Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 24th 2025 - 21:49 UTC

Latin America

  • Wednesday, December 13th 2023 - 10:26 UTC

    Panama Canal drought hitting world trade

    Things may get worse by February if water levels remain low

    Global trade through the Panama Canal is being severely disrupted by a drought affecting the man-made corridor, which could force shippers to choose other, more costly routes, it was reported. The historic waterway in Central America connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans handles about 5% of international seaborne trade.

  • Wednesday, December 13th 2023 - 10:06 UTC

    New attempt to thwart trading of grains and oilseeds grown in South America's cleared forest land

    The move could bolster conservation for Brazil’s Cerrado, the world’s most bio-diverse savanna, most of which taken for commercial agriculture

    Mercosur and the European Union failed to sign the much-expected and long-awaited free trade and cooperation agreement during the South American block summit in Rio do Janeiro, mainly because of discrepancies over forestry and agricultural land. Brazilian President Lula da Silva said he was committed to signing the agreement with the EU, and will “not give up” until achieved but further hurdles could be in the way.

  • Tuesday, December 12th 2023 - 10:59 UTC

    Macri favors Mercosur single currency

    Dollarization has not been too good for Ecuador, Macri argued. A Mercosur currency would be better

    Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri said in Brazil he supported the idea of a single currency for all Mercosur countries because if the bloc was “serious” it needed “the same rules and the same currency, like the eurozone.”

  • Tuesday, December 12th 2023 - 10:34 UTC

    US Southern Command chief lands in Paraguay

    The first woman ever to lead the US Southern Command will engage in talks and celebrate 80 years of military cooperation between the two countries

    US Southern Command chief four-star General Laura Richardson landed in Asunción Monday evening to participate in the celebrations of 80 years of military cooperation and to strengthen the security ties between the United States and Paraguay.

  • Tuesday, December 12th 2023 - 10:22 UTC

    Presidents of Venezuela and Guyana prepare for Thursday's talks

    Maduro says he has a mandate but Ali insists sovereignty over the Essequibo was not to be on the table

    Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insisted Monday that next Thursday's talks in St Vicent and the Grenadines between him and his Guyanese colleague Irfaan Ali were the direct result of the Dec. 3 referendum and, hence, an achievement of the Venezuelan people.

  • Tuesday, December 12th 2023 - 10:13 UTC

    Essequibo conflict: Brazil sending observer to Maduro-Ali meeting

    Celso Amorim, Lula's advisor on international affairs, will be representing Brazil next Thursday in St Vincent and the Grenadines

    The Brazilian Government of President Luiz Inácio Lula a Silva shall be sending a delegation headed by former Foreign Minister and current presidential advisor on international affairs Celso Amorim to Thursday's meeting between the leaders of Guyana and Venezuelan in St Vincent and the Grenadines to discuss the Guiana Essequiba issue, it was reported in Brasilia.

  • Saturday, December 9th 2023 - 10:26 UTC

    Essequibo: Guyanese president hopes Maduro will not act recklessly

    Ali hopes... but Maduro is said to be planning a trip to Russia. To get military help from Putin?

    Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said that Venezuela's latest actions regarding the dispute over the Guaiana Essequiba were “a regional threat” and hoped Nicolás Maduro's regime would not act “in an adventurous and very irresponsible manner.”

  • Saturday, December 9th 2023 - 10:23 UTC

    Guatemalan Prosecutors want June 25 elections annulled

    Prosecutors insist there were many irregularities around Bernardo Arévalo de León's win

    Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's Office said this week that the voter rolls used in the elections won by Bernardo Arévalo de León “were not authorized” by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and therefore the results thereof were “null and void.” Arévalo had warned on Sept. 1 that Attorney General Consuelo Porras was carrying out a “coup d'état” against him to prevent him from taking office on Jan. 14 to succeed Alejandro Giammattei.

  • Friday, December 8th 2023 - 09:43 UTC

    Paraguay takes over rotating presidency of Mercosur; FTA with Singapore announced

    “I invite you to dream big together,” Peña told his fellow Presidents

    “There is no Mercosur where only some people do well,” said Paraguayan President Santiago Peña on taking up his new role within the bloc, which in his view is bound for “great achievements.” Peña underlined that, globally, Mercosur faced four challenges: access to water, food security, energy sufficiency, and resilience in logistics chains.

  • Thursday, December 7th 2023 - 10:37 UTC

    Visibly ill Fujimori released from Barbadillo prison

    Fujimori, 85, is said to be suffering from tongue cancer

    Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) was released from the Barbadillo prison in Lima Wednesday after long hours of red tape entanglements followed Tuesday's decision by the Constitutional Court to uphold the pardon he had been granted by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski back in 2017 which was later overturned by judiciary measures. Fujimori, 85, was serving a 25-year prison sentence for crimes against humanity.