International
This will be the choreography of the European election night, from the polls to the results on 9J
When the massive European elections conclude this Sunday night, which call more than 370 million people to the polls in 27 countries, it will be time to know the first data on the composition of the European Parliament for the next five years and what coalitions can be formed.
More than a thousand journalists have been accredited to follow the results of the elections from the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels, whose hemicycle will be transformed into a huge press center to follow the data at the continental level on participation, seats and representation of the parties, both at the national and European levels.
All the polls give a roomy victory to the European People’s Party, which will maintain approximately the same number of seats as in the outgoing European Parliament, while the groups that have supported the Von der Leyen majority, social democrats (S&D) and liberals (Renovate Europe), will remain second and third respectively.
Even if they maintain their positions, the Social Democrats will do so with a few fewer seats than in 2019 and the liberals could lose up to 20% of their current seats.
To the right of the EPP, the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the ultra-right Identity and Democracy (ID) will increase their number of MEPs, although with a limited influence due to their fragmentation, while the Greens/European Free Alliance will lose seats until they are sixth force and the Left will remain stable.
The official results will not be known until 11:15 p.m. and no country can publish official results before 11:00 p.m., since Italy does not close the polls until then.
During the afternoon, estimates published by the European Parliament will be known based on polls and polls at the ballot box, which will contain more information as the polling stations in each Member State close.
The first series of country estimates will be known around 6:15 p.m. Two hours later, Parliament will make a first projection of the composition of the European Parliament based on national estimates, pre-election polls or polls at the foot of the ballot box.
The second official screening of the night, at approximately 11:15 p.m., will be the first to contain official results, but not from all countries; some, such as Italy, will just close the polls at that time and others will make a slower count.
The last screening of the night will be published around one in the morning on Monday, June 10, but it is likely that it will take days to know the final result.
The projections published by the European Parliament, however, are based on the groups that existed in the legislature that now concludes; these can be maintained, disappear, win seats or lose them.
On election night, the “cake” of the hemicycle will have an important portion unallocated to any group, corresponding to those national parties that were not in the current European Parliament or that have not reported which groups they will join for the next legislature.
Negotiations to form groups, which bring together MEPs from different countries with similar affinities, can begin on the same day 10 in the morning. To form a group, at least 23 MEPs from a quarter of the Member States must meet; that is, a minimum of seven countries.
International
Mexico requests extradition of ‘Mini Lic’ for murder of journalist Javier Valdez
The Mexican government has requested the extradition of Dámaso López Serrano, a former high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, who is accused of masterminding the 2017 murder of Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, the Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday.
López Serrano, known as “Mini Lic,” was arrested last Friday in Virginia, United States, on charges of fentanyl trafficking, a crime he committed while on parole.
“This is the key issue for us, he [López Serrano] is the mastermind of this murder. The rest of the perpetrators are already processed and in jail, he was the one missing,” said Attorney General Alejandro Gertz.
“We immediately made the extradition request,” the official added during the routine morning press conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Valdez, an award-winning reporter specializing in drug trafficking and correspondent for AFP and the newspaper La Jornada, was murdered on May 15, 2017, in front of the office of his magazine Riodoce in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.
“Mini Lic” was originally arrested in 2017 when he voluntarily turned himself in to U.S. authorities and pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. In 2022, he was released on parole.
Gertz confirmed that the Mexican Attorney General’s Office had requested López Serrano’s extradition “countless times,” but Washington had declined to act on the request because he had become a “protected witness” for the U.S. government and “was providing a lot of information.”
“Now, with this situation where they themselves are acknowledging that this individual is still committing crimes, I think there are more than enough reasons for them to support us,” the prosecutor added.
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and was founded by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Culiacán has been shaken by a wave of murders since the arrest of Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, another key leader of the cartel alongside Guzmán, on July 25 in New Mexico, United States.
International
Cuba’s government stresses openness to serious, respectful U.S. relations
Cuba reiterated on Tuesday its willingness to engage in dialogue with the United States, just weeks before Republican President Donald Trump assumes office. During his first term, Trump halted the historic rapprochement between the two countries, which had been initiated just ten years earlier by Democrat Barack Obama.
“It will not be Cuba that proposes or takes the initiative to suspend the existing dialogues, to suspend the existing cooperation. Not even the discreet exchanges on some sensitive issues,” said Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossío at a press conference in Havana.
“We will be attentive to the attitude of the new government, but Cuba’s stance will remain the same as it has been for the last 64 years. We are willing to develop a serious, respectful relationship with the United States, one that protects the sovereign interests of both countries,” he added.
His statements come on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the historic rapprochement announcement between Washington and Havana.
On December 17, 2014, Cuban leader Raúl Castro (2006-2021) and Barack Obama (2008-2016) announced the beginning of a thaw in relations, which led to the restoration of diplomatic ties in 2015, after more than half a century of confrontation.
This process of thawing bilateral relations was later halted by businessman Donald Trump, who significantly reinforced economic sanctions against the communist-ruled country. The Republican will return to the White House on January 20.
Cuba, under a U.S. trade embargo since 1962, was re-listed in 2021 on the “blacklist of countries supporting terrorism,” blocking financial and economic flows to the island of 10 million inhabitants.
Subsequently, the administration of current Democratic President Joe Biden made only slight adjustments to the sanctions and also kept Cuba on this list. However, his administration resumed bilateral contacts with Havana on migration issues and the fight against terrorism.
International
Mexican government to use church atriums for gun surrender program to combat violence
The atriums of Mexican Catholic churches will be used for the voluntary surrender of weapons in exchange for economic and legal incentives as part of a plan announced on Tuesday by the government to reduce violence.
According to the Mexican government, there is a link between the illegal trafficking of weapons—almost entirely coming from the United States—and the spiral of criminal violence that has plagued the country since late 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug offensive was launched.
“The idea is to set up areas in the church atriums where people can voluntarily surrender their weapons, and in return, they will receive financial resources based on the weapon they are turning in,” explained President Claudia Sheinbaum during her regular press conference.
The left-wing leader emphasized that the program, called “Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace,” guarantees that those who surrender their weapons will not face any “investigation.”
“What we want is to disarm. This will be implemented next year. We also did it in Mexico City, and it had significant results,” added the former mayor of the capital, with a population of 9.2 million.
The disarmament plan is part of the government’s “comprehensive security strategy,” one of whose pillars is promoting a culture of peace, especially in regions severely affected by organized crime violence, Sheinbaum pointed out.
More than 450,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since the government launched its military-led anti-drug operation, alongside about 100,000 people who have gone missing.
Despite being a secular state, the Mexican Catholic Church has played a key role in efforts to contain violence, with priests acting as mediators between citizens and criminals. Several clergy members have been killed for this cause.
Just last week, the Catholic hierarchy called on cartels to declare a truce in their violent actions during the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12 and the upcoming Christmas holidays.
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