By Mordechai Taji
Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) did not announce on Thursday anyone's candidacy - hers or not - for this year's elections. She did not do it with her voice. But by her side were her son, Deputy Máximo Kirchner, Interior Minister Wado De Pedro, and Economy Minister Sergio Massa. It was a visual message: two of those three will most likely be on one of the tickets to be presented in the primary, mandatory, simultaneous, and open elections (PASO). She also confirmed that she would not run and frustrated the hopes of some unconditional faithful, who expected her to change her mind.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez broke protocol and delivered a few words during the Te Deum held on Thursday at the Buenos Aires Cathedral on the occasion of the national holiday of May 25. Traditionally, May 25 marks the expulsion of the Spanish viceroy in 1810, but in 2023 it signified the 20th anniversary of Néstor Kirchner's coming to power, which is what Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) would later celebrate under heavy rain in Plaza de Mayo.
Thursday's Te Deum was a last for Argentine President Alberto Fernández, but also for Buenos Aires Archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli, who will retire later this year after succeeding Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio when the latter became Pope Francis in 2013. Fernández shall not be seeking reelection and thus will complete his term on Dec. 9.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, on a political and trade visit to South America, including Colombia, Chile and Brazil, said the Falkland Islands people have the right to self determination recalling that ten years ago Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain in the British Family.
The World Math Abel Prize was awarded to an Argentine professor and researcher, Luis Caffarelli for his work on Partial Differential Equations. It is the first time a Latin American citizen receives such a prize, whose research has been crucial to help describe phenomena such as the flow of water and demographic growth.
US Federal Reserve minutes released this Wednesday showed officials split at their last meeting over how to continue with interest rates: some members saw the need for more increases while others expected a slowdown in growth to remove the need to tighten further.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday announced he would be participating in the primary elections of the Republican Party to run for President of the United States in 2024. He will face former President Donald Trump, among others, if he is to make it to the White House. I'm running for president to lead our great American comeback, De Santis wrote on Twitter, where he also participated in a broadcast interview with Elon Musk.
The controversy surrounding the possibility of salmon industrial farming, and its environmental impact, has reignited in the Falkland Islands.
Brazil's Ministry of Racial Equality (MIR) and Google will develop a filter to prevent hate speech, intolerance, and racism to be disseminated through the internet, Agencia Brasil reported.
Taiwanese authorities announced Wednesday in Asuncion a US$ 4,800,000 disbursement of a monetary donation to Paraguay's Health Ministry to be allocated to the Trauma Hospital, the Itauguá Hospital, and the Pediatric Children's Hospital of Acosta Ñu. It was the third installment of a US$ 14,992,733 donation from the Asian island for the improvement of the Quality of Care of the Establishments of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, according to a statement from the Paraguayan Ministry.