Bolivia Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Israel Over Strikes in Gaza

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Chile and Colombia said they were recalling their ambassadors to Israel in light of the strikes.

Bolivia has severed relations with Israel over its strikes on Gaza, a diplomatic decision that Israel condemned as a “surrender to terrorism” even as its own ties with other countries in Latin America began to fray.

Bolivia announced the decision on Tuesday. Two other Latin American governments — in Chile and Colombia — said the same day that they were recalling their ambassadors to Israel in light of the strikes on Gaza, which have come in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which killed about 1,400 people and left more than 200 others as hostages.

In a statement, Chile accused Israel of refusing to respect international laws and said its airstrikes were a “collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza.”

On Wednesday, Israel responded, saying that Colombian and Chilean citizens were among the victims on Oct. 7. “Israel expects Colombia and Chile to support the right of a democratic country to protect its citizens,” Lior Haiat, a spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had cut diplomatic ties “in protest and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip, which threatens international peace and security.” » | Cassandra Vinograd and Emma Bubola | Wednesday, November 1, 2023

‘Gigantic Step Backwards’: Far-right Gains in Chile Threaten Abortion Rights

THE GUARDIAN: Concerns mount as ultraconservative Republican party’s ‘right to life’ proposal could be enshrined in constitution

The Republican party founder, José Antonio Kast, lost the 2021 presidential election, but his party now holds considerable sway in writing a new constitution. Photograph: Reuters
The hard-won right to an abortion in Chile is at risk of being overturned, activists have warned, as the country’s far right moves to enshrine protection for “the life of the unborn child and maternity” in a new constitution.

Concerns have grown over the ultraconservative Republican party’s plans to pare back reproductive rights in Chile as it now holds significant sway in the fate of the country’s constitutional saga.

“Clearly, there is great concern over the risks to women and children implied by the suggested amendments, which threaten the most basic rights of human beings,” said Lieta Vivaldi, the director of Alberto Hurtado University’s gender and social justice programme.

“In a nation which seeks equality and justice, it is intolerable.” » | John Bartlett | Monday, August 21, 2023

I'd bet you "dollars to donuts" that this dude wants to strip gays of their rights, too; and he will certainly want to lower taxes on the superrich in the country. These far-right fossils are all the same: they are all so predictable. They are also anti-progress and reactionary. They all long to return to a bygone age. One can but feel sorry for Chileans with the threat of this benighted man possibly coming to power. – © Mark Alexander

Heat Wave Grips Portions of South America in the Middle of Winter

THE NEW YORK TIMES: An unusual winter heat wave has brought record high temperatures to cities across Argentina, Chile and Paraguay this week, triggering concerns about the impacts of climate change.

Residents of Buenos Aires were wearing shorts and fanning themselves as they struggled to cope with unusual heat on Tuesday. By Thursday, they were back in the jackets and scarves that they would normally wear at this time of the year.

The sudden change in wardrobe was the result of a heat wave gripping portions of South America, including Argentina, Chile and Paraguay, that are supposed to be experiencing winter.

Argentina’s capital city broke an 81-year-old daily temperature record on Tuesday, when the high reached 86 degrees Fahrenheit (or 30 degrees Celsius), according to the national weather service. Normally, highs in Buenos Aires this time of year are in the 60s.

“Climate change is not a distant scenario,” the service said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “It is here, and it is urgent to act.”

This week’s heat wave in South America is part of a recent trend of abnormally high temperatures in the middle of the continent’s winter and also comes as countries in the Northern Hemisphere have faced record heat this summer. » | Jesus Jiménez and Natalie Alcoba (Natalie Alcoba reported from Buenos Aires.) | Thursday, August 3, 2023

As Latin America Shifts Left, Leaders Face a Short Honeymoon

THE NEW YORK TIMES: All six of the region’s largest economies could soon be run by presidents elected on leftist platforms. Their challenge? Inflation, war in Europe and growing poverty at home.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — In Chile, a tattooed former student activist won the presidency with a pledge to oversee the most profound transformation of Chilean society in decades, widening the social safety net and shifting the tax burden to the wealthy.

In Peru, the son of poor farmers was propelled to victory on a vow to prioritize struggling families, feed the hungry and correct longstanding disparities in access to health care and education.

In Colombia, a former rebel and longtime legislator was elected the country’s first leftist president, promising to champion the rights of Indigenous, Black and poor Colombians, while building an economy that works for everyone.

“A new story for Colombia, for Latin America, for the world,” he said in his victory speech, to thunderous applause.

After years of tilting rightward, Latin America is hurtling to the left, a watershed moment that began in 2018 with the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico and could culminate with a victory later this year by a leftist candidate in Brazil, leaving the region’s six largest economies run by leaders elected on leftist platforms.

A combination of forces have thrust this new group into power, including an anti-incumbent fervor driven by anger over chronic poverty and inequality, which have only been exacerbated by the pandemic and have deepened frustration among voters who have taken out their indignation on establishment candidates. » | Julie Turkewitz, Mitra Taj and John Bartlett | Sunday, July 31, 2022

First Same-Sex Couples Wed in Chile

Pictured: newlyweds Jaime Nazar (left) and Javier Silva
ADVOCATE: “It’s something we didn’t think could happen,” Javier Silva observed as the nation's marriage equality law went into effect Thursday.

Javier Silva and Jaime Nazar have become the first same-sex couple to marry legally in Chile.

The men wed Thursday in a civil ceremony in a Santiago suburb as the nation’s marriage equality law, approved last year, went into effect.

“Being the first couple to get married in Chile for us is an honor, something to be proud of,” Silva said after the ceremony, according to Reuters. “We did it! It’s something we didn’t think could happen.”

The two have been together for seven years and have two children. They had been in a civil union for three years. Civil unions in Chile conferred many of the rights of marriage, but some were lacking, including the right to legally adopt children. » | Trudy Ring | Friday, March 11, 2022

Gabriel Boric Win in Chile Is “Huge Victory” for Social Movements That Fought Off Far-Right Threat

Dec 21, 2021 • Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile’s youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric’s victory signals an opening for progressive policy in Chile and Latin America more broadly.

The Guardian view on Chile’s new president: Boric brings a fresh start: The leftist triumphed over his far-right rival with promises of a fairer deal for ordinary people. Can he achieve it? »

Leftist to Become Chile’s Youngest Ever President after Beating Far-right Rival

THE GUARDIAN: Former student leader Gabriel Boric claims 55.8% of votes counted to defeat far-right opponent José Antonio Kast

Supporters of Chilean president-elect Gabriel Boric celebrate in Santiago following the official results of the runoff presidential election on 19 December. Photograph: Claudio Reyes/AFP/Getty Images
A eftist former student leader has stormed to a resounding victory to become Chile’s president-elect.

With nearly 97% of the vote already counted, Gabriel Boric claimed 55.8% to take a 12 percentage point lead over his far-right opponent, José Antonio Kast, an ultra-conservative father of nine, who quickly accepted his defeat and called Boric to congratulate him.

“I would like to thank the millions of Chileans who believed in us,” said Kast on stage outside his campaign headquarters. “Gabriel Boric can count on us,” he concluded.

Boric was due to address expectant crowds on Sunday night, with the air split by the sound of car horns and the jubilant chants of his supporters who have thronged the street corners, plazas and wide boulevards of downtown Santiago. » | John Bartlett in Santiago | Sunday, December 19, 2021

Same-sex Marriage Backed by Chile’s MPs

Supporters campaigning for marriage equality at a Pride parade in Santiago this month MATIAS BASUALDO/ZUMA PRESS WIRE/ALAMY
THE TIMES: Chile’s parliament is on course to legalise same-sex marriage, four years after the reform was first proposed and despite the country’s conservative reputation among religious Latin American nations.

The lower house in Santiago approved a bill on Tuesday that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, sending the measure back to the Senate, where it appears to have the support needed to become law. The bill also permits same-sex couples to adopt children, recognises maternity leave for transgender people and grants a widow’s or widower’s pension for same-sex couples. » | Steven Grattan, Bogota | Thursday, November 25, 2021

More Than One Million Dead in Latin America as Variants Spread | Covid-19 Special

Aug 2, 2021 • Experts say Latin America is fast becoming the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than one million people there have died.

The only exception is Chile, where 80 percent of the population are fully vaccinated. Otherwise, health systems are struggling to cope. COVID-19 has claimed the lives of nearly 200,000 people in Peru, where the vaccination campaign is only slowly getting underway. Just 16 percent of the population are completely inoculated. The country is battling several coronavirus variants.

Colombia is experiencing one of the longest peaks of infection since the coronavirus arrived in the country. This third spike has put the national medical system to the test. Quarantine measures have been struggling to strengthen an already strained system. ICUs in the country's second largest city Medellín are over 95 percent occupied. Doctors insist the national model of pandemic care has failed.

Thatcher Sent Pinochet Finest Scotch During Former Dictator's UK House Arrest

THE GUARDIAN: New revelation adds colour to close relationship between pair / Pinochet oversaw death and torture of thousands of Chileans

While he was under house arrest in Surrey in 1999, the former Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet received a fine malt from an old friend.

“Scotch is one British institution that will never let you down,” read the accompanying note from its sender: the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

The detail, revealed this week in the third volume of Charles Moore’s biography of Baroness Thatcher, adds further colour to the close relationship between Thatcher and the man responsible for the death of more than 2,000 people and the torture of many more.

Thatcher was appalled that the Labour government had allowed the arrest of Pinochet while he was in London for medical treatment, overriding his diplomatic immunity. » | Matt Youkee in Santiago | Friday, October 4, 2019

Far Right Gains Momentum in Chile's Presidential Elections

A far-right political party in Chile is expected to play a key role in determining the winner of Sunday's presidential run off. Its leader, Jose Antonio Kast, won a surprising 8% of the votes in the first round, and is now supporting former president Sebastian Pinera. Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports from Santiago.

Tsunami Advisory For Hawaii, Parts of California After Chile Quake

Read the article here Henry Austin and Alastair Jamieson | Thursday, September 17, 2015
Related »

Al Jazeera Correspondent: The Colony: Chile's Dark Past Uncovered

How did a secret German sect in Chile become a haven for Nazi fugitives and a torture centre for the Pinochet regime?

Talk to Al Jazeera: Michelle Bachelet: 'I Love My Country'

The former Chilean leader and current presidential candidate discusses her political aspirations.

Santiago de Chile: Straßenproteste eskalieren
In der chilenischen Hauptstadt ist die Gewalt zwischen Studenten und der Polizei eskaliert. Die Demonstranten setzten Polizeifahrzeuge in Brand. Die Polizei setzte Tränengas ein.

Margot Honecker Defends East German Dictatorship

THE GUARDIAN: Widow of GDR leader Erich Honecker gives unapologetic interview in documentary showing her at home in Chile

She was known as the "purple witch" for her arresting lilac rinses and tenacious political outlook. Now the widow of the former East German leader Erich Honecker has broken a 20-year silence to defend the dictatorship, attack those who helped to destroy it, and complain about her pension.

Margot Honecker, 84, who as education minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) served alongside her dictator husband, describes her homesickness for a "lost nation" and calls its demise a tragedy in an interview due to be broadcast on German television on Monday evening.

The documentary, which was years in the making due to Honecker's dogged insistence she would never give an interview to "West German" media, shows her at home in Chile where she escaped to with her husband after the collapse of the Berlin Wall in the early 1990s.

For the first time since 1989 Germans are given an insight into Honecker's life and a full-blown taste of her unforgiving views about a GDR that she continues to idealise. In shockingly frank exchanges in which she cuts a robust, vigorous figure, she defends East Germany to the hilt and refuses to accept any responsibility for its more tyrannical traits, including her own role as the minister responsible for thousands of forced adoptions.

"It is a tragedy that this land no longer exists," she tells the interviewer, Eric Friedler, adding that, while she lives in Chile "my head is in Germany". She does not, however, mean united Germany, rather the "better Germany" of the GDR. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Monday, April 02, 2012

Watch the documentary (in German) »

Thousands Attend Funeral of Gay Man in Chile
A 24-year-old who was beaten and branded with swastikas by a neo-Nazi group earlier this month was laid to rest, as thousands attended his funeral in Chile. Friends, family, gay rights activists, and foreign dignitaries gathered in Santiago on Friday, as police stated they are treating the murder of Daniel Zambudio as a hate crime. They believe he was targeted because he was homosexual. The tragedy has sparked a national outcry and a debate over whether the government should pass an anti-discrimination law offering stronger protections for victims of hate crimes. Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin reports.

WA TODAY: Huge funeral for gay neo-Nazi victim: Thousands of Chileans have joined the funeral procession a gay man tortured and beaten to death by presumed neo-Nazis amid growing national outrage over the attack. ¶ On Friday people crowded the streets around cars that travelled for three hours between Daniel Zamudio's home in San Bernardo south of the capital and the main cemetery in Santiago, waving white handkerchiefs, throwing flowers and clapping. ¶ "There will be time for justice but for now, I am only asking for respect, and I thank all of you for each gesture, each tear shed, for my brother," Diego Zamudio said before a private cremation. » | AFP | Saturday, March 31, 2012

Vaclav Klaus, The President of the Czech Republic: A Penchant for Other People’s Pens!

Plenty of pens for Mr. President’s pocket: Two cheeky Czechs have launched a campaign aimed at gathering writing implements for the country’s President Václav Klaus. In doing so, they express their support to the leader, who has recently found himself in an embarrassing situation. » | Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Chile Senator to Sponsor Gay Marriage Bill
REUTERS CANADA: SANTIAGO - The head of Chile's Socialist party, Fulvio Rossi, told reporters on Sunday that he planned to sponsor a bill to legalize gay marriage in the country, as occurred last month in neighboring Argentina.

"This is a project that I will present ... and I am also calling on the Church to be more welcoming, and I say that as part of the Church," the senator said, responding to remarks from Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz who described the same-sex weddings in Argentina as "an aberration." >>> Reporting by Maria Jose Latorre; Writing by Laura MacInnis | Sunday, August 01, 2010

Destruction Along Chile's Coast