Thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday in the Chilean capital Santiago for the protection of children in Palestine and in support of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, which has been under attack by Israel for eight months.
The demonstrators gathered in La Alameda, the main road into Santiago, and marched just over two kilometres (1.2 miles) into the centre of the city.
The action took place a week after Chilean president Gabriel Boric announced that the South American country supports the genocide accusation against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Thousands of students have also mobilised, demanding their universities cut ties with Israel.
The first university to take action on these demands was the University of Santiago (USACH), which last Wednesday resolved to suspend the two current agreements it has with the University of Haifa and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
In addition to the USACH, other universities in the country, including the University of Chile and the Pontifical Catholic University, have agreements with Israeli universities such as Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem which students and lecturers demand must end.
With nearly 500,000 people, Chile is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities outside the Arab world, and President Boric is a well-known advocate of the Palestinian cause, although he has always rejected the breakdown of diplomatic relations with Israel.
Meanwhile, the approval rating of right-wing Peruvian president, Dina Boluarte, dropped to five per cent this month, the lowest percentage for a Peruvian ruler since 1989, according to a national survey of the company Datum published on Sunday.
The poll shows that Peruvian workers and students are opposed to the cuts being imposed in the country.
The analysis stated: ‘If a comparison is made between the lowest approval percentages recorded since 1980, in the second government of Fernando Belaunde Terry, no head of state had obtained a similar figure.
‘Neither Alan García in his first government (only Lima was measured) nor Alberto Fujimori at the end of 2000 had registered such a low approval.’
The poll added that disapproval of Boluarte, in a year and a half of administration, rose to 91 per cent.
‘President Dina Boluarte has barely five per cent approval for her management throughout the country. In regions it reaches three per cent.
The Datum survey, which was conducted from 1st to 4th June also showed that the President of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, has a disapproval of 72 per cent, a support of eight per cent with twenty per cent saying that they support her on some issues and disagree on others.
In recent weeks, Boluarte has been denounced by the Attorney General’s Office for alleged corruption, after wearing luxury watches and jewellery she wore in official ceremonies without having declared them, and a cover-up before the arrest of her brother Nicanor Boluarte and his lawyer Mateo Castañeda for influence peddling.
Elsewhere, Vice-President of the Republic of El Salvador, Félix Ulloa, held a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov to strengthen the diplomatic and economic ties between the two nations in the frame of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Lavrov and Ulloa highlighted the importance of collaboration in key economic projects such as the Pacific Railway, given the interest of many Russian companies in participating in this initiative that seeks to establish a rail network of passengers and freight.
During the first visit of a high level Salvadoran official to Russia, both pointed out that the cultural cooperation will be consolidated as evidenced by the exchange of books between the National Library of El Salvador and the Russian State Library of Foreign Literature; as well as the interest of Salvadorans in learning Russian.
In an interview, the Salvadoran vice-president said that his country is interested and ready to schedule an official meeting between president Nayib Bukele and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as well as open a Russian Embassy in the Central American country ‘as soon as possible’.
Ulloa said: ‘It would be extremely important for us to open the embassy in El Salvador now, because for now the presence of the ambassador from Nicaragua covers the basic needs of the exchange between the States, but the person who exercises representation in El Salvador, not having the status of ambassador, is limited for some activities.’
Ulloa also highlighted the fact that El Salvador will welcome Russian tourists in a boost to its leisure industry, and Russia will help to finance the development of renewable energy, mainly solar power, and geothermal energy.
He said this is necessary because ‘we have no oil, and we have no hydrocarbons.’
The Salvadoran vice president also drew a parallel between the trading and financial grouping BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the former ‘Non-Aligned Countries’ bloc, saying that ‘the emergence of a new bloc like the BRICS, is important because ‘it generates cooperation and collaboration among states’.
- Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has released a statement commenting on European elections and condemning the rise of right-wing parties.
During an event on Sunday, organised by the ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV), Maduro said: ‘The neo-fascist parties won the elections of the European Union.
‘They will win there but they will not pass here,’ he declared, alluding to the presidential elections of July 28 in which he will seek re-election.
‘Latin America will stay free of fascism, far-right, hatred, and violence!’
According to preliminary results, the European People’s Party (EPP) emerged as the main force in these EU elections, with 189 seats, which would allow the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to renew her position through alliances with the Social Democrats and Liberals.
President Maduro also addressed the plans that the Venezuelan far-right is making against him with the purpose of defeating him in the presidential elections on July 28th.
‘They have a group of hitmen looking for us to harm us.
‘But we will not be intimidated, we will never give in and let them take all our resources, we will use them to improve the lives of the Venezuelan people.’
Since he became president in 2013, the Bolivarian leader has been the target of over 30 assassination plans organised by far-right opposition forces, including in 2018 when he survived a drone attack unscathed.
