Politics

• Saturday, November 23rd 2019 - 09:59 UTC

  Uruguay Sunday's presidential runoff, a multicolor power switching with strong winds of change

  

  This Sunday 2.7 million Uruguayans will cast their ballots in the presidential runoff, which according to all opinion poll forecasts, will have Luis Lacalle Pou, the leader of an opposition multicolor alliance as head of the Executive next March, but equally significant, power switching, it will mark the end of fifteen years of almost undisputed predominance of a catch-all coalition, Broad Front, which ruled South America's smallest country for three consecutive five-year mandates.

• Saturday, November 23rd 2019 - 09:51 UTC

  The Economist and Chile: the painful birth of a different country

  

  In 2014, Michelle Bachelet a Socialist swept into Chile’s presidency for a second time on a program of radical reform of tax, education and pensions. She also aspired to enact a new constitution that would guarantee “more balance between the state, the private sector and society”, as she told your columnist over tea at the Moneda presidential palace. She argued that her “struggle against inequality” was the last chance to deal with discontents that, if neglected, could push Chile towards populism.

• Saturday, November 23rd 2019 - 09:33 UTC

  Swiss investigation helps expose corruption network involving Vitol, Trafigura and Petrobras

  

  Swiss investigators have executed search warrants at addresses linked to Vitol and Trafigura, their counterparts in Brazil said on Thursday, as a sprawling probe into the global commodity trading industry intensifies.

• Saturday, November 23rd 2019 - 09:23 UTC

  Another major haul of cocaine in the port of Montevideo: three tons headed for the Canary Islands

  

  Uruguayan authorities this week confiscated over three tons of cocaine from an Africa-bound rice container in the port of Montevideo. The container was originally from Paraguay and was set to stop in Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands off West Africa, before finally arriving in Cotonou, in southern Benin, the National Customs Directorate said in a statement.

• Saturday, November 23rd 2019 - 09:11 UTC

  Police officers killed in a bomb blast at Colombian police station

  

  Three police officers were killed in a bomb blast late Friday at a police station in Colombia after thousands gathered for renewed protests and sporadic looting erupted in the capital of Bogota.

• Friday, November 22nd 2019 - 10:27 UTC

  More clashes in La Paz but there is also a tentative agreed date for new elections, January 12

  

  Supporters of ousted Bolivian leader Evo Morales marched into the capital La Paz on Thursday carrying coffins of people killed in clashes with the military and police, drawing attention to the human cost of the crisis in the South American nation.

• Friday, November 22nd 2019 - 09:57 UTC

  Bolsonaro launches new political party, Alliance for Brazil base on concepts of God, family and homeland

  

  Brazil's conservative president Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday launched a new political party called the Alliance for Brazil, which will put an emphasis on God, family and homeland, as he tries to win back evangelical voters.

• Friday, November 22nd 2019 - 09:55 UTC

  Bolsonaro sends bill to protect police and soldiers who kill on the line of duty

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday sent a proposal to Congress that seeks to offer greater protection to police and soldiers who kill while on specific operations, known as Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) missions.

• Friday, November 22nd 2019 - 09:45 UTC

  Google bans political advisors' microtargeting, but decision could help incumbents and punish rookies

  

  Google's tightening of its political ad policy could help reduce the spread of misinformation on election campaigns, but at a cost for lesser-known candidates. The move by Google placing restrictions on how advertisers can target specific groups of voters also adds to the pressure on Facebook to modify its hands-off policy on political ads.

• Friday, November 22nd 2019 - 09:43 UTC

  Netanyahu indicted on a raft of corruption charges: the end of King Bibi?

  

  Israel's embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on a range of corruption charges on Thursday, potentially spelling an end to his decades-long political career.