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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 14th 2024 - 04:23 UTC

Latin America

  • Tuesday, January 16th 2024 - 11:17 UTC

    Ecuador: 48 prison inmates escape, only 5 recaptured

    One prisoner died during the incidents at the Esmeraldas jailhouse

    Only five of the 48 prison inmates that escaped Monday from the Esmeraldas jailhouse were recaptured later in the day according to sources from Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa's administration quoted by local media.

  • Tuesday, January 16th 2024 - 11:10 UTC

    Peru: Repsol argues area affected by La Pampilla spill is fit for use

    Despite Repsol's statement, there is no conclusive evidence that the area affected by the spill is oil-free

    The Spanish oil company Repsol said Monday that the Peruvian beaches affected by the 2022 La Pampilla spill were again fit for travelers.

  • Tuesday, January 16th 2024 - 10:17 UTC

    Venezuela: Maduro says Milei a “fatal mistake”

    Milei thinks that “by shrinking the State prosperity will be born by spontaneous generation,” Maduro explained

    Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Monday said his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei was a “fatal error” because of his State-capping economic policies. “You are a mistake in the history of Latin America, Milei, a fatal mistake in the history of Argentina,” Maduro said during his annual message before the National Assembly in Caracas.

  • Monday, January 15th 2024 - 20:59 UTC

    Nicaraguan clergymen said to have been freed and deported

    The report is yet to be confirmed by Ortega's government

    Nicaraguan authorities released from prison and deported Catholic Bishops Rolando Álvarez and Isidoro Mora, 13 priests, and three seminarians, it was reported Sunday in Managua. Álvarez was sentenced in February 2023 to 26 years and 4 months in prison for treason.

  • Monday, January 15th 2024 - 20:34 UTC

    Arévalo sworn in as President of Guatemala at last

    King Felipe VI and President Boric had to leave before Arévalo was effectively sworn in due to the 10-hour delay

    Although some ten hours later than scheduled, Bernardo Arévalo de León was eventually sworn in early Monday as Guatemala's new president for the period 2024-2028. After his inauguration, he was to offer his first speech as constitutional head of state. Before Arévalo's turn, 160 deputies took their oaths of office, thus extending the ceremony in time beyond projections.

  • Monday, January 15th 2024 - 10:06 UTC

    Ecuador: Authorities regain control of prisons, free hostages

    One casualty was recorded in the Machala prison, where on Friday night there was a shootout. Photo: José Jácome / EFE

    Ecuador's forces retook control of all the country's prisons and freed some 150 corrections officers who were being held hostage by the rioting inmates, it was reported this past weekend. However, one guard was killed during a shootout in the operation.

  • Saturday, January 13th 2024 - 10:51 UTC

    Ecuador accepts military help from Argentina and the US

    It “is not the moment to say no out of ego or vanity,” Noboa insisted

    Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa Friday said his government would be accepting the military cooperation offered by Argentina and the United States among other countries because the situation did not allow for egos to stand in the way.

  • Friday, January 12th 2024 - 10:31 UTC

    Ecuador: Life slowly getting back to normal

    Some 178 corrections officers are still held hostage by drug-trafficking gangs as authorities massively search for alias Fito

    Ecuadorean authorities Thursday confirmed drug-trafficking gangs continued to have a total of 178 hostages in prisons nationwide while the number of casualties after four days of internal turmoil was updated to 16 as the outlaws retaliated following law enforcement forces operations. In this scenario, daily life is gradually getting back to normal.

  • Thursday, January 11th 2024 - 10:49 UTC

    Ecuador's President promises to be tougher than previous administrations

    Noboa also asked Petro to take care of the nearly 1,500 Colombian inmates in Ecuadorean jails

    Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa underlined Wednesday that “we are at war and I will not give in.” He made those remarks one day after multiple uprisings by drug trafficking groups particularly in Quito and Guayaquil resulted in at least 18 deaths and over 300 arrests, in addition to the people wounded, for which the head of state declared an “internal armed conflict” against terrorist organizations believed to be 20,000 strong.

  • Wednesday, January 10th 2024 - 11:32 UTC

    Eight die as Ecuador's internal crisis escalates

    Men with rifles and grenades raided the studios of TC Television, Guayaquil's public TV station.<br /> <br />

    At least eight people were killed, many others were wounded and scores were arrested as a wave of drug-trafficking gang violence spread throughout Ecuador -specifically in Quito and Guayaquil- on Tuesday, targeting specifically the country's prisons, a TV station, and a university campus, it was reported.