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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 1st 2025 - 17:49 UTC

Latin America

  • Wednesday, March 19th 2025 - 10:12 UTC

    Brazil condemns Conmebol chief statements

    Domínguez later apologized for his remarks

    The Brazilian Government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Tuesday condemned South American Football Confederation President Alejandro Dominguez's remark comparing a Libertadores Cup without Brazilian teams to “Tarzan without Cheetah,” and criticized the sporting body for failing to combat racism effectively.

  • Tuesday, March 18th 2025 - 19:01 UTC

    Nearly 500,000 people affected by oil spill in Ecuador

    Petroecuador blamed a landslide due to heavy rains in recent weeks for the spill

    Local communities in the Ecuadorean province of Esmeraldas were still protesting Tuesday after a major oil spill last week left some 500,000 residents with no access to drinking water, in addition to other environmental damages.

  • Tuesday, March 18th 2025 - 10:52 UTC

    At least six killed in Honduran air crash

    A mechanical failure is believed to have caused the incident

    A Jetstream 32 twin turboprop aircraft of Líneas Aéreas Nacionales de Honduras Sociedad Anónima (Lanhsa) Monday plunged into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff from Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport in Roatán, Honduras, en route to La Ceiba. The aircraft, carrying 15 passengers and 2 crew members, including a Honduran-American singer-songwriter, Aurelio Martínez Suazo, a French woman, and two minors, failed to gain sufficient altitude due to a suspected mechanical failure. At least six people died, five were injured, and six remain missing.

  • Tuesday, March 18th 2025 - 09:04 UTC

    Europol/Ecuador, large cocaine bust, 73 tons and coordination with major EU ports

    The criminal structure Ecuador is part of an intercontinental criminal network involved in multi-ton cocaine trafficking via sea containers from South America to Europe.

    A large-scale drug trafficking investigation, supported by Europol, led to the dismantling of an Ecuadorian criminal cell involved in supplying wholesale cocaine to the EU via major ports. The international operation, led by the Ecuadorian National Police (Policía Nacional del Ecuador), also involved the German Criminal Police (LKA Baden-Württemberg), German Customs (ZFA Stuttgart) and the Spanish Guardia Civil.

  • Tuesday, March 18th 2025 - 07:58 UTC

    Peru: Boluarte wants death penalty for hitmen

    Boluarte's threat was taken as a populist threat, however unfeasible given Peru's international engagements opposing capital punishment

    Peruvian President Dina Boluarte Monday declared a 30-day state of emergency in Lima and Callao following Sunday's murder of popular cumbia singer Paul Flores by hitmen. The measure, effective from March 18, suspends constitutional rights such as assembly, home inviolability, free transit, and personal freedom, with the Armed Forces supporting the National Police to combat crime.

  • Monday, March 17th 2025 - 20:54 UTC

    Haiti: Gangs make TV facilities their target of choice

    Jimmy “Barcebue” Cherizier now targets TV stations

    The criminal gang Viv Ansanm has intensified its attacks on media outlets in Port-au-Prince with the latest incident involving the vandalism and arson of Télé Pluriel's premises in Port-au-Prince's Delmas 19 district during the weekend.

  • Monday, March 17th 2025 - 12:43 UTC

    US convicts transferred to El Salvador's maximum security Cecot prison

    The US will pay El Salvador “a small fee” for housing these convicts at the Cecot (Pic EFE)

    Salvadoran authorities Sunday received 238 members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs, expelled from the United States under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a law unused since World War II. President Nayib Bukele acknowledged their arrival and immediate transfer to the maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), built in 2023 to house high-profile criminals.

  • Saturday, March 15th 2025 - 10:31 UTC

    Cuba going through fourth nationwide blackout in six months

    Partial remedies never solved Cuba's underlying energy problems

    Cuba has experienced its fourth nationwide blackout in six months, leaving nearly 10 million people without electricity following a failure at a key substation in Havana, which caused a chain reaction that led to the shutdown of multiple power generation units, resulting in a total collapse of the National Electric System (SEN). The new crisis is said to be the consequence of persistent underfunding, outdated infrastructure, and fuel shortages.

  • Saturday, March 15th 2025 - 09:44 UTC

    Bolivian President admits inability to cope with imported fuel demand

    “We no longer have the capacity to be able to fully respond to the demand for that amount of fuel,” Arce reckoned

    Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora admitted Friday that his country imported 90% of the fuel it consumed at a cost of around US$ 3 billion annually, a significant adjustment from US$ 1.5 billion in 2019. Given the rise in smuggling and the scarcity of hard foreign currency, the crisis seems to have entered some loop. Reducing public sector vehicle use and prioritizing fuel for essential services may not be enough to meet national fuel demand. “What country is going to put up with this?” he wondered.

  • Friday, March 14th 2025 - 13:24 UTC

    UN: Bolivia loses voting rights over unpaid membership dues

    Pary stressed that Bolivia has had an active role within the UN

    Former Foreign Minister Diego Pary (2018-19), who resigned as Bolivia's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) last year, has said that his country has lost its voting rights within the global organization due to unpaid membership dues for the 2024-2025 term, amounting roughly to US$ 780,000.