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Montevideo, Jun 23 (Prensa Latina) The authorities of the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) are today on alert due to the freezing temperatures and the death of several homeless people.

This capital city dawned with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius and Mides in a communiqué indicated that “the existence of an emergency situation regarding homeless people has been determined”.

The communication indicates that “in a few months 32 new shelters have been opened and the number of places in the system has been increased by more than a thousand”.

The text emphasizes that this expansion is “the largest ever carried out in a Winter Plan” and “has guaranteed the entry into the system of all the people who requested and accepted a space since April 25, the date on which the Plan was brought forward”.

The Mides teams have called on the health services on more than 150 occasions for the evaluation of the pertinent medical intervention and the eventual hospitalization of people in the open", he points out.

The text refers to the implementation of “new exceptional measures” including the operation of night and contingency shelters on a 24-hour basis in several places of the country.

It refers to the agreement with the Ministry of the Interior for police cars to alert the Mides base team or the Emergency Medical Care System about the presence of people on the streets in situations of obvious health difficulties.

Strengthening of the base teams of the Street Program, with new technical teams and ministerial authorities in the task of capturing street people.

These measures are in addition to the start of operations of the “Open Doors” centers, belonging to the Community to the Street Plan, new spaces for early reception, with a focus on neighborhood work and follow-up through itinerant teams in different areas of Montevideo.

Together with Mides, other institutions are participating, including municipalities, the Ministries of Health and Defense.

In the last three days, three people living outdoors in various parts of the country have died.

Brasilia, Jun 29 (Prensa Latina) Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro returned today to the emblematic Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, where he called for amnesty for those convicted of coup episodes, but it turned out to be a deflated act, without people and without epic.

According to local media, what should have been a demonstration of force against the Supreme Federal Court (STF), ended up looking more like a family reunion and not exactly numerous.

One of the arguments most repeated by supporters to explain the lack of attendance at the demonstration was that, at the same time, the popular Flamengo was playing (lost 2-4) against the German Bayern Munich, in the round of 16 of the Club World Cup being held in the United States.

"That affected the presence, of course it affected. Brazilians love soccer," justified federal deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante, of the Liberal Party (in which Bolsonaro is a militant).

To compound the hangover, the Public Policy Group for Access to Information at the University of São Paulo released attendance estimates based on drone and camera image analysis.

The result? Some 12,400 people, a very modest figure even for a neighborhood fair, far below the number of participants at the previous event in February.

Such a contrast did not go unnoticed. The social networks exploded in memes and even so, the former president did not lose heart.

In his speech, he again called for amnesty for those involved in the assault on the Three Powers on January 8, 2023, described the trial against him as “fumaça de coup (coup smoke)” and said that “it was all staged by the left”.

He also blamed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for “not being in Brasilia”, when his extremist supporters invaded and ransacked on that date the headquarters of the National Congress, the STF and the Presidential Palace to hinder the rise to power of the former labor leader.

The organizers tried to make up for the low attendance by talking about a “more symbolic” act.

In his attempt to keep the epic alive, Bolsonaro promised that, if in the 2026 elections the right wing achieves 50 percent of the Congress, “we will change the destiny of Brazil”, although for now it seems difficult to fill even half of the square.

The final scene of the event was led by a man wearing a Brazilian national team jersey, who, when asked why there were not more people, answered without hesitation: "Flamengo is Flamengo, isn't it?

Meanwhile, the trial for attempted coup d'état continues at the STF, in which the former Army captain is involved.

And so, among other people's goals, windless flags and recycled harangues, Bolsonaro's mobilization this Sunday ended up losing by a landslide.

The reform must be applied in every public or private company… Ignoring the law is to break democracy, he said. At midday on Wednesday, Colombian president Gustavo Petro will sign the Labor Reform law, which Congress approved on June 20.

His signature will put this law into effect, returning rights and recognizing the dignity of working people, the Colombian president said on social media.

“We invite you to the Quinta de Bolivar Museum House in Bogota to celebrate this historic act by which workers win. Colombia wins!” it added.

During a demonstration in Medellin on Saturday, Petro announced that thousands of Ministry of Labor inspectors will be hired to ensure compliance with the reform.

“In Colombia, labor reform was implemented 34 years late. There are Colombians who have not been able to live their lives because before the 1991 Constitution, they had no labor rights, and after that Constitution, they waited 34 years,” said Juan Carlos Monedero, an academic and international political analyst.

“The reform must be applied in every public or private company, from media outlets to factories, from the countryside to working-class neighborhoods. Ignoring the law is to break democracy,” the Colombian president said.

The law seeks to improve conditions for more than 10 million formal workers registered in the country. Among its most important benefits is the gradual increase in the additional compensation paid to workers who labor on Sundays or holidays to 100 percent.

The labor reform also defines nighttime working hours as beginning at 7 p.m., establishes employment contracts for apprentices of the National Learning Service (SENA) and eliminates the possibility of hiring workers by the hour.