
Chile entered a new political phase on Wednesday with the inauguration of José Antonio Kast, the most conservative figure to reach La Moneda since the return to democracy. Kast was sworn in at Congress in Valparaíso and then moved to the presidential palace, where he defended the idea of an “emergency government” and said he was receiving “a country in worse conditions than we could have imagined.”

The war involving Iran, Israel and the United States entered a broader regional phase on Thursday, with fresh Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure, shipping routes and military positions across Gulf states, while Israel responded with a new wave of strikes on Iranian territory. The escalation again tightened pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and pushed oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

Rising fuel prices have added new pressure to Argentina’s March inflation outlook, in a month already burdened by the start of the school year, utility adjustments and seasonal pressure on food prices. In the local market, gasoline prices have risen by roughly 7% to 8% so far in March, increasing the risk that monthly inflation could move back toward the 3% range.

Argentina’s chief of staff, Manuel Adorni, has come under political pressure after it emerged that his wife accompanied him on the presidential aircraft during Javier Milei’s trip to the United States, triggering questions over the use of public resources and a possible contradiction with rules the government itself had set for official planes.

U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized the release of 172 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a coordinated action with the International Energy Agency, in a bid to contain rising fuel prices after market disruption caused by the war with Iran. The Department of Energy said deliveries will begin next week and will take about 120 days to complete.

The U.S. government has formally recognized Delcy Rodríguez before a federal court in New York as the Venezuelan authority empowered to act on behalf of the state, giving legal effect to the diplomatic shift toward Caracas announced last week. The move appears in a “statement of interest” filed on March 10 in response to a court order on who legally represents Venezuela in ongoing litigation in U.S. courts.