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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 23rd 2025 - 20:30 UTC

Latin America

  • Saturday, April 19th 2025 - 10:33 UTC

    At least 11 killed at Ecuador cockfighting event

    The perpetrators wore military uniforms are seized US$ 20,000 from the premises

    At least 11 people were killed and nine injured when a group of armed attackers, disguised as soldiers, stormed a cockfighting event in the rural community of La Valencia in the Ecuadorean province of Manabí.

  • Saturday, April 19th 2025 - 10:21 UTC

    Petro urges all Colombians to be vaccinated against yellow fever in two months

    “Unlike Covid-19, this virus is only transmitted by mosquito, but it is 50% fatal,” Petro warned

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged his country's entire population to be vaccinated against yellow fever within two months. He made those remarks after declaring a nationwide emergency given the outbreak of this lethal malady. “We must do it and our health system must guarantee it,” Petro underlined.

  • Friday, April 18th 2025 - 10:45 UTC

    Bukele says he will expand Cecot capacity

    Trump encouraged Bukele to pursue the road of maximum security prisons to tackle gang crime and terrorism

    Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced plans Thursday to double the capacity of the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), Latin America's largest prison, which currently holds over 15,000 inmates, including more than 200 migrants deported from the United States.

  • Friday, April 18th 2025 - 10:36 UTC

    France demanded to pay slavery reparations to Haiti

    The petitioners also requested that France own up to the independence fee it charged 200 years ago

    A large number of Latin American social organizations and personalities, such as Argentine 1980 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, demanded Thursday that France recognize and compensate Haiti for the indemnity it imposed after the country's independence in 1804.

  • Thursday, April 17th 2025 - 18:36 UTC

    Emergency declared in Colombia as yellow fever cases soar

    “The strategy is focused on mass vaccination,” Alfonso explained

    Colombia has declared a state of emergency due to a yellow fever outbreak, with 74 cases and 34 deaths reported. The virus, transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, has spread beyond typical risk areas like the Amazon, Catatumbo, and Chocó, affecting regions such as Tolima, where cases rose from 4 to 22 since September 2024.

  • Thursday, April 17th 2025 - 18:22 UTC

    Humala's wife arrives in Brazil, where she was granted asylum

    Brazil has a tradition of granting asylum to high-profile political leaders facing jail time in their countries

    Former Peruvian First Lady Nadine Heredia arrived in Brazil on Wednesday after seeking asylum to avoid serving a 15-year prison sentence handed down on her and her husband Ollanta Humala, who has already been transferred to the Barbadilo prison already housing former heads of State Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo Terrones.

  • Thursday, April 17th 2025 - 10:41 UTC

    Milei takes heavy flak in Bolivia for remarks alongside Bessent

    Milei forgot to mention “the deep social crises, the growing inequality, and the institutional violence that exist in their own territories,” Bolivia's Foreign Ministry stressed

    The Bolivian Government of President Luis Arce Catacora criticized Argentine ruler Javier Milei for his verbal attack on Latin American and Caribbean regional integration. During a press conference on Monday in Casa Rosada alongside US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, the Libertarian leader criticized Bolivia's socialist economic model under the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

  • Wednesday, April 16th 2025 - 10:10 UTC

    Dominican Republic: Jet Set owners to be sued for incident that killed 231

    The tragedy has prompted calls for accountability, including a separate lawsuit from Rubby Pérez’s daughter, Zulinka, citing negligence

    Relatives of the victims of the April 8 roof collapse at the iconic Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, killing 231 people on site and 10 others after hospitalization, insisted Tuesday that they intended to file lawsuits against the facilities' owners.

  • Wednesday, April 16th 2025 - 09:15 UTC

    Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala sentenced to 15 years in jail

    Humala's ex-wife, Nadine Heredia, sought asylum at Brazil's Embassy in Lima

    Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his ex-wife, Nadine Heredia, were sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated money laundering related to illicit funds used during the 2011 campaign. In both cases, their pretrial detention counts as time served. The couple denied all charges. Prosecutors had requested 20-year sentences.

  • Tuesday, April 15th 2025 - 18:53 UTC

    PAHO insists on the importance of universal access to care

    Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF) can significantly improve health systems' response to achieve more equitable outcomes,” Barbosa said

    The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) released a report Tuesday warning about the need to bolster public health capacities to ensure universal health access, equity, and resilience against challenges like Covid-19. The “Implementation of the Essential Public Health Functions in the Americas: Evaluation and Strengthening of Capacities” study was based on evaluations in 14 countries between 2021 and 2023.