The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) has emerged from the three-day congress in Berlin without internal bruises. Nobody has asked for responsibilities for the budget crisis that Olaf Scholz's government coalition is experiencing or for the 14% in voting intention that the party obtains in the polls, a historic low.. Rather the opposite has happened.. Without the slightest self-criticism, except for the loud reproaches of the Socialist Youth (Jusos), the 600 delegates who attended the congress gave the Executive their approval.. The motto was “unity” and supporting a chancellor in trouble. “We must remain united and have a clear direction,” it was insisted from the stands.

The party presidents, Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil, were confirmed in their positions with very respectable results. They elected the Minister of Labor, Hubertus Heil, and the Minister President of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, as primi inter pares in the ranks of the deputies with an extraordinary 96.6 and 95.5% of the votes, respectively.. And with an electoral result of 92.5%, they elevated Secretary General Kevin Kühnert from a left-wing hope for the future to a social democratic phenomenon of the present..

The result of the vote for Kühnert, former president of the Jusos, was especially expected. In the last two years, Kühnert has mutated from a left-wing arsonist to a moderating official who was mainly responsible for keeping calm in the SPD and covering the chancellor's back together with the party leadership and the parliamentary group leader of the SPD. SPD, Rolf Mützenich. Many expected a rather mediocre result from Kühnert. However, even Kühnert's biggest admirers were surprised by his approval rating.. His efforts to moderate and find compromises between the different wings and positions of the SPD, especially behind the scenes, were rewarded.

Surprises

Overall, there were some surprises. In the debate on the abolition of the debt brake, the Jusos initially presented a compromise: “In principle, we reject abstract limits on debt in the constitutions of the federal government and the federated states”. Much to the delight of Jusos leader Philipp Türmer, the party conference later voted unanimously in favor of an even stricter version: “We reject the rigid limits on the borrowing of the federal and state governments, as we currently find in the constitutions.” A victory for the left of the party, which was able to score another point. The delegates also decided to give the green light to the federal government to suspend the debt brake again for the 2024 federal budget to ensure the planning certainty of companies and the German economy and not jeopardize investments in neutral restructuring. for the weather.

Scholz reacted in his own way to the various comments on the debt brake from the delegates. He did not mention the matter at all in his speech. Instead, he promised that there would be “no dismantling of the welfare state in Germany” with him as chancellor.. It was a generic promise, but enough to satisfy the longing for a clear social message that many in the SPD wanted to hear from their chancellor.. Scholz was celebrated for his speech and honored by Saskia Esken: “Here you feel at home”. Scholz has remained true to himself and his direction,” said co-president.

The SPS delegates may feel satisfied with these resolutions, which, if applied, would allow the 2024 budgets to be approved as they were before the November ruling of the Constitutional Court. But the reality is different. The Liberals (FDP), partners of the Government coalition and with control of the Ministry of Finance, refuse to loosen the debt brake and do not change their mind due to SPD resolutions that, in short, what they do is narrow the margin Scholz's maneuver in the negotiations.

Immigration

The debate on immigration policy was somewhat more heated, as Scholz announced in an interview that “we must deport once and for all on a large scale those who do not have the right to remain in Germany.”. In his speech, the chancellor refrained from repeating that statement about large-scale deportations when discussing the contentious issue of rejected asylum seekers.. It would have seriously disturbed the newly established balance between chancellor and party.

Here too there was in the end a compromise: humane treatment of refugees, deportations when there is no right to stay and support for civil maritime rescue in the Mediterranean: these are now the positions of the SPD.

The debate on military affairs turned out to be the most politically sensitive. A motion not to spend 2% of GDP on defense, contrary to NATO's internal commitment, could only be rejected by a narrow majority and under the rigid leadership of the presidency..

The SPD leaves the congress more united than it entered, but that does not get it out of the 14% hole. In the elections two years ago it received 25.7% of the support.

“There is no money, there is no money!”: a crowd of Argentines sang Javier Milei's mantra this Sunday when greeting his arrival to the presidency. That thousands of people celebrated the absence of money while announcing a very severe adjustment, never seen before, and warning of the danger of hyperinflation speaks of the fundamental political shift that is taking place in the third largest economy in Latin America.

“Today a new era begins in Argentina, today we end a long era of decadence and decline, and we begin the reconstruction of the country,” said the new president in an unprecedented speech from the steps of Congress, in which he The economic legacy of Kirchnerism was harshly criticized after two decades of political dominance in the country.

“There is a will for change that has no return. There is no turning back, today we bury decades of failure, internal fights and meaningless discussions,” Milei added, while promising “growth, development, freedom and progress.”

The new president recalled that Argentina was the “beacon of the West” and the land to which immigrants from all over the world arrived before “embracing the impoverishing theories of collectivism.”

“Let me be clear on this: no government has received a worse inheritance than what we are receiving (…). There is no viable solution that avoids attacking the fiscal deficit. The solution involves a fiscal adjustment of five points of GDP in the national public sector, which will fall almost entirely on the State, and not on the private sector!” Milei shouted before a euphoric and hopeful crowd.

True to his disruptive ways, Milei, 53, has limited himself to swearing in before the Legislative Assembly and has not given the usual speech before the deputies and senators. After asking the legislators to remain in their places, Milei and the new vice president, Victoria Villarruel, headed to the steps of the Congress Palace. His speech was followed in the front row, to Milei's right, by King Felipe VI, one of the heads of state present in Buenos Aires.

Along with his sister and his vice president. LUIS ROBAYO AFP

The ultraliberal, who does not belong to either Peronism or pan-radicalism, the two political families that have historically governed the country, arrived at the Congress building aboard a car that traveled completely along the emblematic Avenida de Mayo on a splendid late morning. spring in the southern hemisphere.

The inauguration ceremony has shown an unusual role of the former vice president Cristina Kirchner, dressed in intense red. After showing the middle finger to a Milei supporter upon entering Congress, he gave orders left and right as he greeted him upon his arrival at the Legislative Palace and then, with his hands in his pockets, he moved incessantly on the stage while the new president was sworn into office.

Milei smiles next to the former vice president Cristina Fernández de Kichner. ALEJANDRO PAGNI AFP

The two-time president has held brief conversations with the new tenant of the Casa Rosada and did not spare a glance at the outgoing president, Alberto Fernández, when he approached to greet her.

It was later learned that something that caught Kirchner's attention was the silver handle of the presidential cane: there, in relief, are the figures of Conan, Milei's English mastiff who died in 2017, and the four cloned dogs that he gave him. they replaced. When signing the minute book, Milei added a dedication: “Long live freedom, damn it.”

Former president Mauricio Macri, who between 2015 and 2019 marked an interregnum to 20 years of Kirchnerist hegemony, attended the ceremony with visible joy that was reflected on social networks: “Congratulations President Milei, I wouldn't take a single comma out of your speech. Long live freedom, damn it!”

Milei's arrival to power implies more than a change of era, it is a change of paradigm. If for decades the majority of Argentines lived convinced that what was essential began and ended in the State (“the present State”, one of the successful workhorses of Kirchnerism), Milei's devastating victory in the November 19 elections has revealed another Argentina. The word “freedom” has become fashionable, shouted by many young people who 10 or 20 years ago would have experienced Cristina.

Milei had a brief conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for the first time in Latin America since the war with Russia began, before addressing the crowd. Later, at the Casa Rosada, both leaders would give each other a long and heartfelt hug and then hold a bilateral meeting.. The Ukrainian, who went to Buenos Aires to seek support from Latin America, now has an unconditional ally in Argentina.

The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, the former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who arrived on foot at Congress, and the Heads of State of Armenia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador also attended.. The absence of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in what was the shortest and most disconcerting formal inauguration ceremony in the 40 years of the current democratic stage has stood out.

Faithful to his passion for the economy, Milei has spoken of “consolidated liabilities” and “monetary policy” in an excessively technical speech, and has added that the uncontrolled monetary issue during the Fernández government “is not free” and could have led the country to be “the Venezuela of Chávez and Maduro”. “The outgoing government has left us with hyperinflation, and it is our duty to make every effort to avoid such a catastrophe, which would take poverty above 90%.”

The closing of the massive demonstration in front of Congress showed attendees collecting all the garbage generated, a novel image, which local media defined as almost “Japanese.”

After proposing “a new social contract” in which the State does not “direct the lives of Argentines”, but rather ensures “their rights”, Milei addressed “the Argentine political class”, which he labeled as “caste “during his campaign.

“We do not ask for blind support, but we will not tolerate hypocrisy, dishonesty or the ambition for power to interfere with the change that we Argentines choose.”

“We know it will be hard,” added the new president of Argentina, who this Monday will reactivate the process of joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in which Macri had made progress and that Fernández put on the freezer.

“We neither seek nor desire the hard decisions that will have to be made in the coming weeks, but unfortunately they have left us no choice,” insisted Milei, who said he had one more ally, in addition to his voters: he cited a phrase from the Book of Maccabees. , “victory in battle does not depend on the number of soldiers, but on the forces that come from heaven.”

The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) has emerged from the three-day congress in Berlin without internal bruises. No one has asked for responsibility for the budget crisis experienced by Olaf Scholz's government coalition or for the 14% of voting intentions that the party obtains in the polls, a historic low.. Rather the opposite has happened.. Without the slightest self-criticism, except for the loud reproaches of the Socialist Youth (Jusos), the 600 delegates who attended the congress gave the Executive their approval.. The motto was “unity” and supporting a chancellor in trouble. “We must remain united and have a clear direction,” it was insisted from the stands.

The party presidents, Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil, were confirmed in their positions with very respectable results. They elected the Minister of Labor, Hubertus Heil, and the Minister President of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, as primi inter pares in the ranks of the deputies with an extraordinary 96.6 and 95.5% of the votes, respectively.. And with an electoral result of 92.5%, they elevated Secretary General Kevin Kühnert from a left-wing hope for the future to a social democratic phenomenon of the present..

The result of the vote for Kühnert, former president of the Jusos, was especially expected. In the last two years, Kühnert has mutated from a left-wing arsonist to a moderating official who was mainly responsible for keeping calm in the SPD and covering the chancellor's back together with the party leadership and the parliamentary group leader of the SPD. SPD, Rolf Mützenich. Many expected a rather mediocre result from Kühnert. However, even Kühnert's biggest admirers were surprised by his approval rating.. His efforts to moderate and find compromises between the different wings and positions of the SPD, especially behind the scenes, were rewarded.

Surprises

Overall, there were some surprises. In the debate on the abolition of the debt brake, the Jusos initially presented a compromise: “In principle, we reject abstract limits on debt in the constitutions of the federal government and the federated states”. The delegates also decided to give the green light to the federal government to suspend the debt brake again for the 2024 federal budget to ensure the planning certainty of companies and the German economy and not jeopardize investments in neutral restructuring. for the weather.

Scholz reacted in his own way to the various comments on the debt brake from the delegates. He did not mention the matter at all in his speech. Instead, he promised that there would be “no dismantling of the welfare state in Germany” with him as chancellor.. It was a generic promise, but enough to satisfy the longing for a clear social message that many in the SPD wanted to hear from their chancellor.. Scholz was celebrated for his speech and honored by Saskia Esken: “Here you feel at home”. Scholz has remained true to himself and his direction,” said co-president.

The SPS delegates may feel satisfied with these resolutions, which, if applied, would allow the 2024 budgets to be approved as they were before the November ruling of the Constitutional Court. But the reality is different. The Liberals (FDP), partners of the Government coalition and with control of the Ministry of Finance, refuse to loosen the debt brake and do not change their mind due to SPD resolutions that, in short, what they do is narrow the margin Scholz's maneuver in the negotiations.

Immigration

The debate on immigration policy was somewhat more heated, as Scholz announced in an interview that “we must deport once and for all on a large scale those who do not have the right to remain in Germany.”. In his speech, the chancellor refrained from repeating that statement about large-scale deportations when discussing the contentious issue of rejected asylum seekers.. It would have seriously disturbed the newly established balance between chancellor and party.

Here too there was in the end a compromise: humane treatment of refugees, deportations when there is no right to stay and support for civil maritime rescue in the Mediterranean: these are now the positions of the SPD.

The debate on military affairs turned out to be the most politically sensitive. A motion not to spend 2% of GDP on defense, contrary to NATO's internal commitment, could only be rejected by a narrow majority and under the rigid leadership of the presidency..

The SPD leaves the congress more united than it entered, but that does not get it out of the 14% hole. In the elections two years ago it received 25.7% of the support.

Intense fighting and bombing in three key areas of the Gaza Strip, arrests and surrenders, and warnings from both the UN and relatives of kidnapped people have marked day 65 of the war between Israel and Hamas.

“Every day that passes, more terrorists die and in recent days we see terrorists surrendering, which is a sign of the disintegration of the system (Hamas) and that we must put more pressure,” says the Israeli Army Chief of Staff. , Herzi Halevi, in the biggest confrontation with the fundamentalist group that controls the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Halevi refers to the fighting in Jabalia and Shujaiya (north) and Jan Yunis (south) as well as the massive arrests. The images of Palestinians in underwear with their hands tied, including some new ones with rifles handed over, were not released by the Army. Although they receive a lot of criticism from abroad, some Israelis believe they have psychological value on the ground against Hamas and Islamic Jihad at a decisive moment in the war.. However, National Security Advisor Tsaji Hanegbi criticizes it and states that there will be no more photographs of this type.

A suspected Hamas member raises his hands after surrendering to soldiers in Jabaliya. EM

Israel alleges that the manner of arrest of half-naked suspects was due to fear that they were carrying hidden explosives or weapons. “In recent days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered and handed over their weapons to our forces,” declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sending a message to Hamas troops: “I tell you, it's over. Don't die for Sinwar (Hamas leader). Give up now”. According to Netanyahu, “it will take more time, but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas.”

The Islamist group, for its part, denies that the detainees belong to its group and maintains that “it is pure propaganda.”. “Showing photographs of defenseless citizens after their arrest and placing weapons next to them aims to create a false victory over the resistance,” he adds, ensuring that his operatives do not surrender.. The armed wing of Hamas confirmed that “fierce fighting is underway” in Jabalia.

According to Israeli Channel 12, “40% of the detained suspects who surrendered in recent days are terrorists and the rest are and will be released”. A conclusion from the interrogations indicates that “the Hamas leadership in the tunnels does not want to admit reality and there is a disconnection between the leadership of the armed wing and its members.”.

The veto in the Security Council

Sinwar may not understand the exact level of devastation suffered by Gazans on the surface but he does know that his big goal today is a ceasefire whether thanks to the UN, US President Joe Biden or an agreement on the hostages. In this way, it would stop the unprecedented bombings and ground advances of Israel which, unlike in the past, seeks to destroy Hamas as an armed and control group in Gaza..

An objective that, for the moment, the United States fully supports, although with limitations (minimizing the number of civilian deaths as much as possible and increasing humanitarian aid).. After exercising the veto in the UN Security Council to overturn the resolution in favor of an immediate ceasefire, the Biden government circumvented Congress to approve the emergency sale to Israel of almost 14,000 tank shells for more than 106 million of dollars.

According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, 18,000 Palestinians have died in the offensive launched after the jihadist group's attack.. Israel points out that “more than 7,000 terrorists” have died in the war, which since its beginning has an Israeli death toll of 1,300.

“They attack everything that moves. The resistance also fights back,” Hamza Abu Fatouh of Shujaiya told AP. Residents of southern Khan Yunis report seeing Israeli tanks on Jamal Abdel-Nasser Street in the city center. Given the Israeli call to its inhabitants to move to Rafah, international agencies warn that the area will not be able to accommodate more people.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warns that overcrowding creates “ideal conditions” for the spread of disease. “The health system is on its knees and collapsed. “Its capacity has been reduced by a third,” he added in an emergency meeting in which he detailed that only 14 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially functioning.

The families ask that the hostages be a priority

The 'Forum of families of the kidnapped and missing' in Israel demands the cabinet to prioritize their release over the goal of ending Hamas and return to an agreement of several days of truce to allow the return of the 137 people in the hands of the militias of the more than 240 kidnapped on 7-O.

At 18, Liri Albag is the youngest in Hamas captivity. “For 64 days we don't know where and how she is, if she is injured, what she feels.. How can I go to sleep if she is still in the darkness of the tunnels?” asks her father Eli in Tel Aviv and warns that the lives of all the kidnapped people, some elderly or sick, are in constant danger.. “The stories told by the freed hostages demonstrated the atrocities they suffer, the hunger, the humiliation, the physical violence and, yes, also sexual violence that a father cannot even imagine what is happening to his daughter.”

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Mohamed bin Abderrahman Al Thani, has confirmed that talks to achieve a truce in the format reached three weeks ago were not paralyzed..

“We continue our efforts and hope to return to the agreement we reached for a pause and to release hostages who are still alive (…). It is necessary that both parties be willing to do this. Unfortunately we are not seeing the same will that we had seen in the previous weeks,” he stated this Sunday at the Doha Forum in which he warned that “the continuation of the (Israeli) bombings narrows this window for us.”