Ecuador candidate backed by Correa will face banana heir in second round

ALEXANDRA VALENCIA AND JULIA SYMMES COBB
August 21, 2023 

QUITO (Reuters) - Two former lawmakers, leftist Luisa Gonzalez and business scion Daniel Noboa, will battle for Ecuador's presidency in an October run-off, after coming top in a first round of voting over the weekend.

Gonzalez, a protege of former President Rafael Correa who has promised to revive his social programs, won 33% support, while Noboa, son of prominent banana businessman and former presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa, was a surprise second-place with 24% of the vote.

The contest was darkened by the assassination of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio earlier this month. The crime is still under investigation, but Villavicencio, who was replaced as a candidate by his friend and fellow investigative journalist Christian Zurita, came third with 16%. Villavicencio's name appeared on the ballot papers because they were printed before his murder.

Sharp increases in crime, which the current government blames on drug gangs, and the struggling economy, whose woes have caused a rise in unemployment and migration, were the top concerns among votes as they headed to the polls on Sunday.

Gonzalez has promised to free up $2.5 billion from international reserves to bolster Ecuador's economy and bring back million-dollar social initiatives implemented by Correa - who has since been convicted of corruption - during his decade in power.

Noboa seemingly gained support after performing well in the only televised debate of the campaign.

A lawmaker until current President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the national assembly and called early elections, Noboa has focused his campaign on job creation, tax incentives for new businesses and jail sentences for serious tax evasion.

Though Noboa is likely to look for alliances with candidates who have been knocked out of the race, any potential victory will depend on how well he articulates policy proposals, said political analyst Alfredo Espinosa.

"Noboa has tried to sell himself as a businessman and a young technocrat. He showed it when he talked about how to manage hydroelectric dams (during the televised debate)," said Espinosa. "If he can do that same exercise with the proposals of the (other) candidates that will give his rhetoric much more meaning."

"Politics is not comparable to managing a private business, it means generating consensus, generating spaces for dialogue," Espinosa said.

Gonzalez, backed by Correa's political machine, which has devoted loyalists, especially in working class sectors, is in a strong position as the "second round will be plagued with ideological content," the political analyst said.

Also on Sunday's ballot were two environmental referendums that could block mining in a forest near Quito and development of an oil block in the Amazon.

An effort to bar development of an oil block in the Yasuni reserve in the Amazon was winning 59% support, with about 37% of ballot boxes counted, while a ban on mining in the Choco Andino forest near Quito was also winning with 67% support.

Correa's Citizens' Revolution party was leading the count for seats in the national assembly, with about 40% support, while Villavicencio's Construye party tallied 22%, with about 57% of ballot boxes counted.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Ecuador elections headed for run-off with leftist Gonzalez in lead

Ecuador’s presidential election appears headed to run-off vote in October between leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez and business scion Daniel Noboa, according to partial results.

With 85 percent of the votes counted, Gonzalez, a protege of former President Rafael Correa who has promised to revive his social programmes, won 33 percent support, while Noboa, son of prominent banana businessman and former presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa, was a surprise second-place with 24 percent of the vote.

“Thank you, dear Ecuador, for this civic victory! We continue in this struggle, in which you have already given us a first victory and there will be a great and definitive second victory,” Gonzalez said.

Sharp increases in crime, which the current government blames on drug gangs, and the struggling economy, whose woes have caused a rise in unemployment and migration, were the top concerns among votes as they headed to the polls on Sunday.

President of the National Electoral Council Diana Atamaint said results showed no candidate had hit the threshold to win outright, after a tense day of voting under heavy security.

“We are heading to a second round election on October 15,” she told journalists on Monday.

Voting appeared to have been peaceful despite the crisis of insecurity, drug-related violence, and corruption in the country.

If no presidential candidate wins an absolute majority or at least 40 percent of the vote and a 10-percentage-point lead over the runner-up, a run-off is required.

Eight candidates were running for the highest office in Sunday’s snap elections, taking place as the country remains shaken by a wave of violence, including the assassination of anticorruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio earlier this month. The crime is still under investigation. Villavicencio’s replacement, investigative journalist Christian Zurita, came third with 16 percent.

Incumbent President Guillermo Lasso had called the snap election after he dissolved the opposition-dominated Congress in May to avoid an impeachment trial just two years after his election. Voters will also elect members of the 137-seat parliament.
Defender of Correa’s socialist legacy

According to Al Jazeera’s Latin America Editor Lucia Newman, the result would have surprised the 45-year-old Gonzalez, who is from the left-wing Citizen Revolution Movement party.

“Gonzalez did come in first as predicted, but by a far smaller margin than she would have hoped for as nine points behind her was Noboa – a 35-year-old businessman and the son of one of the richest men in the country, a banana magnate,” Newman, reporting from the capital Quito, said.



Left-wing presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez, of the Citizen Revolution Political Movement, speaks to supporters after the polls closed in Quito

 [Carlos Noriega/AP]© Provided by Al Jazeera

Related video: Ecuador Elections 2023 | Ecuadorians Vote In Presidential Election | Equador News | N18V (News18)   Duration 3:18   View on Watch

“Noboa has been a congressman in the past but is still seen as an anti-politician,” she said, adding that most of the candidates who did not make it past the first hurdle are expected to vote for Noboa in the second round of voting.

“It puts the candidate in the leftwing party in a very difficult position for the runoff,” Newman said.

Despite the close contest, Gonzalez hailed her “triumph” in the first round.

Gonzalez, who sees herself as a defender of Correa’s socialist legacy, had long been leading opinion polls, with Villavicencio second until his murder. She has said that former President Rafael Correa will be a close advisor if she is elected.

Correa was sentenced to eight years in jail after an investigation by Villavicencio into corruption and fled to Belgium where he has been living in exile for six years.

Villavicencio was replaced at the last minute by a close friend and another journalist, Christian Zurita, who came in third with 16 percent of votes.

Hours ahead of the vote, Zurita said he was receiving death threats on social media.
‘Noboa appeals to the youth’

Meanwhile, Noboa said the “youth” had chosen him to beat Correa’s party.

His father, Alvaro Noboa, ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times.

Political analyst Javier Farje said Noboa seems to have appealed to the young “disenfranchised” voters in the country, who are unhappy with the country’s current political system.

“Noboa is a young entrepreneur but he is also prepared to talk to Jan Topic, the hardline candidate who wants to implement harsh policies in relation to crime, to talk about security,” Javier told Al Jazeera.



Daniel Noboa, centre, his wife Lavinia Valbonesi and his team celebrate during a press conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador 

[AP Photo]© Provided by Al Jazeera

‘We are afraid’

According to Farje, Noboa has appealed to young voters and people who are concerned about the way crime has risen in the country, with the increased presence of guns that could “work for Mexican drug cartels”.

The small South American country has in recent years become a playground for foreign drug mafias seeking to export cocaine from its shores, stirring up a brutal war between local gangs.

In one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, a historic referendum also took place on whether to keep drilling for oil in an Amazon reserve that is home to three of the world’s last uncontacted Indigenous populations.

With only 30 percent of votes counted, the “yes” vote to halt drilling was leading with 58 percent of support.

The small country straddles the Andes and the Amazon and was best known as the world’s top exporter of bananas.

Al Jazeera

GOOD NEWS!  ¡qué buena noticia! 

Ecuador votes against drilling oil in protected area of Amazon rainforest

Yasuni National Park is home to 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles

Associated Press
Published August 21, 2023 

Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon, an important decision that will require the state oil company to end its operations in a region that’s home to two uncontacted tribes and is a hotspot of biodiversity.

Yasuni National Park is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenani, who live in self-isolation. In 1989, it was designated a world biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO. Encompassing a surface area of over 2.5 million acres, it boasts 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles. At least three species are endemic.

With over 90% of the ballots counted by early Monday, around six in 10 Ecuadorians rejected the oil exploration in Block 43, situated within Yasuni.

Waorani Indigenous people attend an event promoting a "yes" vote in a referendum on not extracting oil in Quito, Ecuador, on Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa))

The outcome represents a significant blow to Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, who advocated for oil drilling, asserting that its revenues are crucial to the country’s economy. State oil company Petroecuador will be required to dismantle its operations in the coming months.

The referendum took place alongside the presidential election, which will be decided in a runoff between leftist candidate Luisa González and right-wing contender Daniel Noboa. The country is experiencing political turmoil following the assassination of one of the candidates, Fernando Villavicencio.

Ecuador votes to stop oil drilling in Amazon reserve

August 22, 2023

A Petroecuador oil platform is seen in Yasuni National Park in June 2023

Ecuadorans have voted to stop an oil drilling project in an Amazon reserve, according to the results Monday of a referendum hailed as a historic example of climate democracy.

The "Yes" vote to halt exploitation of an oil block in the Yasuni National Park, one of the most diverse biospheres in the world, won by 59 percent, with 98 percent of votes tallied.

"Today Ecuador takes a giant step to protect life, biodiversity, and indigenous people," the country's two main indigenous organizations, Confeniae and Conaie, posted on social media.

After years of demands for a referendum, the country's highest court authorized the vote in May to decide the fate of "block 43," which contributes 12 percent of the 466,000 barrels of oil per day produced by Ecuador.

The block is situated in a reserve which stretches over one million hectares and is home to three of the world's last uncontacted Indigenous populations and a bounty of plant and animal species.

Drilling began in 2016 after years of fraught debate and failed efforts by then president Rafael Correa to persuade the international community to pay cash-strapped Ecuador $3.6 billion not to drill there.

The government of outgoing President Guillermo Lasso has estimated a loss of $16 billion over the next 20 years if drilling is halted.

The reserve is home to the Waorani and Kichwa tribes, as well as the Tagaeri, Taromenane and Dugakaeri, who choose to live isolated from the modern world.

National oil company Petroecuador had permission to exploit 300 hectares, but says it is only using 80 hectares.

The Amazon basin -- which stretches across eight nations -- is a vital carbon sink.

Scientists warn its destruction is pushing the world's biggest rainforest close to a tipping point, beyond which trees would die off and release carbon rather than absorb it, with catastrophic consequences for the climate.

The fate of the reserve has drawn the attention of celebrities such as Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.

"With this first-of-its-kind referendum worldwide, Ecuador could become an example in democratizing climate politics, offering voters the chance to vote not just for the forest but also for Indigenous rights, our climate, and the well-being of our planet," he wrote on Instagram this month.

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg also hailed the "historic referendum."

The NGO Amazon Frontlines said the vote was a "demonstration of climate democracy, where people, not corporations, get to decide on resource extraction and its limits."

Locals in Yasuni were divided, with some supporting the oil companies and the benefits that economic growth have brought to their villages.

sp/fb/bgs

Ecuador votes in historic referendum on oil extraction in the Amazon

Story by By Hannah Holland •

The people of Ecuador are heading to the polls – but they’re voting for more than just a new president. For the first time in history, the people will decide the fate of oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The referendum will give voters the chance to decide whether oil companies can continue to drill in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Yasuní National Park, home to the last uncontacted indigenous communities in Ecuador.


Among the species found in the Yasuní National Park, is the harpy eagle, the second largest bird of prey in the world.

- Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

The park encompasses around one million hectares at the meeting point of the Amazon, the Andes and the Equator. Just one hectare of Yasuní land supposedly contains more animal species than the whole of Europe and more tree species than exist in all of North America.

But underneath the land lies Ecuador’s largest reserve of crude oil.

“We are leading the world in tackling climate change by bypassing politicians and democratizing environmental decisions,” said Pedro Bermo, the spokesman for Yasunidos, an environmental collective who pushed for the referendum.

It’s been a decade-long battle that began when former President Rafael Correa boldly proposed that the international community give Ecuador $3.6 billion to leave Yasuní undisturbed. But the world wasn’t as generous as Correa expected. In 2016, the Ecuadorian state oil company began drilling in Block 43 – around 0.01% of the National Park – which today produces more than 55,000 barrels a day, amounting to around 12% of Ecuador’s oil production.


Aerial picture of the Tiputini Processing Center of state-owned Petroecuador in Yasuni National Park, June 21, 2023.

 - Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

A continuous crusade of relentless campaigning and a successful petition eventually made its mark – in May, the country’s constitutional court authorized the vote to be included on the ballot of the upcoming election.

It’s a decision that will likely be instrumental to the future of Ecuador’s economy. Supporters who want to continue drilling believe the loss of employment opportunities would be disastrous.

“The backers of the request for crude to remain underground made it ten years ago when there wasn’t anything. 10 years later we find ourselves with 55,000 barrels per day, that’s 20 million barrels per year,” Energy Minister Fernando Santos told local radio.

“At $60 a barrel that’s $1.2 billion,” he added. “It could cause huge damage to the country,” he said, referring to economic damage and denying there has been environmental harm.



Alberto Acosta-Burneo, an economist and editor of the Weekly Analysis bulletin, said Ecuador would be “shooting itself in the foot” if it shut down drilling. In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said that without cutting consumption all it would mean is another country selling Ecuador fuel.

But ‘yes’ campaigners have ideas to fill the gap, from the promotion of eco-tourism and the electrification of public transport to eliminating tax exemptions. They claim that cutting the subsidies to the richest 10% of the country would generate four times more than what is obtained extracting oil from Yasuní.

“This election has two faces,” explained Bermo.

“On one hand we have the violence, the candidates, parties, and the same political mafias that governed Ecuador without significant changes.

“On the other hand, the referendum is the contrary – a citizen campaign full of hope, joy, art, activism and a lot of collective work to save this place. We are very optimistic.”

Among those campaigning to stop the drilling is Helena Gualinga, an indigenous rights advocate who hails from a remote village in the Ecuadorian Amazon – home of the Kichwa Sarayaku community.



A crude oil sample taken from an oil well in Yasuní National Park, where the referendum vote could mean leaving the crude oil in the ground indefinitely.

 - Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

“This referendum presents a huge opportunity for us to create change in a tangible way,” she told CNN.

For Gualinga, the most crucial part of the referendum is that if Yasunidos wins, the state oil company will have a one-year deadline to wrap up its operations in Block 43.

She explained that some oil companies have left areas in the Amazon without properly shutting down operations and restoring the area.

“This sentence would mean they have to do that.”

Those who wish to continue drilling in the area argue that meeting the one-year deadline to dismantle operations would be impossible.

The referendum comes as the world faces blistering temperatures, with scientists declaring July as the hottest month on record, and the Amazon approaching what studies are suggesting is a critical tipping point that could have severe implications in the fight to tackle climate change.

And according to Antonia Juhasz, a Senior Researcher on Fossil Fuels at Human RIghts Watch, it’s time for Ecuador to transition to a post-oil era. Ecuador’s GDP from oil has dropped significantly from around 18% in 2008, to just over 6% in 2021.

She believes the benefits of protecting the Amazon outweigh the benefits of maintaining dependence on oil, particularly considering the cost of regular oil spills and the consequences of worsening the climate crisis.

“The Amazon is worth more intact than in pieces, as are its people,” she said.

 CNN 

ALTERNATE CANDIDATE

Ecuador's Perez to review mining contracts suspected of polluting if elected

Story by By Alexandra Valencia • AUG. 17, 2023

Ecuadorean presidential candidate Perez during his closing campaign rally, in Quito© Thomson Reuters

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean Indigenous presidential candidate Yaku Perez would revise mining concessions that do not comply with environmental and social rules and would ask creditors for breathing room amid spiking violence, he told Reuters in an interview.


Ecuadorean presidential candidate Perez during his closing campaign rally, in Quito© Thomson Reuters

More than 13 million Ecuadoreans are eligible to head to polls on Sunday in a contest that has been marred by the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio, highlighting sharply deteriorated security which the current government blames on drug traffickers.


Ecuadorean presidential candidate Perez during his closing campaign rally, in Quito© Thomson Reuters

Candidates have pledged to fight crime and improve the struggling economy, amid unemployment woes which have increased migration.

Mining is a top contributor to Ecuador's economy, but Perez, an erstwhile water activist, said late on Thursday he would ask the country's comptroller to review contracts suspected of polluting, to define their continuity under Ecuadorean law.

Ecuador has abundant mineral reserves, but has lagged behind regional neighbors like Peru and Chile in developing large-scale projects because of resistance from Indigenous communities and judicial decisions that have stymied development.

"If there are audits that say they are contaminating the environment, that they are poisoning water, that they haven't done prior consultations (with communities)...they will need to be revised," Perez said. "If they have complied with social and environmental licenses they will continue."

"We are not going to premeditatedly pursue (miners), but there must be responsibility," he said. "I respect legal guarantees."

He would also push a constitutional reform to bar mining in areas with lakes, rivers and other water sources, first by sending it to the national assembly, and then, in case of failure, to voters via a referendum.

Perez supports two environmental efforts also on the ballot on Sunday - one to shutter an oil block in a megadiverse part of the Amazon and a local bid to bar mining in a forest near Quito.

Perez, who was polling in the top five of eight candidates, said he would trace corrupt funds through an expert commission backed by the United Nations, which will review contracts from the last 20 years.

"If we correct the distortions, the corruption, if we charge taxes to the defaulters we won't need new loans," said Perez, who came a surprise third in elections in 2021.

He would approach Ecuador's multilateral creditors and bondholders to ask for payment extensions because of the difficult economic and security situation, he said.

"We have to tell them that this is a very difficult time to pay foreign debt, that we recognize them and will pay...but first allow me to get the country started on economic growth and a reduction in poverty."

Ecuador has leaned on international financing since its economy was battered by the COVID pandemic. The country concluded a credit agreement for $6.5 billion with the International Monetary Fund at the end of last year.

"We are in a spiral of violence: there is no work, there is no education, people are fleeing the country," he said. "Hopefully they will understand."

Perez pledged to make agriculture - not oil, the country's top source of income - Ecuador's economic driver, creating 500,000 jobs.

Better social programs and data-based security programs are also on his agenda if elected, he said.

"We must get back control of the borders where drugs come through, get back control of the Ecuadorean coasts where drugs leave and get back control of the prisons from which crimes are ordered," he said.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

ANARCHO CAPITALI$TS ARE FASCISTS
The Trump-loving economist vowing to shake-up Argentina's financial system

Tim Wallace
Thu, 17 August 2023 

The former tantric sex coach is the surprise frontrunner in the race to become Argentina’s next 

president 

Milton Friedman was not renowned for being soft and cuddly. The father of monetarist economics inspired tough central bank crackdowns on inflation that triggered recessions and provided the intellectual ballast for Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady.

However, for Javier Milei, Milton Friedman is a good name for a dog.

The surprise frontrunner in the race to become Argentina’s next president has named one of his five English Mastiffs after the Nobel prize-winning. Other pets are named after Robert Lucas, another Nobel economics laureate, and Murray Rothbard, an economist of libertarian leanings.


Milei thanked his dogs alongside his supporters over the weekend in the wake of his surprise victory in the primary round of the election.

The one-time rock star and former tantric sex coach has been dubbed a Latin American Donald Trump and Milei is said to be an admirer of the former president.

His success has alarmed not only the political establishment but also investors and the economic mainstream.

A self-described “anarcho-capitalist”, Milei has proposed abolishing the central bank and claimed he would “burn down” the institution.

He has proposed moving Argentina from its plunging peso onto the US dollar and wants to balance the books by taking a “chainsaw” to public spending.

He also wants to cut taxes, including on workers and agricultural exports, and shrink the public sector by encouraging people to retire rather than laying off staff.

Milei has been dubbed a Latin American Donald Trump and is said to be an admirer of the former US president - ROBYN BECK/AFP

The radical package has sent investors fleeing from Argentina, with the peso plunging this week.

Yet his proposals have struck a chord with voters. Inflation is running at over 110pc in the country, one of the highest rates in the world, and surging prices have tipped around 40pc of the population below the poverty line.

“Remember, a different Argentina is impossible with the same people as always, with the same people that have always failed,” Milei told supporters after the votes came in over the weekend.

“Today we have stood up to say enough to the model of decadence. Today we took the first step for the reconstruction of Argentina.”

Despite his eye-catching appearance and colourful background, Milei’s proposals are addressing some of Argentina’s most pressing problems.

The country has racked up debt steadily over the past 30 years, with the exception of six years of surpluses before the financial crisis.

“The concept of reducing the fiscal deficit is definitely a good one,” says Sergi Lanau at Oxford Economics.

When it comes to addressing the inflation plaguing the nation, Milei’s plan to dollarise the economy also has merits.

“If you look at other emerging markets that have curbed inflation, pegging to the dollar is often a part of the process,” says William Jackson at Capital Economics.

Adopting a currency issued by the Fed removes the temptation for politicians to print money to pay for their policies, which fuels inflation.

Jackson says: “It removes the problem of deficit monetisation and the political influence over the central bank.”

This may be where the scheme to scrap the central bank comes in. Adopting the dollar would remove the central bank’s control over monetary policy and potentially leave it responsible for topics such as bank regulation instead.

Yet, in echoes of the market reaction to Liz Truss’s reformist budget in Britain, investors have baulked at Milei’s electoral success.

The peso went into freefall after the first round presidential primary results were announced, in which Milei gained more than 30pc of the vote.

A devaluation took the peso down almost 18pc on Monday. One US dollar now buys 350 pesos at official exchange rates, up from 135 a year ago and 60 just before the pandemic.

The Central Bank of Argentina was forced to take emergency action to defend the economy, raising its headline interest rate from 97pc to 118pc.

Investors are worried that Milei’s shock therapy risks crippling Argentina’s already weak economy and putting it at risk of defaulting on its international debts.

There are also questions about just how credible the policies are when looked at in detail.

Lanau says: ”When his advisers say they will bring the deficit down to zero in a few months while not getting rid of civil servants and not slashing social spending, it is not possible.”

The practicalities of adopting the dollar are also challenging.

“Essentially the government or central bank needs to hold dollar assets at least equivalent to the monetary base, so it can cover all of the cash in circulation and all of the banks’ reserves at the central bank,” says Jackson.

The state has been running down its supplies of foreign currency in the hope of propping up the peso. Without many physical dollars, it is hard to seek to replace the currency. Few are willing to lend to the country.

Then comes calculating the exchange rate at which to make the shift. Too low and households feel hard done by, replacing their hard-earned pesos with a very small stack of greenbacks. But too high and the economy can be hamstrung with an uncompetitive rate, making exports unaffordable and undermining growth.

Milei’s team has indicated it could let individuals choose which currency to use, in a more free-floating manner, though the details are unclear.

Lanau says more announcements on the plan could push Argentinians to buy dollars as soon as possible, effectively dumping the peso and pushing it down further.

“Depending on what he says in the campaign, people could freak out even more,” he says.

Further falls in the peso would mean higher inflation, adding to the already bleak economic outlook. Argentina’s economy has contracted for five of the past 10 years and is expected to shrink again this year before, at best, stagnating in 2024.

It is far and away the biggest borrower from the International Monetary Fund, with a loan scheme worth $44bn rearranged last year. Buenos Aires only agreed a new deal at the end of last month to avoid the country falling behind on its debt repayments to the Fund.

Jackson says: “It is fair to say Argentina is in a pretty dire crisis. There is enormous pressure on the currency. It is really only keeping its head above water because it is receiving funding from the IMF.”

Milei’s team has indicated it could let individuals choose which currency to use - Natacha Pisarenko/AP

Milei said officials from the IMF have approached him to discuss the situation following his success in the weekend’s polls. The Fund itself says it regularly meets politicians.

A spokesman said: “In the case of presidential candidates, these engagements also allow staff to better understand key aspects of future potential economic policies.”

Argentina has defaulted on its debts nine times in its history, including failures to pay creditors in 2020 and in 2014. The recent collapse of the peso puts the country at risk of yet another default.

Major falls in currencies against the dollar have led to debt defaults around 50pc of the time over the past three decades, according to Capital Economics, and a recession in 80pc of cases. “Argentina is unlikely to be an exception,” analysts there say.

A dependence on the IMF may yet be turned into a strength, suggests Juan Grigera at King’s College London.

“Argentina is the biggest debtor to the IMF, for the IMF it represents about 34pc of all it lent,” he says. “This was a leverage of sorts in negotiating a restructuring of the debt in 2019 and during Covid.”

Grigera, who teaches international development and earned his PhD in Buenos Aires, points out that all three leading presidential candidates are also committed to continuing debt payments.

However, Lanau warns that rising debt repayments in 2025 mean “it will be impossible not to default” by the end of that year.

“The only way you can refinance without defaulting is issuing new bonds, but [Argentina] is very far from being able to borrow money from anyone other than the IMF,” he says.

“There is virtually a 100pc chance that by late 2025, they will run out of dollars, even if there is someone in charge who is trying to fix things.”

International community cheers Guatemala anti-graft candidate's landslide victory

Mon, 21 August 2023
By Kylie Madry

(Reuters) - International leaders celebrated the overwhelming victory on Sunday of Guatemalan presidential aspirant Bernardo Arevalo, a win which had long seemed out of reach for the anti-graft candidate in an elections process shaken by accusations of government intervention.

"A salute to the people and government of Guatemala for an exemplary election day, a true civic celebration," said Organization of American States (OAS) chief Luis Almagro on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter.

Arevalo, a 64-year-old former diplomat and son of Guatemala's first democratically elected president, nabbed 58% of votes versus former first lady Sandra Torres' 37%, with nearly all votes counted late Sunday.

"The outcome of the vote is already very clear," European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. "It is crucial for all state institutions and all sectors of society to support and join in this effort in the interests of the country."

Arevalo, who ran on a campaign of fighting corruption, faced an uphill battle at the polls. He came in a surprise second place in a first-round vote earlier this year, triggering a run-off. A number of other opposition candidates had been barred from running.

His competitor Torres alleged irregularities in the first round of voting and Arevalo's party, Semilla, was briefly suspended at the request of a top prosecutor.

By Monday morning, Torres had yet to accept her loss publicly. In a press conference Sunday afternoon, the candidate, an ally to outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, said she was "worried" about the integrity of the vote.

Her UNE party said in a statement late Sunday it would take a position once the elections results were put out "with total transparency."

An OAS representative, with a team of 86 election observers in Guatemala, said voting had gone smoothly and the election "fulfilled all the demanding obligations."

An EU mission will put out a preliminary statement with its findings on Tuesday.

The EU, as well as governments such as Brazil and Norway said they expected a peaceful transition of power.

However, the attacks on Arevalo are likely to continue, said Risa Grais-Targow, analyst at political risk consultancy firm Eurasia Group.

"The ruling pact will likely continue to target electoral officials and Arevalo's Semilla party with investigations ahead of January's change in government," she said.

President Giammattei has vowed to ensure an orderly transition of power. He said on X he had congratulated Arevalo, and invited him to meet "the day after election results were finalized."

Arevalo will face challenges once in office, as Guatemala is roiled by violence and food insecurity. Guatemalans now represent the largest number of Central Americans seeking to enter the United States.

Arevalo said he had already spoken with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Guatemala's agenda with its neighbors.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro said on X she was sure that following Arevalo's win, "We will unify the people of Central America."

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

Sat, August 19, 2023 



DOMBOSHAVA, Zimbabwe (AP) — Four grandmothers wearing bright yellow headscarves, T-shirts and skirts huddled around a cellphone in Zimbabwe’s rural Domboshava area. They cackled at a video showing a troop of mischievous baboons ripping up ruling party election posters with the face of the president on them.

With a swish and a click, 64-year-old Elizabeth Mutandwa posted the video on a couple of community WhatsApp groups, and followed it up with some election campaign information from the party she supports in next week's election — the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change.

The grandmothers say they and their fellow opposition supporters are facing intimidation from followers of the long-ruling ZANU-PF party and a biased state-run media that restricts their options. But they have found a way to counter that with the use of WhatsApp group chats.

“Let’s share this one with our own people. It’s good content,” said Mutandwa of the baboon video, once her giggles had subsided.

She then got up and walked several kilometers (miles) wearing the yellow colors of her party to a rally addressed by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, the man she hopes will finally bring change to Zimbabwe after 43 years.

The ruling ZANU-PF party has been in government ever since the southern African nation won independence from white minority rule in 1980, and Mutandwa was a young woman in her early 20s.

A couple of hundred others attended the Domboshava opposition rally alongside Mutandwa to hear presidential candidate Chamisa speak.

But with national elections just days away, many more stayed at home, afraid of being threatened, intimidated, or maybe even attacked by ruling party activists for daring to show support for Chamisa and his party, Mutandwa said. Others hadn't even heard about the rally because the state-run TV and radio channels they mostly rely on for information rarely cover opposition events.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came to power in a coup in 2017, is seeking re-election Wednesday. Chamisa will challenge him again, having lost to Mnangagwa in a very close and disputed contest in 2018.

The 80-year-old leader has warned his supporters against engaging in violence in the buildup to the Aug. 23 vote. That plea came days after an opposition party supporter was killed, allegedly at the hands of ruling party activists, in the first deadly violence of the election buildup.

Even though Mnangagwa replaced long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe in that popular coup, he's been accused of weaponizing the police and the courts to stifle opposition in the same way Mugabe did. Chamisa and international rights groups claim opposition party figures and supporters are often targeted with harassment, violence and intimidation.

Some rural folks like Mutandwa have found a way to combat the threats and the media bias they also see, but which often go unnoticed deep in the rural areas where the majority of the country's 15 million people live, and where the opposition's reach is limited.

“Everyone around here knows we are opposition activists, so some people are too afraid to openly associate with us," said Mutandwa. “But it’s not a problem anymore. We talk to them through WhatsApp and they can participate in the campaign from the safety of their homes.”

The way Mutandwa and her group of grannies are using cellphones and the internet to cut through the propaganda ahead of elections represents a shift from past rural election campaigns, said Rejoice Ngwenya, a strategic communications specialist in Zimbabwe. While cellphone and internet access was widespread in the cities, opposition parties previously could only use rallies, community meetings, or sometimes even funerals, to reach rural voters and share their message.

Mutandwa now gets Citizens Coalition for Change information straight to her smartphone. And she spreads the word, too, among the 10 or so WhatsApp groups the four grandmothers in Domboshava administer. She needed a couple of lessons from one of her grandsons to get going on WhatsApp, she said.

WhatsApp and other messaging apps are having a “high impact” in rural areas in the buildup to these elections, according to Ngwenya.

“Everybody has a cellphone,” he said. "They are not necessarily state of the art, but that they can be used to send a message is an appeal.”

The four grandmothers are going up against a ruling party machine, though.

European Union observers compiled a report on the use of state media — the domninant outlets — following the last general election in Zimbabwe five years ago. It said that state-controlled public television dedicated 85% of its coverage to Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF during the election period. Just over 80% of coverage went to the governing party on one popular public radio station monitored by the mission.

During this election campaign, Mnangagwa and his party have dominated TV and radio again, and have also been sending bulk text messages to millions of people with campaign information and notifications of ZANU-PF rallies that Chamisa's opposition party, and the grannies, simply can't match.

Their hope for long-awaited change in their country lies more in word of mouth — or word of message — with Mutandwa hoping, but not really knowing for sure, that her WhatsApp posts are re-posted and shared multiple times. She said people are yearning for change, even in rural areas once ZANU-PF's strongholds, but are still afraid.

“We are not afraid, but we know that others are," she said as she tossed some grain to her chickens in her dusty yard. “At least we are able to communicate with some of them and the ones we reach can spread the word to others.”

___

Associated Press Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Farai Mutsaka, The Associated Press

‘It’s Europe or death’: Why no amount of EU money has stopped migrants fleeing Tunisia

Stephen Quillen
Sun, 20 August 2023

Operation carried out by coastguards teams of the Tunisian National Guard against migrants off the city of Sfax - Anadolu Agency

Felix looks on in despair at the hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants strewn on makeshift cardboard mattresses and dirt-stained blankets in the streets of Sfax, a coastal Tunisian city just 75 miles from Italy.

“There are babies, children, and pregnant women sleeping on the ground,” the 36-year-old from Nigeria, said. “This is dehumanising. This is torture for us.”

Samuel, a 27-year-old migrant who has been on the move for eight years, added: “I lost so many of my friends and brothers to the civil war in South Sudan. I went to Sudan and then Libya before coming here ... Still I have no good place to lay my head.”


Hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants of all ages have been sleeping rough in Sfax’s parks and alleyways for nearly two months. Many were forced from their homes in racist pogroms that swept the city earlier this summer.

The violent crackdown has added urgency to migrants’ plans to set sail for Italy, and the EU, in spite of the millions of euros Brussels and Rome have spent trying to control the flow of people across the Mediterranean.

Luis, a 40-year-old migrant from Cameroon, put it bluntly: “For us, it’s Europe or die. We don’t have any fear anymore.”

Those who make it to Tunisia live as second-class citizens, unable to rent homes, find reliable jobs, or take public transport without harassment.

“The racism is intense,” said Felix, who like many others, travelled to Sfax, a hub for people-smuggling, to catch a boat to Italy. “We don’t have homes or jobs. We don’t even have anywhere to bathe ... I see myself as a slave in this country.”

So far this year, more than 60,000 irregular migrants, the majority from sub-Saharan countries, have reached Italy from Tunisia. Of these, more than half have made the trip since the start of June, when mass violence broke out against black migrants.

Tensions had long been brewing between migrants and locals fearful the city is being overrun by people desperate to reach Europe.

So far this year, more than 60,000 irregular migrants, the majority from sub-Saharan countries, have reached Italy from Tunisia - Anadolu Agency

In February, President Kaid Saied branded the estimated 20,000-50,000 sub-Saharans in Tunisia, who make up just 0.4 per cent of the population, a “demographic threat”.

There were waves of mob violence and forced evictions of sub-Saharans after a local man was killed in a clash with several Cameroon migrants in early June.

Moussa, a 25-year-old migrant from Guinea, described the raids that left him penniless on the streets. “A group of guys broke into my house, beat me and took everything I had, even my clothes. I’ve been sleeping here ever since,” he said in a city centre park.

Tunisian authorities were active participants in abuses against migrants. During the unrest, they arbitrarily arrested and expelled around 1,200 migrants to desert areas at the Libyan and Algerian borders, leaving them to suffer with no food or water in the sweltering heat.
‘Threw me into the desert three times’

“They threw me into the desert three times, beating me and taking everything I had,” Mel, a south Sudanese migrant, who fled his country due to its civil war, said. “They told me not to return.”

After weeks of pressure from rights groups, activists, and the United Nations, Tunisia said on Aug 10 that it had brought back the last group of migrants it had abandoned in the desert, but not before dozens had died there.

“I never in my life thought I’d see such events in my own country,” Selim Kharrat, the president of Al Bawsala, a Tunisian human rights organisation and watchdog, told The Telegraph. “It is inhuman.”

The European Union has tried to quell activity along the thriving Mediterranean migration route with little success.

Migrants who want to reach Europe illegally via the Mediterranean Sea, off the city of Sfax in Tunisia - Anadolu Agency

On June 11, it announced it would provide Tunisia with €100 million (£85.5 million) for border management, overlooking reports of abuses committed by Tunisia’s coast guard towards migrants at sea.

Since then, there has been an increase in pullbacks of Italy-bound vessels, migrants and activists say, but the overall number of boats reaching Europe has hardly changed.

“It doesn’t matter if you double the number of police officers or double the number of control operations. There will still be migrants seeking a better life,” said Kharrat, from Al Bawsala.

Adrian, a Cameroon migrant whose boat was intercepted by Tunisia’s coast guard en route to Italy on Wednesday, told The Telegraph that “nothing can stop” migrants like him from reaching Europe.

“We will try again and again,” he said. “We have no other choice.”
Cramped metal boat

To reserve a seat on a cramped metal boat, migrants must pay anywhere from £376 to £877 to Tunisian smugglers, who supply the vessels and organise the trips.

For many, the cost amounts to their life savings - and they get no refund if something goes wrong.

Adrian said he lost all his money when national guardsmen ripped out his boat’s engine and left him and other passengers adrift at sea.

While he was lucky to be brought back to shore by a passing fisherman, he must now find a way to raise more funds for his next attempt to cross. The EU has tried to quell activity along the thriving Mediterranean migration route with little success.

On June 11, it announced it would give Tunisia €100 million (£85.5 million) for border management.

In recent weeks, at least 46 migrants drowned after departing Sfax for the Italian island of Lampedusa, with several bodies washing ashore at a crowded beach.

Back in Sfax, news of these drownings has become routine, eliciting little surprise from migrants intent on escaping “hellish” conditions in Tunisia for Europe.

“The risk is high ... but I have no choice but to keep going,” said Felix, who has already tried twice to reach Italy by sea, each time being turned back by Tunisia’s coastguard. “There is no future for us here.”

‘Fired on like rain’: Saudi border guards accused of mass killings of Ethiopians

Peter Beaumont
Sun, 20 August 2023

Photograph: Nariman El-Mofty/AP

Saudi border guards have been accused of killing hundreds of Ethiopians using small arms and explosive weapons in a targeted campaign that rights advocates suggest may amount to a crime against humanity.

The shocking claims are made in a detailed investigation by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed dozens of Ethiopian people who said they were attacked by border guards while they tried to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen.

Last week Downing Street confirmed that Rishi Sunak plans to welcome Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to London “at the earliest opportunity”. It would be the first visit since the death in 2018 of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, who US intelligence believe was murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents in Istanbul on the orders of Prince Mohammed.

Using satellite imaging, photographs of fatalities from more than 20 incidents, witness testimony by survivors and forensic experts’ examination of survivors’ wounds, HRW has built up a compelling and horrific picture of an escalating campaign of extreme violence aimed at people trying to cross the border.

Witness testimony describes mass fatality events involving significant numbers of women and children killed in shelling, with dead people and body parts spread along trails.

“I saw people killed in a way I have never imagined,” Hamdiya, a 14-year-old girl who crossed the border in a group of 60 in February, told researchers. “I saw 30 killed people on the spot.”

HRW’s lead researcher on the report, Nadia Hardman, described the findings as “obscene”.

“I cover violence at borders, but I have never come across something of this nature, the use of explosive weapons including against women and children,” Hardman said.

The report builds on a mounting body of evidence of extremely serious human rights violations on the Saudi-Yemen border. Last year UN Special Rapporteurs wrote to the Saudi government with allegations about the killing of hundreds of migrants.

In June the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrant Project issued its own estimate of fatalities on the Saudi border. It said that at least 795 people, “believed to be mostly Ethiopians”, had died.

The Guardian has contacted the Saudi ministry of foreign affairs and Saudi embassy in London for comment.

In March the Saudi government “categorically denied” claims from the UN rapporteurs of an apparent “systematic pattern of large-scale, indiscriminate cross-border killings by Saudi security forces against migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, and victims of trafficking”.

The latest investigation into abuses in an area largely shut off to foreign journalists and aid workers is the most detailed picture yet of what is happening at the border.

Among the most shocking claims are that:

Saudi border forces shelled a group of people who had been arrested, detained and expelled even as they attempted to cross the border back into Yemen.


Saudi border forces forced a young person who had survived an attack to rape another survivor under threat of execution.

People detained after crossing the border were shot at close quarters, and survivors were told by border forces to choose a limb to be shot in.

Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians live and work in Saudi Arabia. Many migrate for economic reasons but some have been driven to leave by rights abuses in Ethiopia, including during the recent brutal war in the north of the country.

The alleged killings have occurred on a major migration transit route used by people traffickers and smugglers between Al Jawf in Saudi Arabia and Sa’dah in Yemen, a region controlled by the Houthi Ansar Allah movement that borders Saudi Arabia’s Jizan province.Interactive

HRW’s researchers interviewed 42 Ethiopian people who had tried to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen, or the friends and relatives of those who tried to cross, and analysed more than 350 videos and photographs posted to social media or gathered from other sources filmed between 12 May 2021 and 18 July 2023.

These included pictures of dead and wounded people scattered along trails used by people-trafficking groups, as well as injured survivors in camps and medical facilities, some with horrific injuries consistent with shrapnel from mortars and similar weapons.

“Saudi border guards have used explosive weapons and shot people at close range, including women and children, in a pattern that is widespread and systematic,” HRW’s report says. “If committed as part of a Saudi government policy to murder migrants, these killings would be a crime against humanity. In some instances, Saudi border guards first asked survivors in which limb of their body they preferred to be shot, before shooting them at close range.

“While Human Rights Watch has previously documented killings of migrants at the border with Yemen and Saudi Arabia since 2014, the killings documented in this report appear to be a deliberate escalation in both the number and manner of targeted killings.”

Shown video and photographs of injuries sustained in the attacks, the Independent Forensic Expert Group (IFEG) of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, an international group of forensic experts, concluded that injuries were consistent with small arms fire and explosive weapons.

IFEG’s report for HRW describes 22 images of sufficient quality to analyse. “A range of weaponry appear to have been used,” it says. “Some injuries have characteristics consistent with gunshot wounds, while others exhibit clear patterns consistent with the explosion of artefacts with capacity to produce heat and shrapnel.”

The estimated scale of the killings was provided by witnesses.

In one of the incidents, a survivor said that from his group of 170 people, “I know 90 people were killed, because some returned to that place to pick up the dead bodies – they counted [about] 90 dead bodies.”

Those killed and injured set off from two camps run by people smugglers and controlled by Houthi forces close to the Saudi border – Al Thabit migrant camp located in a wadi about 4 km (2½ miles) from the border and Al Raqw, a tented encampment 17km (10 miles) south of Al Thabit, also located on the border.

In one alleged incident from early June interviewees said Saudi border guards fired explosive weapons on a group of people who were preparing to re-enter Yemen having just been released from Saudi detention.

Munira, a 20-year-old-survivor who suffered facial injuries consistent with shrapnel during the alleged incident, said it happened after the group was put on a minibus heading back towards the border.

“When they released us, they created a kind of chaos; they screamed at us to get out of the car and get away,” she said.

“When we were 1km away, the border guards could see us. We were resting together after running a lot … and that’s when they fired mortars on our group. Directly at us.

“There were 20 in our group and only 10 survived. Some of the mortars hit the rocks and then the [fragments of the] rock hit us … The weapon looks like a rocket launcher, it had six ‘mouths’, six holes from where they fire and it was fired from the back of a vehicle – it fires several at the same time. They fired on us like rain.”

British aircraft maker behind Islander plane hit by winding-up petition


Howard Mustoe
Sun, 20 August 2023 

Britten-Norman’s success is built on its Islander aircraft which first flew in 1965

 - Universal Images Group Editorial

A British manufacturer that builds aircraft used by MI5 is scrambling to get its finances in order after it was hit with a winding-up petition.

Britten-Norman’s 69-year existence was recently under threat as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) made an attempt to recoup unpaid debts through the High Court.

The CAA launched a winding-up petition against the Isle of Wight-based company earlier this month, but it is understood this has now been withdrawn.

Britten-Norman’s bosses insisted the legal action was due to an “error”.

However, winding-up proceedings, which can lead to a company’s assets being seized, are typically used by creditors as a last resort to recover cash.

Legal papers show Britten-Norman owed the regulator £36,577 for invoices relating to design approvals, airworthiness and noise certification.

“The petitioner has provided the company with multiple opportunities to make payment in line with an arranged payment plan,” said the CAA’s court filing, dated Aug 11. “Despite this, the company has failed to pay the agreed instalments or meet the demanded payments.”

The CAA declined to comment.

A Britten-Norman spokesman said: “This is an error which is being amended.”

Britten-Norman’s success is built on its nine-seat, twin-engined Islander aircraft which first flew in 1965.

Popular as an air ambulance and short-haul travel, around 1,300 have been built to date.

The British Army and Royal Air Force used Britten-Norman’s camera-equipped Islanders for domestic surveillance over a 30-year period, including missions over Northern Ireland during the Troubles to feed vital intelligence to MI5 agents.

The last Britten-Norman Defenders, as the military called their Islander aircraft, were withdrawn in 2021.

Companies House records show that the aeroplane manufacturer and its owner are also late in filing their annual accounts.

Britten-Norman and its parent company B-N Group Ltd are both overdue by more than six weeks.

B-N Group’s last accounts for 2021 show an £80,000 profit, down from £462,000 in 2020.

The winding-up petition comes months after Britten-Norman unveiled ambitious plans to merge with Cranfield Aerospace Solutions to begin making a hydrogen-fuelled version of its aircraft.

The company has also set out plans to bring production back to the Isle of Wight after offshoring the majority of its work to Romania six decades ago.

While plenty of military jets and helicopters are made in the UK, civil aerospace manufacturing is mostly limited to building parts.

Airbus makes wings and other components in Britain, while Rolls-Royce makes jet engines.

The Isle of Wight is also home to Airframe Assemblies, a specialist aerospace company that rebuilds Spitfires from salvaged wrecks back to flying condition.

Britten-Norman was founded by engineers John Britten and Desmond Norman in 1954 to build a small commuter aeroplane.

They diversified into crop-spraying aircraft and also ventured into hovercraft under the Cushioncraft name.

The success of the Islander led the company to farm out production, handing a contract to Intreprinderea de Reparatii Material Aeronautic in Romania.

DEI/SPAIN HAD MORE COLOUR

England Lionesses team 'looks blonde, blue-eyed' and lacks diversity, says TV commentator

Ellen Manning
Mon, 21 August 2023

England's Lionesses were beaten in the final by Spain. (Getty Images)

An entrepreneur has commented on the ethnic make-up of the England's Lionesses squad - who narrowly missed out on World Cup victory on Sunday - commenting that it "isn't that diverse".

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE's comments came ahead of the Women's World Cup final, which saw England lose 1-0 to Spain.

Despite the defeat, the Lionesses have been praised for inspiring millions and doing "fantastic" work to promote the women's game.


The Prince of Wales, who faced criticism ahead of the game for not attending in person, tweeted a personal message to the squad after the match saying their “spirit and drive have inspired so many people".

Read more: England v Spain: Women's World Cup Final in pictures

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE has been criticised for his comments. (Alamy)

Speaking on Sky News ahead of the match, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE - who describes himself as food industry diversity advocate The Black Farmer - said the women's squad lacked diversity, describing them as "blonde, blue-eyed".

During a discussion of the newspaper front pages, he said: "I don't want to pour boiling water on it but it isn't that diverse".

"It really sticks out at you. They look blonde, blue-eyed. If it was the men's World Cup it would be very representative of the Britain that we're in and very, very diverse."

He went on: "I'm going to be watching it and I'm going to be supporting it and I don't want to be seen as pouring cold water on but there is something we need to look at."

Read more: England coach Sarina Wiegman aims for 'new moments' with defeated Lionesses

An FA spokesperson said: "We have publicly committed to improving the diversity within our England pathway but also within the wider game as a whole.

"That includes working with government so every girl can have the chance to play in school. We have also completely restructured our talent pathway so more young girls from all backgrounds can find a local place to play and we are then ensuring it is possible for the very best talent to be identified.

"Of course, while progress is being made, there is always more to do."

Questions have been asked previously about how to improve diversity within the Lionesses squad. (Getty)

The issue of diversity in the Lionesses has been raised previously, with key figures saying work is underway, but change will be gradual.

In the Euro 2022 tournament, the BBC received 222 complaints after a report from Alex Scott looked into diversity in women's football.

The presenter’s investigation was aired during half-time of the Denmark vs Finland match in the tournament, with broadcaster Eilidh Barbour saying that England’s all-white Lionesses highlighted a lack of diversity in the sport.

She commented that all starting 11 players and five substitutes who came on to the pitch were white, saying: "that does point towards a lack of diversity in the women’s game in England".

Read more: Girls' football now so popular clubs 'can't form teams fast enough'

Commenting on suggestions that professional women’s football in England remains a middle-class sport in February this year, England manager Sarina Wiegman said: "You’re not going to change things overnight.

"Over the last weeks the FA and Kay Cossington [the FA’s women’s technical director] launched an improved pathway, which is really about performance, but also inclusivity, diversity and accessibility.

“Hopefully in the future, and I don’t know how long it will take, we will get very, very good players we can start with, but also [players] that represents more the diversity of our community."

The issue re-emerged as the Lionesses squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia came under scrutiny, with some pointing out that only two of the 23-player squad are black.

Again, Wiegman said change was underway but would not happen "overnight".

Jess Carter, one of two Black players in the World Cup squad along with Lauren James, has also previously addressed the lack of diversity in the elite squad.

“I think it comes from the same place. It’s about recognising what the demographic in whatever area needs. With equal access will come more diversity in the sport," she told Vogue.

Opinion

England's World Cup Lionesses bring home something far more valuable than a trophy - a sporting legacy that shall endure

The Yorkshire Post
Updated Mon, 21 August 2023 

Mary Earps of England is congratulated by Millie Bright after saving the penalty taken by Jennifer Hermoso of Spain (not pictured) during the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final match between Spain and England at Stadium Australia on August 20, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

And it isn’t unusual for city squares, town and village halls and community centres to bring people together to watch important football matches.

We are a nation well-versed in supporting the national team, people in their millions wearing three lions on their chest with pride, cheering on England with a collective spirit that sport in this country has a habit of bringing out in us all.

But what is unusual is for all of that to be brought about by women’s football, and yet, as England set about yesterday’s World Cup Final against their ultimately victorious opponents Spain, the fizz that has for years bubbled up around the country was there.

Social media awash with anticipation, messages of support for this England team, who went yet again in search of glory having been crowned European champions just last year.

The front pages of our national newspapers carried in unison headlines screaming support for our Lionesses, news broadcasts on television and radio led with the football. And so even though that coveted trophy will not be ‘coming home’, to borrow a little bit of footballing parlance, a sporting legacy that will prevail forever is heading home.

Because what our national team has done in the last year or so, not just for the so-called women’s game – football belongs to us all – but for sport in general and for wider society should not be underestimated.

In the years to come, certainly in this country, the likes of Yorkshire’s Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Bethany England, Ellie Roebuck and Esme Morgan will be able to count as their legacy leading women’s football into the mainstream.