International
The ruling party assures that Claudia Sheinbaum will be the first female president of Mexico
The president of the ruling party Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena), Mario Delgado, assured that his candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, will be “the first female president” of Mexico to prevail in the presidential elections.
“We are fortunate to live in a stellar moment in the history of our country and also for our Latin America and the world. Claudia Sheinbaum will be the first female president in the history of North America,” Delgado said at the campaign headquarters in the Mexican capital.
The announcement of the ruling party comes after the closure of the voting centers at 18:00 local time (00:00 GMT), although the National Electoral Institute (INE) still does not offer official results.
According to Delgado, his exit polls give Sheinbaum a “very wide” advantage over the opposition candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, with “two to one difference.”
“There is no doubt about Claudia Sheinbaum’s triumph,” said the leader of Morena.
Delgado described the former head of government of Mexico City (2018-2023) as “a woman who has conquered the people of Mexico” along with “a popular movement that has touched the hearts of Mexicans.”
“She is also a woman who has dedicated a large part of her life to walking with the greatest leader of our time, Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” she continued.
Morena’s national leader assured that this “represents the irrefutable triumph of women against machismo, inequality and violence” and that with his “inspiration” he will “guarantee the change to the destiny of women in the country.”
“As an indigenous woman in Chiapas (southern state of Mexico) told our candidate and future president, it represents the unfulfilled dream of her grandmothers,” he added.
On the other hand, Delgado pointed out that Sheinbaum managed to “close his mouth to a tiny opposition” which he also called “racist, classist and corrupt.”
“The people have shown that they do not let themselves be fooled, neither by hate campaigns, nor by lies. The votes beat the bots,” he said.
In turn, Delgado said that Morena will win the “full car in these elections,” that is, the main executive positions.
“Just as we set ourselves the goal, that we were going for 10 out of 10, the eight governornacies (state), the head of government (Mexico City) and you know which one else,” Delgado said at a press conference after the closure of voting centers in the majority of the country at 18:00 local time (00:00 GMT).
Although there are still no official results, Morena’s leader assured in the party’s operations center in the Mexican capital that his projections point to “a resounding triumph of Clara Brugada, who will be the next head of government” of Mexico City. The former DF had Claudia Sheinbaum, she ruled from 2018 to 2023.
In addition, he said that the polls give the triumph to his candidates in Jalisco, Claudia Delgadillo, and in Veracruz, to Rocío Nahle, which would imply governing in some of the most populated entities in the country.
He also asserted that his candidates for the state governments of Yucatan, Morelos, Puebla, Chiapas and Tabasco are shaping up winners.
Finally, in Guanajuato, one of the main bastions of the opposition, he said that there are “very closed numbers,” so they will “wait to have the minutes to defend the triumph.”
Delgado argued that he could not give more details of the presidential result “because the boxes (voting tables) are still open in some entities of the country” and they still cannot “make any reference to the federal election.”
“We are taking a full car in these elections,” he insisted.
If not governing in any state before the 2018 election, Morena now controls 21 entities, plus two other of her allies, the Green Party in San Luis Potosí and the Social Encounter Party (PES) in Morelos.
This Sunday’s main contest will define who will succeed López Obrador, who expects the triumph of the ruling party, Sheinbaum, over the opponents Xóchitl Gálvez, of the coalition of Fuerza y Corazón por México, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez, of Movimiento Ciudadano (MC).
The National Electoral Institute (INE) will publish the Preliminary Electoral Results Program (PREP) from 20:00 central hours (02:00 GMT), while between 22:00 and 23:00 local time (04:00 and 05:00 GMT) it will announce the quick count, which can define the winner of the presidency.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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