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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 26th 2026 - 23:43 UTC

Stories for June 2026

  • Monday, June 1st 2026 - 07:07 UTC

    Colombia: far-right De la Espriella advances first to runoff as Petro disowns results

    A few hours after polls closed, President Gustavo Petro publicly rejected the provisional results and denounced without evidence a variation in the electoral roll of around 800,000 voters

    Far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella took first place in the first round of the Colombian presidential elections held on Sunday, in a result that contradicted all previous polls and immediately opened an institutional crisis. With 99% of polling stations counted in the preliminary tally, De la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria movement, reached 43.7% of the vote —some 10.3 million ballots—, while leftist senator Iván Cepeda, of the ruling Pacto Histórico, obtained 40.9% with 9,649,081 votes. The runoff will be held on 21 June and the inauguration is scheduled for 7 August.

  • Monday, June 1st 2026 - 05:17 UTC

    Uruguay submits EUR 60 million offer to acquire three Royal Navy used patrol vessels

    The units in question correspond to the first generation of the Royal Navy's River class —HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey, and HMS Severn—, built between 2001 and 2003

    The Uruguayan government will this week present a formal offer to the United Kingdom's embassy for the acquisition of three used offshore patrol vessels belonging to the British Royal Navy, for an approximate amount of 60 million euros, as announced by the Deputy Secretary of the Presidency, Jorge Díaz. The operation, structured as a direct state-to-state purchase, fits within the administration of President Yamandú Orsi's search to replace the contract terminated with the Spanish shipyard Cardama, in parallel with the hardening of accusations from the Uruguayan executive against the Vigo-based company over the use of public funds transferred.

  • Monday, June 1st 2026 - 04:58 UTC

    Uruguayan opposition accuses Orsi of “mocking” public after response on vehicle discount

    “In general, when there are discounts I dive in headfirst,” Orsi said on Saturday

    The main opposition forces of Uruguay coincided on Sunday in questioning the public response of President Yamandú Orsi to the discount of approximately USD 25,000 he obtained in the purchase of a zero-kilometre Hyundai Santa Fe SUV a few days before assuming the presidency on 1 March 2025. The Board of Transparency and Public Ethics (Jutep) will review the transaction after receiving three formal citizen complaints, in an episode that is eroding one of the main political assets of the president, associated with an image of transparency and austerity.

  • Monday, June 1st 2026 - 03:03 UTC

    Paraguay arrests four Americans for marijuana smuggling

    Paraguayan authorities have detained four US citizens following the seizure on Saturday of a private aircraft arriving from Miami that was carrying 261.6 kilograms of marijuana with high tetrahydrocannabinol content, the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) reported on Sunday. Among those arrested is Jabari Stephen Brown, known for having won an executive aircraft valued at several million dollars in a competition organized by US YouTuber MrBeast, considered the content creator with the most followers in the world. Brown was captured on Saturday night at a hotel in Asunción, becoming the fourth member of the aircraft's crew in Paraguayan custody.

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