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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 4th 2026 - 05:30 UTC

Latin America

  • Thursday, June 25th 2026 - 05:19 UTC

    Peru's electoral board rejects 23 more appeals by Sánchez's party as Fujimori's win holds

    With 99.88% of the tally sheets processed, Fujimori obtains 50.12% of valid votes against Sánchez's 49.88%, a difference of some 44,453 ballots, the largest recorded during the count

    The plenary of Peru's National Jury of Elections (JNE) declared unfounded 23 appeals filed by Juntos por el Perú, the party of left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez, against tally sheets from the presidential runoff, in which right-wing Keiko Fujimori is set to emerge as the winner. The decision shores up a result that, with the count almost complete, can no longer be reversed.

  • Tuesday, June 23rd 2026 - 18:15 UTC

    Early escrutinio stages confirm Colombia's preliminary result with 99.997% coincidence

    Those figures must be confirmed or adjusted by the count process

    Colombia's National Registry reported on Tuesday that there is a 99.997% coincidence between the preliminary results of Sunday's presidential runoff, which gave the victory to Abelardo de la Espriella, and the municipal counts, one of the stages of the process that will lead to the official declaration of the new president. “The preliminary count coincides with the judges' tally by 99.997%,” the body said in a statement.

  • Tuesday, June 23rd 2026 - 18:02 UTC

    De la Espriella says Colombia will join the US-led 'Shield of the Americas' on August 7

    De la Espriella, who received Trump's electoral backing, will come to power with rhetoric aligned with the White House on an iron-fist approach to organized crime and immigration

    Colombia's president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, said on Tuesday that the country will join the “Shield of the Americas,” the US initiative against drug cartels, on August 7, when he takes office in place of Gustavo Petro. “From August 7, Colombia will be part of the Shield of the Americas. Colombia will no longer be governed by a government complacent toward narcoterrorism; we will move to combat it as it deserves,” he wrote on the social network X, in response to a congratulation from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

  • Tuesday, June 23rd 2026 - 17:26 UTC

    Peru's Sánchez alleges fraud and says he won't recognize a Fujimori government

    Until a few days ago, Sánchez had avoided using the word fraud. This time he held that there are reasons to question the validity of the votes cast abroad

    The presidential candidate of Juntos por el Perú, Roberto Sánchez, hardened his rhetoric on the runoff on Tuesday, alleging an alleged “fraud in progress” and announcing that he will not recognize a possible government of right-wing Keiko Fujimori. At a press conference in Lima, the left-wing candidate also called a protest for Saturday in defense of what he considers the popular will expressed at the ballot box.

  • Monday, June 22nd 2026 - 13:24 UTC

    De la Espriella gives a victory speech vowing unity as Cepeda awaits the final tally

    ”The electoral campaign is over, the divisions are over (...) and the supreme hour of service to the homeland begins,” De la Espriella said

    Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella delivered a victory speech on Sunday in Barranquilla, in which he proclaimed himself the winner of Colombia's presidential runoff according to the preliminary count and called for national unity, while the official tally remained under way and his rival, left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, conditioned recognition of the result on the definitive count.

  • Monday, June 22nd 2026 - 04:30 UTC

    De la Espriella wins Colombia's presidency in the preliminary count as Cepeda awaits the tally

    De la Espriella addressed Colombians with a “message of unity” and promised “absolute respect” for the vote

    Right-wing criminal lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia's presidency, according to the preliminary count by the Registraduría, defeating left-wing senator Iván Cepeda by less than a point in the closest runoff in the country's history. With about 99.9% of the tables processed, De la Espriella took 49.66% of the vote against Cepeda's 48.70%, a difference of some 250,000 ballots. The governing-coalition candidate acknowledged the preliminary count but warned that he would not accept the result until the definitive tally, and challenged 33,000 of the 120,000 polling tables; President Gustavo Petro said that “neither can proclaim himself president.”

  • Saturday, June 20th 2026 - 06:57 UTC

    Cuba approves its deepest market reforms in over a decade amid public skepticism

    President Miguel Díaz-Canel justified the package before the Communist Party's Central Committee with the premise of “changing whatever needs to be changed”

    Cuba's National Assembly approved on Friday a package of 176 measures that introduces market dynamics into the island's economy, in the deepest shift since the reforms promoted by Raúl Castro in 2011. The government presented the plan as a response to the worst economic crisis in decades, though much of the population receives it with skepticism.

  • Friday, June 19th 2026 - 17:44 UTC

    Peru's Sánchez calls a protest against the result that makes Fujimori the virtual winner

    According to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Fujimori obtains 50.12% of the vote against Sánchez's 49.88%

    Left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez called a protest in Lima for Friday against the result of Peru's presidential runoff, which makes right-wing Keiko Fujimori the virtual winner, as the electoral justice was due to decide on the challenges filed by his party. With 99.51% of the tally sheets counted, Fujimori leads Sánchez by some 44,101 votes, though no winner has yet been proclaimed.

  • Friday, June 19th 2026 - 10:47 UTC

    De la Espriella leads Colombia's runoff with contained triumphalism as Cepeda hopes for a late surge

    The first-round margin does not look comfortable heading into the runoff

    Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella heads into Colombia's presidential runoff, set for this Sunday, June 21, as the favorite, though with contained triumphalism, while left-wing senator Iván Cepeda trusts that a late push can still overturn the result. Both campaigns sense the election is closer than the polls reflect.

  • Wednesday, June 17th 2026 - 19:11 UTC

    Bolivia's blockade crisis leaves at least 16 dead as the government calls unions to talks

    The COB presented a list of demands on Tuesday spread across eight areas, among them ensuring the “right to mobilization,” that there be no sanctions against the mobilized sectors

    The crisis caused by more than seven weeks of road blockades in Bolivia, driven by sectors demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, has left at least 16 people dead, as the government called the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) on Wednesday to a dialogue to seek a way out. By midday, the country's largest union confederation had not confirmed its attendance.