The Economist - USA (2019-11-02)

8 The EconomistNovember 2nd 2019
The world this week Politics

Alberto Fernández, a Peronist,

won Argentina’spresidential

election, defeating the pro-

business incumbent, Mauricio

Macri. Voters blamed Mr Macri

for a recession, an inflation

rate of more than 50% and a

poverty rate that tops 35%. The

newly elected vice-president,

Cristina Fernández de Kirch-

ner, laid the groundwork for

these economic problems

when she was president from

2007 to 2015.

Bolivia’selectoral authority

declared that President Evo

Morales won re-election,

avoiding a run-off by just

0.57% of votes cast. At least two

people died and dozens were

injured in clashes between his

supporters and those of oppo-

sition candidate Carlos Mesa,

who has accused the govern-

ment of rigging the vote.

Chile’spresident, Sebastián

Piñera, reshuffled his cabinet

and agreed to spend extra

money on pensions and health

care and to raise taxes on high

earners, after 1.2m people

demonstrated in Santiago, the

country’s capital, against

inequality and threadbare

public services. At least 20

people died in rioting and

arson attacks. Chile cancelled

plans to host a summit of Asian

and Pacific leaders in Novem-

ber and a unclimate meeting

in December.

Claudia López, a crusader

against corruption, was elected

mayor of Bogotá, Colombia’s

capital. Ms López is the first

woman and first gay person to

be elected to the job. The re-

gional elections were a setback

for the Democratic Centre

party of the president, Iván

Duque, who lost control of

strongholds like Medellín.

A landdivided

A constitutionalamendment

thatstripsJammu&Kashmir

ofstatehoodanddividesit into

twoterritoriesadministered

directlybyIndia’snational

governmentcameintoeffect.

LifeintheKashmirvalley has

beenseverelydisruptedsince

thegovernmentannounced

thechangeinAugust,because

ofrestrictionsoncommunica-

tionsandtravel,aswellas

protestsandmilitantviolence.

A courtinMyanmarsentenced

fivemembersofa satirical

troupetoa year’shardlabour

formockingthearmy’srolein

politics.

KingMahaVajiralongkornof

Thailanddismissedtwoaides

foradultery,a weekafterhe

strippedhisofficialmistressof

hertitlesfordisloyalty.

Scoresofpeoplediedwhena

gasstovebeingusedbypas-

sengerstocookbreakfast

aboarda traininPakistan

exploded.It wasthecountry’s

worstraildisasterina decade.

HongKong’sgovernment

barreda pro-democracyactiv-

ist,JoshuaWong,fromstand-

ingindistrictelections.It

linkedthedecisiontoMr

Wong’scallsfor“self-determi-

nation”fortheterritory.Mean-

while,officialfiguresshowed

thatHongKonghasslipped

intoa recession.

Nearly 400 ofChina’smost

seniorofficialsgathered inBei-

jingfora secretivemeetingof

theCommunistParty’sCentral

Committee.Theagendawas

describedas“importantissues

concerninghowtoupholdand

improvethesocialistsystem

withChinesecharacteristics”.

A fitting end

The pious rapist in charge of

Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-

Baghdadi, killed himself to

avoid capture by American

soldiers. The jihadist group

once controlled territory the

size of Britain, but lost its last

scrap of land earlier this year.

Mr Baghdadi was found in

north-westSyria,wherehewas

chaseddowna tunnel.He

detonateda suicide-vest,

murderingtwoofhisown

children.DonaldTrumpsaid:

“Hediedlikea dog.”

SaadHariri,theprimeminister

ofLebanon, resignedamid

demonstrationsoverthestrug-

glingeconomyandpoorgo-

vernance.Somefearhisresig-

nationwillbenefitHizbullah,

theShiamilitia-cum-political-

party,whosethugshavetried

tobreakuptheprotests.

ProtestsresumedinIraq,

wheredozensofpeoplewere

killedbythesecurityforces

andotherarmedgroups.Inthe

holycityofKarbalamasked

gunmenreportedlyshotdead

18 people.Theprotesters are

angryaboutcorruption,a lack

ofjobsandpoorservices.

Mozambique’smainopposi-

tionpartyaskedthecourtsto

annultheresultoftherecent

presidentialelection,which

theincumbent,FilipeNyusi,

wonwith73%ofthevote.The

electionhasrekindledenmity

betweentherulingandopposi-

tionparties,whichsigneda

peacedealinAugust.

Corblimey, another election

Boris Johnson, Britain’sprime

minister, admitted that he

could not “get Brexit done” by

October 31st, and called a gen-

eral election. The eugranted

an extension until January 31st.

Jeremy Corbyn (above), the

far-left leader of the opposition

Labour Party, reversed course

and acquiesced to the election.

The date was set for December

12th. Voters will not directly be

asked whether they approve of

Mr Johnson’s hard Brexit deal,

which bears little resemblance

to what they were promised in

the Brexit referendum in 2016.

America’s House of Repre-

sentatives voted to recognise

the mass slaughter of Arme-

niansby Turks during the first

world war as genocide. The

vote took place on Turkey’s

national day. us-Turkish rela-

tions, already strained by

Turkey’s invasion of northern

Syria, grew more so.

Die Linke, a Germanfar-left

party that descends from the

East German Communists,

won a state election in Thurin-

gia. The far-right Alternative

for Germany came second.

Collectively, centrist parties

won less than half the vote.

In another upset, Italy’s

Northern League led an anti-

immigration populist coalition

to victory in an election in

Umbria, a hitherto solidly

left-wing region, defeating an

alliance led by the country’s

ruling Democratic Party and

Five Star Movement.

The burning Golden State

Millions of people in northern

Californiawere again left

without power, as wildfires,

whipped up by strong, hot

winds, raged around the Bay

Area and surrounding coun-

ties. The local utility, Pacific

Gas & Electric, has imposed the

blackouts because of worries

that its power lines may spark

the flames. The Los Angeles

area also battled wildfires.

A ban on most abortions in

Alabamawas blocked by a

federal judge, two weeks before

it was due to come into force.

That makes it likelier that the

Supreme Court will tackle the

issue, which is what the ban’s

proponents want.

John Kelly, Donald Trump’s

former chief of staff, said he

had advised him not to employ

a “yes man”as his replace-

ment, as that would lead to the

president’s impeachment. Mr

Trump’s press secretary said

Mr Kelly had been “totally

unequipped to handle the

genius of our great president”.