Latin America in Short: Elections in Guatemala | Petro at the Paris Summit

This weekend, Guatemala will vote to elect its new president. Two female candidates are the strongest. In terms of health, this week a rise in cases of dengue and other tropical diseases in the European Union was reported. The possible cause of this situation is the climate crisis. In other environmental news, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, proposed this week at the Paris Summit a change in the international financial system that condones foreign debt in exchange for actions to address the climate crisis. Finally, in sports, everything is officially ready for the 2024 Copa América. Meanwhile, in Europe, Cristiano Ronaldo continues to break records. The most relevant news of the week are summarized here.

Guatemala goes to the polls for presidential elections

Guatemalans have an appointment with democracy on June 25. The more than 9 million qualified citizens must choose the successor of Alejandro Giammattei. Among the favorites, 2 women with wide recognition in Chapín politics stand out: Sandra Torres and Zury Ríos. Both lead the voting intention of Guatemalans. Torres was the first lady of her husband Álvaro Colom, who ruled the Central American country from 2008 to 2011, in addition to being a multiple presidential candidate for the UNE party. For her part, Ríos is the daughter of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and also vice president of Congress between 2000 and 2004.

Read also: Bukelismo Can Also Win In The Elections In Guatemala

Diseases such as dengue or chikungunya could reach Europe

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has warned about the increased risk of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and chikungunya, in Europe due to climate change. Global warming has created more favorable conditions for invasive species of mosquitoes, which spread other dangerous viruses and were native to tropical regions. In the last decade, Aedes albopictus has gone from being present in eight countries and 114 regions of the European Union (EU) to thirteen and 337, respectively. 71 locally acquired dengue cases were registered in the EU last year, which is equivalent to the total number reported between 2010 and 2021. This poses new challenges for public health and European countries will have to learn from the experiences of Latin America, where these diseases have had large peaks of transmission.

Petro proposes changes in the world financial system in favor of the fight against climate change

Colombian President Gustavo Petro proposed a "Marshall plan" to address the climate crisis during the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris. Petro suggests freeing up countries' budgets to invest in adaptation and mitigation of climate change. For this, he pointed out that it is necessary to reduce public debt in exchange for climate actions. The proposal seeks to reform the global financial system to address large-scale climate finance needs. The president also called for the creation of a group of experts to present a report on the reform of the financial system at COP28 in December.

Everything is ready for the Copa América 2024

CONMEBOL announced the official dates on which the most important soccer event on the Latin American continent will be held. In the 48th edition of this tournament, the United States will once again be the host country, an aspect that has been repeated constantly for some years. Likewise, the entity that governs Latin American soccer confirmed that this competition will be played from June 20 to July 14 of next year, in which the 10 South American teams and 6 guests from CONCACAF will participate.

Cristiano Ronaldo: the record man

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to break records in his career as a professional footballer. The Al-Nassr striker reached the figure of 200 games played with the Portugal National Team, an aspect that led him to become the athlete with the most games played with the shirt of his country. Likewise, CR7 was fundamental in the triumph of his team in the qualifiers for the Eurocup that will be held in 2024, scoring the only goal of this match. With this goal, the attacker marked his 123rd goal with his national team, a statistic that keeps him alone as the top active scorer in a men's team. With this new record, the striker once again shows that he is still in force despite his age and currently being in a lower-ranked league.