International
Change course or follow the same line: Uruguay elects its new president on Sunday
Change course or continue on the same path. That is the decision that Uruguayans will have to make on Sunday in elections marked by the parity that the latest polls showed.
28 days after the presidential and parliamentary elections, about 2.7 million people will go to the polls on November 24 to choose between the ruling party Álvaro Delgado and the opposition Yamandú Orsi.
From the ban to the second round to elect president in Uruguay
After none of the eleven candidates who competed in the previous instance exceeded 50% of the votes, the two most voted advanced to the second round.
This will take place between 8:00 and 19:30 local time (11:00 to 22:30 GMT) and it is expected that around 21:30 (00:30 GMT) the consultants will be able to show their first projections.
However, the latest polls presented showed a lot of parity between the candidate of the opposition Frente Amplio and the one who will represent the government coalition, made up of the ruling National Party, the Colorado Party, Cabildo Abierto, the Independent Party and the Constitutional Environmentalist Party.
Five days after Delgado and Orsi came face to face in a mandatory debate in which they presented their main proposals for the period 2025-2030, the South American country began to live the electoral ban.
In this way, the parties will not be able to carry out acts of proselytist propaganda.
An instance that only Tabaré Vázquez eluded
The second round of the Uruguayan presidential elections was held for the first time in 1999.
A plebiscite held in 1996 reformed the Constitution of the South American country and introduced changes such as the creation of primary elections and the ballot on the last Sunday of November.
This puts the two most voted candidates face to face in the presidential and parliamentary elections that are held on the last Sunday of October every five years and are held provided that neither has exceeded 50% of the votes in that instance.
Through that channel, the Colorado Party maintained the Government in the 1999 elections and did so with a historical surname.
Jorge Batlle became the fourth Batlle to be president of the South American country, after his great-grandfather Lorenzo Batlle, his great-uncle José Batlle y Ordóñez and his father, Luis Batlle Berres.
On October 31, 2004, Tabaré Vázquez went again for the Presidency and managed to get the left to win for the first time in Uruguay by obtaining 51.68% of the votes in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
That triumph of the Frente Amplio is so far the only one that got a game without the need for a second round, since it was implemented.
Five years later, José Mujica defeated Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera in the second round and in 2014 Tabaré Vázquez joined the select group of presidents who ruled Uruguay on two occasions by beating Luis Lacalle Pou.
The current president acceded to this instance again in 2019 and on that occasion defeated the Frenteamplista Daniel Martínez.
Delgado and Orsi
Now, Delgado and Orsi will be the ones who will go hand in hand in search of access to the Presidency for the period 2025-2030.
Veterinarian by profession, the first of them will try to keep the chair currently occupied by Lacalle Pou, of whom he was his secretary of the Presidency between 2020 and 2023.
Previously, Delgado was a deputy in the period 2005-2015 and senator between that year and 2020.
For his part, the History professor Orsi will go for the Presidency after having been mayor (head of the local government) of the department (province) of Canelones between 2015 and 2020.
He also held the position of secretary general there between 2005 and 2015.
International
U.S. health authorities report mutation of avian flu virus in Louisiana patient
The avian flu virus mutated inside the first seriously ill patient in the United States, according to the country’s health authorities. However, they assured that, so far, no person-to-person transmission of the virus has been identified in this patient, who is hospitalized in Louisiana.
Scientists warned that while it is concerning because mutations could make the virus potentially more transmissible between humans, they would be alarming if found in animal hosts or in the early stages of infection or symptom onset, which would facilitate the spread to close contacts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified at least 65 human cases of avian flu in the United States, with more than half (36) reported in California, including the country’s first child infected with this virus.
CDC analysis of the Louisiana patient identified mutations in the hemagglutinin gene, which were not found in the samples from infected poultry at the source of the outbreak. This suggests that the changes emerged as the virus replicated in the seriously ill patient.
International
José Mujica’s recovery continues with successful stent procedure in esophagus
Former Uruguayan President José Mujica underwent surgery on Friday, during which a stent was successfully placed in his esophagus. In April, a malignant tumor was discovered in the area, which was treated with radiation therapy.
“We did it today because the situation required it at this moment. This will allow him to continue eating orally, continue receiving food as before, and maintain his recovery at home,” explained his personal doctor, Raquel Pannone, in a press conference.
She also took the opportunity to explain how the stent works.
“It is a prosthesis. A device placed inside the esophagus that self-expands. This metal device adheres to the walls of the esophagus and remains there, expanding the esophagus’ opening and allowing the passage of food,” she detailed.
International
Preliminary Investigation Suggests ‘External Interference’ in Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash in Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan Airlines stated on Friday that the plane that crashed in Kazakhstan experienced “external, physical, and technical interference,” based on preliminary investigation results, fueling speculation that the aircraft may have been struck by Russian defense missiles.
The Embraer 190 aircraft, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines and carrying 67 people, was en route from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic in Russian territory, when it crashed near Aktau, a port on the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan, far from its intended route. The crash resulted in the deaths of 38 people, according to Kazakh authorities.
In response to the incident, Azerbaijan Airlines announced the suspension of its flights to several Russian cities, as the “preliminary results of the investigation into the Embraer 190 crash… point to external, physical, and technical interference.”
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