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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 30th 2026 - 11:20 UTC

Latin America

  • Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 10:16 UTC

    Mudslide in Colombian sweeps away half a city: 254 dead, hundreds missing

    Heavy rains caused several rivers to overflow, pushing sediment and rocks onto buildings and roads in the capital of southwestern Putumayo province

    Flooding and mudslides in the Colombian city of Mocoa sent torrents of water and debris crashing onto houses in the early hours of Saturday morning, killing 254 people, a quarter of them children, injuring hundreds and sending terrified residents, some in their pajamas, scrambling to evacuate.

  • Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 08:05 UTC

    Incumbent candidate winning in Ecuador's presidential runoff

    Moreno, designated heir to a decade of President Correa’s “21st-century socialism,” had 51.07% of the vote to 48.93% for conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso

    Socialist candidate Lenin Moreno had a slim lead Sunday in Ecuador’s presidential runoff, setting up a tense wait for the final count in a race that could change the political map of Latin America.Moreno, the designated heir to a decade of President Rafael Correa’s “21st-century socialism,” had 51.07% of the vote to 48.93% for conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso, with 94.2% of districts reporting, said the National Electoral Council.

  • Saturday, April 1st 2017 - 23:40 UTC

    Will Ecuador confirm the conservative-turn-tendency in South America?

    Moreno beat pro-business banker Lasso by more than 10 points in the eight-way first round in February. But 60% of voters opted for candidates opposing Moreno

    Voters in Ecuador will be going to the polls on Sunday for the presidential runoff and a choice between a traditional South American leftist and a conservative ex-banker, that will steer the oil exporting country for the next four years. It will also show if South Americans are effectively abandoning populist ideas as happened in Argentina, Peru and Brazil.

  • Saturday, April 1st 2017 - 19:34 UTC

    Paraguay officials pledge the reelection amendment will be submitted to binding referendum

    Rodrigo Quintana, 25, was killed by a rubber bullet fired by police at the headquarters of a liberal youth activist group, the Paraguayan opposition said. (Pic AP)

    A protester was killed in Paraguay after violent clashes overnight sparked by a secret Senate vote for a constitutional amendment that would allow conservative President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election. The political move also had the support and Senate votes from the left leaning former removed president Fernando Lugo, which polls show he has significant support ahead of the 2018 presidential election.

  • Saturday, April 1st 2017 - 09:43 UTC

    Paraguay: protestors set Congress on fire following secret vote allowing presidential reelection

    Television images showed protesters breaking windows of the Congress after several hours of escalating violence and confrontations with police.

    Protesters stormed and set fire to Paraguay's Congress on Friday after the Senate secretly voted for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election, a change that will also require approval by the Lower House. The country's constitution has prohibited re-election since it was passed in 1992 after a brutal dictatorship fell in 1989.

  • Saturday, April 1st 2017 - 09:09 UTC

    Chavism divided: Chief prosecutor says there has been a ”rupture of constitutional order

    Loyalist Luisa Ortega said it was her “unavoidable historical duty'' as top judicial authority to denounce what she called a ”rupture'' of the constitutional order.

    Venezuela's chief prosecutor broke with the government on Friday and rebuked a Supreme Court decision stripping Congress of its last vestiges of power, showing a crack in the unity of the embattled populist government of President Nicolas Maduro as it came under a torrent of international condemnation over what many decried as a major step toward dictatorship.

  • Friday, March 31st 2017 - 07:20 UTC

    Venezuelan Supreme Court closes Legislative gives all power to Maduro: world condemnation

    “Maduro is now the National Assembly,'' assembly leader Julio Borges said.”It's one thing to try to build a dictatorship and another to complete the circuit.”

    The Venezuelan Supreme Court's decision late Wednesday to take control of the opposition-controlled legislature has set off a wave of outrage, with some hemispheric neighbors, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Argentina, denouncing the measure as a threat to democracy.

  • Monday, March 27th 2017 - 05:12 UTC

    Correa´s candidate headed for victory in Ecuador presidential runoff next Sunday

    Cedatos poll showed incumbent Lenin Moreno ahead with 52.4% of the vote compared to opposition leader Guillermo Lasso‘s 47.6%

    The latest release of public opinion polls ahead of next Sunday's (April 2) presidential runoff in Ecuador show the ruling party candidate Lenin Moreno winning by a margin of 4.5 percentage points. The Cedatos poll conducted between March 18th and 21st, showed the ruling party candidate with 52.4% of the vote compared to opposition leader Guillermo Lasso‘s 47.6% (a 4.8% difference).

  • Saturday, March 25th 2017 - 10:00 UTC

    Mexico prepared to “step away” from NAFTA if negotiations don't benefit the country

    “If what is on the table is something that is not good for Mexico, Mexico will step away from NAFTA,” Videgaray said.

    Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said that if North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations don't benefit all parties involved, the country is willing to “step away” from it. In an interview with Bloomberg, he said pulling out of NAFTA would be a last resort.

  • Wednesday, March 22nd 2017 - 12:01 UTC

    Guyana beats exploration/production record: oil extraction expected to begin 2019

    Exxon-Mobil in 2016 announced the successful drilling of a deepwater exploration well, positioning Guyana's seafloor as one of the richest oil discoveries in decades.

    United States oil giant Exxon Mobil Corporation is moving full steam ahead with plans to transform Guyana, in the north of South America, into a major oil producer. In what industry experts call a rare occurrence in the industry, Exxon Mobil has asked the David Granger administration for a production license to start pumping oil from the country’s seabed, less than five years after it discovered major oil finds.