Election and ethics

Opinion polls suggested that
Dilma Rousse , the ruling
party’s candidate, is on track to
win Brazil’s presidential election
on October 3rd despite an
ethics scandal. Erenice Guerra,
who replaced Ms Rousse as
chief of sta to Luiz Inácio Lula
da Silva, the outgoing president,
resigned over claims that
she was complicit in a scheme
of her son’s to extract kickbacks
in return for help with
public contracts and loans. Ms
Guerra denies wrongdoing.
In a front-page editorial addressed
to drug-tra cking
gangs, the main newspaper in
Ciudad Juárez, on Mexico’s
border with the United States,
asked for guidance on what it
could and could not publish
without su ering violent
reprisals. The editorial followed
the murder of an intern
at the paper. It also complained
of the lack of government
protection.
Argentina’s government
stepped up its campaign
against the country’s two main
newspapers, ling a lawsuit
accusing them of complicity in
crimes against humanity
when they bought a newsprint
business during the country’s
military dictatorship of the
1970s. The papers say the
charges are bogus.
In a continuing shake-up of his
economic team, Cuba’s president,
Raúl Castro, sacked the