BOLIVIA PREPARES TO VOTE
The election campaign is over and the candidates will have to wait to see what the voters decide on Sunday, when they go to the polling stations to elect a new President. The incumbent, Evo Morales, is still ahead in the opinion polls.
Morales ended his campaign in El Alto, a suburb southwest of the seat of government, la Paz, with a speech in which he asked the middle classes, where opposition candidates get most of their votes, to change sides and to help him get re-elected.
René Joaquino, of the right-wing Alianza Nacional party, said that, by refusing a debate on television, Morales had run away from the humiliation of having his flawed programme exposed in front of the electorate.
El Diario (Bolivia, Spanish)
La Razón (Bolivia, Spanish)
http://www.la-razon.com/versiones/20091204_006931/nota_244_919711.htm
CHILE: VICTOR JARA, BURIED AT LAST
It has been more than 36 years since Victor Jara, the singer and writer, was murdered by the military, days after the military coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende. Finally, his remains are to be laid to rest.
Jara, a member of the Chilean Communist Party, was arrested shortly after the 11 of September coup and taken to the national stadium, which became a giant concentration camp. He was killed but the exact circumstances of his death remained unknown. Last June, his remains were exhumed and a post mortem examination concluded that he had been shot more than 30 times after being tortured.
Hundreds of people attended his funeral, led by his widow, the British artist Joan Turner. “Remembering him is what keeps him alive and will continue to keep him alive forever” said one fan.
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8394481.stm
MEXICO: POLICE RESCUE “SLAVES”
More than a 100 people who had been held in conditions of slavery were rescued by the police in the Mexican capital. They had been forced to work 16-hour shifts making plastic bags and clothes hangers. Their workplace was officially classified as a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts.
Polices raided the premises after neighbours complained that a gang of criminals was keeping dozens of people against their will. At least 10 people were arrested.
The Mexican authorities say that most of the people recruited by the gang were impoverished Indians who lived near the main fruit and vegetable market in Mexico City.
El Universal (Mexico, Spanish)
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/643984.html
El Pais (Spanish)
ECONOMY
BRAZIL STRENGTHENS LINK WITH GERMANY
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a series of trade agreements with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during Lula’s visit to Berlin.
The Brazilian President was accompanied by ministers and a big private sector delegation. After his meeting with Merkel, Lula had lunch at the Confederation of German Industry, where he reminded his audience of the 40 years of strong trading relations between Brazil and Germany.
El Pais
CLIMATE CHANGE
MEXICO WILL LOSE BIODIVERSITY BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING
Mexico could lose a third of its biodiversity if climate change is not stopped. According to Fernando Tuleda Abad, from the Mexican Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, the north and northeast of the country will suffer serious water shortages, leading to desertification. “By the end Mexico will be unrecognisable,” he said.
Elías Freig Delgado, national coordinator for the so-called CO2 Task Force, says that climate change is already costing the Mexican economy up to US$1bn a year.
Analitica