Brazil’s final polling stations closed at 7 p.m. local time Sunday, ending a two-hour Supreme Court extension and clearing the way for the vote count to resume in the presidential runoff.
The official cutoff had been set for 5 P.M. local time but the Supreme Federal Court pushed it back two hours as the original deadline arrived. Under the decision, only precincts where balloting had not ended by 5 P.M. Brasilia time could keep receiving voters.
The last polling stations in Brazil shut their doors at 7 P.M. Brasilia time on Sunday, marking the end of an extraordinary two-hour window that the Supreme Court had ordered only minutes before the original deadline.
Once the extended voting period concluded, election officials formally closed the polls and resumed the nationwide vote count.
The Court’s notification arrived shortly after 5 P.M., when voting was already due to close. By that point, hundreds of polling stations had finished the day’s work, printed their ballot bulletins and even begun shipping equipment to the regional electoral courts.
The definitive shutdown shifted attention to the Superior Electoral Court, which prepared to restart the count. Officials had frozen it six minutes after it began, when only 0.25% of ballots had been processed.
With counting now underway once again, millions of Brazilians are awaiting the official results that will determine the country’s next President who will govern Brazil from 2027 to 2031. The outcome is expected to shape Brazil’s political direction, economic priorities, and international relations over the coming years.
For now, the process rests on the resumed tally. The coming hours will show whether the early lead holds as ballot bulletins arrive from across the South American country.
Brazil’s electoral authority said Sunday that voting in the presidential runoff will continue only at polling places still open past 5 p.m., with ballot records, counting and results resuming after 7 p.m. under a court order.
The Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE) announced the measure on its official account, describing it as a response to a ruling by Supreme Federal Court justice Cristiano Zanin.
Under the decision, only precincts where balloting had not ended by 5 P.M. Brasilia time could keep receiving voters.
Election officials suspended the receipt of printed ballot records, the tally of votes and the release of results, and said all three would resume after 7 P.M. local time.
Voting in Brazil closes nationwide at 5 p.m. in every election. The order by Zanin gives electoral authorities room to let voters cast ballots where local conditions kept lines moving past the cutoff.
Almost all Superior Electoral Court ministers had gathered in the office of the court’s presidency to await the end of balloting, the statement added.
Esclarecimento sobre prorrogação da votação
O Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (@TSEjusbr) informa que, conforme decisão do ministro Cristiano Zanin, do Supremo Tribunal Federal, a eleição segue em andamento apenas nos locais em que a votação não havia sido encerrada às 17h.
The electoral authorities will resume the receipt of the ballot-box bulletins (known as BUs), the totalization of votes and the release of results after 7 P.M. local time. These bulletins are the printed summaries of each electronic voting machine’s tally, and they feed the national count.
Brazil conducts its elections entirely on electronic voting machines managed by the Superior Electoral Court and the regional electoral courts. The system has drawn criticism over transparency, although no case of fraud has ever been confirmed.
The Superior Electoral Court heads the country’s Electoral Justice, which handles voter registration, biometric identification, vote collection, tabulation and the final certification of results.
Sunday’s vote settles the presidency after the October 4 first round produced no outright winner. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro led with 47.03% of valid votes, ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 45.16%, forcing the runoff held on the last Sunday of October.
Brazil’s two round model requires a candidate to win more than half (50+1) of valid votes in the first round. Otherwise the top two finishers meet again three weeks later. Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from office and later endorsed him. Lula da Silva (Worker’s Party -PT) returned to the presidency in 2023 after courts restored his political rights.
Results are expected later Sunday night once tabulation resumes after 7 P.M. The Court has not indicated when it will publish the first partial totals, a schedule that now depends on the pace of the last polling places to close.
Venezuelan local history is central to Arístides Medina Rubio’s legacy, which reclaimed regional memory, oral testimony and archives beyond official narratives.
Arístides Medina Rubio: A Lesson in Venezuelan Local History
Venezuelan local history was the life’s work of historian Arístides Medina Rubio, who argued that no universal history is possible without the memory of towns, regions and ordinary people.
Medina Rubio believed that Venezuela’s past had been reduced for too long to the history of Caracas, independence heroes and official dates.
His central thesis was simple but powerful: without local history, universal history is impossible.
The historian was born in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo state, on April 27, 1937, and died in Caracas on October 1, 2019, at the age of 82.
He graduated as a professor of History and Geography from the Pedagogical Institute of Caracas in 1969 and earned a doctorate from El Colegio de México in 1974.
Medina Rubio founded the Chair of Venezuelan History at the Pedagogical Institute in 1976 and taught undergraduate, graduate and doctoral courses at the Central University of Venezuela.
He directed the university’s School of History from 1986 to 1989 and became one of the country’s leading theorists and promoters of regional history.
His influence extended beyond Venezuela through his work with historians across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Medina Rubio was also an editor, publisher and institution builder. He led Editorial Trópicos and co-founded the journal Tierra Firme in 1982, which has published more than 100 issues.
He served as director of Venezuela’s National Library from 2003 to 2009 and helped found and lead the National Center for History.
His books include Regional History: Seven Essays on Theory and Method (1984), A Minimal History of Venezuela (1994), Introduction to Regional History (1995) and Readings in Regional and Local History (2002).
In 2018, he presented The Venezuelan People: 15,000 Years of History, written with Mario Sanoja, Iraida Vargas, Carmen Bohórquez and Luis Britto García.
The book challenged the idea that Venezuelan history begins with Christopher Columbus or independence, placing Indigenous peoples at the center of the national narrative.
Arístides Medina Venezuelan Local History Beyond Caracas
Medina Rubio argued that Venezuelan local history had long been overshadowed by a Caracas-centered narrative.
He said official history focused on events such as April 19, 1810, and July 5, 1811, while ignoring the provinces that made up the Spanish Captaincy General of Venezuela.
“The great contribution of those of us who work on regional and local history is that we have reclaimed those spaces,” Medina Rubio said.
“Our history was filled with the history of Caracas, not even the Province of Caracas. The same happened with Maracaibo and Cumaná. Angostura appeared only when Bolívar was there, but beyond that, almost nothing.”
He argued that many Venezuelan towns had histories long before independence, but those stories were often reduced to the presence of famous figures.
He cited the McGregor Stone in El Socorro as an example of a place remembered mainly because a celebrated leader passed through it.
Medina Rubio insisted that local chroniclers preserved details that national histories often overlooked.
He also defended oral history as a legitimate historical source.
“The academic historian works with documents, statistics and maps,” he said. “But the people work with memory, and the only way to preserve that memory is through testimony.”
He said oral testimony passes from generation to generation and preserves events that may never leave a community but remain part of its historical memory.
Medina Rubio pointed to the Tere Tere, a traditional dish from Guatire, as an example of how local knowledge survives through community memory.
He said many people learned about the dish because residents created a magazine to document local flavors and knowledge.
For Medina Rubio, food, crafts, music and everyday practices were also historical sources because they revealed regional identities and social relations.
He noted that the hallaca, considered a national dish, has distinct regional expressions in the Andes, Margarita and central Venezuela.
The historian believed that recognizing those differences was essential to understanding Venezuela as a diverse and plural country.
Venezuelan Local History and the Independence Process
Medina Rubio also challenged traditional accounts of Venezuela’s independence, arguing that the process was broader, more complex and less centralized than official history suggested.
He explained that the people present in Caracas’ Plaza Mayor on April 19, 1810, were mainly from the Province of Caracas.
They came from Charallave, what is now the Plaza municipality, Guarenas and the valleys of Aragua.
People from Barcelona, Margarita, Cumaná, Angostura, the Andes and other regions joined the independence movement later, but quickly.
Medina Rubio said communication was decisive in spreading the movement.
In 1810, news from Caracas could take weeks to reach other parts of the country. Yet the April 19 events spread within eight to 10 days.
Caracas was the most important city in the Captaincy General, which included seven provinces.
After the Caracas council declared the Junta of the Rights of Ferdinand VII, later transformed into the Supreme Junta of Caracas, emissaries were sent to other provinces.
Their mission was to secure support for the Caracas movement and build consensus across the Captaincy General.
Of the seven provinces, only Maracaibo, Coro and Guayana did not immediately join. They later incorporated into the independence process.
Medina Rubio said the role of those emissaries remained insufficiently studied.
He also argued that many historical documents had been hidden or removed from public access for decades.
He pointed to the case of independence leader Francisco de Miranda and Juan Germán Roscio, who served as prosecutor against Miranda in 1806.
Medina Rubio said Roscio’s role in condemning Miranda and others captured at Ocumare had long been obscured by official narratives.
He said archives later revealed another side of Roscio, not to erase his contribution to independence, but to show that his life had more than one phase.
Medina Rubio said three volumes of previously unknown Miranda documents were later published, while other archives remained insufficiently studied.
Medina Rubio believed that the democratization of Venezuelan local history required recovering archives, publishing forgotten documents and training new historians.
He said that before 1960, Venezuelan history was often presented as a nearly divine war led by elites.
He cited the 1808 Revolution of Caracas, organized by wealthy Caracas elites known as mantuanos against Spanish rule.
Although the movement was betrayed, Medina Rubio considered it more important than earlier pre-independence uprisings led by figures such as Pirela and Chirino, as well as Miranda’s invasions.
He noted that the first major study of the movement, Andrés de Ponte’s The Revolution of Caracas, was published in 1910 and not republished until after the 1960s.
Medina Rubio said that after 1960, the work of the General Archive of the Nation, the National Academy of History and university history schools began to recover Venezuela’s past.
Books written by witnesses, memoirists and military figures became available to researchers and the public.
After 1998, he said, the recovery of historical memory accelerated further.
More archives were created, and descendants of historical figures began donating documents to the National Library, the General Archive of the Nation and the National Academy of History.
Medina Rubio said those archives allowed a completely different understanding of Venezuela’s past.
He also criticized the fact that, until about 2002, Venezuelan school history textbooks were produced in Spain.
He said the government purchased millions of books from the Spanish publisher Santillana, with financing linked to international institutions.
Medina Rubio said that practice ended during the government of Hugo Chávez, when he was director of the National Library and Aristóbulo Istúriz was education minister.
He argued that replacing Santillana’s editorial capacity would take years because it involved producing and updating textbooks for millions of students.
For Medina Rubio, the transformation of historical knowledge was a long-term process tied to education, archives and public access to information.
Medina Rubio argued that Venezuelan local history helps people understand present-day problems and develop independent civic consciousness.
He gave the example of a town without drinking water or an aqueduct.
Residents may ask why there is no water system despite the existence of a large river nearby.
By investigating the issue, they may discover that a nearby aqueduct serves land owned by a powerful landowner.
That discovery can lead people to organize and fight for their rights.
For Medina Rubio, local history was therefore a tool for social awareness and political action.
He also emphasized the importance of recovering the everyday lives of ordinary people, including songs, dances, food and popular traditions.
He noted that colonial society was deeply marked by class and racial hierarchies.
The term “mantuano” referred to wealthy white elites because the Church allowed only white women to wear mantles, while Black, Indigenous and mixed-race people were excluded.
Medina Rubio said food also reflected those hierarchies. Elites ate refined dishes, while ordinary people ate sancocho, a mixture of ingredients cooked in a gourd.
He argued that history must recover those excluded voices and recognize collective actors as makers of their own history.
Medina Rubio believed that independence was not a completed event but an unfinished process.
He said Venezuela had not yet built a fully independent structure or developed independence as a collective way of life.
For him, history should not be reduced to memorizing dates, names and places.
It should reveal processes, recover local heroes and connect the past with present realities.
His legacy continues through the historians, archivists and communities working to recover Venezuela’s regional memory.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ordered polling stations to remain open nationwide until 7:00 P.M. Brasilia time on Sunday, extending the runoff vote after both candidates asked for more time.
Federal Supreme Court Minister Justice Cristiano Zanin issued the ruling, which pushed the deadline back from the original schedule set for the second round between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro. The change applied across all of Brazil.
The precautionary measure, with immediate effect, extends by two hours the closing of the polling stations, which was set for 5:00 P.M. Brasilia time., and applies to all electoral sections in Brazil. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is responsible for executing it.
“Considering the gravity of the facts presented, which reached the Supreme Federal Court at 4:32:49 P.M. today, and given the evident urgency of the measure, I order a two-hour extension, until 7:00 p.m. Brasilia time, of the closing of vote reception at all polling stations in Brazil,” Zanin detailed.
The decision came after the campaigns of Lula and Bolsonaro had requested to extend the schedule due to transportation problems in some cities and difficulties due to rains in other areas of Brazil.
The request had spanned three states, reflecting concern that severe weather could depress turnout across a wide stretch of southern and southeastern Brazil. However, Zanin’s ruling went beyond the listed municipalities, extending the schedule across the entire country rather than only in the rain-affected locations.
Confira abaixo o Ofício da Presidência do @TSEjusbr sobre o cumprimento da decisão do Supremo Tribunal Federal sobre a prorrogação do horário das Eleições 2026. pic.twitter.com/1c3D0s3LhA
The extension added two hours to the voting day. Polling stations that would have closed in the late afternoon remained open into the evening, giving voters in affected regions more time to reach their designated locations.
The Supreme Court’s nationwide extension acknowledged that voters beyond those municipalities could also face obstacles reaching polling places before the original deadline. The ruling treated the request as grounds for a broader safeguard covering the whole electorate.
With the later cutoff in place, authorities reminded citizens that anyone already in line at 7:00 P.M, local time would still be allowed to cast a ballot.
Officials have described the unified national schedule as a way to reduce confusion in a country of continental scale. The legal maneuvering unfolded on a day already marked by isolated logistical incidents. The extension gave electoral authorities additional time to process voters in the states most exposed to severe weather, while keeping the process unified from north to south.
Brazil’s top electoral authority reported a generally calm second-round vote on October 25, as more than 158.7 million registered citizens chose the country’s next head of State and renewed regional executives across the nation.
The preliminary report had confirmed the preventive replacement of 900 ballot boxes that presented technical failures, a figure representing only 0.18% of the equipment installed nationwide. The electoral body also maintains more than 48,000 contingency devices ready for deployment in the event of any operational problem.
The public security balance described a day characterized by widespread calm and a low rate of irregularities at voting centers. Security forces counted 138 isolated events, including attempts to violate the secrecy of the ballot and three cases of alleged vote buying.
The second round follows the first-round vote held earlier in October. In the first round, on October 4, far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) got 47.03% of the valid vote, while President Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party-PT), received 45.16%, in a process marked by extreme polarization. Brazil’s electoral system requires a runoff when no candidate secures an outright majority in the opening round, concentrating the contest between the two leading contenders.
The court highlighted that Brazil’s electronic ballot box system marked 30 years of uninterrupted operation. Following this, the court has emphasized that the electronic voting platform delivers preliminary results within hours of polls closing, a feature officials point to as evidence of the system’s efficiency.
Voting results from abroad show split support as runoff count continues.
On Sunday, voting by Brazilian citizens residing in Asia and Oceania concluded with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva winning in five of the nine nations in the region.
Far-right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who is the presidential candidate of the Liberal Party (PL), secured victories in the four remaining jurisdictions.
Shortly after noon, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) published a first report on votes abroad, where some 918,000 Brazilians are legally eligible to participate in the presidential runoff. So far the results are as follows:
Lula da Silva
The Workers’ Party leader won in Finland (74.83%), Estonia (82.90%), Cyprus (53.70%), Jordan (90.51%), Syria (90.60%), Kuwait (78.48%), Saudi Arabia (61.25%), Egypt (78.95%), Kenya (64.44%), China (73.67%), Singapore (63.77%), South Korea (64.35%), Australia (63.46%) and New Zealand (80.54%).
Brazilian voters living in Tokyo turned out on Sunday to cast their ballots in the tight presidential runoff. 🇯🇵🇧🇷
As polling stations opened abroad, members of the diaspora expressed contrasting visions for the future of South America's largest nation, covering topics ranging… pic.twitter.com/YVGHP0SBnI
The far-right senator have prevailed in Greece (54.95%), South Africa (57.92%), Mozambique (52%), Qatar (55.08%), the United Arab Emirates (54.56%), Thailand (51.72%), Indonesia (60.53%), Hong Kong (51.15%), Taiwan (58.04%), Malaysia (51.76%), the Philippines (59.09%) and Japan (80.08%).
Results Abroad Do Not Indicate a Trend
As of noon Sunday, Bolsonaro held a lead in eight countries and Lula in six. Nevertheless, information on electoral behavior in another 67 countries had not yet been incorporated into the official count.
“Portugal and the U.S., where important communities of Brazilians eligible to vote are concentrated, remained pending the closing of polls in the initial tally,” the outlet Cronica Digital reported.
“In the first round, Lula obtained 157,387 valid votes abroad, equivalent to 47.57 percent, while Flavio Bolsonaro received 143,900, equivalent to 43.49 percent,” it recalled.
Statistically speaking, voting abroad is not significant for drawing conclusions about the final direction of the runoff, since only 0.5% of Brazilian electors reside outside their country.
Former Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have called on the international community to support the resolution proposing an end to the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba, which is scheduled for consideration on October 28th at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
In an open letter addressed to all nations of the world, the former leaders described the US sanctions as contrary to international law and the fundamental principles of coexistence between peoples. They also urged UN member states to vote in favor of the resolution and to reject the pressures which, they denounce, seek to prevent its approval.
The document recalls that since 1992, the General Assembly has repeatedly supported initiatives calling for the lifting of the blockade, without Washington substantially changing its policy towards the island.
Open letter by former CARICOM Heads of State and Government urging all nations to vote in favour of the UNGA resolution calling for an end to the US blockade against Cuba on October 28. Cuba is not a threat. The blockade must end! 🇨🇺#CubaIsNotAThreat . The blockade must end! pic.twitter.com/feZAz0QzIl
For the signatories, this year’s vote is of particular importance due to the tightening of economic measures against Cuba.
One of the main concerns highlighted in the letter is the extension of sanctions to third countries and entities that supply, sell, or transport energy products to Cuban territory, including fuels such as gasoline and diesel.
The former leaders argue that these restrictions worsen the economic difficulties of the population and denounce that they aim to subdue the country through economic pressure. The signatories consider these measures to be an inhumane practice and a violation of Cuba’s sovereignty and independence.
They also warn that the blockade represents a threat to regional and international peace and security, in addition to affecting fundamental rights of Cuban citizens.
The statement also insists on the need for governments to resist Washington’s attempts to influence their votes. In the opinion of the former leaders, the international community must defend multilateralism and the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.The initiative comes amid growing diplomatic tension between Washington and Havana.
The annual resolution of the General Assembly is non-binding, so its approval would not legally oblige the United States to lift the sanctions. The decision to end the blockade ultimately rests with the US political and legislative system.
The purpose of lifting the blockade is to heal the division between the US and Cuba, emphasizing that Cuba does not pose a threat. Signatories include former prime ministers of Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as a former president of Guyana.
President of the BRICS New Development Bank received a warm welcome from Workers’ Party supporters.
On Sunday, former Brazilian President and current President of the BRICS New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff exercised her right to vote at Santa Marcelina School, located in the Pampulha region of Belo Horizonte.
The progressive leader arrived at the polling station during the presidential election runoff and was warmly welcomed by supporters of the Workers’ Party (PT).
During the day, she was accompanied by her great-nephew and federal deputy-elect, Pedro Rousseff; federal deputy Rogerio Correia; and federal deputy-elect Bella Gonçalves.
Activists gathered at the site expressed their support for the former president through fighting slogans such as “Dilma, warrior of the Brazilian people” and popular chants in support of her political career. Rousseff greeted the supporters and posed with them before heading to the ballot boxes.
SAFTU Statement of Solidarity with Brazil’s Workers and People
Brazilian workers, Indigenous Peoples, landless families and all those who have struggled for dignity and social justice must come out in their millions to defend the gains won through years of struggle.
The welcome Rousseff received on Sunday differed substantially from the events of the first round of voting held Oct. 4. On that occasion, she faced a hostile atmosphere created by far-right groups, which forced her to leave the site as quickly as possible to prevent physical attacks by Bolsonaro’s supporters.
Currently, Rousseff resides in Shanghai, because of her responsibilities as head of the BRICS multilateral financial institution. However, she maintains her voter registration in the capital of the state of Minas Gerais.
Her in-person participation in the election reaffirms the commitment of the PT’s historic leaders to popular mobilization and the consolidation of democracy in Brazil.
In the first round, Flavio Bolsonaro received 56.1 million votes, or 47%, while Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, garnered 53.8 million votes, or 45.16%. Abstention totaled 33.5 million, equivalent to 21.08% of registered voters, making this segment of the population the key battleground in the political contest in recent days.
At the closing rally of his campaign in Sao Paulo, Lula da Silva denounced ties between Rio de Janeiro criminal organizations and Flavio Bolsonaro, whom he described as a person “who does not have the political, moral or ethical qualifications to become president.”
Voters cast ballots for far-right senator Bolsonaro or incumbent Lula da Silva amid a mostly peaceful atmosphere.
On Sunday, the second round of Brazil’s presidential election drew thousands of Braziliasn to polling stations in Madrid, where they voted for their next president, choosing between far-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro and incumbent Luiz Inazio Lula da Silva.
The second day of voting in the Spanish capital saw large, orderly crowds throughout the morning and a mostly peaceful atmosphere, although some voters clashed at the entrance to Blanca de Castilla School over their ideological differences. Workers organizing the lines had to separate them.
“The flow of voters is quite impressive compared with the first round. Many, many voters who did not come in the first round are here for the second,” said Brazilian Consul Maria Angelica Ikeda.
“The atmosphere has been very good, even though this is a very tense election. Here on the street, there are people who support one candidate and people who support the other, but they are all calm. Everything is going very well,” she added.
The text reads, “The left-wing wave in Brazil will reveal a new generation of leaders. Lula for Democracy!”
In the first round, held Oct. 4, the results in Madrid were 3,571 votes for Lula da Silva and 2,333 votes for Flavio Bolsonaro.
“I believe there is no such thing as a perfect society. We have an endemic problem with corruption, and unfortunately, that is something that will be very difficult to solve under any circumstances,” said Ana Paula Santos, a Brazilian woman who has lived in Spain for 25 years.
“There are universal values that Bolsonaro has shown, through his actions, that he does not uphold. The vote is individual, but the consequences are collective,” she stressed, explaining why she voted for Lula da Silva.
Santos was accompanied by Cristina Ana Perez, another Brazilian who said she does not share Bolsonaro’s “very radical” views and therefore voted in favor of Lula da Silva’s re-election.
In Barcelona, more than 40,000 residents of Spain will be able to exercise their right to vote. In the Madrid consular jurisdiction, 23,520 Brazilians are eligible to vote, and polling is open until 5 p.m. local time.
Peru Protests Bring Generation Z to Lima Against Fujimori
Peru protests filled the historic center of Lima on Saturday, October 24, as young people, students, unions and victims’ families demanded action from President Keiko Fujimori’s government.
Demonstrators began gathering at 4:00 p.m. at Plaza San Martín, a historic site of popular struggles in the Peruvian capital.
The march was convened by groups identifying with Generation Z, along with human rights organizations, university students and self-organized citizens.
Participants included students from the National University of San Marcos and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
The protesters demanded responses to a wave of extortion, the environmental crisis caused by forest fires, the rising cost of living and impunity for state repression.
They marched through Jirón de la Unión and Avenida Grau before advancing toward Avenida Abancay.
The demonstration was largely peaceful but firm. Participants carried Peruvian flags and banners reading “Put out the fires,” “For a Peru that is never indifferent to its people’s suffering,” and “Urgent police reform.”
Local media estimated that around 1,000 people took part in the Lima march.
Similar mobilizations were reported in Arequipa, Cusco, Ica, Huancayo, Trujillo and Juliaca.
The protests reflect growing discontent with the government’s handling of insecurity, environmental emergencies and economic pressures affecting working-class communities.
One of the central demands of the Peru protests was an end to extortion networks that affect transport workers, merchants, shopkeepers and small business owners.
Protesters said criminal groups are imposing payments on workers and entrepreneurs in popular neighborhoods, creating fear and undermining local economies.
Demonstrators called for a deep police reform to dismantle corruption networks within the police force.
They also demanded stronger intelligence work and community-based prevention rather than the repression of social protest.
The marchers criticized the use of security forces against demonstrations and called for greater protection for vulnerable communities.
During the march, police blocked the route to prevent demonstrators from reaching the exterior of the Congress of the Republic.
The image of officers containing the crowd highlighted the distance between a closed political institution and a mobilized population demanding to be heard.
The protest also included relatives of people killed during the social protests between December 2022 and June 2023.
They carried photographs of their loved ones and demanded justice for the deaths that occurred during the political crisis.
Milagros Samillán, whose brother was killed in January 2023 in Juliaca, Puno, said families were still demanding accountability four years after what she described as the massacres of 2022 and 2023.
Human rights organizations have documented serious concerns about the use of force during those protests.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly reported that 68 people died between December 7, 2022, and April 7, 2023, in the context of protests across nine regions.
The UN official said that 74 percent of those deaths occurred during confrontations with law enforcement.
Civil society organizations have called for independent investigations, prosecutions and reparations for victims and their families.
Peru Protests Highlight Wildfire and Climate Crisis
The environmental emergency was another major focus of the Peru protests.
Demonstrators denounced the government’s response to forest fires that affected 16 regions across the country.
According to Peru’s National Center of Emergency Operations, known as COEN, and the National Institute of Civil Defense, known as Indeci, the fires caused 479 emergencies.
The disasters left 12 people dead and 708 people affected, according to the official figures cited during the mobilization.
The fires destroyed 1,299 hectares of crops and more than 13,800 hectares of natural cover.
They also caused severe damage to local wildlife and livestock, affecting rural and Indigenous communities.
The affected regions included Cusco, Puno, Junín, Apurímac, Áncash, Huancavelica, Arequipa, Amazonas and Cajamarca.
Protesters said the government failed to provide enough brigades, funding and prevention measures to confront the emergency.
One young demonstrator said the fires were only extinguished after rainfall arrived, not because of an effective state response.
“Tuvo que llover para que recién se apagaran los incendios,” she said, denouncing the lack of brigades, budget and prevention.
Another protester criticized the floods caused by heavy rains in Piura and the absence of a strategic plan to address the El Niño phenomenon.
El Niño periodically devastates northern Peru through intense rainfall, flooding and damage to infrastructure.
Demonstrators said corruption in reconstruction projects and the abandonment of public infrastructure have worsened the impact of these climate events.
The protesters demanded a parliamentary investigation into the origin of the fires and adequate reparations for affected communities.
They also called on national, regional and local authorities to strengthen prevention and prepare for future climate emergencies.
Geopolitical Context
The Peru protests reflect a broader wave of youth-led mobilization across Latin America.
Generation Z movements have emerged as a political force in several countries, demanding action on insecurity, corruption, inequality, climate change and democratic accountability.
In Peru, the protests come amid a prolonged institutional crisis marked by political instability, social conflict and public distrust in state institutions.
The country has experienced a succession of presidents and governments in recent years, deepening polarization and weakening public confidence.
Keiko Fujimori’s government faces pressure to respond to demands for security without resorting to repressive measures.
The demand for police reform is particularly sensitive because of the legacy of state violence during the 2022 and 2023 protests.
The forest fires also expose the unequal impact of climate change in Peru.
Rural and Indigenous communities in the Andes and Amazon face the greatest risks, despite having contributed least to global emissions.
The destruction of crops, forests and livestock threatens food security, local economies and the cultural survival of affected communities.
The protests could increase pressure on Congress and the executive branch to allocate more resources to disaster prevention, environmental protection and social repair.
They may also influence the political debate ahead of future electoral processes, as youth movements seek greater representation in national politics.
For now, the mobilization has made clear that insecurity, climate emergencies and impunity are no longer separate issues.
For many young Peruvians, they form part of the same crisis of governance, and the demand is simple: a state that protects its people instead of abandoning them.
The Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti has received unidentified human remains that could belong to four Salvadoran military personnel missing after an ambush in Haiti on October 18, 2026.
This information comes after El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, previously denied this possibility. The remains were handed over to GSF by an external humanitarian organization.
“At this time, the GSF is not in a position to confirm whether such remains correspond to the missing personnel,” added the multinational force whose creation was authorized a year ago by the United Nations Security Council to combat armed gangs and help stabilize Haiti.
The special representative of the Gang Suppression Force, Jack Christofides, expressed the solidarity of the force’s personnel “with the families of the four missing persons, with their comrades in arms, as well as with the Government and people of El Salvador during these difficult times.”
The #GSF confirms that it has received, through a third-party humanitarian organization, remains suspected of being those of the four personnel from the Salvadoran contingent currently missing. At this stage, the GSF is not in a position to confirm that the remains are those of… pic.twitter.com/JvfLg1DfCG
— Gang Suppression Force – Haiti (@GSForceHaiti) October 25, 2026
This multinational force is made up of more than 1,000 soldiers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Chad, and its commander is Mongolian Major General Edernebat Batsuuri.
The first information about the recovery of remains that could belong to the Salvadorans was given on Saturday by The New York Times, but Bukele, who sent a military contingent to Haiti in the middle of the week to try to find them, ruled out the possibility that they were his soldiers.
“They are not our men,” he posted on his X account, where he added that the characteristics of the charred remains, recovered by the NGO Hero Client Rescue, led by Scott Reece, a former security official from the U.S. State Department, do not correspond to those of the missing Salvadoran “air technicians.”
No son nuestros hombres.
Una ONG entregó restos humanos en el aeropuerto, asegurando que pertenecían a nuestros cuatro aerotécnicos.
According to the president, “the remains correspond to a child, a man of considerably greater stature than our air technicians, and a person wearing part of a uniform from an army that is not ours.”
“Among the remains, identification cards and military uniforms from other countries were also found,” added the president, who supported his statement with two photographs, one of a GSF member’s ID card and the other of an identity document, both in the name of a citizen of Chad.
The GSF clarified in today’s statement that the images of the documents “belong to a GSF soldier, a member of the Chad contingent,” who is safe.
“This card was lost during the search operations for the missing Salvadoran personnel. The soldier is safe, with his unit, and is not among the missing,” he explained.
The GSF added that “coordination between Haitian security forces and the GSF remains essential to confront the armed gangs that threaten communities and the future of this country.”
He highlights massive political demonstrations during the runoff campaign and warns of isolated incidents of political violence.
On Sunday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, voted in Sao Paulo in the presidential runoff, in which he is competing against far-right Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro.
“I am going to vote grateful to the Brazilian people. What the people have done for me in these days is so much that there is no way to repay it. It is so much generosity, so much affection and so much love. I will be eternally grateful for the people’s behavior,” he said minutes earlier as he left his home for the polling station.
At 10 a.m. local time, the Workers’ Party leader voted at João Firmino Correia de Araujo School in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a municipality bordering Sao Paulo where he rose to prominence as a union leader in the 1970s and began his political career.
After voting, Lula, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, highlighted the largest political demonstrations in Brazil in the past 50 years during the runoff campaign.
Mais uma vez, foi o povo brasileiro que me mostrou que nenhum sonho é grande demais quando a gente caminha junto. ❤️🇧🇷
Foram dias incansáveis. Cada caminhada, cada ato e cada passeata foram muito mais do que momentos de campanha. Foram encontros de sonhos que se transformaram em… pic.twitter.com/YdgeTlMzBK
President Lula da Silva’s text reads, “Once again, it was the Brazilian people who showed me that no dream is too big when we walk together. These were tireless days.
Every walk, every event, and every demonstration was much more than just a campaign moment. They were gatherings of dreams that transformed into concrete achievements—such as the end of the 6×1 work schedule.
Every outstretched hand and every smile reminded me why I have dedicated my life to the struggle for the working men and women of this country. We emerge from this journey stronger, more united, and more mobilized to secure a better future.
Thank you, Brazil, for every hug, every tear, every smile, and for never letting go of my hand. There are still many beautiful pages left to be written in our history. Tomorrow, October 25th, we will write another one. Together, for the Brazil we love and for the future our people deserve!“
“What I saw in this runoff was not about a political party or a union. The people took to the streets to defend their achievements,” the Workers’ Party (PT) candidate told reporters after casting his ballot.
The president also warned of isolated incidents of political violence reported in recent hours, including a brick thrown at a PT activist in the city of Montes Claros.
“This is a demonstration of what is at stake,” the progressive leader emphasized and criticized Bolsonaro, referring to him as “a militiaman” and a “morally and ethically unqualified person.”
Lula also said that on Sunday, voters would decide whether the Brazilian flag would be respected or whether to elect a political group that “wants to govern with the American flag.”
Lula, aos 33 anos, liderando junto ao sindicato dos metalúrgicos a greve que desafiou a ditadura militar no Brasil. Ele conquistou aumentos salariais e foi preso. Enquanto isso, a única profissão do Flávio foi ser vag4bundo político. #AposentadosComLulapic.twitter.com/34dsHpqtai
The text reads, “At the age of 33, Lula led the metalworkers’ union in a strike that challenged Brazil’s military dictatorship. He secured wage increases and was subsequently imprisoned. Meanwhile, Flavio’s only profession has been that of a political deadbeat.”
The Brazilian president, who will turn 81 next Tuesday, went to vote wearing a white guayabera shirt, accompanied by his wife, Rosangela Lula da Silva; Vice President Geraldo Alckmin; and five other current and former Cabinet ministers.
In the first round, held Oct. 4, Bolsonaro received the most votes, with 47% of the ballots, compared with 45% for Lula. Polling stations will close at 5 p.m., after which vote counting will begin.
The count is expected to be completed within a few hours thanks to Brazil’s electronic voting system, which was introduced three decades ago.
More voters are expected to participate in the second round as Lula da Silva faces Flavio Bolsonaro.
On Sunday, thousands of Brazilians went to the polls in Portugal to exercise their right to vote and elect their next president, most of them in Lisbon, the largest Brazilian polling station abroad.
“The expectation we had seems to be confirmed. Turnout will be much higher in the runoff. We expect around 50% of eligible voters to cast their ballots,” Brazilian Ambassador Raimundo Carreria Silva said.
Brazilians will have to choose their next president between Workers’ Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Liberal Party candidate Flavio Bolsonaro.
Supporters of both candidates gathered at the University City of Lisbon, where several buildings were set up as polling stations. The Portuguese capital has 78,833 registered voters eligible to cast ballots in the presidential election.
🇧🇷❗️🇵🇹 Vídeos publicados nas redes mostram concentração na Universidade de Lisboa após abertura das urnas
🇺🇸❓ Embora Portugal seja superado pelos EUA como maior comunidade fora do país, a capital portuguesa representa o maior colégio eleitoral, com ~79 mil eleitores aptos pic.twitter.com/0ay92j793N
The text reads, “Videos posted on social media show people gathering at the University of Lisbon following the opening of the polls. While the U.S. surpasses Portugal as a place of residence for the largest community of Brazilians living outside their home country, the Portuguese capital represents the largest overseas electoral district, with approximately 79,000 eligible voters.”
One Brazilian voter in Portugal is Sabine, who traveled from the Azores archipelago to Lisbon specifically to vote after not casting a ballot in the first round.
“I didn’t vote in the first round because I thought Lula was going to win. Since there was a tie, today I felt compelled to come here so we can consolidate our democracy,” she said, expressing confidence that Brazilian President Lula da Silva would be reelected.
In the first round, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva received the most votes, with 14,948 (53.51%) in Lisbon and 10,356 (52.49%) in Porto. Far-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro won in Faro with 1,305 votes (48.88%). On Oct. 6, the abstention rate in Portugal stood at 61.7%.
About 158.7 million voters are eligible to cast ballots as Lula da Silva faces Flavio Bolsonaro in a closely contested race.
On Sunday, about 158.7 million Brazilians are eligible to vote for their next president in a runoff election between incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro.
Polling stations will remain open until 5 p.m. and will serve voters who are in line at closing time. The first official presidential election results are expected to be known a few hours later.
In the first round of the presidential election, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro received 47% of the vote (56.1 million ballots), compared with 45% for Lula (53.8 million votes).
São Paulo, the country’s most populous state, remains Brazil’s largest electoral district, accounting for 21.5% of voters, followed by Minas Gerais (10.3%), Rio de Janeiro (8%), Bahia (7%) and Parana (5.4%).
Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) votou na manhã deste domingo (25), em uma escola em Vila Isabel, na Zona Norte do Rio de Janeiro. O candidato à Presidência chegou acompanhado da esposa, Fernanda Bolsonaro, de familiares e aliados políticos.
The text reads, “Flavio Bolsonaro (PL) cast his vote this Sunday morning (25) at a school in Vila Isabel, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The presidential candidate arrived accompanied by his wife, Fernanda Bolsonaro, as well as family members and political allies.”
Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro Votes in Rio de Janeiro
At 8 a.m. Sunday, Liberal Party presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro voted at a school in the Vila Isabel neighborhood in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro.
“Wearing a bulletproof vest, the candidate arrived at the polling place accompanied by his wife, Fernanda; his mother, Rogeria; and Rio de Janeiro Gov.-elect Douglas Ruas,” news outlet Carta Capital reported.
“The time has come for real change. That was the case in the first round, and it should be the same in the second. Brazil cannot take another four years with things as they are. Everyone’s life has gotten worse; there is no reason to keep insisting on a mistake,” the far-right politician said.
“Rain or shine, let’s leave home and vote. Brazil will change, and Brazil will win,” he added, urging his supporters not to abstain from voting in the presidential runoff.
About 158.7 million voters are eligible to cast ballots, as polls project a technical tie between the two presidential candidates.
On Sunday, polling stations across Brazil opened on time at 8 a.m. local time for the presidential runoff, in which incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, are vying for the country’s top office.
About 158.7 million voters were called to the polls on Sunday, when six state governors will also be elected. Polling stations will remain open until 5 p.m. Abstention is expected to decline from the 21.08% recorded in the first round, the highest rate since 1998.
The same hours will apply to polling stations abroad, where about 919,000 people registered to participate in the election, a 32% increase compared with the 2022 elections.
As on Oct. 4, polling stations will serve voters who are in line at closing time. In the first round of the presidential election, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro received 47% of the vote (56.1 million ballots), compared with the 45.16% won by Lula (53.8 million votes).
Com orgulho, o Partido Socialista Europeu (PES- PSE) está em São Paulo, ao lado de Lula! 🇧🇷❤️ Na véspera das eleições, o nosso Secretário-Geral, @giacomofilibeck , participa desta mobilização em apoio a Lula e ao projeto de um Brasil com mais justiça social, igualdade de gênero e… pic.twitter.com/NMmsfxlSvQ
The text reads, “The Party of European Socialists (PES) is proud to be in Sao Paulo, standing with Lula! On the eve of the elections, our Secretary-General, Giacomo Filibeck, is taking part in this mobilization in support of Lula and a vision for Brazil that prioritizes greater social justice, gender equality, and environmental protection. We stand together in defense of democracy and in the fight for a fairer, more egalitarian Brazil—a country that offers opportunities for all!”
São Paulo, the country’s most populous state, remains Brazil’s largest electoral district, accounting for 21.5% of voters, followed by Minas Gerais (10.3%), Rio de Janeiro (8%), Bahia (7%) and Parana (5.4%), according to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
According to election polls released over the past week, the Workers’ Party leader and the far-right politician are in a technical tie, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Organizers warn that weaker tariff protections could threaten domestic rice production, jobs and food security.
Social and political groups in the Dominican Republic are protesting a government decision to scrap tariff protections for domestically produced rice, warning that the move could expose local farmers to increased import competition.
The Broad Front (Frente Amplio) and the Jesús Adón Popular Bloc (Bloque Popular Jesús Adón) have called for a march in Nagua on Sunday, Oct. 25, demanding stronger government measures to protect domestic rice production. The demonstration is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the town’s main park, on the road toward San Francisco de Macorís. Organizers have urged farmers, agricultural workers, traders and social organizations across the northeastern region to take part.
The protest centers on Decree 635-26, issued by President Luis Abinader on Sept. 9, 2026, which repealed Decree 693-24. The previous measure established a tariff system intended to shield locally produced rice from international competition.
#DOMINICANA | Tras intensas presiones de Estados Unidos, el Gobierno dominicano derogó la medida arancelaria que protegía la producción nacional de arroz. Organizaciones sociales y productores denuncian que la eliminación de estas salvaguardas bajo el tratado DR-CAFTA vulnera la… pic.twitter.com/ZCVO0Om8iz
Text Reads: Following intense pressure from the United States, the Dominican Government repealed the tariff measure that protected the national rice production. Social organizations and producers denounce that the elimination of these safeguards under the DR-CAFTA treaty violates the country’s food sovereignty.
Under the former rules, certain imports within the tariff-rate quota faced a 20% tariff, while imports exceeding the quota were subject to a 99% rate. The system allowed 23,300 metric tons of rice from the United States to enter the Dominican market duty-free, with imports above that volume subject to the higher tariff.
María Teresa Cabrera, president of the Broad Front, said the decision to remove the protections stemmed from external commercial pressure linked to bilateral negotiations with the United States over access to the Dominican agricultural market.
Cabrera warned that weakening tariffs could undermine a sector encompassing more than 30,000 producers and supporting tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Rice production also sustains related economic activities, including transportation, supply and marketing.
“Rice is not just another commodity: it is an essential food for the Dominican people and the livelihood of thousands of farming and working families. Weakening domestic production to favor imports could have economic and social consequences extending far beyond the countryside. Food security is also a matter of national sovereignty,” Cabrera said.
The decision has also raised concerns among agricultural organizations, which are seeking clarity on the safeguards and competitiveness measures the government intends to introduce to protect domestic production.
The Dominican government has said it is pursuing diplomatic and commercial negotiations with international counterparts to renegotiate the terms while maintaining controls on rice imports.
The planned march comes as agricultural groups press the government for assurances that domestic rice producers will remain protected under any revised trade arrangements.
More than 158.7 million Brazilians are eligible to vote as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely contested runoff.
Brazilian voters are choosing between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a presidential runoff after neither candidate secured a majority in the first round. More than 158.7 million people are eligible to vote, with polling stations open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, according to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
In the first round on Oct. 4, Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party (PL), received 47.03% of valid votes, or 56,104,503 ballots, while Lula, of the Workers’ Party (PT), won 45.16%, or 53,879,538 votes, according to official TSE figures. Neither surpassed the 50% threshold needed to win outright.
Voter abstention emerged as a significant factor in the first round, with 33,469,244 people staying away from the polls, representing 21.08% of registered voters. Both campaigns sought to attract those who did not vote, as pre-election polls pointed to a statistical tie.
The final day of campaigning on Saturday brought closing rallies from both candidates. Speaking in São Paulo, Lula attacked his rival, calling him a “liar,” a “militiaman” and unqualified for the presidency.
“A person like that does not have the political, moral or ethical qualifications to become president of the Republic,” Lula told reporters.
Bolsonaro received backing during the campaign from U.S. President Donald Trump, who described the senator’s first-round result as “a great victory.”
On Oct. 20, Lula framed the election as a choice over Brazil’s national sovereignty, saying voters would decide whether they wanted “a Brazil that kisses the Brazilian flag or one that gets down on all fours before the U.S. flag.”
Voting is compulsory for literate Brazilian citizens aged 18 to 70. It is optional for illiterate citizens, those aged 16 and 17, and people over 70.
Voting abroad
A total of 918,876 Brazilians registered to vote abroad across 134 countries, accounting for about 0.5% of the electorate, according to the TSE. The number represents a 358% increase from 2010.
Text Reads: The Brazil we dream of is built together with the people—through struggle and hope! ❤️🇧🇷 Thank you to every Brazilian who stands by our side on this journey. It is this strength that drives us, and this unity that empowers us. Tomorrow, let’s transform all this energy into the future! Together with the people, we will achieve so much more, secure new rights, and continue building a Brazil that is even fairer for everyone. Let’s do this together. Vote 13—vote for Brazil.
Overseas voters cast their ballots in person in 186 cities and can vote only for president and vice president. Women account for 57% of registered overseas voters and men for 43%, while the largest age group is between 40 and 44.
The United States has the largest number of registered Brazilian voters abroad, with 265,400, followed by Portugal with 134,700, Japan with 88,300, Canada with 46,400 and Germany with 41,500.
Other contests
Sunday’s elections also include gubernatorial runoffs in Acre, Amazonas, Rio Grande do Norte, Espírito Santo and Tocantins, as well as the Federal District. None of the candidates in those contests secured more than 50% of valid votes in the first round.
Several municipalities are also electing mayors. In Chopinzinho and São João, both in the state of Paraná, voters are taking part in a referendum on changing the territorial boundaries between the two municipalities.
The runoff will determine whether Lula remains president or Bolsonaro takes office, concluding a campaign shaped by a narrow first-round margin, high abstention and competing appeals over Brazil’s political future and national sovereignty.
Venezuela’s new food security plan aims to eliminate undernourishment by 2030 through domestic production and expanded distribution.
Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has launched a national food security plan aimed at eliminating undernourishment by 2030, combining domestic production with an expanded distribution network and cooperation between public institutions and private businesses.
The Venezuela Alimenta Hambre Cero (Venezuela Feeds: Zero Hunger) plan was launched Saturday alongside the opening of the 250th facility in the Mercal and PDVAL food distribution networks in La Trinidad. The rollout also included the deployment of 100 mobile food outlets nationwide and the simultaneous opening of 10 supermarket-style establishments in other regions.
The new facility features a meat-cutting center for retail sales. According to the government, more than 90% of Venezuela’s food supply comes from domestic production, which it identifies as a foundation for improving access to essential goods across the country.
“All efforts, all capacities, the local economy, the large agro-industrial sector, the entire distribution and logistics network, financial resources and fuel incentives will be brought together to achieve this strategic objective,” Acting President said during a broadcast on state television channel Venezolana de Televisión.
First announced on Oct. 12, 2026, at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s World Food Forum in Rome, the plan is built around six strategic areas designed to coordinate government and private sector efforts. These include support for community-based economic activity and local entrepreneurship through a proposed Local Economy Law.
The initiative also prioritizes scientific innovation in nutrition and the development of statistical monitoring and oversight systems.
“We are very close to achieving our zero-hunger goal. We made this commitment to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), to the country and to our citizens,” Delcy Rodríguez said.
She also pointed to the effects of unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States, saying they had restricted access to financing, agricultural inputs, technology and spare parts needed to sustain domestic production chains.
Senior government officials responsible for the economy, digital government, food, youth, industry and commerce, agriculture, and science and technology attended the launch.
Private sector representatives included Ítalo Atencio, president of the National Association of Supermarkets and Self-Service Stores (ANSA), and Juvenal Arbeláez, president of the Venezuelan Chamber of the Food Industry (CAVIDEA).
The plan brings together food distribution infrastructure, domestic production and public-private cooperation as Venezuela pursues its goal of eliminating undernourishment by 2030.
Students, unions and families of protest victims demand action on extortion, environmental damage, living costs and police reform.
Young people, students, trade unions and human rights groups marched through central Lima on Saturday, demanding that President Keiko Fujimori’s government address rising extortion, deadly forest fires, the cost of living and alleged impunity for state repression.
Demonstrators began gathering at 4 p.m. in San Martín Square, a historic rallying point for popular movements in Peru. Participants included students from San Marcos and Catholic universities, human rights organizations, trade unions and members of the self-organized Generation Z movement.
The protests unfolded amid mounting concern over forest fires that have affected 16 regions across the country. Figures from Peru’s National Emergency Operations Center and the National Institute of Civil Defense recorded 479 emergencies, leaving 12 people dead and 708 displaced or otherwise affected.
The fires destroyed 1,299 hectares of crops and more than 13,800 hectares of natural vegetation, while also causing significant damage to local wildlife and livestock.
🚨 #URGENTE | Contra la extorsión y la crisis ambiental: jóvenes y colectivos sociales protestan en el centro de Lima
Text Reads: 🚨 #URGENT | Against extortion and the environmental crisis: young people and social groups protest in downtown Lima
Carrying banners calling for an end to the fires, police reform and solidarity with affected communities, demonstrators marched along Jirón de la Unión and Grau and Abancay avenues. Police blocked the procession from approaching the grounds of Congress.
Environmental concerns featured prominently in the march, with protesters criticizing what they described as inadequate government preparation and response to fires in the Andean highlands and Amazonian regions, including Cusco, Puno, Junín, Apurímac, Áncash, Huancavelica, Arequipa, Amazonas and Cajamarca.
One young demonstrator denounced the lack of firefighting teams, funding and preventive measures, arguing that the fires were extinguished only after rain arrived. The crisis, she said, had inflicted heavy losses on rural farmers and Indigenous communities.
Another protester highlighted flooding caused by heavy rains in Piura, in northern Peru, and the absence of a strategic plan to address the El Niño phenomenon. She also pointed to corruption in reconstruction projects and the neglect of infrastructure serving working-class communities.
Extortion was another central grievance. Transport workers, shopkeepers and small-business owners in working-class neighborhoods have been among those affected by the crime, according to the protest account. Demonstrators called for far-reaching police reform to dismantle corruption networks within the security forces and prioritize intelligence gathering and community-based prevention over the repression of social protests.
Families of people killed during social protests between December 2022 and June 2023 also joined the march, carrying photographs of their relatives and demanding justice. Their presence underscored the demonstrators’ broader call for accountability from a government they accuse of perpetuating impunity.
Press freedom groups condemn Javier Milei’s threats against journalists who investigated the $LIBRA cryptocurrency case, warning of rising hostility toward the media.
Argentine press freedom and human rights organizations have condemned President Javier Milei for threatening journalists who investigated the $LIBRA cryptocurrency scandal, warning that his remarks could expose media workers to violence and undermine freedom of expression.
Speaking at a dinner hosted Friday by the Fundación Faro think tank, Milei attacked journalists who covered the $LIBRA case, accusing them of spreading false information and coordinating a political operation against his administration.
The remarks came hours after a court dismissed the judicial case involving the cryptocurrency, a digital asset promoted by Milei in February 2025 whose sharp price fluctuations harmed thousands of investors.
Text Reads: 🗣️ Argentine President Javier Milei stated on Friday that “the ones who should be burned at the stake are the sons of b*tches,” after publicly singling out media figures who covered the investigation into the cryptocurrency $LIBRA. ⚖️ These remarks were made during a dinner hosted by the Fundación Faro, just hours after the judiciary dismissed the case. Milei specifically mentioned journalists from La Nación, Perfil, and A24. 📢 FOPEA (Forum for Argentine Journalism) denounced an “unprecedented escalation,” warning that such language “legitimizes violence.” The CELS (Center for Legal and Social Studies) described his comments as an “authoritarian escalation,” while the union SiPreBA called for an immediate response from the political and media spheres. 🔴 “The State has an obligation to protect journalists, not to turn them into targets,” FOPEA stated.
During his speech, Milei threatened those he accused of wrongdoing with being “burned at the stake” and singled out five journalists by name: Hugo Alconada Mon, Carlos Pagni and Paulino Rodrigues of La Nación newspaper; Natalia Volosín of Perfil; and Luis Novaresio of A24 television.
“Let it be known that the sons of bitches in Argentina will receive no mercy,” the president declared. “Those who deserve to be burned at the stake are the sons of bitches.”
The remarks drew condemnation from press freedom and human rights organizations, which warned that publicly identifying journalists while using such threatening language could increase the risks they face in their work.
The Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) said the reference to burning journalists at the stake, coupled with the president’s naming of specific media professionals, marked a significant escalation in government hostility toward the press.
“The state has an obligation to protect journalists, not turn them into targets,” the organization said. It urged Milei to stop stigmatizing journalists and called on political leaders, lawmakers and other institutions to publicly respond to the incident.
The Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) described the episode as an “authoritarian escalation” in a statement published on X. The organization warned that when a head of state publicly casts critics as enemies, it can encourage attacks and undermine democratic debate. It also argued that insults and defamatory attacks against journalistic work must have limits.
❌ESTO NO ES UN REPUDIO, ES UN LLAMADO A LA ACCIÓN
🔊FRENEMOS LA INQUISICIÓN DE MILEI
El presidente Milei volvió a cruzar un límite gravísimo. La instigación a “quemar en la hoguera” a un grupo de periodistas debe generar una reacción inmediata de todo el arco político y… pic.twitter.com/XrXOohrVDe
— SiPreBA – Sindicato de Prensa de Buenos Aires (@sipreba) October 24, 2026
Text Reads: ❌THIS IS NOT A REJECTION, IT’S A CALL TO ACTION 🔊LET’S STOP MILEI’S INQUISITION President Milei has once again crossed a gravely serious line. The incitement to “burn at the stake” a group of journalists must provoke an immediate reaction from the entire political and media spectrum to halt the attacks on our profession. There will be no room for regrets if the violence promoted by the President ends up turning into facts. This government, which nearly killed photographer Pablo Grillo in a savage crackdown, now calls, in the voice of its highest representative, to assault our colleagues, as has already happened. We send our solidarity to @halconada, @CarlosPagni2, @nataliavolosin, @paulinor76and @luisnovaresio and place ourselves at their disposal. With threats on social media, repression in the streets, and attacks on rights in Congress, they seek to silence the press. From SiPreBA, we call to defend the Journalist’s Statute and to respond with more democracy in the face of the return to the Inquisition proposed by the Executive Branch.
CELS said the incident was part of a broader pattern of hostility toward media workers, including harassment, attacks on digital platforms and repression of journalists covering public demonstrations.
The Buenos Aires Press Union (SiPreBA) also condemned the president’s remarks, calling for an immediate response from political and media figures to stop the attacks. The union expressed solidarity with the journalists targeted by Milei and warned of the possible consequences of his rhetoric.
“There will be no room for regret if the violence promoted by the president ends up turning into actual incidents,” SiPreBA said.
The organizations called for political and institutional action to protect journalists and counter hostility toward the press following Milei’s public targeting of reporters who investigated the $LIBRA case.
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