MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 30th 2026 - 11:20 UTC

Latin America

  • Friday, March 17th 2017 - 06:39 UTC

    Torrential rains and mudslides ravage Peru: thousands left homeless

    Evangelina Chamorro emerged near a bridge, lifting herself from a current of wooden planks and walking toward the shore covered head to toe in mud.

    Muddy water spilled onto streets and into homes on Thursday in a new round of unusually heavy rains that has killed at least a eighteen people in Peru and now threatens flooding in the capital Lima. The intense rains and mudslides over the past three days have wrought havoc around the Andean nation and caught residents in Lima, a desert city of 10 million where it almost never rains, by surprise.

  • Wednesday, March 15th 2017 - 07:56 UTC

    Two US airlines cancel flights to Cuba: excess of capacity

    Airline Frontier is canceling its Miami-Havana route starting next June 4 due to unforeseen high costs, and also because of the low demand.

    On Monday, two US airlines announced that they have plans to cancel their flights to Cuba, one of which is Fort Lauderdale-based Silver Airways, whose representatives said they had made the “difficult but necessary” decision to cancel its services to Cuba from April 22.

  • Tuesday, March 14th 2017 - 21:34 UTC

    Death of swimming pigs of Big Major Cay shocks Bahamas

    Running wild on the uninhabited island, swimming out to meet boatloads of tourists the friendly porkers enjoyed a porcine paradise on their island in the sun.

    For many years the swimming pigs of Big Major Cay, also known as Pig Beach, in the Bahamas Exuma island chain, have been a major tourist attraction. Running wild on the uninhabited island, swimming out to meet boatloads of tourists and happily gobbling down the food and snacks they brought, the friendly porkers enjoyed a porcine paradise on their island in the sun.

  • Tuesday, March 14th 2017 - 21:23 UTC

    Mexico practices direct diplomacy with the Trump family at the White House

    Videgaray met Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, along with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohn, a top financial aid

    Mexico's top diplomat was in Washington last week for meetings with the U.S. government, sidestepping the normal channels and heading straight for the White House. Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray met at the White House with President Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, along with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohn, a top financial aid, the Mexican government announced.

  • Tuesday, March 14th 2017 - 21:08 UTC

    Death toll in girls shelter in Guatemala rises to 40; allegedly they were locked in by officials

    The 40th victim died on Sunday in hospital. Out of 22 girls admitted, 10 have died, five have been discharged, four are stable condition and two in critical condition.

    The death toll from the fire at Guatemala's Virgen de la Asunción shelter for girls in the municipality of San José Pinula has risen to 40, officials said. Four of the girls hospitalized after the fire last Wednesday were flown on an airplane ambulance to the United States for treatment at the Shriners Hospital for Children of Galveston, Texas, Saturday night.

  • Thursday, March 9th 2017 - 21:33 UTC

    Bolivia expands legal coca crop area by 12.000 hectares

    “We want to guarantee coca supplies for life” for Bolivians who consume the leaves legally, sometimes in ancestral rituals, Morales said in a speech.

    Bolivia passed a controversial measure on Wednesday to expand production of coca, the raw material for cocaine. Leftist president Evo Morales dismissed warnings that an increase in coca crops would fuel the illegal drug trade.

  • Thursday, March 9th 2017 - 14:09 UTC

    Peruvian 2017 toothfish quota established at 160 tons

    Fishing for Patagonian toothfish must end when the quota is reached or, failing that, it must not exceed December 31, 2017.

    Peruvian Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) has set the maximum allowable catch quota for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) at 160 tons for 2017. According to the Ministerial Resolution No. 097-2017-PRODUCE, published on Friday in the official newspaper El Peruano, states the quota may be modified according to biological and/or environmental conditions, following a report from the Instituto Mar del Peru (IMARPE).

  • Monday, March 6th 2017 - 17:41 UTC

    The Economist Argentina summit: Reemerging on the global stage

    The summit will bring together more than 200 government and business leaders to evaluate Argentina's progress over the last year

    The Economist’s Argentina Summit taking place in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, 8th March, will bring together more than 200 government and business leaders to evaluate Argentina's progress over the last year and to discuss the country's social, political and economic future in the year ahead.

  • Friday, March 3rd 2017 - 11:55 UTC

    Bolivian president rushed to Cuba for medical attention is recovering with “positive outlook”

     Bolivia's Vice President and acting head of state Alvaro Garcia

    Bolivian President Evo Morales has been treated for a throat viral infection in Cuba and will stay on the Caribbean island for several days of medical observation, Bolivia's Vice President and acting head of state Alvaro Garcia Linera said on Thursday.

  • Wednesday, March 1st 2017 - 20:58 UTC

    Latin American prosecutors will jointly investigate Odebrecht bribery case

    As part of the ongoing investigation, an arrest warrant was recently issued for former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo, who is now a fugitive from justice

    A multilateral group of officials will jointly investigate the extent of corruption stemming from the Odebrecht bribery case. Following a meeting on February 16, executives from the public prosecution offices of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Portugal and Venezuela agreed to work together to fully investigate bribes alleged to have been paid to high-ranking officials across Latin America and beyond.