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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 21st 2026 - 01:05 UTC

Chile

  • Tuesday, July 21st 2026 - 17:59 UTC

    Chile declares state of catastrophe in the north after storm leaves at least ten dead

    The weather front began on July 15 in the south of the country and moved north, where it hit the desert regions — areas where rainfall of this magnitude is uncommon

    Chile's president, José Antonio Kast, declared on Monday a 30-day constitutional state of catastrophe in the Coquimbo region and the Huasco province, in the Atacama region, in response to the intense storm battering the country's north. According to the government's latest tally, the phenomenon has left at least ten people dead nationwide, four missing, and nearly 100,000 residents cut off by road closures. Authorities warned the toll could rise, as numerous areas remain unreachable.

  • Thursday, July 16th 2026 - 20:48 UTC

    Argentina-UK: HMS Medway protest, released after the match, reignites Falklands tension

    Britain's Defense Ministry said HMS Medway made “a routine logistics visit” to Punta Arenas, supporting British Antarctic Survey operations in Antarctica.

    Argentina's government released on Wednesday night, amid celebrations over its team's World Cup semifinal win against England, a note of protest to the United Kingdom over the movements of HMS Medway, a Royal Navy patrol vessel assigned to the Falklands. The protest had been formally lodged with the British Embassy in Buenos Aires on July 13, but the Foreign Ministry chose to make it public once the match had ended, fusing the diplomatic complaint with the gesture of the Argentine players, who celebrated with a banner backing the sovereignty claim.

  • Monday, July 13th 2026 - 08:25 UTC

    Argentina weighs protest over British patrol ship's passage to Chile

    Any Argentine claim could rest on the Madrid II Agreement, signed by both countries in 1990 after diplomatic relations were restored

    Argentina's foreign ministry is considering a formal statement following the transit of the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Medway, which sailed from the Falklands to the Chilean port of Punta Arenas, in an episode over which Buenos Aires and London offer conflicting accounts.

  • Tuesday, July 7th 2026 - 08:05 UTC

    Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Medway makes first port call at Chile's Punta Arenas

    According to the Austral Port Authority (Epaustral), the ship will be handled during its stay at the Arturo Prat pier by a local agency

    The British Royal Navy's patrol vessel HMS Medway (P223) docked on Sunday morning at Punta Arenas, in Chile's Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, on its first visit to the port. The stop, for resupply, is due to last until Wednesday, July 8.

  • Friday, July 3rd 2026 - 08:55 UTC

    In Uruguay, Kast urges harsher penalties for crime leaders and total prison isolation

    Kast held that security is the main condition for economic development and described organized crime as a “cancer” affecting all of Latin America

    Chile's President José Antonio Kast argued on Wednesday in Montevideo that the region's countries must toughen their laws to combat organized crime, with life sentences for those who lead gangs and a regime of total isolation in prisons to stop them from continuing to operate from behind bars. The president laid out his position after meeting with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, as part of an official visit to Uruguay.

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2026 - 15:32 UTC

    A multinational rescue frees Hernán, trapped eight days under Venezuela's quake rubble

    Gil, who worked as a guard in the underground parking garage of a shopping mall, survived by sheltering under the desk of his booth when the building collapsed

    A 43-year-old Venezuelan security guard, Hernán Gil, was rescued alive on Thursday after eight days trapped under the rubble of a building that collapsed in Catia La Mar, in La Guaira state, during the twin earthquake that struck the country on June 24. The Costa Rican Red Cross, which took part in the operation, confirmed the rescue, considered one of the most complex and prolonged of the disaster, which has left at least 2,295 dead and more than 11,000 injured, according to the official toll.

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2026 - 09:11 UTC

    Uruguay and Chile agree to coordinate against organized crime after an Orsi-Kast summit

    Kast said that both countries' security “has been undermined by transnational organized crime”

    The presidents of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi, and Chile, José Antonio Kast, agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation against transnational organized crime, following a meeting held on Wednesday at the Suárez y Reyes presidential residence in Montevideo. In a joint statement, the leaders announced understandings on security, fisheries, Antarctica, the bi-oceanic corridor and economic integration, as part of Kast's official visit to Uruguay.

  • 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.

  • 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 - 08:32 UTC

    A regional shift to the right frames the wave of congratulations to Fujimori

    Argentine President Javier Milei was among the most emphatic. “I congratulate Keiko Fujimori on her historic victory in Peru. The Peruvian people join Colombia and have sent a clear message”

    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.