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
Spanish Government Targets ‘Big Tech Impunity’ in AI Image Scandal
The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, announced Tuesday that his government will ask prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok over the alleged creation and distribution of sexually explicit images involving minors generated through artificial intelligence.
In a post on X, Sánchez said the government would formally request that the Public Prosecutor’s Office examine potential crimes that these platforms may have committed by allowing or facilitating the use of AI tools to generate such content.
“These platforms are harming the mental health, dignity and rights of our children,” Sánchez wrote, adding that “the impunity of the giants must end.”
In recent weeks, the Spanish leader has publicly clashed with tech figures such as Elon Musk and Pavel Durov after announcing on February 3 his intention to ban social media access for minors under the age of 16.
Sánchez also signaled plans to amend legislation so that platform executives could be held legally responsible for certain violations committed on their websites.
According to figures released Tuesday by the government, one in five young people in Spain — particularly girls and teenage minors — say they have experienced the circulation of AI-generated fake nude images of themselves while underage.
International
Father Faces Murder Charges in Georgia School Shooting Case
Colin Gray, 55, appeared in court Monday facing charges of murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the September 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School, carried out by his son, Colt.
Two 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed, and nine others were injured in the shooting in Winder, Georgia. Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time and is now 16, has been charged as an adult and is awaiting a trial date.
During opening statements, prosecutors alleged that Gray gave his son the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack as a Christmas gift in 2023, despite prior warnings that the teenager had threatened to carry out a school shooting.
According to the FBI, local authorities interviewed Colt and his father in May 2023 after receiving anonymous reports about online threats made by the teen.
“This case is about this defendant and his actions—allowing a minor in his custody to have access to a firearm and ammunition after being warned that the minor intended to harm others,” said Brad Smith, the Barrow County prosecutor.
Defense attorney Brian Hobbs told jurors that Colin Gray was unaware of his son’s intentions and had sought help for the teenager’s declining mental health.
School shootings remain a recurring issue in the United States, where firearms outnumber people and regulations governing the purchase of even high-powered, military-style rifles are relatively permissive.
Central America
Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras Loses Bid for Constitutional Court Seat
Guatemala’s attorney general, Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States over corruption allegations, lost a key vote on Monday in which a public university selected two of the 10 magistrates for the country’s highest constitutional court. However, she could still seek a seat through another nominating body.
The election of five full magistrates and five alternates to the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC) is taking place gradually over more than two months and is considered crucial in the ongoing struggle for control of Guatemala’s judiciary, which critics say has long been influenced by a political and economic elite accused of corruption.
According to results announced at a press conference, the governing council of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) rejected Porras, who had applied as either a full or alternate magistrate, and instead chose two candidates aligned with the university rector. The vote was held at a hotel in Antigua, about 35 kilometers from the capital.
Despite the setback, Porras — whose term as attorney general ends on May 16 — could still be nominated to the Constitutional Court by the Corte Suprema de Justicia, which appoints two magistrates. The remaining six are selected by the president, the bar association and Congress.
“It’s always a possibility,” the 72-year-old lawyer said days earlier when asked by reporters whether she would seek nomination through another institution if she lost the USAC vote.
Porras has been sanctioned by Washington and the European Union for allegedly attempting two years ago to block the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo and for pursuing legal actions against anti-corruption prosecutors, judges, journalists and social leaders since taking office in 2018.
The USAC vote was controversial because most members of the university’s governing council are serving beyond the expiration of their terms. Students, academics and social activists staged protests against Porras’ candidacy.
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