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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 3rd 2024 - 06:56 UTC

Stories for March 2023

  • Monday, March 6th 2023 - 09:22 UTC

    Former Ecuadorian President faces bribery charges

    Pre-trial detention is not allowed for people over 65 years of age, hence Moreno will only need to appear before Ecuadorian authorities bimonthly since he lives in Paraguay

    Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno and 36 other people have been indicted Sunday in connection with a possible case of corruption involving the construction of a hydroelectric plant by the Chinese company Sinohydro at a cost of US$ 2.245bn. Moreno attended his arraignment audience virtually, it was reported.

  • Monday, March 6th 2023 - 07:24 UTC

    Oceans Conference in Panama results in 341 commitments

    Panama's Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney gave the closing speech after the two-day conference (Pic AFP)

    Attendees at the Oceans Conference in Panama agreed on 341 commitments to protect the world's seas from an environmental viewpoint. The new steps to look after the marine ecosystem, and combat pollution, illegal fishing, and other threats will include disbursements of around US$ 19.7 billion.

  • Monday, March 6th 2023 - 07:11 UTC

    “My mission is not over,” Bolsonaro tells conservatives at “Trumpfest” event

    “I had much more support in 2022 than in 2018. I don't know why the numbers showed the opposite,” Bolsonaro said before a large conservative audience

    Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been nicknamed “The Trump of the Tropics,” got a rock star reception when he made his political rentrée Saturday evening at a US Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in which most Republican contenders for next year's elections were testing the waters, particularly former President Donald Trump.

  • Sunday, March 5th 2023 - 11:06 UTC

    Bolsonaro claims he did nothing wrong regarding the case of the First Lady's jewels

    Despite Bolsonaro's statements, Minister Dino wants a police enquiry into the case

    Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he was being falsely accused in the case of the jewels he allegedly tried to smuggle into the South American country last year after an official trip to Saudi Arabia. “They are accusing me of a gift that I did not ask for, nor did I receive. There is no illegality on my part,” Bolsonaro insisted.

  • Sunday, March 5th 2023 - 10:57 UTC

    US Congresswoman warns Buenos Aires not to build Chinese fighter jets

    Casa Rosada sources said Salazar's statements were inaccurate and that there were no plans to build JF-17 fighters locally

    US Representative María Elvira Salazar warned last week that Argentina was planning to install a factory of Chinese warplanes in the South American country. The former Spanish-language news anchorwoman of Cuban heritage stressed that President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) had embarked on a deal with the Devil that they would regret sooner than later.

  • Saturday, March 4th 2023 - 09:35 UTC

    Scandal: Bolsonaro tried to smuggle Arabian jewels into Brazil

    Saudi Arabia gave First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro US$ 3 million worth of jewels right after Petrobras sold them a refinery for US$ 1.8 billion

    Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tried to smuggle into his country almost US$ 3 million worth of jewels, O Estado de Sao Paulo reported. The newspaper article also explained that “a necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of diamond earrings,” had been a gift Saudi Arabia gave then-First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro in Oct. 2021.

  • Saturday, March 4th 2023 - 09:09 UTC

    Lula tells Zelenski once again that Brazil wants to mediate with Russia

    Lula insisted on his idea of a “peace club” while Zelenski believes his stance is not fully understood

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva Friday told his Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Zelenski once again through a video conference that the South American country was willing to broker a peaceful solution with Russia.

  • Saturday, March 4th 2023 - 08:56 UTC

    Former DINA operatives convicted in Chile

    With these new convictions, the defendants accumulate over 900 years in prison

    A Chilean court Friday unanimously repealed a previous acquitting ruling and upheld the prison sentences imposed on 59 former operatives of the General Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship (1973-1990) who were found guilty of aggravated kidnappings, mostly of members of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) in what became known as Operation Colombo.

  • Saturday, March 4th 2023 - 08:38 UTC

    Mujica wants the region to stand together and break medical patents

    “It is not about being right or left, it is about not being stupid,” Mujica told attendees of a conference in Brasilia

    Former Uruguayan President José Pepe Mujica called all South American countries this week to stand together and break patents on vaccines and medicines. He made those remarks from the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, where he attended a gathering with President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva and other local authorities.

  • Saturday, March 4th 2023 - 08:10 UTC

    Drug gangs off limits for Argentine armed forces, despite opposition's claims

    “Security is a problem of the Ministry of Security,” General Paleo explained

    After a mafia-style attack on Thursday against a supermarket in Rosario owned by relatives of Lionel Messi's wife, many opposition leaders in Argentina suggested the Armed Forces be deployed against the drug-trafficking gangs operating in the country's third-largest city.