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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 18th 2024 - 07:57 UTC

Latin America

  • 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.

  • Wednesday, January 10th 2024 - 10:54 UTC

    Peru reinforces Ecuadorean border controls

    Otárola announced that “the entire northern border of the country will be declared in emergency.”

    The Peruvian government of President Dina Boluarte Tuesday ordered the deployment of troops and law enforcement forces to the 1,500-kilometer-long border with Ecuador to prevent the violent uprising of drug-trafficking gangs from crossing over, it was reported in Lima.

  • Tuesday, January 9th 2024 - 11:40 UTC

    State of Emergency decreed in Ecuador amid simultaneous prison riots

    The Armed Forces have all the political and legal support in their actions, Noboa said

    Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa Monday decreed a state of emergency after riots erupted in at least six prisons nationwide, with inmates taking guards hostage and starting fires by burning mattresses. The measure allows the Armed Forces to intervene in support of law enforcement agencies.

  • Thursday, January 4th 2024 - 10:54 UTC

    Argentine judge orders Emtrasur Jumbo handed over to the US

    Venezuela threatened Latin American countries allowing the B-747-300 to fly back to the United States that such an acquiescence would be interpreted as a hostile act

    Lomas de Zamora Federal Judge Federico Villena, who has jurisdiction over Buenos Aires' international Ezeiza Airport, Wednesday acquiesced to a request from the United States and ordered the Boeing 747-300 freighter aircraft belonging to Venezuelan carrier Empresa de Transporte de Aerocargo del Sur (Emtrasur), after obtaining it from Iran's Mahan Air handed over to Washington.

  • Thursday, January 4th 2024 - 10:18 UTC

    Argentine authorities arrest three people suspected of terrorism

    One of the suspects of Syrian nationality also had a Colombian and a Venezuelan passport

    Argentine authorities arrested three men in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) Wednesday. The suspects were believed to be linked to plans to stage terrorist attacks in the country, it was explained.

  • Wednesday, January 3rd 2024 - 10:26 UTC

    Covid-19 keeps spreading across Bolivia

    Castro insisted people need to take precautions and attend vaccination centers

    Bolivian health authorities reported Tuesday a 128% surge in cases of Covid-19 nationwide in addition to the detection of the JN.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus -also known as Pirola- in the department of Santa Cruz.