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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 9th 2026 - 06:25 UTC

Stories for May 20th 2026

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:59 UTC

    Milei authorizes US Southern Command to patrol Argentine southern sea in strategic shift

    The initiative is part of the US Department of War's Program 333, the framework through which Washington seeks to deepen its military ties with allied countries

    Javier Milei's government on Wednesday announced the signing of a letter of intent with the United States for joint patrolling of the South Atlantic over the next five years, in a military cooperation agreement that ratifies Buenos Aires's strategic alignment with the Donald Trump administration and that has triggered alarms over Argentine sovereignty in its maritime spaces. The agreement, signed by the US Southern Command and Argentine Navy authorities, involves the supply of US technology to modernize the South American country's naval equipment and, at the same time, authorizes the participation of US forces in patrolling the Argentine southern sea.

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:49 UTC

    Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office asks not to renew license of country's sole uranium mine

    The uranium extraction unit is located in the municipality of Caetité, in the northeastern state of Bahía

    Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday recommended that the Brazilian Institute of Environment (Ibama) not renew the environmental license of the country's only uranium mine, in operation since 1999, until the responsible company duly consults the quilombola communities potentially affected by the activity. The recommendation does not amount to a definitive closure of operations, but it does entail a suspension conditional on compliance with the requirement of prior consultation of the populations affected by the project, in line with the national and international norms in force.

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:38 UTC

    Argentina opens economic bids for Paraná-Paraguay waterway amid warnings of irregularities

    The winning company will gain access to revenues of close to USD 600 million per year in tolls, according to the tender conditions

    The government of Javier Milei proceeded on Tuesday to open the economic bids submitted by the two international consortia competing for the 25-year concession of the Paraná-Paraguay waterway, Argentina's main fluvial trade artery, despite a warning from the Public Prosecutor's Office about the existence of “serious and obvious irregularities” that could give rise to criminal and administrative consequences. The Peronist opposition has filed a bill in Congress demanding the immediate suspension of the process.

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:18 UTC

    Bolivia escalates internal conflict into diplomatic clash with Colombia and divided regional backing

    Petro responded to the expulsion by accusing the Bolivian executive of falling into “extremism” and warned of the risk of “a massacre” if no national dialogue is opened

    The political and social crisis that has been shaking Bolivia for 15 days escalated on Wednesday into a regional diplomatic confrontation, with the government of Rodrigo Paz expelling the Colombian ambassador to La Paz, Elizabeth García, denouncing before the Organization of American States an attempt at “institutional destabilization,” and receiving public backing from the United States and from several governments in the region. The decision was taken after Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the protests as a “popular insurrection” and said that in Bolivia “there is a people in the streets being killed,” statements considered “interfering” by La Paz.

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 18:29 UTC

    United States indicts Raúl Castro over 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft

    “If you kill Americans, we will pursue you, no matter who you are, no matter what title you hold, and in this case, no matter how much time has passed,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said

    The US Department of Justice on Wednesday filed formal charges against former Cuban president Raúl Castro and five other Cuban military officers on counts of murder, conspiracy to murder US citizens, and destruction of aircraft, in connection with the shootdown on 24 February 1996 of two civilian planes operated by the anti-Castro organization Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment, approved on 23 April by a grand jury of the Southern District of Florida, was unveiled at the Freedom Tower in Miami on the same day the Cuban diaspora commemorates Independence Day, a date the Havana regime does not celebrate. It is the first time in nearly 70 years that a senior leader of the Cuban regime has faced criminal charges in the United States over events that resulted in the deaths of US citizens.

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 01:39 UTC

    Chile: Security and Spokesperson ministers fall in first cabinet reshuffle of Kast's government

    “I did not expect to carry out this cabinet reshuffle, it was not what I had planned for this stage,” Kast said

    Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Tuesday carried out the first cabinet reshuffle of his administration and removed from their posts the Security Minister, Trinidad Steinert, and the Government Spokesperson, Mara Sedini, in a reorganization that amounts to the fastest ministerial adjustment in Chile since the return to democracy in 1990. The decision comes just over two months after the inauguration of the far-right president, against a backdrop of falling presidential approval to around 40% and an increase in public disapproval to 60%.

  • Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 01:27 UTC

    The European Union unblocks tariff deal with United States after ten months of negotiation

    The ratification process was delayed by the reluctance of the European Parliament, which at the start of the year blocked the text in response to the Trump administration's threats against Greenland

    Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission reached a provisional agreement in the early hours of Wednesday on the final text of the tariff pact with the United States, in a decision that closes ten months of negotiations marked by pressures, threats, and successive blockages in the European Parliament. The Cypriot presidency of the Council, exercised during the first half of 2026, confirmed the breakthrough through the X social media platform and emphasized that the aim of the agreement is to “enhance a stable and predictable trade relationship” between the two blocs.