Presidents Dina Boluarte Zegarra of Peru and Gabriel Boric Font of Chile held a meeting Friday in Lima in the context of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting to celebrate the 202nd anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and discuss the support to vulnerable populations, SMEs, as well as bilateral trade and other common challenges.
A judge in Santiago Friday adjourned until next Tuesday the arraignment hearing of former Interior Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve, who has been charged with allegedly raping a member of his staff. Whether he would also be held accountable for the abuse of power he is believed to have exerted to conceal the facts is to be decided at another stage. In the meantime, Monsalve will remain in custody at an Investigative Police (PDI) detention facility after being arrested on Thursday at his Viña del Mar home.
Former Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsalve was placed under arrest Thursday to face rape charges after allegations in this regard by a member of his staff forced him to resign on Oct. 17, three days after the complaint was filed.
French President Emmanuel Macron will be making state visits to Argentina and Chile as part of his South American tour to attend the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, it was confirmed in diplomatic circles. Macron will first get together with his Argentine colleague Javier Milei to discuss climate change and other bilateral issues between Nov. 16 and 17. Then, he will head for Brazil's gathering of world leaders on Nov. 18 and 19. And then he will travel to Santiago for talks with Gabriel Boric Font.
According to the Cadem Plaza Pública survey released this weekend in Santiago de Chile, 42% of the citizenry would like their next president to resemble El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, who has an 81% positive image in the South American nation.
While leaders from the world over have congratulated Republican candidate Donald J. Trump on his electoral win on Tuesday which has earned him a second 4-year term at The Oval Office, Vice President Kamala Harris is yet to acknowledge defeat, as is customary in these cases. Perhaps Trump himself was the only one to break that tradition four years ago when rumors of vote count-rigging still gave him hope against Joseph Biden.
The latest poll published by Plaza Pública Cadem this weekend showed that 76% of respondents during the fifth week of October disapproved of President Gabriel Boric Font's handling of the Manuel Monsalve case while 44% believed the head of state himself was to blame. In addition, 32% considered that the official most affected by the scandal was Interior Minister Carolina Tohá.
After a fortnight virtually in hiding, Chile's former Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsavle came back into the limelight Friday in Viña del Mar. His whereabouts had been unknown since resigning following rape charges filed against him.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Monday accused Brazil's Foreign Ministry of being an agent at the service of the United States, which would explain his country not being admitted as an associate member of BRICS, unlike Cuba and Bolivia.
The recent sex scandal involving former Interior Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve took its toll Sunday on the ruling coalition of President Gabriel Boric Font during the first round of municipal elections in which the opposition UDI, RN, and Evópoli emerged as the strongest rightwing forces nationwide with victories in 121 communes. Boric's allies prevailed in 111 and the Republicans of former presidential candidate José Antonio Kast in 8, including a surprising one in Puente Alto. All in all, Chile Vamos became the strongest political force nationwide.