Politics

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 23:24 UTC

  Kast launches border barriers in northern Chile and hardens migration agenda

  

  Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Monday launched the border control works he had promised during the campaign, starting in Chacalluta in the Arica and Parinacota region, in an early sign that migration and security will be among the defining priorities of his administration. According to Chile’s presidency, Kast inspected the works at the frontier and highlighted the Army’s deployment to secure the area.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 23:16 UTC

  $LIBRA case forensic report points to payments from Novelli to Milei since 2021, La Nación says

  

  A forensic report added to the judicial case around the $LIBRA scandal contains references to payments that businessman Mauricio Novelli allegedly made to Javier Milei from 2021, when he was still a congressman, for classes and promotional work tied to N&W Profesional Traders, according to La Nación. The report also points to indications of money transfers or cash deliveries even after Milei became president.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 22:45 UTC

  Petro accuses Ecuador of bombing Colombian territory, deepening rift with Noboa

  

  The crisis between Colombia and Ecuador escalated sharply on Tuesday after Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his country was being bombed from Ecuadorian territory, while his counterpart Daniel Noboa rejected the allegation and insisted military operations were taking place only on Ecuador’s side of the border.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 22:31 UTC

  US counterterrorism chief resigns over Iran war

  

  Joe Kent, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on Tuesday with immediate effect, saying he could not support Washington’s war against Iran in what became the first high-level public break inside Donald Trump’s national security apparatus since the offensive began. Kent said Tehran had posed no “imminent threat” to the United States.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 22:15 UTC

  Trump sharpens criticism of NATO after allies refuse to join Hormuz mission

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of NATO and other allies on Tuesday after most of them rejected his request to send ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for Gulf energy exports. Speaking alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump called the refusal “a very foolish mistake” while also insisting Washington could proceed alone: “We don’t need help, actually.”

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 11:44 UTC

  Rafael Correa in Uruguay: controversy over visit by convicted Ecuadorean ex-president

  

  Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa is in Uruguay, according to Uruguayan government sources cited by Montevideo daily El País. His presence prompted criticism from the opposition, while the government said that, for now, no formal meetings with executive branch authorities were planned.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 10:28 UTC

  Argentina opposition seeks prosecutor’s removal in $LIBRA case and warns of possible cover-up

  

  Political pressure on the judicial investigation into the $LIBRA case intensified on Monday after opposition lawmakers said they would file a complaint against federal prosecutor Eduardo Taiano before the Discipline Tribunal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and seek his removal from the case. The move followed new reports published by Argentine media on the forensic review of Mauricio Novelli’s phone, one of the central pieces of evidence in the investigation.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 03:19 UTC

  Trump says it would be “a great honor” to “take Cuba” as Washington presses Havana in talks

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump sharply escalated his rhetoric toward Cuba on Monday, saying it would be “a great honor” for him to “take Cuba in some form” and that he can “do anything” he wants with the island. The comments came as Cuba was enduring a nationwide blackout and while bilateral contacts acknowledged by both governments since last week continued in the background.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 03:00 UTC

  Noboa imposes curfew in four provinces of Ecuador deploys 75,000 personnel in new anti-crime offensive

  

  Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa has launched a new security offensive with a nightly curfew in four violence-hit provinces and the deployment of 75,000 soldiers and police officers. The restriction runs from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. in Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, began on Sunday night and is expected to remain in force for two weeks. In the first hours of the operation, authorities reported 253 arrests for violating the measure.

• Monday, March 16th 2026 - 16:14 UTC

  Germany rejects sending ships to Hormuz as the EU seeks a diplomatic and logistical way forward

  

  Germany on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s request for allies to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help reopen the shipping route. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius questioned what “a handful” of European frigates could do that the U.S. Navy could not already do, and summed up Berlin’s position bluntly: “This is not our war.” Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesperson added that the conflict “is not NATO’s war” and that Germany had no plans to be drawn into it.