Sao Paulo, Brazil:

South America is being ravaged by fire from Brazil’s Amazon rainforest through the world’s largest wetlands to dry forests in Bolivia, breaking a previous record for the number of blazes seen in a year up to September 11.

Satellite data analyzed by Brazil’s space research agency Inpe has registered 346,112 fire hotspots so far this year in all 13 countries of South America, topping the earlier 2007 record of 345,322 hotspots in a data series that goes back to 1998.

A Reuters photographer traveling in the heart of Brazil’s Amazon this week witnessed massive fires burning in vegetation along roadways, blackening the landscape and leaving trees like burned matchsticks.

Smoke billowing from the Brazilian fires has darkened the skies above cities like Sao Paulo, feeding into a corridor of wildfire smoke seen from space stretching diagonally across the continent from Colombia in the northwest to Uruguay in the southeast.

Brazil and Bolivia have dispatched thousands of firefighters to attempt to control the blazes, but remain mostly at the mercy of extreme weather fueling the fires.

“We never had winter,” said Karla Longo, an air quality researcher at Inpe, of the weather in Sao Paulo in recent months. “It’s absurd.”

Despite still being winter in the Southern Hemisphere, high temperatures in Sao Paulo have held at over 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) since Saturday.

Hundreds of people marched in Bolivia’s highland, political capital La Paz to demand action against the fires, holding banners and placards saying “Bolivia in flames” and “For cleaner air stop burning.”

“Please realize what is really happening in the country, we have lost millions of hectares,” said Fernanda Negron, an animal rights activist in the protest. “Millions of animals have been burned to death.”

In Brazil, a drought that began last year has become the worst on record, according to national disaster monitoring agency Cemaden.

“In general, the 2023-2024 drought is the most intense, long-lasting in some regions and extensive in recent history, at least in the data since 1950,” said Ana Paula Cunha, a drought researcher with Cemaden.

The greatest number of fires this month is in Brazil and Bolivia, followed by Peru, Argentina and Paraguay, according to Inpe data. Unusually intense fires that hit Venezuela, Guyana and Colombia earlier in the year contributed to the record but have largely subsided.

Fire from deforestation in the Amazon create particularly intense smoke because of the density of the vegetation burning, Longo said.

“The sensation you get flying next to one of these plumes is like that of an atomic mushroom cloud,” said Longo of Inpe.

Roughly 9 million sq km (3.5 million sq miles) of South America have been covered in smoke at times, more than half of the continent, she said.

Sao Paulo, the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere, earlier this week had the worst air quality globally, higher than famous pollution hotspots like China and India, according to website IQAir.com. Bolivia’s capital of La Paz was similarly blanketed in smoke.

Exposure to the smoke will drive up the number of people seeking hospital treatment for respiratory issues and may cause thousands of premature deaths, Longo said.

Inhaling wildfire smoke contributes to an average 12,000 early deaths a year in South America, according to a 2023 study in the academic journal Environmental Research: Health.

September is typically the peak month for fires in South America. It’s unclear whether the continent will continue to have high numbers of fires this year.

While rain is forecast next week for Brazil’s center south, where Sao Paulo is located, drought conditions are expected to continue through October in Brazil’s northern Amazon region and center-west agricultural region.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bogot, Colombia:

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro is facing criticism from press freedom groups after some comments made about female reporters, calling them “dolls of the mafia” in one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in South America.

Without a hint of irony, Petro made the statement at the August 30 inauguration of Colombia’s new human rights ombud Iris Marin — the first woman to hold the job.

Petro, the South American country’s first-ever leftist president, has often bristled at criticism from the media, which he has accused of conspiring with armed groups, business tycoons or other powerful figures.

Some say he has now gone too far in a country where dozens of threats and attacks of various types are reported against women reporters every year.

In his address, Petro had railed against “the (women) journalists of power, the ‘dolls of the mafia,'” who he said had pilloried 2019-2021 protests against the rightwing government that preceded him.

Petro, who was a lawmaker at the time, had supported those demonstrations.

It is not clear why he targeted women reporters specifically.

Criticism was swift, and Petro tried to explain that he had been speaking of “female journalists from the establishment… hired by dark powers” in a statement that did little to quell the outrage.

Marin later said “there is no room for stigmatization” of female journalists in Colombia. 

“Nothing justifies it.”

‘Reinforces gender stereotypes’ 

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) describes Colombia as “one of the most dangerous countries on the continent for journalists,” with two murdered so far this year.

The FLIP Press Freedom Foundation says Petro’s statements were being used as a basis for online content “that is violent or reinforces gender stereotypes.”

The foundation has reported 171 cases of threats and attacks — the exact nature of which it did not specify — against female reporters since last year.

Petro has on occasion singled out journalists with accusations that have included them allying with rightwing paramilitary groups to “unleash a genocide.”

“We observe with concern a strained climate for journalistic work in Colombia, exacerbated… by Petro’s excessive expressions,” said Carlos Jornet of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA).

Petro is not the only Latin American leader to have an antagonistic relationship with the press. 

Other notable examples include Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and past presidents such as Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

The “dolls” comment was, however, the Colombian leader’s first attack on journalists based on their gender.

“Stigmatization kills, shortens lives, shortens dreams, shortens careers…” Colombian journalist and newscaster Claudia Palacios said in a video sent to AFP about Petro’s comments.

Several other news figures have condemned the statements which sparked a furious online debate in the country.

Approached by AFP, the presidency insisted it “recognizes the key role women journalists play in strengthening democracy and building public debate.”

On Monday, Petro signed a decree — a first for the Americas — that would prevent public servants  — including himself — from “stigmatizing” journalists.

But what could have been a reconciliatory moment was upended when the president used the launch to once again take aim at none other than the media.

In his address, Petro accused journalists of vilifying him for defending himself against media “slander.”

“A missed opportunity,” reacted FLIP director Jonathan Bock after the event.

On Tuesday, a petition was filed with Colombia’s Council of State — the highest court for administrative matters — for an order directing Petro to apologize for his “dolls of the mafia” statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Argentina’s economy minister and the anti-establishment upstart he faces in a presidential runoff next month began competing Monday to shore up the moderate voters they need.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa earned almost seven points more than chainsaw-wielding economist and freshman lawmaker Javier Milei in Sunday’s vote. Most polls had shown Mr. Massa slightly trailing, as voters had been expected to punish him for triple-digit inflation that has eaten away at purchasing power and boosted poverty.

On November 19, voters will either choose Mr. Massa, despite the economic deterioration that took place on his watch, or place their hopes in a self-described anarcho-capitalist who promises a drastic shake-up of South America’s second-largest economy.

Mr. Milei’s fiery rhetoric and radical proposals — like slashing subsidies that benefit a large swath of the population and replacing the local currency with the dollar — galvanised die-hard supporters, but cost him support among more moderate voters.

Mr. Massa focused his messaging in the latter part of the campaign on how Mr. Milei’s budget-slashing chainsaw would negatively affect citizens already struggling to make ends meet, with a particular focus on how much public transportation prices in Buenos Aires would increase without subsidies, said Mariel Fornoni of the political consulting firm Management and Fit.

That “had a significant impact and evidently instilled more fear than anything else,” Ms. Fornoni said.

Mr. Massa once again showed his Peronist party’s power to mobilise Argentine voters. A political movement named after former President Juan Domingo Perón that has both left- and right-wing factions but broadly believes in social justice and workers’ rights, Peronism has been a dominant force and in this election cycle emerged as the only viable left-leaning option.

Right-wing votes were divided between Mr. Milei, former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich of the main opposition coalition and another candidate, Cordoba province’s Governor Juan Schiaretti. Ms. Bullrich finished third in the field of five candidates, and the runoff will be decided by where her voters ultimately migrate.

She said in her concession speech Sunday night that she wouldn’t congratulate Mr. Massa on his victory because he was part of “Argentina’s worst government,” and that her coalition would never support “the mafias that have destroyed this country.” She stopped short of endorsing Mr. Milei, however.

During the campaign, Mr. Milei harshly criticised Ms. Bullrich as part of the entrenched elite that required purging, but he sought to appeal to her voters in a radio interview Monday, suggesting that they should focus on the bigger picture.

“Everyone who wants to change Argentina, who wants to embrace the ideas of freedom, are welcome,” Mr. Milei said. “It’s not a matter of labels; it’s a matter of who wants to be on this side.”

Asked in a news conference Monday whether he foresees challenges in siphoning support away from Ms. Bullrich, Mr. Massa responded that “leaders aren’t the owners of votes” and that several views espoused by Mr. Milei “have nothing to do with our culture and the values of the average Argentine citizen.”

Mr. Massa also said he would not want his government to be characterized as only Peronist.

“I believe it’s a mistake to suggest that the upcoming phase should be tied solely to Peronism. We are heading toward a government of national unity. I will call upon the best from various political forces, regardless of their origin,” Mr. Massa said.

Mr. Massa had already told voters that he inherited a bad economic situation exacerbated by a devastating drought that decimated exports. He reassured them that the worst was past.

With nearly all ballots counted Monday, Mr. Massa, 51, had 36.7% of the vote and Mr. Milei, 53, had 30%. Ms. Bullrich got 23.8%

In his radio interview, Mr. Milei characterised Mr. Massa’s results as the minister’s “ceiling” and said his showing marked a “floor”.

Mauro Salvatore, a 23-year-old programmer, said outside Milei’s campaign headquarters Sunday night that he is optimistic Mr. Milei will pick up the votes that went to Bullrich in the first round.

“We have a clear possibility. We find ourselves in a situation we knew wouldn’t be easy, but you can see the Argentine people are tired and really want change, independent of whether it will be Milei or Bullrich,” said Mr. Salvatore. “We have a lot of faith that some of Bullrich’s voters can be taken, given it’s understood they have more inclination toward Milei’s ideas than Massa’s.”

Analysts, however, questioned whether those votes would automatically transfer to him. Some of the more progressive elements of Ms. Bullrich’s coalition were already making clear Monday they would not support Mr. Milei, who has raged against the so-called “political caste,” vowed to eliminate half the government ministries and slash public spending.

And some analysts warned a runoff scenario may not be conducive to Mr. Milei’s combative style.

Mr. Milei is “an inexperienced candidate, lacking political expertise, who perhaps may not have the capacity to understand that the current scenario will require him to moderate, build political agreements, and appeal to voters who might ask for changes in his political proposal,” said Lucas Romero, head of Synopsis, a local political consultancy.

Mr. Milei’s casting himself as a culture warrior against the creep of the so-called “socialist agenda” appears to be a headwind, said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center. Mr. Milei has been endorsed by Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and says he shares a common mission with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Some supporters wear hats that read “Make Argentina Great Again”.

Mr. Gedan described Milei’s opposition to abortion and gun control, among other positions, as “out of sync with Argentine society”.

Sovereign bonds plunged Monday and there was a selloff in Argentine equities as the market predicted that Mr. Massa’s first-round surprise means the government has little incentive to correct any of the economy’s imbalances for now. In the run-up to the vote, Mr. Massa boosted welfare programs and implemented tax cuts that benefited almost all registered workers, going against calls from the International Monetary Fund for austerity and removal of subsidies.

Mr. Massa “was able to build over the last two months through some tax holidays and other giveaways that could be fairly deemed populist,” said Brian Winter, a longtime Argentina expert and vice president of the New York-based Council of the Americas. “It’s going to be really interesting to hear what he says in the next few weeks, because he will need to win over some more moderate voters in order to win.”