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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 21st 2025 - 04:14 UTC

Latin America

  • Sunday, June 17th 2018 - 02:35 UTC

    Two radical options will decide the Colombian presidential runoff on Sunday

    A poll by think tank Latin American Strategic Center of Geopolitics held between May 29 and June 6 showed that Petro was now just 5.5 points behind Duque

    The first round of presidential elections in Colombia ended with two leading candidates who will face off next Sunday: Conservative Ivan Duque led with 39% of the vote in the first round, and leftist Gustavo Petro followed with 25%. Centrist Sergio Fajardo came in third place with 23.8% of the votes, and his supporters will now help decide the run-off outcome.

  • Saturday, June 16th 2018 - 10:02 UTC

    Collapse of Nicaragua's health system condemned by World Medical Association

    WMA President Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura said that attacks on health workers, medical vehicles and hospitals were unacceptable.

    The collapse of the public health care system in Nicaragua and the breakdown of medical ethics and human rights in the country have been condemned by the World Medical Association. Referring to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country, WMA President Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura said that attacks on health workers, medical vehicles and hospitals were unacceptable.

  • Friday, June 15th 2018 - 16:21 UTC

    Nicaragua crisis: Many seek to flee the country

    As the crackdown progresses, the barrage of passport applications has increased markedly in the last two weeks.

    As the crisis worsens in Nicaragua, pressure on the part of society that demands the resignation of President Daniel Ortega remains. This generates that, in many cities like Masaya, the streets are blocked with more than 200 barricades while their neighbors organize to guarantee security and collect food for the protesters who are entrenched, resisting the paramilitary siege against the city. However, there has been an overflow of passport applications in recent weeks.

  • Friday, June 15th 2018 - 10:48 UTC

    Ortega launches deadly police and paramilitary repression against activists in Nicaragua

    The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) raised to 162 the death toll from two months of sociopolitical upheaval against president Daniel Ortega

    Activists faced off with Nicaraguan pro-government forces in hours of deadly clashes on Thursday amid a nationwide strike to protest government repression of dissent that has left at least 162 dead, including an altar boy. Despite the 24-hour work stoppage that gave the capital Managua the air of a ghost town, fierce unrest in other areas persisted, leaving at least four dead during pro-government attacks on activists guarding barricades.

  • Wednesday, June 13th 2018 - 09:31 UTC

    Start Fund announces financial support for Guatemala

    British Ambassador Carolyn Davidson said that NGOs receiving the donation work in a wide range or issues, “a very valuable in this emergency”

    Following the recent Fuego Volcano tragedy in Guatemala, the Start Fund has agreed to provide £182,760 (1.8 million quetzals) to international humanitarian organisations, reported the UK embassy in Guatemala City..

  • Wednesday, June 13th 2018 - 08:30 UTC

    Opinion polls confirm Duque as winner in Colombia's presidential runoff

    Duque has promised to overhaul the 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and cut taxes

    Right wing candidate Ivan Duque looks set to win Colombia’s presidential run-off on June 17, two polls published on Friday indicated, as he held on to his long-running lead over leftist Gustavo Petro.

  • Tuesday, June 12th 2018 - 07:44 UTC

    Right wing candidate has a clear lead in Colombia's Sunday presidential runoff

    The Yanhass poll shows Iván Duque is leading in all age groups, except with young people between ages 18 to 24, who showed a preference for Petro

    As the campaign for Colombia's presidential runoff on June 17 enters its final week, the latest poll by consulting firm Yanhass for five newspapers, has right-wing candidate Iván Duque, as the clear winner with 52% of voting intention, compared to 34% for the leftist candidate Gustavo Petro.

  • Monday, June 11th 2018 - 09:10 UTC

    Ex Panama president extradited from US; faces charges of illegal wiretapping

    Martinelli was jailed in the US last year after Panama requested his extradition on charges that he used public money to spy on more than 150 political rivals

    The former president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, will be extradited this Monday from the United States, where he has been held for a case of illegal wiretapping, one of his attorneys said Sunday. It’s happening tomorrow,” Monday, Sidney Sitton said in a message by WhatsApp, without providing further details.

  • Monday, June 11th 2018 - 08:20 UTC

    Mexico's future closely linked to oil development no matter who's the next president

    Energy Minister Joaquin Coldwell said that two further auctions planned before the handover would go ahead, as would tenders for seven joint ventures

    Mexican oil output could return to 2 million barrels per day by about 2022 if the next government pursues plans to auction off development blocs to private investors, Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell announced. Mexico will elect a new president on July 1 but the front-runner in opinion polls, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has threatened to delay opening up the energy sector to private investment.

  • Thursday, June 7th 2018 - 23:10 UTC

    The Uruguayan Foreign Ministry describes the number of immigrants arriving in the country as “never seen before”

    “The Secretariat of the Refugee Commission is completely overwhelmed,” said the Minister of Human Rights, while “acts of discrimination and xenophobia in Uruguay” are emerging.

    Immigration to Uruguay, Argentina and Chile has exploded exponentially in recent years. It is receiving an “unprecedented” daily requests for refuge in the southern country, according to the Director of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law of the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dianela Pi, who explained to MercoPress that “There are acts of discrimination and xenophobia that are emerging in Uruguay as never before” as a result of the migratory phenomenon. This wave comes mostly from citizens of Venezuelan origin.