Latin America in Short: Elections in Brazil | Colombia Plays the Final of India 2022

In global news, Putin toughens anti-LGBT+ policies as Ukraine invasion continues. In environmental news, the WHO calls for increased spending on drinking water and NASA has launched a UFO investigation project. In Latin America, we will have an important weekend for the region. On the one hand, the elections in Brazil, in which the next president of the largest democracy in Latin America will be elected. On the other hand, in sports, this Sunday the final of the U-17 Women's World Cup will be played, in which Colombia will play against Spain.

Russia tightens laws against the LGBT+ population

Despite being in the middle of the war with Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and his allies in Congress (the Duma) still have time to reduce human rights within their country. The most recent news was the ban on any display of “gay propaganda”. This includes any broadcast medium such as movies, series or books.

According to what the new law would be, any violation of this new rule will have fines of up to 5 million Russian rubles, approximately 80,000 dollars. Additionally, they have already blocked more than 7,000 websites for containing "LGBT propaganda" by the Roskomnadzor media censor.

Russia is one of the strictest countries against the LGBTI community in Europe. Under the Putin regime, marriage between same-sex couples is prohibited and any display of affection between people in the community is heavily persecuted.

Brazil: the largest democracy in Latin America elects a president

This October 30, millions of Brazilians will elect their president. These votes are defined in the second round, in which Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro are the opponents.

In the first round, Lula had a small advantage against the candidate president Bolsonaro. The leader of the Workers' Party obtained 48.4% of the votes, followed by Bolsonaro, who obtained 43.2%.

On election day, 12 governors will also be elected. These positions will also be elected in the second round after ties on the first election day.

Read also: The growing tendency of Jair Bolsonaro that puts Lula da Silva at risk

WHO calls for increased global spending on drinking water

A report by the World Health Organization, in agreement with UNICEF and the World Bank, pointed out that 25% of the world's population does not have access to drinking water. "Governments must drastically increase their political commitment to drinking water and quadruple investments," these institutions point out, since it is necessary to curb this inequality. Likewise, it is necessary for many countries to strengthen their service systems so that they have higher quality, since it is a fundamental resource to protect life.

NASA starts a project to study UFOs

This week began the work of 16 scientists who intend to solve mysteries and doubts surrounding the sighting of various unidentified aerial phenomena, popularly known as UFOs. The mission of this group of experts is to determine the plan that NASA must follow to address this phenomenon and what data must be collected to understand these phenomena under scientific parameters. These experts are expected to work for about 9 months in the first phase that will determine the steps to follow in the study of unidentified objects, so that after some time they cease to be mysteries for humanity.

Colombia reaches the final of the U-17 Women's World Cup in India

This Sunday, October 30, the final of the U-17 Women's World Cup will be played. For the World Cup, Colombia and Spain will face each other. The Latin American team reaches the final after having beaten the Nigerian team in the semifinals. This girls' team has shown, without a doubt, that it can bring to Colombia the triumphs that the men's team has not been able to bring. This situation is contradictory to what is experienced within the country, since there is no women's league in Colombia. This triumph is and will be, if they win the final, further proof of the importance of promoting women's sports in the region.