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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, September 12th 2026 - 18:59 UTC

Latin America

  • Monday, June 22nd 2026 - 13:24 UTC

    De la Espriella gives a victory speech vowing unity as Cepeda awaits the final tally

    ”The electoral campaign is over, the divisions are over (...) and the supreme hour of service to the homeland begins,” De la Espriella said

    Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella delivered a victory speech on Sunday in Barranquilla, in which he proclaimed himself the winner of Colombia's presidential runoff according to the preliminary count and called for national unity, while the official tally remained under way and his rival, left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, conditioned recognition of the result on the definitive count.

  • Monday, June 22nd 2026 - 04:30 UTC

    De la Espriella wins Colombia's presidency in the preliminary count as Cepeda awaits the tally

    De la Espriella addressed Colombians with a “message of unity” and promised “absolute respect” for the vote

    Right-wing criminal lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia's presidency, according to the preliminary count by the Registraduría, defeating left-wing senator Iván Cepeda by less than a point in the closest runoff in the country's history. With about 99.9% of the tables processed, De la Espriella took 49.66% of the vote against Cepeda's 48.70%, a difference of some 250,000 ballots. The governing-coalition candidate acknowledged the preliminary count but warned that he would not accept the result until the definitive tally, and challenged 33,000 of the 120,000 polling tables; President Gustavo Petro said that “neither can proclaim himself president.”

  • Saturday, June 20th 2026 - 06:57 UTC

    Cuba approves its deepest market reforms in over a decade amid public skepticism

    President Miguel Díaz-Canel justified the package before the Communist Party's Central Committee with the premise of “changing whatever needs to be changed”

    Cuba's National Assembly approved on Friday a package of 176 measures that introduces market dynamics into the island's economy, in the deepest shift since the reforms promoted by Raúl Castro in 2011. The government presented the plan as a response to the worst economic crisis in decades, though much of the population receives it with skepticism.

  • Friday, June 19th 2026 - 17:44 UTC

    Peru's Sánchez calls a protest against the result that makes Fujimori the virtual winner

    According to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Fujimori obtains 50.12% of the vote against Sánchez's 49.88%

    Left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez called a protest in Lima for Friday against the result of Peru's presidential runoff, which makes right-wing Keiko Fujimori the virtual winner, as the electoral justice was due to decide on the challenges filed by his party. With 99.51% of the tally sheets counted, Fujimori leads Sánchez by some 44,101 votes, though no winner has yet been proclaimed.

  • Friday, June 19th 2026 - 10:47 UTC

    De la Espriella leads Colombia's runoff with contained triumphalism as Cepeda hopes for a late surge

    The first-round margin does not look comfortable heading into the runoff

    Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella heads into Colombia's presidential runoff, set for this Sunday, June 21, as the favorite, though with contained triumphalism, while left-wing senator Iván Cepeda trusts that a late push can still overturn the result. Both campaigns sense the election is closer than the polls reflect.

  • Wednesday, June 17th 2026 - 19:11 UTC

    Bolivia's blockade crisis leaves at least 16 dead as the government calls unions to talks

    The COB presented a list of demands on Tuesday spread across eight areas, among them ensuring the “right to mobilization,” that there be no sanctions against the mobilized sectors

    The crisis caused by more than seven weeks of road blockades in Bolivia, driven by sectors demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, has left at least 16 people dead, as the government called the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) on Wednesday to a dialogue to seek a way out. By midday, the country's largest union confederation had not confirmed its attendance.

  • Wednesday, June 17th 2026 - 09:14 UTC

    Fujimori nears victory in Peru's presidential count as the left calls for protests

    The overseas vote, already tallied, heavily favored Fujimori while within Peru the balance tilted toward Sánchez

    Ten days after the June 7 presidential runoff, Peru still has no proclaimed winner, but the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is heading toward victory. With 99.1% of the vote counted, she leads the left-wing Roberto Sánchez by some 36,889 votes and is projected as the virtual winner, while the left pushes mobilizations and nullity appeals. The official proclamation remains pending on 0.84% of tally sheets under review, with a deadline of mid-July.

  • Tuesday, June 16th 2026 - 08:07 UTC

    Bolivia's Paz bets on wearing down protests and holds off deploying the army

    The strategy has generated impatience in La Paz, deprived of fuel and food for more than a month, but it has allowed the government to hold out for more than 40 days

    Bolivia's government has opted to wear down the social protests that have shaken the country for about six weeks, rather than resort to a hard line. President Rodrigo Paz promulgated a law regulating states of exception in early June, but has so far not ordered the deployment of the Armed Forces to clear the roads, leaning instead toward exhausting the protesters and dismantling the movements demanding his resignation through the detention or persuasion of their leaders. “The new Bolivia will be built with dialogue, without giving way to violence,” said presidential spokesman José Luis Gálvez.

  • Monday, June 15th 2026 - 16:04 UTC

    Peru's electoral board reiterates it will proclaim the president-elect by mid-July

    The tribunal is awaiting the resolution of 1,661 tally sheets (actas) that were flagged on runoff day and sent to the special electoral juries (JEE) for evaluation

    Peru's National Jury of Elections (JNE) reiterated on Monday that the maximum deadline to officially proclaim the new president-elect is mid-July, while vote recounts proceed in three overseas cities over observations to the tally sheets. The body's spokeswoman, Grecia Rentería, said at a press conference that the proclamation would come about two weeks before the swearing-in, set for July 28, with the start of the 2026-2031 term of government.

  • Sunday, June 14th 2026 - 12:35 UTC

    'Honduras Gate' audios linking Milei to a disinformation network stir controversy, and denials

    Hernández says Milei “is supporting with $350,000” a project that, according to that account, sought to set up a “news site” operated from the US; the audios also mention Benjamin Netanyahu

    A set of leaked audios, released in late April by left-leaning Spanish media outlets and dubbed “Honduras Gate,” has stirred political controversy in Latin America by alleging a regional disinformation network and naming Argentine President Javier Milei as one of its financiers. The recordings' authenticity is in dispute: the main figure named called them false, and the others mentioned denied or did not respond to the accusations.