International

The blackouts mark the electoral campaign in Puerto Rico

The tension of Puerto Ricans over the frequent blackouts, for which they blame the electricity company LUMA Energy, has marked the electoral campaign for the November 5 elections in Puerto Rico, forcing the candidates for governor to position themselves.

The candidates for the governorship – Juan Dalmau, of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP); Jesús Manuel Ortiz, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD); Jenniffer González, of the New Progressive Party (PNP); and Javier Jiménez, of Proyecto Dignidad (PD) – have promised to cancel the contract with LUMA, although offering different solutions.

Puerto Rico’s electricity grid has been very fragile for decades, but many complain that the arrival in 2021 of LUMA, in charge of the transmission and distribution of energy, has not improved service and has meant an increase in the electricity bill.

Various proposals for change in Puerto Rico

In this context, the candidate for the alliance between the PIP and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), said in a televised debate of the candidates for governorship that Puerto Rico cannot be “economically competent if LUMA continues.”

Dalmau, if he wins the elections, proposes “a new energy governance model that is not in private hands.”

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“LUMA did not arrive in Puerto Rico out of nowhere, it came because of the bankruptcy to which the Popular Party and the PNP took us,” he said in one of his interventions in the debate.

For her part, the PNP candidate promised during a party assembly at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico that, in the case of obtaining victory in the elections, she will take out LUMA Energy.

LUMA “is leaving”

“I tell him that LUMA is leaving. But we are going to do it by appointing a tsar who collects the information, who coordinates with federal and state agencies to look for second operators, so that when they leave we are not left without electricity, so that there is a transition and it costs less to the people,” González said.

In addition, in the debate of the candidates, she remarked that she brought to “Puerto Rico the largest amount of federal funds in history” and intends to “put them to run starting with the electricity system.”

As for Ortiz, he advocated in a recent forum of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Puerto Rico to cancel the contract and replace LUMA with a “depoliticized and regionalized” system.

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“If it’s a private company, let it be a private company. If it is a public sector, let it be a public sector,” he said.

Clamor for a “resilient” electrical system

These promises are, in the opinion of LUMA Energy’s director of External Affairs, José Pérez, “political distractions at a specific time.”

“I reaffirm that we are not leaving,” he stressed in a recent interview with EFE.

Pérez explained that the company is carrying out “the possibly largest electrical transformation in the world” and that the island’s network will take “about three years to be resilient.”

This reconstruction comes after the devastation of the network by the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and years of inefficient management of the previous administration of the Electric Power Authority (AEE), which ended in a bankruptcy of 10 billion dollars.

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Natalia Santiago, vice president of Únete, one of the organizations that have called demonstrations against LUMA, reminded EFE that many citizens, especially with respiratory problems, “died because their equipment could not be connected,” as happened to her mother.

To the cry of ‘They privatize energy and steal it from us every day’, ‘energy, we claim it because it is a human right’ or ‘Puerto Rico is not for sale’, citizens have demanded in various protests a change in the electricity system, pressuring politicians in the face of the elections.

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.