MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, January 22nd 2026 - 06:58 UTC

Latin America

  • Monday, December 22nd 2025 - 10:27 UTC

    Venezuela reactivates Panama flight despite US “airspace closure”

    Rutaca is reportedly capitalizing on surging ticket prices, given the restrictions

    In a move to preserve international connectivity amid escalating regional tensions, Venezuelan carrier Rutaca Airlines officially resumed commercial service between the city of Barquisimeto and Panama City on Sunday.

  • Monday, December 22nd 2025 - 10:23 UTC

    Trump picks Special Ops Veteran for Southcom Chief post

    If confirmed by the Senate, Donovan will oversee a massive regional deployment

    US President Donald Trump has nominated Marine Corps Lieutenant General Francis “Frank” L. Donovan to head the US Southern Command (Southcom), the Pentagon confirmed Friday.

  • Saturday, December 20th 2025 - 10:26 UTC

    Bolivia faces indefinite strike to protest end of fuel subsidies

    “The decree will not be changed because it is a starting point,” Paz asserted

    Bolivia's powerful labor and transport unions confirmed they would launch an indefinite national strike starting Monday after President Rodrigo Paz Pereira vowed that Supreme Decree 5503, eliminating decades-old fuel subsidies, was a “non-negotiable” starting point for his administration.

  • Saturday, December 20th 2025 - 09:34 UTC

    Former Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra hospitalized

    Vizcarra was treated at a hospital he had inaugurated as president

    Former Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra was rushed from the Barbadillo prison to the Ate Vitarte - EsSalud hospital on Friday after suffering a severe hypertensive crisis and physical decompensation. The medical emergency occurred just days after Vizcarra began serving a 14-year sentence for corruption.

  • Friday, December 19th 2025 - 21:46 UTC

    Ecuador: Three days of mourning after death of former President Rodrigo Borja

    Rodrigo Boja was a founder and the main leader of Izquierda Democrática (ID) well into the early 2000s

    Former Ecuadorean President Rodrigo Borja Cevallos passed away on Thursday, December 18, 2025, at the age of 90. In response to the loss of one of the 20th century’s most influential political figures, President Daniel Noboa has declared three days of national mourning to be observed from December 19 to 21, with the flag flying at half-mast.

  • Friday, December 19th 2025 - 21:34 UTC

    Superflu makes it to Argentina and Brazil

    The primary concern for health officials remains low vaccination uptake

    Health authorities across South America are on high alert following the confirmed detection of the Influenza A (H3N2) “K subclade” in Argentina and Brazil. The variant, which has already triggered emergency protocols in Chile and Bolivia, is characterized by genetic mutations that may increase transmissibility, though experts emphasize it does not currently appear to be more lethal than standard flu strains.

  • Friday, December 19th 2025 - 10:53 UTC

    CAF okays US$980mn package for Uruguay

    The package aligns with CAF's evolution into a “green bank” for the region, Díaz-Granados explained

    The Board of Directors of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) has authorized a landmark US$980 million credit operation for Uruguay. This approval represents one of the largest single financial commitments in the organization's history with the country, targeting a massive overhaul of public infrastructure, climate resilience, and social integration.

  • Friday, December 19th 2025 - 08:27 UTC

    Health alerts issued in Chile and Bolivia following superflu detections

    Health authorities in both countries insisted that current influenza vaccines remain the most effective defense against severe illness and death

    Health authorities in Chile and Bolivia have activated emergency epidemiological protocols following the confirmed arrival of a new, highly transmissible variant of Influenza A (H3N2), known as the K subclade (also referred to as “supereflu”).

  • Friday, December 19th 2025 - 08:18 UTC

    Peru purchasing South Korean tanks in major defense deal

    Deliveries are expected to begin in 2026, with local assembly of the vehicles projected to start in 2029

    Peru has signed a strategic framework agreement with South Korean defense firm Hyundai Rotem to purchase 54 K2 Black Panther battle tanks and 141 K808 armored personnel carriers, signaling a total modernization of the South American country's capabilities in this regard.

  • Thursday, December 18th 2025 - 10:28 UTC

    Ecuadorean football star killed by hitmen

    Pineida and his partner died in the attack, but his mother survived

    Barcelona Sporting Club defender Mario Pineida and his partner were slain by hitmen in Guayaquil on Wednesday afternoon. The footballer's mother, who had been shopping with the couple, was wounded in the attack but is out of danger.