Brazil municipal election results
Brazilians went to the polls yesterday to vote in municipal elections across the country. The biggest prize, São Paulo, was nearly a three-way tie: center-right incumbent mayor Ricardo Nunes (29,48%), leftist congressman Guilherme Boulos (29,07%), and far-right influencer Pablo Marçal (28,14%) all recorded just under 30 percent of the vote. As the two candidates who received the most votes, Nunes and Boulos will face off in a second round on October 27th. To counteract Boulos’ support by current leftist president Lula da Silva, Nunes is looking to court “more active participation” and support from Bolsonaro in his re-election campaign, per UOL. The conservative former president’s support for Nunes had been “timid” in the first round, with much of the conservative vote split by Marçal. (TSE, AP, Brazilian Report, UOL, Reuters)
In Rio de Janeiro, incumbent mayor Eduardo Paes won outright in a landslide, with 60 percent of the vote. “This will be Mr. Paes’s fourth non-consecutive term, having won elections in 2008, 2012, and 2020. With this, he became the politician to have won most terms as Rio de Janeiro mayor,” explains Brazilian Report, noting that the mayor is an ally of Lula but has kept his distance from the president; he had also associated with some conservative figures as he courted support. Bolsonaro’s standard-bearer in the election, Alexandre Ramagem, came in second place with 31 percent of the vote. (Brazilian Report, AP, Reuters)
“Overall, center-right parties fared best along with Bolsonaro's Liberal Party, which attracted support even though the former president was banned from seeking office until 2030 for unfounded attacks on Brazil's voting system,” notes Reuters, while France24 explains, “Bolsonaro's party won two mayoral races among 26 state capitals and will proceed to the second round in nine others.”
The campaign trail had been marred by violence in some municipalities. “Following a campaign that saw three councillor candidates murdered in recent weeks, more than 23,000 soldiers were deployed in 5,500 towns for added security,” reports France24. A record number of transgender candidates were on the ballots, too, but many faced death threats while campaigning, per AP.
More Brazil
A recent New York Times article highlights the effects of climate change on the Amazon River, the world’s largest river, as water levels across various sections have fallest to their lowest level on record. To counter these effects, Brazil plans to make the river deeper, “with the aim of ensuring that, even in times of drought, people and goods can keep moving through the rainforest.”
Mexico
Alejandro Arcos, the newly elected mayor of Chilpancingo in Mexico, was murdered this morning (October 7) in a wave of increasing gang violence against politicians, says France 24. Arcos’ murder followed that of Francisco Tapia, another city official who had also been in office less than a week.
The Wall Street Journal assesses newly-inaugurated President Sheinbaum’s strategy to fight cartel violence and lower homicides within her first 100 days in office.
“‘Mexican authorities arrested soldiers who were part of a patrol that opened fire on a pickup truck killing six migrants,’ reports Reuters. A further 10 migrants had been injured in the shooting, which took place in southern Mexico near the border with Guatemala last Tuesday,” notes Jordi at the Americas Migration Brief newsletter.
Chile
A recent study by Plaza Pública Cadem found that almost 92% of Chileans disapproved of the judiciary. The study, notes MercoPress, “was conducted amid the corruption scandal involving criminal lawyer Luis Hermosilla and various magistrates and officials from former President Sebastián Piñera's administration (2018-2022).”
Ecuador
Photographer and social anthropologist Tristan Partridge accompanied the Kichwa-Panzaleo Indigenous community in San Isidro, Ecuador, as they gathered to fix a section of an irrigation water pipeline in a practice known as minga, or “voluntary work typically focused on building and maintaining shared infrastructure,” says the Guardian.
Argentina
President Milei’s speech to the UN General Assembly last week included multiple paragraphs that copied - almost word for word - a speech from popular political drama “The West Wing,” reports the Guardian.
Almost one million people are living in poverty in Buenos Aires City, according to a new study by the IDECBA Buenos Aires City Statistics and Census Institute. As the Buenos Aires Times notes, there are 159,000 new poor people in the second quarter of 2024, compared to the same period last year.
Rent prices in Buenos Aires City increased by 4.4% in September, amounting to a 52% rise total so far this year, reports the Buenos Aires Times. Rent prices have increased by almost half of the inflation during that same time period (102%).
Haiti
A gang attack that killed at least 70 has displaced nearly 6,300 people in central Haiti, says AP News.
In the Miami Herald, Jacqueline Charles notes that the surge in gang-related violence in Haiti “is raising questions about the effectiveness of a Kenya-led international force,” whose mission is effectively to help curb the violence the country is currently experiencing.
Colombia
The Ministries of Environment in Agriculture in 24 municipalities and 7 localities in Bogotá signed agreements with communities to establish the National Agrarian Reform System to protect the Sumapaz moor, helping develop strategies to benefit local farmers and promote food sovereignty, reports La Silla Vacía.
Regional
NRI Nation notes the various hurdles facing Latin America that could prevent the region from becoming a leader in clean hydrogen production.
A Wilson Center video highlights the legacy of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter as he turned 100 years old. President Carter was known for advocating for human rights in the region and for his role in the passing of the Panama Canal Treaty, among other achievements.
The Economist dives into the ties between soccer, politics, and criminal activity across Latin America, in an attempt to explain the region’s unique soccer culture.
In Journal of Democracy, Javier Corrales and Will Freeman explain the growing threat of organized crime in Latin America: “If Latin America’s democracies fail to develop means of curbing organized crime’s power, they will find themselves eroded in several ways: Criminal groups with sway over territory will intimidate some candidates and protect others; frustrated civilian officials will feel tempted to hand militaries too much power; illiberal presidents will use tough-on-crime policies that eat away at civil liberties and the constitutional separation of powers; state institutions will continue to malfunction under organized crime’s corrupting, distorting influence.”
Panama
“In the Darien Gap, the Panamanian government “has started to create controlled migration routes to limit the environmental impact of migration to specific areas, while also implementing reforestation, waste pick up, and rural development projects,” reports InSight Crime.” (via Americas Migration Brief)
Global Relations
In Foreign Affairs, Kristen Hopewell argues that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is losing its legitimacy, as “international cooperation on trade has largely broken down.”
Venezuela
Cashea, a new Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) app in Venezuela, is helping spur consumption across the country, reports Caracas Chronicles. The company estimates that around 1% of Venezuela's GDP passes through the app, which counts over 5 million users.