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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, December 31st 2025 - 05:06 UTC

Politics

  • Monday, May 28th 2018 - 06:19 UTC

    Colombian election: clear cut right and left candidates will dispute the 17 June runoff

    A favorite from the start, Uribe’s protégé Ivan Duque, as expected managed the highest number of supporters, with over 7 million, or 39% of the votes.

    Colombia’s left and right will be holding a runoff to compete for the presidency in June after hard-line conservative Ivan Duque and ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro scooped most of the votes in the first round of Sunday elections.<br />
    The second vote will take place on June 17, which could see Colombia's already fragile peace deal with the FARC guerrillas shaken.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 18:23 UTC

    'Storms' and arrests among Venezuelan Armed Forces; more tortures and political prisoners

    President Maduro ordered the military high command that the Armed Forces must sign a document of “loyalty” to the regime.

    After the presidential election in Venezuela on May 20, in which President Nicolás Maduro was re-elected, a wave of arrests has been reported among Venezuelan military in several parts of the country. As well as releases and new arrests of civilians and soldiers for political reasons.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 09:15 UTC

    Colombia's presidential election: another referendum on the peace deal?

    The latest opinion polls released had Duque with an eleven percentage points lead. If no candidate gets a majority on May 27, a runoff vote will be held on June 17.

    On Sunday, Colombians will head to the polls to elect a new president. At play in this year’s election are a range of issues: Venezuelan migration, economic situation, rampant corruption, high levels of inequality, but above all is the country's historic peace accord that ended over half a century of armed conflict.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 09:13 UTC

    Landslide victory to legalize abortion in Ireland, according to exit polls

    The poll suggests that the margin of victory for the Yes side in the referendum will be 68% to 32%, a stunning victory for the Yes side after a long, divisive campaign.

    Ireland has voted by a landslide margin to change the constitution so that abortion can be legalized, according to an exit poll conducted for The Irish Times by Ipsos/MRBI.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 09:00 UTC

    Truckers strike crippling Brazil, despite authorization to use military force to clear highways

    Brazil's largest city and economic hub Sao Paulo decreed a state of emergency, as did Rio de Janeiro, as gas stations and airports ran out of fuel

    A truckers protest over diesel prices that has crippled key sectors of Latin America's biggest economy dragged into Friday night, putting drivers in a standoff with Brazilian President Michel Temer who authorized military force to clear highways. The protest will stretch into its sixth day on Saturday.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 08:54 UTC

    Argentine church independence message: sigh of relief for embattled Macri

    Members of the Macri administration during the ceremony listening to Cardinal Poli's homily calling for unity and better distribution

    A sigh of relief from Argentine president Mauricio Macri and his administration following on Friday's Tedeum by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, which marks the Church' message on May 25, the symbolic celebration of the first independence efforts during the 1810 Revolution.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 08:46 UTC

    Countdown for Rajoy's government: call for fresh elections

    Rajoy called the opposition’s move “opportunist”, and said the no-confidence vote “goes against the stability in Spain and damages the economic recovery”

    Spanish opposition parties have launched a fierce campaign to end the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy after courts ruled that his Partido Popular profited from a large kickbacks-for-contracts scheme. The Socialist opposition announced a vote of no confidence against the prime minister with the backing of anti-establishment and left-wing parties, while the pro-business Ciudadanos (Citizens) – which had supported the conservative minority government until now – urged Mr Rajoy to call a fresh election.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

    Brexit talks in Brussels lead to strong exchanges with Chancellor Hammond

    “There are obviously a wide range of views on both sides but everybody that I have engaged with has been very constructive, very keen”, Hammond said

    Chancellor Philip Hammond has criticized claims from European Union officials that Britain has a “fantasy” approach to Brexit negotiations. Mr Hammond insisted that talks with EU officials were “constructive” after reports from the continent that Britain was being “unrealistic” and little progress made in discussions in recent days.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 08:32 UTC

    Odebrecht begins paying debts and fines following financial agreement

    Odebrecht said that Itaú Unibanco Holding SA and Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil's top two lenders, will give Odebrecht a joint loan of 2.6 billion reais.

    Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA's will use part of a 2.6 billion reais (US$709.96 million) bank loan to repay a loan in arrears with state-controlled bank Banco do Brasil SA, according to sources quoted by Reuters. Under the terms of an agreement announced on Friday, the engineering group, at the center of a corruption scandal, will repay a 100 million reais debt to Banco do Brasil.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 08:32 UTC

    Thousands march in Buenos Aires to protest Argentina's IMF credit bid

    Opposition parties, unions, human rights organizations and artists marched next to Buenos Aires’ emblematic obelisk, under the banner “the country is in danger.”

    Thousands of Argentines on Friday protested the government’s bid to secure a credit line from the International Monetary Fund, which they blame for hardship during a past financial crisis. Opposition parties, unions, human rights organizations and artists took part in the march near the capital Buenos Aires’ emblematic obelisk, under the banner “the country is in danger.”