Vote count woes in ES
Feb. 7, 2024
Three days after El Salvador’s presidential election there are still no official results, though there is little doubt that President Nayib Bukele won by a landslide. Yesterday the electoral court switched to a manual count of ballots, after issues with the preliminary vote tally system. (El Diario de Hoy)
Reportedly some poll workers were unable to enter vote totals in the system, and others who did were unable to transmit them. (Associated Press)
On Monday Revista Factum reported failures in the “system for counting votes and transmitting preliminary data for the presidential and legislative elections … The TSE website projected a vote count greater than the electoral roll, and recorded data from records that had not been processed at the voting centers.”
The OAS questioned the failures in a report yesterday, noting that "delays in the distribution of technological kits, absence of materials to print the minutes and lack of electricity and Internet connectivity are all foreseeable and could have been avoided with better institutional planning and contingency measures.” (Deutsche Welle)
Bukele’s victory is not in question, but votes for lawmakers were much more impacted, and the manual recount will have impact on the makeup of the 60 seat unicameral Legislative Assembly. Without official data, Bukele said on Sunday that his Nuevas Ideas party had scooped up 58 seats. Beyond the congressional composition, opposition parties are now fighting for their lives: parties are derecognized when they obtain less than 50,000 valid votes and don’t have a single elected lawmaker, reports the Associated Press.
More El Salvador
Motivated by migration concerns and Chinese influence in Latin America, “the United States is publicly cozying up to Bukele … even as it continues to emphasize concerns over the erosion of human rights and democracy,” reports Reuters. U.S. State Department officials told Reuters “they have moved more critical diplomacy behind closed doors.” The tactic “may be a tacit acknowledgement that Bukele's success in smashing gang violence has led to a decline in migration.”
Amnesty International voiced concern that human rights will be further eroded in Bukele’s second term. The situation “demands a vehement international reaction that is commensurate to this growing and deepening human rights crisis,” according to Americas director Ana Piquer.
“While the trade-off of security for democratic governance is popular now, it is not a sustainable model and it will lead to further repression. Daniel Ortega has shown that repression drives mass irregular migration, and unfettered power inevitably leads to criminalizing all opposition. Unfortunately, until the model collapses, it will be attractive to leaders across the hemisphere who are dealing with the intractable problems of citizen insecurity and violence,” wrote Douglas Farah in the Latin America Advisor.
Argentina’s omnibus law debate restarted
Argentine President Javier Milei suffered a major legislative setback yesterday: the ruling Libertad Avanza party decided to send the president’s “Omnibus Bill” of reforms back to legislative commissions, after “friendly” opposition lawmakers sought to water down key aspects of Milei’s program. The bill had obtained a general approval in Argentina’s lower chamber of Congress, in a record-setting marathon session last week.
Libertad Avanza was on track to an empty-shell of a victory, passage of the bill in general, but stripped of many of its most controversial articles, which center-right parties sought to water down by voting down specific reforms.
Lawmakers were advancing in an article-by-article vote and had already backed a measure that would grant Milei the power to bypass Congress on a number of issues related to the country’s economic crisis. But the president’s fragile alliance, he has a small minority in both chambers, foundered on the issue of how to distribute a national tax to provinces and plans to privatize state enterprises.
Later in the day, Milei, who is on a visit to Israel, criticized lawmakers he accused of blocking the reform package in a post on social media, deriding them as part of the political "caste.”
"We ask the ruling party to have some flexibility. They love to keep losing," said opposition lawmaker Miguel Pichetto, of a bloc that has sought dialogue with Milei allies, during the legislative session.
Regional Relations
Milei announced he will move Argentina’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem. Argentina would become one of only a handful of countries to have their embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, rather than Tel Aviv, reports AFP. Currently, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Kosovo have embassies in Jerusalem, notes the Times of Israel.
Milei is in Israel on his first official trip as president (excluding a brief appearance in Davos). Milei is set to meet today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed the embassy shift announcement. (Al Jazeera)
Haaretz notes that Milei’s move, which responds to his personal beliefs, goes against the general tide in Latin America.
Chile
Former Chilean President Sebastián Piñera died in a helicopter crash “leaving behind a political legacy bookended by a dramatic rescue of trapped miners and widespread protests of economic inequality,” reports the Washington Post (see also New York Times, Guardian, Anfibia)
The death toll from wildfires that ravaged central Chile has risen to 131, as of yesterday afternoon. More than 300 people remain missing as the blazes appear to be burning themselves out, reports the Associated Press. (also EFE)
The fires are believed to be Chile’s deadliest on record, according to the United Nations disaster agency. (CNN)
Mexico
“Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that his government has reached an agreement with local billionaire Carlos Slim to buy the concession to part of a highway still under construction in the southern state of Oaxaca,” reports Reuters.
Ecuador
Ecuador’s congress rejected President Daniel Noboa’s plan to increase taxes, in part to finance the country’s crackdown on organized crime, reports the Associated Press.
Police in Ecuador and Spain have arrested at least 30 people in simultaneous operations as part of an investigation into Albanian organized crime, reports Reuters.
Colombia
Netflix’s heavily marketed new show “Griselda,” based on the life of Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco “has garnered a chilly reception” in Colombia, where some “fear it glorifies a bygone era of rampant violence and drugs and furthers stereotypes of Colombians as criminals exporting that turmoil to the United States and beyond,” reports the Washington Post.
Critter Corner
The main reason visitors come to Argentina’s El Impenetrable national park, one of the South American country’s newest and most diverse wildlife sanctuaries is to spot rare wildlife — including jaguars. (National Geographic)