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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 25 November 2022
Brazil election agency rejects Bolsonaro push to void votes

By DAVID BILLER test movements and cre-
Associated Press ating tumult, and ordered
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The the investigation of Costa
head of Brazil’s electoral and the consultant hired to
authority has rejected the conduct an evaluation.
request from President Jair “De Moraes’ message to
Bolsonaro’s political party the political establishment
to annul ballots cast on is: the game is over. Ques-
most electronic voting ma- tioning the result of the
chines, which would have elections is not fair play,
overturned the Oct. 30 and people and institutions
election. who do that will be pun-
Alexandre de Moraes had ished harshly,” said Maurí-
issued a prior ruling that im- cio Santoro, a political sci-
plicitly raised the possibility ence professor at the State
that Bolsonaro’s Liberal Par- University of Rio de Janeiro.
ty could suffer from such a In the press conference on
challenge. He conditioned Wednesday, Costa said his
analysis of the request on intention is merely to pre-
the presentation of an vent the results of the 2022
amended report to include vote from haunting Brazil
results from the first elec- into the future.
toral round, on Oct. 2, in Electoral Court employees work on the final stage of sealing electronic voting machines in The electoral authority on
which the party won more preparation for the general election run-off in Brasilia, Brazil, Oct. 19, 2022, ahead of the Oct. 30 Oct. 30 ratified the victory
seats in both congressional second round vote. of Bolsonaro’s nemesis, left-
houses than any other, and Associated Press ist former President Luiz Iná-
he established a 24-hour evidence of irregularities half of Bolsonaro and Cos- election results. Indepen- cio Lula da Silva, and even
deadline. and the existence of a to- ta citing a software bug in dent experts consulted many of the president’s al-
Earlier Wednesday, party tally fraudulent narrative the majority of Brazil’s ma- by The Associated Press lies quickly accepted the
president Valdemar Costa of the facts,” de Moraes chines they lack individual said that, while newly dis- results. Protesters in cities
and lawyer Marcelo de wrote in his decision hours identification numbers in covered, it doesn’t affect across the country have
Bessa held a press confer- later. their internal logs to argue reliability and each vot- steadfastly refused to do
ence and said there would He also ordered the sus- all votes they recorded ing machine is still readily the same, particularly with
be no amended report. pension of government should be nullified. De Bes- identifiable through other Bolsonaro declining to con-
“The complete bad faith of funds for the Liberal Party’s sa said that doing so would means. In his ruling, de cede.
the plaintiff’s bizarre and il- coalition until a fine of 23 leave Bolsonaro with 51% of Moraes noted the same. Bolsonaro spent more than
licit request ... was proven, million reais ($4.3 million) for the remaining valid votes. He also wrote that the a year claiming Brazil’s
both by the refusal to add bad faith litigation is paid. Neither Costa nor de Bessa challenge to the vote ap- electronic voting system is
to the initial petition and On Tuesday, de Bessa filed have explained how the peared aimed at incentiv- prone to fraud, without ever
the total absence of any a 33-page request on be- bug might have affected izing anti-democratic pro- presenting evidence.q

El Salvador announces new anti-gang

measures

SAN SALVADOR, El Salva- of emergency was de- same period of 2021.
dor (AP) — The president clared following a wave of Bukele requested Congress
of El Salvador announced homicides in late March. grant him extraordinary
Wednesday he will seal off “Now comes phase five, powers after gangs were
sections of cities to search which is rooting out the blamed for 62 killings on
for street gang members, criminals that still remain in March 26, and that emer-
the latest phase in an in- communities,” Bukele said. gency decree has been re-
creasingly tough nine- In October, more than newed every month since
month anti-crime crack- 2,000 soldiers and police then. It suspends some
down. surrounded and closed Constitutional rights and
President Nayib Bukele told off Comasagua in order gives police more powers Police guard the streets in downtown San Salvador, El Salvador,
a gathering of 14,000 army to search for street gang to arrest and hold suspects. March 27, 2022.
troops that certain sectors members accused in a kill- Under the decree, the right Associated Press
of cities in El Salvador will be ing. Drones flew over the of association, the right to Rights activists say young territory and extorted and
surrounded by police and town, and everyone enter- be informed of the reason men are frequently ar- killed with impunity.
soldiers, and that anyone ing or leaving the town was for an arrest and access to rested just based on their But Bukele’s crackdown
entering or leaving will be questioned or searched. a lawyer are suspended. age, on their appearance reached another level ear-
checked. Bukele said such About 50 suspects were de- The government also can or whether they live in a lier this month when the
tactics worked in the town tained in two days. intervene in the calls and gang-dominated slum. government sent inmates
of Comasagua in October. “It worked,” Bukele said. mail of anyone they con- El Salvador’s gangs, which into cemeteries to destroy
Bukele called it “Phase The government estimates sider a suspect. The time have been estimated to the tombs of gang mem-
Five” of the crackdown, that homicides dropped someone can be held with- count some 70,000 mem- bers at a time of year when
which has jailed more than 38% in the first 10 months of out charges is extended bers in their ranks, have families typically visit their
58,000 people since a state the year compared to the from three days to 15 days. long controlled swaths of loved ones’ graves.q