
Milei tried to answer: “Thatcher was a great leader like Churchill or De Gaulle, she had a great role during the fall of the Berlin Wall, but you are upset that the Wall fell”.
However, Massa closed “Thatcher is an enemy of Argentina”.
The third axis was dedicated to Education and Health. While Milei denies wanting to privatize. Massa answered him in this sense: “Eight points of the GDP will be allocated to education, with 753 kindergartens, with a literacy plan, with compulsory mathematics and robotics, with the preparation of shorter university careers”, Massa listed his proposals.
In the economic block, Sergio Massa pointed out that from the Government “this year we made an effort that allowed us to grow in employment every month” and rejected Javier Milei’s proposal of “opening the economy” that will “destroy thousands of families”.
Massa expressed that “I do not want to go back to that stage in Argentina”, in relation to the indiscriminate opening of imports.
Sergio Massa, said this Sunday that he seeks to “definitively bury the political crack” that exists in the country, while his opponent, the libertarian Javier Milei, asked the population to vote “without fear because it paralyzes”.
At the end of the debate, both candidates were asked by the moderators why they want to preside Argentina.
Massa repeated the idea of forming a “government of unity”, with a program of 10 State policies, and promised to those who will not vote for him out of conviction, “but as a vehicle for not choosing a path that is violence, that is hate, that is damage”, that he will work “so that they do not feel that they threw their vote away”.
On his part, Milei highlighted that this is “the most important election of the last 100 years” because Argentina must ask itself if it wants to continue “walking this decadent path” and “sustain this parasitic, useless and useless caste”; therefore, he asked to “vote without fear because fear paralyzes and benefits the ‘status quo’”.
In view of Javier Milei’s difficulty to answer Sergio Massa’s questions and criticisms, the media could not hide their opinions about the right-winger’s participation in the last debate.
Several media reported that Massa came out victorious by answering with clarity and precision each one of Milei’s opinions, who on more than one occasion tried to make the candidate of Unión por la Patria uncomfortable.
At the end of the last debate for the second round of elections scheduled for November 19, specialized political programs and hegemonic media reported that the candidate of La Libertad Avanza was hesitant and erratic in contrast with Sergio Massa’s answers.
International
Singer seriously injured after knife attack in Tokyo’s Akasaka District
A woman in her forties was stabbed on Sunday by a man in Tokyo’s busy Akasaka district, leaving her with serious injuries, according to local media reports.
At around 10:25 a.m. (local time), police received an emergency call reporting that a woman was bleeding after being attacked with a knife by a man wearing a black hood in the basement of a building in Akasaka, police sources told Kyodo News.
The woman sustained severe injuries to her abdomen and hand but was conscious when she was transported to a hospital, Tokyo Metropolitan Police said, adding that the suspected assailant fled the scene with what appeared to be a knife.
The victim, believed to be a singer, was reportedly attacked while waiting alone outside a live music club where she was scheduled to perform.
Police stated that they are searching for the suspect and noted that the woman did not know him.
International
Ombudsman confirms deaths of six minors in bombing targeting FARC dissidents
Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office reported on Saturday the deaths of six minors who had been recruited by guerrilla groups, killed during the deadliest airstrike ordered by President Gustavo Petro in an Amazonian region in the south of the country.
Amid pre-election criticism and pressure from the United States demanding stronger action against drug trafficking, Petro has intensified military operations against armed groups. Over the past week, a series of bombings have left 28 people dead.
The minors were killed in an airstrike announced on Tuesday against a camp belonging to dissident factions of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla in the department of Guaviare, resulting in 19 deaths—the largest operation of its kind under Petro’s administration.
“This is all deeply regrettable; it is war in its most painful and inhumane expression, harming the most vulnerable—minors recruited due to lack of protection and now turned into military targets,” said Ombudswoman Iris Marín in an audio message sent to the press, confirming the deaths of six minors without providing their ages.
Marín held the guerrilla group led by the country’s most-wanted man, alias Iván Mordisco, responsible for recruiting the children.
However, she also stressed that “the military forces must take every feasible precaution to protect children,” in accordance with international principles that require “careful evaluation of the means and methods of warfare to avoid disproportionate or unnecessary harm.”
International
Colombia reaches $4.5 billion deal to acquire 17 Gripen Fighter Jets from Saab
The Colombian government has finalized a negotiation agreement with the Swedish company Saab for the purchase of 17 SAP-39 Gripen fighter jets, valued at more than $4.5 billion, according to local media reports.
Colombian outlets indicated that payments are scheduled to begin in 2026, starting with an initial installment of 100 billion Colombian pesos. However, the aircraft will be delivered between 2027 and 2032, when the final jet is expected to arrive in Colombia.
This new contract represents the second-largest public purchase made by Colombia so far this century, surpassed only by the investment in the Bogotá metro system, local media noted.
The agreement is expected to be officially signed during the ceremony commemorating the 216th anniversary of the Colombian Aerospace Force, to be held in Cali on November 14 of this year.
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