Mulino wins in Panama
May 6, 2024
Panamanians elected pro-business right-wing candidate José Raul Mulino to lead the country in yesterday’s presidential elections. Mulino obtained 34% of the vote, with nearly all the ballots counted as of this morning. (Tribunal Electoral)
Mulino, a former security minister, entered the race late, as a replacement for former president Ricardo Martinelli, who was disqualified after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering. Mulino is widely viewed as a proxy for Martinelli, who campaigned for his protege from the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City, where he was granted political asylum in February. Mulino visited Martinelli at the embassy after casting his vote on Sunday.
Voters were wooed by promises of a return to the economic growth Panama enjoyed under Martinelli’s presidency, from 2009 to 2014. Outsider candidate Ricardo Lombana came in second with 25%, and the ruling party candidate came in a distant sixth place, reflecting the current president’s dismal approval rating.
Mulino assumes in the midst of political tumult in the aftermath of mass anti-mining protests last year. Panamanian society remains divided, and fed up with political corruption. Other challenges include economic slowdown, historic levels of migration, and a drought that is affecting Panama Canal traffic.
He has promised to shut down migration across the Darién Gap, but experts question the viability of his plan due to the sheer quantities of vulnerable people traveling through the passage.
(Associated Press, Associated Press, Reuters, New York Times, El País)
Venezuela
Edmundo González’s low profile is, ironically, a political asset for Venezuelan coalition of opposition parties that hopes to unseat Nicolás Maduro in July’s presidential elections, reports the New York Times. But the former diplomat’s lack of name recognition, which helped bypass government efforts to thwart a unity candidate, could also hurt his chances in a country where information is tightly controlled by the government.
Guatemala
Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo proposed a legal reform of the attorney general’s office. The move would allow him to oust Guatemala’s top prosecutor, Consuelo Porras, who led efforts to overturn Arévalo’s electoral victory last year. The president said his reform would ensure that "the Attorney General's Office is not used again as a political weapon by any government", preserves its autonomy and works efficiently, reports AFP.
Regional Relations
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Guatemala tomorrow, where he will meet with Arévalo to discuss migration issues, including enforcement, migration management and refugee integration, reports Reuters.
It would be a mistake to read too much into Latin America’s shifting diplomatic alliances, argues James Bosworth in World Politics Review. Changes in foreign policy alliances — from Brics to NATO in Argentina and vice versa in Colombia — underscore the central challenge to lasting impact, which is that they depend on the president in charge at any given moment, he writes.
Spain’s government denounced comments by Argentine President Javier Milei accusing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of “endangering Spanish women by allowing illegal immigration” and undermining Spain's integrity by making deals with separatists, while his leftist policies brought “death and poverty.” Milei’s comments came after a Spanish cabinet member alleged the Argentine leader had ingested “substances” during last year's election campaign. (AFP, Reuters)
Jacobin looks at the history of Israeli mercenaries’ participation in the massacre of leftist Union Patriotica members in the 1980s, in the context of Colombia’s diplomatic break with Israel last week.
Brazil
Torrential rainstorms in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state have caused the worst flooding the country has seen in 80 years. At least 78 people were killed and more than 115,000 people have been displaced. (Reuters, Guardian, Guardian, Washington Post)
More than a million people attended a free concert by Madonna at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on Saturday night, “turning its vast stretch of sand into a massive dance floor,” reports the Guardian.
Mexico
Mexico’s June “presidential election is shaping up as a clash over the very identity of Mexico,” according to the Washington Post. “Is Mexico a young democracy sliding back toward authoritarian rule? Or a country that was never all that democratic — but finally has a government that looks out for the little guy?”
Mexican authorities said that three bodies were found in Baja California state last week have been identified as those of three missing tourists, reports the New York Times.
Flora and Fauna
As scientists rush to save ailing corals elsewhere, in Venezuela locals are trying to kill off Unomia, a stinky, invasive variety. (Washington Post)
The story of how ancient Amazon Indigenous people transformed cassava from toxic to staple. (Washington Post)
"Jacobin looks at the history of Israeli mercenaries’ participation in the massacre of leftist Union Patriotica members in the 1980s" 📢