[1/8]A woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the first round of Guatemala’s presidential election in Chinautla, Guatemala, June 25, 2023. Portal/Josue Decavele

GUATEMALA CITY, June 25 (Portal) – Guatemalans voted for a new president on Sunday in an election headed for an August runoff. The early results pushed the centre-left party to the top, but also seemed to show widespread voter frustration at the exclusion of an early favourite.

The competition, dominated by international concerns over corruption, must be decided in a second round of voting, with lead candidate Sandra Torres, the former first lady, on track to secure the 50% plus one vote needed for overall victory, a clear vote to miss.

Torres is up against more than 20 candidates, including Edmond Mulet, a career diplomat, and Zury Rios, daughter of the late dictator Efrain Rios Montt.

With 40% of the vote counted, Torres’ centre-left National Unity of Hope (UNE) party garnered 15% of the vote, while Semilla, another left-leaning party, had 12.2%, preliminary results showed.

But with nearly one in four ballots invalid or blank, Guatemalans expressed dissatisfaction with the electoral process and the decision to exclude the first front-runner, businessman Carlos Pineda. Pineda urged his supporters to falsify their ballots after he was declared ineligible.

Opinion polls had failed to indicate that Semilla’s candidate Bernardo Arevalo, a former diplomat and son of former President Juan José Arevalo, would advance to the second round.

Semilla’s previous presidential campaign was led by former Attorney General and anti-corruption activist Thelma Aldana, who was ultimately barred from running.

The race to succeed Conservative President Alejandro Giammattei, who is legally limited to one term, was marred by a court ruling blocking four candidates, including Pineda.

The US and European Union criticized Pineda’s expulsion, who called the decision “electoral fraud.”

“We don’t see a process that follows international standards, but rather one that uses arbitrary criteria,” said Carolina Jimenez, president of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) think tank. “This is terribly serious.”

Meanwhile, unrest in the city of San Jose del Golfo, near the capital, forced voting there to be postponed to August, Supreme Electoral Court official Irma Palencia said.

The stakes in the election are high as standards of transparency and human rights, poverty, corruption and violence have deteriorated in recent years.

“I have always voted for Sandra Torres because she has been of great service to my (community) (as First Lady). She gave money, food and a lot of help to poor people,” said Maria Consuelo Ruano, 72.

“I would also be happy if Mulet makes it to the second round,” she added. “(He) looks like an honest man, unlike Giammattei.”

But political analysts say a fragmented Congress could prevent candidates from making real change.

Polls suggest Torres, the ex-wife of the late President Alvaro Colom, who ruled from 2008 to 2012, is likely to lose a runoff election as she is unpopular in the capital, Guatemala City, where a high percentage of voters reside is.

It is the third presidential candidacy for the 67-year-old politician. In the two previous races she took second place.

Reporting by Sofía Menchú in Guatemala City and Diego Oré in Mexico City; writing from Isabel Woodford and Dave Graham; Edited by Stephen Eisenhammer and Robert Birsel

Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.

Diego Ore

Thomson Portal

Covers politics, migration and security in Mexico and Central America, a Peruvian journalist with more than 20 years of experience in Latin America and the Caribbean, including with magazines, newspapers and The Associated Press, covering elections, coups, protests, summits and natural disasters and soccer games.

By occupying a command center and drawing his troops closer to Moscow, the head of the paramilitary group has challenged the Russian president’s hitherto unwavering authority.

After the Wagner Group uprising against the Russian army, Russia is trying to bring the situation under control on Monday, June 26th. The “anti-terrorist operational regime” established during the uprising was lifted and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who disappeared over the weekend, appeared on Russian state television in an undated video appraising military personnel in Ukraine.

>> War in Ukraine: Follow our live broadcast of the conflict

For his part, Vladimir Putin reappeared in a Kremlin video shot during an industry and youth forum. Despite this apparent normalcy, this uprising exposed several weaknesses within the Russian regime.

Weak security forces

Within hours on Saturday, troops from the Wagner militia occupied the army headquarters in the city of Rostov, a key command center for Russia’s attack on Ukraine, “without firing a shot,” according to Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the paramilitary group also claimed that his teams shot down a Russian helicopter that “opened fire on a civilian column.”

On the same day, the advance of the mercenaries towards Moscow continued without much resistance from the forces sent by the Kremlin: the FSB, the security services and Rosgvardia (the National Guard). According to the US Institute For The Study of War, the surprise and aftermath of his heavy losses in Ukraine meant that the Kremlin had difficulty responding quickly and effectively to Wagner’s advances.

The National Guard therefore could not stop Wagner’s advance in Rostov, as the militia arrested Russian soldiers. Russian observers quoted by the Institute For The Study of War (ISW) pointed out that the personnel mobilized in Rosgvardia were conscripts and not regular members of the Russian security forces. Wagner “probably could have reached the outskirts of Moscow if Prigoyine had ordered it,” the American think tank estimates.

“Is it a lack of will, a lack of means, or an unpreparedness on the part of the security forces? It’s hard to say,” nuanced Dimitri Minic, a specialist in the Russian army, in Le Monde.

“Today, the Kremlin’s image and credibility were shaken again on the central issue of control and maintaining security.”

Dimitri Minic, Russian Army Specialist

in the world”

On the part of Russian power, “there may have been a desire not to enter into an episode of general confrontation,” adds researcher David Teurtrie, author of franceinfo’s “Russia, the Return of Power” (ed. Armand Colin). “Vladimir Putin seemed to want more compromises. It’s difficult to distinguish what the real weakness is or the strategy,” he weighs. Be that as it may, this initiative by Yevgeny Prigoyine to “march on Moscow” is in addition to recent events that have called into question the Russian state’s ability to defend its territory, such as the armed invasion Groups from Ukraine to the Belgorod region Drone attack in Moscow.

Putin’s omnipotence is tainted

On closer inspection of all law firms, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken estimated that this crisis was showing “real cracks” at the highest level of the Russian state. “The fact that there is someone inside questioning Putin’s authority and asking directly why he launched this aggression against Ukraine is in itself something very powerful,” the chief of US diplomacy said Sunday.

Through this revolt, “Prigoyine showed that it was possible to frighten the Kremlin and the Russian regime,” adds Carole Grimaud-Potter, Russia specialist, in an interview with franceinfo. “Putin no longer embodies coercion and violence, a stronger one has prevailed. (…) Godfather Putin’s throne is weakened,” adds military expert Pierre Servent on France Inter.

“Vladimir Putin got into his own game of always trying to create competition between his armed forces to put himself in the position of referee. This time Wagner escaped him.”

David Teurtrie, Russia Specialist

at franceinfo

The tone of the Russian president’s speech on June 24 also bears witness to this fragility, analyzes sociologist Anna Colin Lebedev, a specialist in post-Soviet Russia, in Le Monde. The parallel, particularly with the events of 1917 in Russia, when the tsarist regime was overthrown by the Bolsheviks, leading to a civil war, contrasted with his earlier speeches, in which he insisted on saying “that everything is under control may be”.

The mediation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to end the Wagner revolt also calls Vladimir Putin’s authority into question. “We can see the feverishness of the president, who is not in the culture of negotiation with his opponents,” says Carole Grimaud-Potter. Vladimir Putin allowed Lukashenko to negotiate and called on his most loyal allies, such as the Kazakh President, to ensure their support.”

However, this strategy is not necessarily a rejection by the Kremlin chief. “Putin could neither kill Prigoyine, who was too popular, nor ignore his expedition, which was too dangerous,” analyzes Franak Viacorka, close adviser to Belarusian exile opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, quoted in Le Figaro. So the solution was to “call on Lukashenko to stop Prigoyine without eliminating him”.

An internal attack

“Wagner’s uprising destroyed the myth of the unity of all Russia behind its president,” Françoise Daucé, former French ambassador to Russia, told franceinfo. According to this former diplomat, this rebellion “promoted the idea of ​​a sacred union behind the president by exposing the divisions within power itself.”

For the first time since arriving in the Kremlin in 1999, Vladimir Putin has shown that he may not be able to protect his people. However, the Russian president based his power on promises of stability and prosperity. “For the enrichment of the elites, for ordinary Russians for the predictability of the next day,” Anna Colin Lebedev summarizes to Le Monde.

“The vertical of Russian power is seriously compromised, the elites are questioning it,” said Carole Grimaud-Potter. This crisis could therefore have repercussions on Russia’s internal political system. At the regional level, local governors will be able to assert themselves as “political actors” and not simply as the Kremlin’s executive, estimates Anna Colin Lebedev in Liberation. A situation that risks weakening a power “that was committed to having only technocrats with no political ambitions around”.

The uprising has also undermined the base of support for the Russian president in ultra-nationalist circles. For example, former army officer and Russian nationalist Igor Girkin said on Sunday that Vladimir Putin would have to “transfer” some of his functions to others if he could not control the war in Ukraine, the ISW quoted as saying. But the Russian President has not yet said his last word. Vladimir Putin “never changes under pressure. However, in a second step he could reorganize the army, the Ministry of the Interior or even the secret services,” analyzes David Teurtrie. The consequences of this revolt are still difficult to predict.

Giant Snail – themagazinetech

The giant snails have arrived, an unexpected invasion has led to an action in the city: they are so big that they destroy all the plantations they come across

It is an incredibly large species of snail cause some problems to the vegetation it encounters. It would be able to eat so much that entire crops would be destroyed, and probably due to climate change, many cities have had to deal with the problem of invasion.

Giant African land snails trouble new cities. They had never seen each other before, except in African areas, but for some time now they have been starting to create panic, especially in the United States. Florida has set up regular quarantines to eradicate the animal. There is not only one danger and above all the risk also seems to be man.

In fact, the attacked fields represent only a small part of the risks. They eat over 500 species of plantsThey eat pretty much anything that gets in their way. However, fears are not limited to the local agricultural industry. The snails are actually larger than a human hand, slimy, and spiral-housed, just like their smaller sisters.

Giant snails in the US, what’s happening and why they’re so dangerous they’re triggering a quarantine alert

Not only do they damage entire landscapes and agriculture in general, but they are also dangerous because crawling on vegetables, which people then eat raw, can lead to serious infections. The Florida Department of Agriculture fears for the agribusiness, but also for the consequences if these animals start infecting people through their “drool.”

The infection that could be transmitted to humans is essentially a parasite a rat lungworm which is already well known to science as it is among the most dangerous. In fact, the effects of his infection are also known: Apparently he would be one of the recognized Transmission of meningitis in humans.

Giant Snail – themagazinetech

What was decided regarding the disinfestation of giant snails?

The authorities have decided to spray the anti-snail chemical bait in all invaded areas. According to the authorities, the US is doing everything it can to eradicate them, as they are also capable of eating plaster and stucco, destroying entire buildings over time. The disinfestation will be long and complicated, and there is also a special alert among the population because one fears contracting the parasite from eating vegetables.

This content was posted on Jun 26, 2023 – 4:43pm. Jun 26, 2023 – 4:43 p.m

Luxembourg, 26 June (EFE). – Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares hoped this Monday that the summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) would give “a boost” during the Spanish EU Presidency, which begins on January 1. July begins working to place Latin America “in the heart of Europe.”

“I reiterated the importance of this summit, which will be the political starting point for our relations with Latin America this semester (the presidency) and the impetus for the work that will last throughout the semester of our presidency. bringing Latin America back to the heart of Europe,” he said.

He added during a press conference following the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg today that this work “must go beyond the Spanish Presidency”.

“I proposed that we hold these high-level meetings regularly and I indicated that we must not miss this opportunity to strengthen the bi-regional political agenda, all the more so in this context where Europe needs to stand together with its partners more than ever “Friends and allies in the world,” he explained.

He stressed that the “credibility of the EU in the world” was “at stake”.

“I am convinced that the European Union-CELAC Summit will create momentum in our European Semester that we will see clearly when it concludes in December. It will be a success with very concrete results to be announced throughout the semester,” he revealed.

Albares pointed out that all his counterparts from the 27 countries spoke today “without exception” about the “huge importance” of the EU-CELAC summit that will take place in Brussels on July 17-18, “the first of its kind “, agree in almost ten years.”

He added that most ministers had expressed that their countries would be represented at the summit “by their head of state or government”.

On the other hand, he pointed out that Sweden, the country that currently holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, already today, in a purely solemn act, “handed over the baton” to Spain, since the meetings of the Union’s foreign ministers took place differently than any other Others would be led by the chief of community diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and not by the community state, which holds the rotating presidency.

“We had a ceremony and took advantage of a moment of calm where the baton with the European flag was physically handed over to us,” Albares said. EFE

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