International

Thousands of Mexicans are unable to vote in the United States in front of an overflowing electoral body

Thousands of Mexicans living in the United States were left without being able to vote, despite long lines at the consulates throughout the day, due to the deficiencies of a slow electronic system and the lack of enough boxes to be able to vote, which evidenced the failures of an overflowing National Electoral Institute (INE) of Mexico.

The twenty operating consulates in the country, in which it has been possible to vote in person for the first time on the same day of the elections, have been overtalken by the thousands of citizens who wanted to exercise their right to vote in the largest elections in history, with 97 million people called to the polls.

According to the INE, 258,461 people will be able to exercise their vote from abroad in these elections, the majority residing in the United States. Outside the country, there are only three operational consulates in which it has been possible to vote today: Madrid, Paris and Montreal.

Despite the fact that it was possible to vote by mail and electronically in the previous weeks, there have been many who have preferred to approach the consulates of cities such as Los Angeles, New York or Washington, which have been completely overwhelmed, as EFE found.

In the US capital, the doors closed at 8:00 p.m. local time, 6:00 p.m. Mexican time, the same time they closed in the Latin American country, among the booing of people who demanded that voting hours be extended.

A request that did not materialize. “By INE regulations we can’t extend ourselves any longer,” explained the president of the box, Daniel Álvarez, in front of a row of people who could not vote and who were going around the block.

The problems have been several. The main one, explained this morning to EFE the representative of the INE in the US capital, Ricardo Sánchez, the slowness and difficulty of some people to use the recently released electronic system, with tablets as the only option to vote.

With half an hour to go before the closure of this consulate, which only had five tables installed, 640 people had voted, 255 who had already registered and 385 not registered.

That has been another of the problems, which the population was encouraged to go to vote despite not being registered and the influx has been much greater than expected.

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International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.