MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 12th 2026 - 01:34 UTC

Stories for 2026

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2026 - 08:51 UTC

    Venezuela's quake toll passes 2,295 a week on, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for

    Search efforts continued in the coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest hit, where most of the victims are concentrated

    A week after the twin earthquake that struck north-central Venezuela, the official toll rose to at least 2,295 dead and 11,267 injured, according to National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, who has been the main voice for the figures since the disaster. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the country, Gianluca Rampolla, warned that the number “will keep growing” as rescue and debris-removal work advances.

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2026 - 08:02 UTC

    Argentina's country risk hits an eight-year low as rating upgrades lift dollar bonds

    Market analysts believe there could still be room for additional compression, though they warn it would be more limited

    Argentina's country risk closed this week at 421 basis points, its lowest level in eight years, amid a strong recovery in dollar-denominated sovereign bonds driven by recent improvements in the country's credit rating. The indicator, compiled by the bank JP Morgan, reflects the premium Argentina must pay to borrow in dollars over US debt, considered risk-free.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2026 - 19:59 UTC

    Trump reported over $1.4 billion in crypto income in 2025, financial disclosure shows

    The sharp growth of the Trump family's wealth during his presidency has revived questions about possible conflicts of interest

    US President Donald Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency-related income during 2025, the first year of his second term, according to the annual financial disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics and released this week. The 927-page document shows that digital assets became the president's main source of income, ahead of his real-estate, licensing and resort businesses.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2026 - 08:28 UTC

    Mercosur leaders push for a regional security architecture against organized crime

    The security debate unfolded alongside the trade tensions that dominated the summit

    The fight against transnational organized crime emerged as one of the central themes of Mercosur's 68th summit of heads of state, held on Tuesday in the Paraguayan city of Luque, where several leaders called for building a regional security “architecture” with concrete goals and deadlines. The issue ran through the addresses of the bloc's presidents and those of its associated states, at a summit where Paraguay handed over the pro tempore presidency to Uruguay.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2026 - 08:26 UTC

    Uruguay takes over the Mercosur presidency vowing to modernize and open the bloc

    Orsi described the closing semester as “historic” for the signing of the pact with the EU, which he called a “turning point” for economic integration and investment

    Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi on Tuesday assumed the pro tempore presidency of Mercosur and set as a priority of his term to “keep modernizing” the bloc and consolidate its trade opening, following the provisional entry into force of the agreement with the European Union. “We want a more modern, more dynamic Mercosur, more open to the world, but above all a Mercosur that produces concrete results for its citizens,” he said as he received the rotating presidency from host Santiago Peña of Paraguay, at the 68th summit of heads of state held in Luque.

  • 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

    Colombian Constitution does not prohibit dual nationality for the presidency: it requires being born in the country and being over 30, requirements that De la Espriella, born in Bogotá, meets

    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

    According to Lermanda's account to Venezuelan and Chilean media, soldiers have repeatedly demanded identity documents from his 46 rescuers, on suspicion of espionage

    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

    With the count closed, Fujimori is the president-elect, though the official proclamation falls to the National Jury of Elections (JNE), scheduled for Friday, July 3

    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

    The decree states that Paraguay “has shown the world” its resilience and that the government “cannot remain indifferent to this achievement”

    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.