- The Guardian
- Issue #2136
URUGUAY: Yamandu Orsi, a left-wing former history teacher, has won the presidential election in Uruguay. During his campaign he was supported by former president Jose Mujica, often called ‘the world’s poorest president,’ who is very dear to many in the country for his modest lifestyle. Addressing his supporters, Orsi stressed he wanted to be a president for all 3.4 million Uruguayans. “I’m going to be the president who builds a more integrated country, where we set aside our differences and nobody is left behind, neither economically, socially or politically.” Orsi’s Broad Front also won a majority in the Uruguayan Senate, but did not get a majority in the Chamber of Representatives.
NICARAGUA: Nicaragua accused the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) of slandering Nicaragua and becoming a sounding board for those who threatened peace and tranquillity. The UN report, released last week, accuses Danial Ortega and Rosario Murillo, who serve as co-presidents, of “having transformed the country into an authoritarian state where no independent institutions remain.” The Nicaraguan government slammed the report as evidence of double standards and the politicisation of the HRC. Murillo said: “For Nicaragua, these disrespectful mechanisms have lost their nature and essence. For this reason, Nicaragua hereby expresses its sovereignty and irrevocable decision to withdraw from the HRC and from all activities related to this council and all its satellite mechanisms.” Murillo said that Nicaragua rejected all the “falsehoods, fabrications, slander” and lies in the report.
ARGENTINA: Argentine citizens have been reporting the growing presence of Israeli soldiers in Patagonia. The Israeli soldiers have been arriving in Argentina posing as ordinary tourists. Many of them are subject to international arrest warrants for crimes against humanity committed during the offensive against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Hind Rajab Foundation, named in honour of a five-year old Palestinian girl killed during the Israeli offensive, cited Israeli soldiers Yuval Vagdani and Saar Hirshoren, members of the Combat Engineering Battalion 749, for “their role in the intentional demolition of areas, cultural spheres, and vital infrastructure, violating the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute.” Currently Hirshoren remains on the run from justice, while Vagdani managed to flee to Israel. According to the Hind Rajab foundation, “Argentina, as a ratifying country of the Rome Statute, has the obligation to investigate and prosecute individuals accused of serious crimes.”
ROMANIA: Calin Georgescu, the Romanian politician who won the first round in Romania’s cancelled presidential election last year is being prevented from taking part in May elections. He was stopped in traffic by police and taken for questioning by prosecutors. “Calin Georgescu was about to submit his new candidacy for the presidency,” his communication team said. “He was taken for questioning at the Central Prosecutor’s Office.”
BANGLADESH: Students, who led a mass uprising to topple former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last summer announced the formation of the new National Citizen Party. The announcement was made at a rally in front of Parliament in Dhaka.
TIMOR-LESTE: The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is interested in buying medicines from Russia, the country’s President Jose Ramos-Horta told a Russian news agency. “We can cooperate in the healthcare sector or in trade, even in small volumes. We would be happy to buy from Russia,” Ramos-Horta said. He was especially interested in purchasing pharmaceutical products and medical equipment from Russia. “I know about Russian medical technologies, Russian medicine – it is high class to the level of the best hospitals and doctors anywhere in the US and in Europe,” Ramos-Horta stressed.
