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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 24th 2026 - 02:29 UTC

Stories for 2026

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 23:32 UTC

    Trump labels PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations and Brazil fears intervention

    Lula da Silva accused Flávio Bolsonaro, his most likely rival in October's presidential elections, of having “betrayed the homeland by going to the United States to ask for an intervention in Brazil”

    Brazil's government on Friday issued an official note rejecting the decision adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump to designate Brazil's two main organized crime groups, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho, as terrorist organizations. “We will not accept the use of arbitrary measures from abroad as a pretext to attack our sovereignty and our economy,” the statement warned, while avoiding explicit reference to the US administration. The measure, announced on Thursday, adds both organizations to a list that includes Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the main Mexican cartels, and the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 23:09 UTC

    Colombia votes for new president with healthcare system on verge of collapse as main concern

    The cross-spectrum diagnosis agrees on the gravity of the situation, but the causes divide the political spectrum

    Colombia will hold on Sunday 31 May the first round of the presidential elections that will determine the succession of President Gustavo Petro for the 2026-2030 term, with an electoral roll of 41,287,084 voters and healthcare emerging as the electorate's main concern, according to opinion polls. The national health system is going through its most severe crisis in decades: pharmacies are denying medications, hospitals are closing services, and specialist appointments are indefinitely postponed. A possible runoff would be held on 21 June if none of the fourteen candidates surpasses 50% of the vote.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 07:51 UTC

    Argentine justice advances on 111 assets of the Kirchners and Lázaro Báez in Vialidad case

    Following the Cassation ruling, all that remains for Cristina Kirchner and her children is to file a direct complaint before the Supreme Court

    The Federal Criminal Cassation Chamber of Argentina on Thursday rejected the extraordinary appeals filed by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, her children Máximo and Florencia, and businessman Lázaro Báez against the confiscation of 111 assets ordered as part of the Vialidad case. The decision, adopted by the court's Chamber IV, virtually closes the path to the country's highest tribunal and clears the execution of the asset-related measures associated with the conviction for fraudulent administration imposed on the former president in December 2022 and confirmed by the Supreme Court in June 2025.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 07:00 UTC

    Global carmakers struggle to maintain competitiveness against China's technological offensive

    The Chinese consolidation has altered the nature of traditional alliances

    Major US, European, and Japanese automakers are undergoing a process of strategic repositioning in the face of the accelerated rise of Chinese manufacturers, which have consolidated their leadership in electric vehicles, batteries, industrial design, and software development, according to an investigation published this week by the BBC on the occasion of Auto China 2026, the world's largest motor show. The transformation is reflected in the public acknowledgment from executives themselves: the president of Honda, Toshihiro Mibe, said after visiting a highly automated plant in Shanghai that his company has “no chance against this,” while Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that Western carmakers are “in a fight for our lives.”

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 06:42 UTC

    Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru sign joint agreement to combat transnational crime

    “This is not just a political gesture, it is not a diplomatic milestone,” Kast said at the opening, arguing that “there can be a before and an after here”

    The governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru on Thursday signed in Santiago a joint cooperation agreement against transnational organized crime, in a meeting convened by the Chilean government of President José Antonio Kast and attended by five foreign ministers, four security ministers, and one interior minister. The so-called Santiago Regional Compact articulates five areas of cooperation and will be presented before the 56th General Assembly of the Organization of American States to extend the initiative to the rest of the continent.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 06:31 UTC

    Capricorn Bioceanic Corridor advances to final stretch to connect Atlantic with Pacific

    For Paraguay, the corridor carries a particular strategic dimension

    The Capricorn Bioceanic Corridor, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects underway in South America, is moving through its final stretch on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, with just twenty-one metres remaining to complete the physical link of the so-called Bioceanic Bridge, according to Paraguayan government authorities cited in late May 2026. The structure, built over the Paraguay River, will connect the cities of Carmelo Peralta, in the department of Alto Paraguay, and Puerto Murtinho, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and constitutes one of the central pieces of a logistics corridor that will link the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific across four South American countries.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 21:35 UTC

    Submarine Force Advisory Council flagged ARA San Juan concerns seven months before its sinking

    Minutes of the Argentine Submarine Force Advisory Council signed by fourteen navy captains on 30 April 2017, seven months before the implosion of the ARA San Juan in the South Atlantic, have become central evidence in the ongoing oral trial before the Federal Oral Court of Santa Cruz, based in Río Gallegos. The document, cited by the Argentine outlet Infobae, details the technical issues outstanding and the operational restrictions affecting the submarine before its final mission, and constitutes one of the central elements of the debate over the eventual criminal responsibility of the four former senior naval commanders charged in the case.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 08:11 UTC

    Scotland wants a new independence referendum, despite Downing Street’s rejection

    During the debate in Holyrood, First Minister John Swinney claimed he was confident Scots would back independence if given the chance to vote on the issue again. (Pic PA)

    The consequences of the disastrous results of the recent local elections in UK, both for the incumbent Labour and the Conservatives, not only have questioned PM Keir Starmer’s leadership but revived old challenges. And one of those is Scotland’s call for a second independence referendum.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 07:57 UTC

    Falklands has a new officer qualified in Environmental Management QLS Level 5

    Clare proudly showing her diplomas

    Falkland Islands Development Corporation, FIDC, Business Development Officer, Clare Guest has been congratulated for having recently completed an Advanced Diploma in Environmental Management QLS Level 5 through Bristol Opus Leadership College.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 07:26 UTC

    UK’s Royal College of Defense visited Brazil, Argentina and Chile

    The delegation at the Chilean Antarctic Institute

    A delegation from the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) visited Chile the week of 18 May as part of its annual tour of Latin America, aimed at strengthening strategic analysis and global understanding of challenges related to security, defense and international cooperation.