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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 12th 2026 - 23:37 UTC

Latin America

  • Sunday, September 17th 2017 - 12:44 UTC

    UK's Newton Fund offering opportunities for regional workshops and travel grants

    Grants are funded under UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with partners from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

    The Newton Fund, a UK Government initiative, has announced the opening of applications for scientific researchers of six Latin American countries (among them, Argentina) to take part in regional workshops on biodiversity or travel grants to the United Kingdom.

  • Thursday, September 14th 2017 - 20:49 UTC

    Brazilian congress advances political reform to streamline parties; 28 have elected members

    Brazil currently has 35 political parties, 28 of which are represented in Congress. One of them, the Brazilian Women's Party, has only one federal lawmaker, a man

    Brazil's lower house of Congress has given initial approval to a bill to reduce the huge array of political parties that have made it hard to govern the country and contributed to corruption. The chamber voted 384-16 for the establishment of a minimum national vote threshold that parties must reach to get public funding and free radio and television time for their election campaigns. The requirement would be 1.5% of votes in 2018, rising to 3% in 2030.

  • Thursday, September 14th 2017 - 06:37 UTC

    Netanyahu, in Colombia: Israel a close ally in war and in the reconstruction process

    PM Netanyahu and President Santos pledged to strengthen ties in areas like science, security and tourism as Colombia transitions into a post-conflict era.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos are pledging to strengthen ties in areas like science, security and tourism as Colombia transitions into a post-conflict era. Netanyahu arrived in Bogota on Wednesday for the second-leg of his trip as the first Israeli prime minister to visit Latin America.

  • Thursday, September 14th 2017 - 06:20 UTC

    Piñera maintains a wide lead in polls ahead of November presidential election

    Piñera, who was president of Chile between 2010 and 2014, captured 34% of voter intentions in the survey by GfK Adimark, up from 32% last month.

    Conservative presidential candidate Sebastian Piñera is maintaining a wide lead in the polls ahead of Chile's November election, though the race to challenge him in a potential runoff is tight, according to a monthly survey. Piñera, who was president of Chile between 2010 and 2014, captured 34% of voter intentions in the survey by GfK Adimark, up from 32% last month.

  • Wednesday, September 13th 2017 - 18:01 UTC

    Mujica's wife Lucia Topolansky becomes Uruguay's vice-president

    The General assembly session convened at 10:00 in the morning and following a brief recess, at 10:40 Senator Lucia Topolansky took the oath of office.

    Uruguay has a new vice-president following the resignation of the questioned and discredited Raul Sendic. On Wednesday mid-morning, Lucia Topolansky, wife of ex president Jose Mujica received unanimous support from the General Assembly (123/123). Under the Uruguayan constitution the head of the most voted Senate group of the winning party in the last election, in this case the MPP (Popular Participation Movement), leads in the presidential succession line. She is the first woman to occupy such a post.

  • Sunday, September 10th 2017 - 12:53 UTC

    Update regarding Irma’s impact over the Caribbean Islands.

    Assessments are still coming in from the impact of Hurricane Irma on a number of Caribbean countries in the northern Leeward Islands and the northern Caribbean with warnings and watches still in place for a few countries in Irma’s path. Additionally, due to the projected path of Hurricane Jose, a category 4 storm, tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings have been issued for some countries in the northern Leeward Islands.

  • Sunday, September 10th 2017 - 08:25 UTC

    Hurricane Irma forces the evacuation of 6.4 million people in Florida

    In one of the biggest evacuations ever ordered in the U.S., about 6.4 million people in Florida — one-quarter of the state’s population — were warned to leave

    Hurricane Irma’s leading edge swirled toward Florida state with 195 km/h winds Saturday on a projected new track that could expose Tampa — not Miami — to a direct hit. Tampa has not taken a head-on blow from a major hurricane in nearly a century.

  • Saturday, September 9th 2017 - 19:54 UTC

    Brazil's central bank slashes rate one full percentage point to 8.25%

    The eighth consecutive cut was announced after the stats agency IBGE, reported that twelve-month inflation in August was 2.46%, lowest in almost two decades.

    Brazil's central bank slashed its key interest rate this week by a full percentage point to 8.25%, the eighth consecutive cut as the country slowly exits a painful recession. The one percentage point fall in the base Selic rate had been predicted by markets and matched a previous cut in July.

  • Friday, September 8th 2017 - 17:06 UTC

    Strongest earthquake in a century rocks Mexico

    An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, killing at least 61 people and triggering small tsunami waves but no major destruction.

  • Thursday, August 31st 2017 - 10:36 UTC

    Argentina considers renting fighter aircraft from Brazil for the G20 summit in Buenos Aires

    One of the options considered is renting two to four F 5 Northrop fighters from Brazil, to be manned by Argentine pilots which have experience in such aircraft

    Argentina will be hosting the 2018 G20 summit of world leaders and is considering renting fighter aircraft from Brazil as part of the security preparations since the country's air force is mostly grounded or with very limited interception and strike capacity, according to Argentine military sources.