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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 18th 2026 - 19:39 UTC

Politics

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 06:42 UTC

    Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru sign joint agreement to combat transnational crime

    “This is not just a political gesture, it is not a diplomatic milestone,” Kast said at the opening, arguing that “there can be a before and an after here”

    The governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru on Thursday signed in Santiago a joint cooperation agreement against transnational organized crime, in a meeting convened by the Chilean government of President José Antonio Kast and attended by five foreign ministers, four security ministers, and one interior minister. The so-called Santiago Regional Compact articulates five areas of cooperation and will be presented before the 56th General Assembly of the Organization of American States to extend the initiative to the rest of the continent.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 08:11 UTC

    Scotland wants a new independence referendum, despite Downing Street’s rejection

    During the debate in Holyrood, First Minister John Swinney claimed he was confident Scots would back independence if given the chance to vote on the issue again. (Pic PA)

    The consequences of the disastrous results of the recent local elections in UK, both for the incumbent Labour and the Conservatives, not only have questioned PM Keir Starmer’s leadership but revived old challenges. And one of those is Scotland’s call for a second independence referendum.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 07:26 UTC

    UK’s Royal College of Defense visited Brazil, Argentina and Chile

    The delegation at the Chilean Antarctic Institute

    A delegation from the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) visited Chile the week of 18 May as part of its annual tour of Latin America, aimed at strengthening strategic analysis and global understanding of challenges related to security, defense and international cooperation.

  • Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 20:41 UTC

    Uruguay: President Orsi faces questions over purchase of vehicle with USD 25,000 discount

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi is this week facing public questioning over the purchase, eight days before his inauguration on 1 March 2025, of a zero-kilometre Hyundai Santa Fe SUV for an invoiced value of USD 54,000, although the model was being offered by the same company at around USD 78,990. The difference, close to USD 25,000, was confirmed by the presidential entourage as a “discount or rebate” on the transaction, without specifying whether it corresponded to a standard commercial policy of the dealership or to a particular condition extended to the then-president-elect.

  • Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 18:47 UTC

    Blair calls on Labour to abandon ideology and embrace a “radical centre” or face relegation

    The text also targets the two main contenders to succeed Starmer in the leadership election being pressed for from the parliamentary base

    Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on Wednesday in the Labour Party's internal crisis with an essay of more than 5,600 words published on the website of his organization, the Tony Blair Institute, in which he demands that his party colleagues abandon ideological disputes, adopt what he calls a “radical centre,” and formulate a national project before contesting the party's leadership. “Trying to remove a prime minister before even knowing what new political direction is being proposed is not a way to behave,” the former Labour leader wrote, in an intervention that has received no public backing from the party's main figures.

  • Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 18:29 UTC

    Paz promulgates law authorizing Armed Forces to intervene in Bolivia's internal conflicts

    The new law repeals Law 1341, a norm that had entered into force toward the end of Jeanine Áñez's transitional presidency in 2020

    Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday promulgated Law 1731, a measure that removes existing restrictions on the intervention of the Armed Forces in the country's internal conflicts. The signing of the document, which took place past midnight, comes after nearly a month of road blockades led by sectors demanding his resignation, and raises pressure on the president to authorize the deployment of the military on the streets and roads of Bolivia.

  • Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 18:00 UTC

    Trump rejects Russia or China custody of Iranian enriched uranium in peace negotiations

    Iran holds approximately 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, close to the 90% generally required to build an atomic weapon

    US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ruled out that Russia or China could take control of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium as part of a possible agreement to end the war. “No, I would not be comfortable with that,” the president replied tersely to journalists who asked about the possibility of Moscow or Beijing taking custody of the radioactive material with which Tehran could potentially build a nuclear weapon. The statement introduces a new complication into the negotiations both parties are conducting in Doha under Qatari mediation.

  • Tuesday, May 26th 2026 - 23:20 UTC

    Legislator Goss takes Falklands' voice to the UN: “We have nothing to hide”

    Goss, a sixth-generation Islander whose ancestor arrived at Port Louis from Stoke-on-Trent in 1841, intervened without political or diplomatic career credentials

    The Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Michael Goss on Tuesday presented the archipelago's position before the Regional Seminar of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation, known as the Committee of 24, held in Managua, Nicaragua. In his address, Goss defended the right to self-determination of the inhabitants of the archipelago, reiterated the Legislative Assembly's invitation for the body to send a visiting mission to the Islands, and questioned Argentina's failure to comply with the bilateral cooperation package agreed with the United Kingdom in September 2024.

  • Tuesday, May 26th 2026 - 23:13 UTC

    Uruguay signs memorandum with United Kingdom on aerospace, infrastructure, and digital innovation

    “This agreement is in line with the strategic objectives set out by President Yamandú Orsi, focused on commercial openness and mutual cooperation,” Oddone (center) said

    The Uruguayan government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom to deepen bilateral dialogue and advance cooperation in the aerospace, infrastructure, and digital innovation sectors, in a new step in the rapprochement between the two countries initiated with the visit of Economy and Finance Minister Gabriel Oddone to London in February. The agreement, valid for at least the next four years, was signed between the Uruguayan Ministry of Economy and Finance and the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

  • Tuesday, May 26th 2026 - 14:21 UTC

    Leo XIV calls for “disarming” artificial intelligence in first encyclical, links it to historical slavery

    He condemned the development of autonomous weapons and the growing delegation of human control over arms, arguing that it reduces the possibilities of qualifying a war as “just”

    Pope Leo XIV on Monday published the first major doctrinal document of his pontificate, an encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas in which he calls for “disarming” artificial intelligence, warns of its risks to humanity, and delivers one of the most complete and firm apologies from the Vatican for the Catholic Church's historical role in slavery. “The word is strong, I know, but it has been chosen deliberately because this moment demands words capable of capturing attention,” the pontiff said during the presentation of the text at the Vatican, as reported by the BBC.