Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 19th 2026 - 04:28 UTC

Stories for May 2026

  • Friday, May 15th 2026 - 03:05 UTC

    Uruguay: Orsi's disapproval climbs to 48% as approval falls to 27% in his first year in office

    The net balance between disapproval and approval widened from -7 points in February to -21 points by the end of April, a gap more than double the one recorded at the start of the year

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi's administration recorded a significant deterioration in public approval as the government marked its first year in office, according to the latest survey by the polling firm Equipos released on Thursday on the Subrayado newscast. The president's disapproval rose to 48%, up from 40% in February, while approval fell from 33% to 27% over the same period. Intermediate assessments held roughly steady at around 23%, and 2% of respondents declined to answer.

    Add your comment!
  • Friday, May 15th 2026 - 02:58 UTC

    Cuba accepts USD 100 million in US humanitarian aid amid energy collapse

    The US energy blockade has aggravated the structural crisis the island has been dragging since the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the resulting interruption of the Venezuelan supply

    The Cuban government on Thursday accepted the United States' offer of USD 100 million in humanitarian aid for food, fuel, and medicines, in a significant political shift after weeks of public rejection and hours after authorities on the island acknowledged the complete exhaustion of their fuel reserves. The aid will be channeled through the Catholic Church, according to the official statement issued by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who only the day before had described the US offer as “inconsequential and paradoxical.”

    Add your comment!
  • Thursday, May 14th 2026 - 16:52 UTC

    UK ‘Zero Net’ Miliband’s policy questioned as a threat to British security, ‘China dominates all the green technology’

    Ed Miliband has been accused of handing Beijing a “kill switch” over the UK economy after claiming that green energy will end reliance on Vladimir Putin’s Russia 

    The UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband has been accused of handing Beijing a “kill switch” over the British economy, after claiming that green energy will end the UK's reliance on Vladimir Putin’s Russia for its fuel needs.

    Add your comment!
  • Thursday, May 14th 2026 - 09:27 UTC

    Venezuela announces formal restructuring of its external debt after nearly a decade in default

    The restructuring advances within the framework of the gradual easing of sanctions promoted by Washington following the 3 January military operation

    The Venezuelan government on Wednesday announced the formal launch of an “integral and orderly” restructuring of the country's public external debt and that of the state oil company PDVSA, in the most concrete step by acting President Delcy Rodríguez's administration toward financial normalization after nearly a decade in default. The communiqué, issued by the Sectoral Vice Presidency for the Economy, sets as its central objective “to put the economy at the service of the Venezuelan people and free the country from the burden of accumulated debt.”

    Add your comment!
  • Thursday, May 14th 2026 - 09:21 UTC

    Orsi prepares for Washington visit after months of overtures to the Trump administration

    “I am the president of Uruguay and I do not conduct foreign policy representing a political force. I do it thinking about what suits Uruguay,” the president argued

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi will travel to Washington “in the coming months” to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump, in a meeting that national authorities describe as agreed and awaiting only the coordination of calendars, according to Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin's confirmation on Wednesday before the Senate International Affairs Committee. The summit would crown a series of overtures by the Broad Front government toward the Republican administration, initiated in the early weeks of Orsi's term, which began in March, and which have generated controversy within the ruling coalition itself.

    Add your comment!
  • Wednesday, May 13th 2026 - 23:41 UTC

    Falklands representative meets Starmer at State Opening of UK Parliament

    The Falkland Islands Representative to the UK & Europe, Richard Hyslop, with the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, after the State Opening of Parliament

    The Falkland Islands Government Representative to the United Kingdom and Europe, Richard Hyslop, attended the formal opening of the British parliamentary year on Wednesday, 13 May, and held talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Minister for the UK Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty, at the reception held after the ceremony. The meeting reaffirms the political alignment between London and Stanley at a moment of international diplomatic tension over the sovereignty of the archipelago.

    Add your comment!
  • Wednesday, May 13th 2026 - 20:00 UTC

    Warsh to succeed Powell at the Fed with inflation at three-year high

    Warsh takes office with US inflation at a three-year high

    The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed economist Kevin Warsh as the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve in a 54-45 vote, in a transition that hands control of the world's most influential central bank to President Donald Trump's pick at a moment of strong inflationary pressure. Warsh, a former Fed governor during the 2008 financial crisis and a former Morgan Stanley banker, will formally take office on Friday 15 May, following the departure of Jerome Powell, whose eight-year term has been marked by successive economic crises and a prolonged clash with the White House over the central bank's political independence.

    Add your comment!
  • Wednesday, May 13th 2026 - 17:23 UTC

    Patagonian Tragedy to Be Remembered at London’s Royal Albert Hall

    The project began when acclaimed Welsh composer Robat Arwyn visited Patagonia and met local historian Jeremy Wood in Esquel

    A little-known but deeply poignant chapter of Patagonian history will be brought to life this June at one of the world’s most prestigious venues, London’s Royal Albert Hall.

    Add your comment!
  • Wednesday, May 13th 2026 - 16:38 UTC

    Paraguay aims for 10 million tourists by 2037 with megaparks and foreign capital

    Paraguay received 3.6 million international visitors in 2025 —2,029,678 tourists and 1,627,516 day-trippers— a 91.24% increase over the previous year

    The new minister of Paraguay's National Tourism Secretariat (Senatur), Jacinto Santa María, has announced a plan to turn the country into a regional tourism destination and draw up to 10 million annual visitors by 2037, a target that would almost triple the flow recorded in 2025 and which the official aims to reach by attracting major foreign investment to develop theme parks and megaprojects. Santa María, who took office two weeks ago, laid out the proposal in an interview with the EFE news agency and at his first press conference at the head of the agency.

    Add your comment!
  • Wednesday, May 13th 2026 - 12:25 UTC

    Trump lands in Beijing for first summit with Xi in China since 2017

    US President Donald Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday at 19:52 local time (11:52 GMT) to begin a three-day state visit to the Asian giant, his second trip to the country since the one made in 2017 during his first term and the first by a US president to the Chinese capital in nearly nine years. The summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will run Thursday and Friday and will tackle the fragile trade truce sealed in Busan last October, the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, the technological rivalry between the world's two largest economies, and the dispute over Taiwan.

    Add your comment!