Stories for June 2026

Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 22:22 UTC
Mercosur turns to Asia with Japan talks as the EU quota split stays unresolved

Mercosur on Tuesday announced the start of trade negotiations with Japan and reaffirmed its intention to diversify alliances toward Asia during its biannual summit in Asunción, where Paraguay handed over the bloc's pro tempore presidency to Uruguay. The meeting, however, closed without an agreement on the internal distribution of export quotas under the treaty with the European Union, and again exposed the differences between Argentina and Brazil over the bloc's direction.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 22:19 UTC
Cepeda threatens 'civil disobedience' unless Colombia's president-elect renounces US citizenship

Left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, who lost Colombia's presidential runoff, announced on Tuesday that he will resort to “peaceful civil disobedience” against the incoming government of Abelardo de la Espriella if the president-elect does not renounce his US citizenship and clarify a series of questions before taking office on August 7. The Pacto Histórico leader, from the party of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, urged his voters to join the measure, which he described as not recognizing the new president's authority.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 22:08 UTC
Chilean rescuers allege military harassment in Venezuela's quake zone

The leader of the Topos Chile rescue group, Francisco Lermanda, alleged that his teams deployed in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira have been harassed by soldiers during search operations in the area hardest hit by the June 24 twin earthquake, which according to the official toll has left at least 1,943 dead. The Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the accusations.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 09:39 UTC
Keiko Fujimori wins Peru's presidency as the full count confirms her by 49,641 votes

Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) on Monday closed the count of the presidential runoff at 100% of the tally sheets and confirmed the victory of right-wing Keiko Fujimori over left-wing Roberto Sánchez, 22 days after the June 7 vote. The Fuerza Popular leader obtained 50.14% of valid votes against her rival's 49.87%, a difference of 49,641 ballots, in one of the closest elections in the country's recent history.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 08:33 UTC
Paraguay declares a holiday after reaching the World Cup's last 16 by beating Germany

Paraguay's President Santiago Peña declared a national holiday for Tuesday, June 30, to celebrate the national team's qualification for the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup, after eliminating Germany in a penalty shootout. “Today a whole country is celebrating,” the president wrote on the social network X, where he published the decree and congratulated the team, which he called by its nickname, the Albirroja.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 08:32 UTC
A regional shift to the right frames the wave of congratulations to Fujimori

The confirmation of right-wing Keiko Fujimori's victory in Peru's presidential runoff drew a wave of congratulations from leaders across the region, who framed the result within the shift to the right underway in several Latin American countries. With Fujimori's arrival in power, the right will add a new government, alongside those of Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and El Salvador, and the recent victory of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 08:27 UTC
Argentina taps the local market to fund a $4.2 billion bondholder payment due July 9

Argentina's Economy Ministry on Monday completed the placement of the Bonar 2028 (AO28), a dollar-denominated bond under local law, raising most of the funds needed to face a maturity of around $4.2 billion with private debt holders due on July 9. In the second round of the auction, the Finance Secretariat awarded $100 million, thereby reaching the authorized cap of $2 billion for that instrument.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 07:41 UTC
Venezuela's María Corina Machado accuses the government of blocking her return after the earthquake

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday accused the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez of closing the country's airspace to prevent her return, as Venezuela copes with the emergency caused by the June 24 twin earthquake, which has left more than 1,700 dead and some 5,000 injured. “They want to block my return to Venezuela,” Machado said in a video posted on social media, in which she said she was in Panama.
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 07:35 UTC
Mexican rescuers in Venezuela call it one of the largest tragedies they have faced

Rescuers from the Mexican Army's Emergency Response Battalion (BAE), considered among the most experienced in the world in natural disasters, say the earthquake that devastated north-central Venezuela is “one of the largest tragedies” they have attended, above all because of the scale of the damage. The team is working in the coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, where the official toll exceeded 1,700 dead on Monday.
Monday, June 29th 2026 - 08:30 UTC
Argentina's Pacific-pact bid would make it a trade partner of the UK, raising a Falklands dilemma

Argentina's request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has reopened a question over its sovereignty claim to the Falklands, since the United Kingdom is a full member of that agreement. If it goes ahead, it would be the first trade pact of this magnitude, since the 1982 war, in which Argentina would share partner status with London outside traditional multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations or the World Trade Organization.