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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 4th 2025 - 22:28 UTC

Latin America

  • Tuesday, March 14th 2023 - 09:38 UTC

    Amazon fires grip 90% of the area in first two months of 2023

    According to a report issued Monday by the Fire Monitor, an initiative of the Annual Mapping Project of Land Use and Land Cover in Brazil (MapBiomas) in partnership with the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), the Amazon biome concentrated 90% of its areas with fires, representing 487,000 hectares. In the first two months of 2022, the area totaled 654,000 hectares. In the country's six biomes - Amazonia, Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pampa, and Pantanal - there were fires over 536,000 hectares.

  • Monday, March 13th 2023 - 08:35 UTC

    Nicaragua breaks up with the Holy See

    Ortega made his decision as the Argentine Pope was reaching his 10th anniversary as head of the Catholic Church

    Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega chose to sever diplomatic ties with the Vatican after Pope Francis dubbed the Sandinista regime as a “Hitlerian dictatorship” headed by a leader who would suffer from some sort of “imbalance.” The Pope also praised imprisoned Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez, “a very serious man” who “wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile.”

  • Saturday, March 11th 2023 - 08:05 UTC

    US Southern Command Chief warns of Chinese expansion in South America

    Gen. Richardson warned lawmakers about the consequences of the US neglecting South America for so long

    General Laura Jane Richardson, the head of the US Southern Command, told the House of Representatives this week that “China continues to expand its influence” in Latin America and “manipulates” its governments through “predatory investment practices.”

  • Friday, March 10th 2023 - 10:35 UTC

    Castillo's pre-trial detention extended to 36 months

    The former president faces up to 32 years in jail, Judge Chuckley argued

    Peruvian Supreme Court Justice Juan Carlos Checkley Thursday extended former President Pedro Castillo Terrones' pre-trial detention to 36 months. The former head of state is held at the Barbadillo Prison next to fellow former President Alberto Fujimori after being impeached for trying to close Congress and rule by decree. Castillo is also under investigation for acts of corruption committed during his time in office.

  • Friday, March 10th 2023 - 10:23 UTC

    Peru lifts state of emergency in Lima

    Violence in the country's capital has subsided, Otárola said

    The Peruvian Government Thursday lifted the state of emergency decreed in Lima amid mounting violence since the Dec. 7 impeachment of then-President Pedro Castillo Terrones, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola announced. Castillo's government had also decreed a state of emergency in Lima and its neighboring province of Callao to combat crime.

  • Thursday, March 9th 2023 - 10:55 UTC

    Uruguay, Brazil agree on joint infrastructure works

    Brazil also invited Uruguay to the 2024 G20 Summit

    Brazilian and Uruguayan officials have reached an understanding whereby the Rivera airport will become binational, a waterway will be developed, and a new bridge will be built over the Yaguarón river, it was announced after Tuesday's encounter in Brasilia featuring Foreign Ministers Francisco Bustillo and Mauro Viera, among other dignitaries.

  • Monday, March 6th 2023 - 09:22 UTC

    Former Ecuadorian President faces bribery charges

    Pre-trial detention is not allowed for people over 65 years of age, hence Moreno will only need to appear before Ecuadorian authorities bimonthly since he lives in Paraguay

    Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno and 36 other people have been indicted Sunday in connection with a possible case of corruption involving the construction of a hydroelectric plant by the Chinese company Sinohydro at a cost of US$ 2.245bn. Moreno attended his arraignment audience virtually, it was reported.

  • Saturday, March 4th 2023 - 08:38 UTC

    Mujica wants the region to stand together and break medical patents

    “It is not about being right or left, it is about not being stupid,” Mujica told attendees of a conference in Brasilia

    Former Uruguayan President José Pepe Mujica called all South American countries this week to stand together and break patents on vaccines and medicines. He made those remarks from the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, where he attended a gathering with President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva and other local authorities.

  • Friday, March 3rd 2023 - 08:54 UTC

    Peru's Congress to decide on reconsidering electoral rescheduling

    “On Friday we are going to make the reconsideration that must be voted in order to be able to define when the advance could be,” Williams said

    A Peruvian Congress plenum is to decide Friday whether further consideration will be given to the possibility of moving forward the elections in a country that has seen some 70 people dead in rampant episodes of violence following the Dec. 7 impeachment of then-President Pedro Castillo Terrones and the subsequent promotion of Vice Pte. Dina Boluarte to the position of head of state.

  • Thursday, March 2nd 2023 - 08:21 UTC

    Ecuador: Parliamentary Committee gives nod to President Lasso's impeachment

    Since losing his Constitutional reform referendum, Lasso seems weaker and many speculate he will not complete his presidency

    Ecuador's parliamentary committee investigating a corruption scandal approved by 6 votes to 1 to move on with the impeachment of President Guillermo Lasso, who has been linked to drug trafficking and possible crimes against the security of the State and the public administration, it was reported in Quito.