Zaqueo Báez said that after nearly 50 days in detention (for attempting to contact Pope Francis during his Cuban visit) he was “weak and tired, but ready to continue fighting for democracy in Cuba.”

The APRA candidate and former president is hoping to rekindle the flame in the “lost” district of El Porvenir. 

In addition to improving safety and transportation, Enrique Peñalosa should also focus on continued “social progress” for Bogotanos, keep the dialogue open with “citizen movements,” and listen to his political partners. 

Mayors and officials from sixty countries met in Quito to discuss “the best public policies for immigrants” in the Second Global Forum of Mayors.   

President Michelle Bachelet said, “It is not easy to eradicate unacceptable behavior.” 

Daniel Scioli said that a victory in the presidential runoff election on November 22 by Mauricio Macri would have “devastating” consequences; Economy Minister Axel Kicillof argued that the opposition “is not talking about ‘change,’ but rather a return to the 1990s;” while some polls indicate that Macri seems to have the edge, there are plenty

The ruling Chavistas are said to be turning to a “campaign of fear” in their desperation about the coming “punishment vote.” 

President Ollanta Humala said sterilization was a “policy for reducing the numbers of poor people before they are born.”  This policy “should make us ashamed.” 

The country’s political discord is driven by popular anger, which President Rousseff’s post-election bait and switch to austerity only amplified. 

Former President Álvaro Uribe’s rightwing Centro Democrático party hoped for an election result in 2015 “equal to that of 2014,” but they discovered that these “were very different battles.”  At the same time Horacio Serpa, the leader of the Liberal Party, injudiciously bet his famous mustache on the election.