Toma nota.../Take note...

La Paz, Apr. 16 (DPnet).– When Rodrigo Paz assumed office in November 2025, he declared an "economic, financial, energy, and social emergency." Key measures were the end of fuel subsidies, export liberalization, contracts to attract foreign companies, and the dismantling of some labor protections. The government initially called to join a round of "dialogue," and the official narrative was categorical: those who did not participate were unpatriotic, because opposing the decree was presented as akin to pushing the country into bankruptcy.

At this point, the IMF projects a “deeper recession of -3.3%, inflation that would rise to 20.7%, and an economic environment marked by more severe restrictions." The causes of this worsening lie in the continued decline of the hydrocarbons sector, acute fuel shortages, a collapsing fiscal balance, the persistent lack of foreign currency, the forced adjustment of spending, and the impact of adverse external factors, such as the war in the Middle East.

During his first 100 days, President Paz found that foreign exchange reserves have almost evaporated, forcing him to a severe rationing of U.S. dollars. Shortages of fuel and essential goods followed the failure of the state-run gas industry, once the engine of the economy, that has caused further massive fiscal deficits.

United Nations, Apr. 9 (DPnet).– As of early April 2026, four candidates have been formally nominated to succeed António Guterres as the next UN Secretary-General, starting in 2027. 

The candidates include former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi, former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan, and former Senegalese President Macky Sall. Three of them are from Latin America and the Caribbean region in line with the customary practice of rotating the position among geographical regions. Two of the officially nominated candidates are women. The General Assembly president and others are calling for more women to be nominated, as there has never been a female Secretary-General.

Formally Nominated Candidates

   Michelle Bachelet: Former President of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Michelle Bachelet (Chile). Nominated: 2 February 2026 by Chile, but her country withdrew its support on 24 March. Subsequently, Lula's Brazil and Sheinbaum's Mexico supported her. Bachelet herself issued a public statement declaring that she “will continue to work closely with the governments of Brazil and Mexico”. 

   Rafael Grossi (Argentina): Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He is not considering to leave his IAEA post until he is confirmed as a candidate. His present responsibilities has kept him front and center of global attention during the Israeli/United States war against Iran. He is a career diplomat, former Argentine ambassador to Austria, Slovenia,l Slovakia, and International Organisations based in Vienna (2013–2019).
Nominated: 26 November 2025 by Argentina.

   Rebeca Grynspan: Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and former Vice President of Costa Rica. She is an economist and she is seeking to claim the moral high ground with her decision to step away as head of UMNCTAD to avoid any possible conflicting interests.
Nominated: 3 March 2026 by Costa Rica.

• The Strait of Hormuz blockade has ensnared the Chinese regime in a political and economic dilemma created by its aggressive strategy, one analyst said.
• The blockade is triggering a devastating rupture in China’s export supply chains.

Beijing, March.28.– Iran has rejected Beijing’s attempt to play the mediator role in the war and request for safe passage of Chinese cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to insiders in China’s diplomatic circles who spoke to The Epoch Times.

Sun Min, an insider in diplomatic circles who used a pseudonym out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times that Beijing originally planned to leverage its special relationship with the Iranian regime to act as a key mediator in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, thereby seeking to secure leadership over the “Global South”—developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. However, Iran rejected the idea, according to Sun.

The author, Mollie Engelhart, is an expert in agricultural issues and highlights here the disastrous situation of instability and inefficiency caused by an bloated, atrophied bureaucracy that is highly hindering free enterprise. She is a regenerative farmer and rancher at Sovereignty Ranch, committed to food sovereignty, soil regeneration, and educating on homesteading and self-sufficiency, after her journey from vegan chef and LA restaurateur to hands-in-the-dirt farmer.

The most centrally planned, government-dependent, subsidy-driven system in the United States isn’t medicine, housing, or energy. It’s food. Will the current administration be able to solve this problem?

America loves to debate socialism. We argue about universal health care, guaranteed income, student loan forgiveness, and government dependency. We pride ourselves on our rugged independence and belief in free markets. We warn that socialism destroys innovation, freedom, and personal responsibility. But here’s the uncomfortable truth most Americans never stop to consider: The most centrally planned, government-dependent, subsidy-driven system in the United States isn’t medicine, housing, or energy; it’s food.

Our food system is not a free market. It is not capitalism in any recognizable form. It is a government-engineered economy propped up by taxpayer dollars at every stage, directed by regulation, shaped by corporate interests, and leaving both consumers and farmers dependent, unhealthy, and without real alternatives.

Each year, more than $40 billion of taxpayer money is used to subsidize commodity crops such as corn, soy, wheat, and cotton. Crop insurance, also paid for largely by the public, is essentially another subsidy, and without it, most large commodity farms wouldn’t survive. But the subsidies don’t stop at growing. Once harvested, those subsidized crops become corn syrup, seed oils, stabilizers, livestock feed, artificial ingredients, ultraprocessed food additives, and ethanol: fuel grown on prime farmland and heavily subsidized again under the banner of environmental benefit.

In October 2024, the Council of Europe’s Democratic Institutions and Civil Society Division launched a grant to support civil society organisations with a clear purpose - fostering a democratic culture, increasing public engagement in decision making, and strengthening the links between civil society and the Council of Europe - the grant also sought to raise awareness of the Council’s standards on strengthening democracy, especially the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy, and highlight the value of collaboration and identify new opportunities in this area. 

Three projects, one goal: strengthening democracy

Running from March to October 2025, the three winning projects placed a strong emphasis on communication and outreach, ensuring that their impact extended well beyond direct participants.