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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 5th 2026 - 13:38 UTC

Politics

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2026 - 08:28 UTC

    Mercosur leaders push for a regional security architecture against organized crime

    The security debate unfolded alongside the trade tensions that dominated the summit

    The fight against transnational organized crime emerged as one of the central themes of Mercosur's 68th summit of heads of state, held on Tuesday in the Paraguayan city of Luque, where several leaders called for building a regional security “architecture” with concrete goals and deadlines. The issue ran through the addresses of the bloc's presidents and those of its associated states, at a summit where Paraguay handed over the pro tempore presidency to Uruguay.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2026 - 08:26 UTC

    Uruguay takes over the Mercosur presidency vowing to modernize and open the bloc

    Orsi described the closing semester as “historic” for the signing of the pact with the EU, which he called a “turning point” for economic integration and investment

    Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi on Tuesday assumed the pro tempore presidency of Mercosur and set as a priority of his term to “keep modernizing” the bloc and consolidate its trade opening, following the provisional entry into force of the agreement with the European Union. “We want a more modern, more dynamic Mercosur, more open to the world, but above all a Mercosur that produces concrete results for its citizens,” he said as he received the rotating presidency from host Santiago Peña of Paraguay, at the 68th summit of heads of state held in Luque.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 22:22 UTC

    Mercosur turns to Asia with Japan talks as the EU quota split stays unresolved

    Mercosur on Tuesday announced the start of trade negotiations with Japan and reaffirmed its intention to diversify alliances toward Asia during its biannual summit in Asunción, where Paraguay handed over the bloc's pro tempore presidency to Uruguay. The meeting, however, closed without an agreement on the internal distribution of export quotas under the treaty with the European Union, and again exposed the differences between Argentina and Brazil over the bloc's direction.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 22:19 UTC

    Cepeda threatens 'civil disobedience' unless Colombia's president-elect renounces US citizenship

    Colombian Constitution does not prohibit dual nationality for the presidency: it requires being born in the country and being over 30, requirements that De la Espriella, born in Bogotá, meets

    Left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, who lost Colombia's presidential runoff, announced on Tuesday that he will resort to “peaceful civil disobedience” against the incoming government of Abelardo de la Espriella if the president-elect does not renounce his US citizenship and clarify a series of questions before taking office on August 7. The Pacto Histórico leader, from the party of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, urged his voters to join the measure, which he described as not recognizing the new president's authority.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 09:39 UTC

    Keiko Fujimori wins Peru's presidency as the full count confirms her by 49,641 votes

    With the count closed, Fujimori is the president-elect, though the official proclamation falls to the National Jury of Elections (JNE), scheduled for Friday, July 3

    Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) on Monday closed the count of the presidential runoff at 100% of the tally sheets and confirmed the victory of right-wing Keiko Fujimori over left-wing Roberto Sánchez, 22 days after the June 7 vote. The Fuerza Popular leader obtained 50.14% of valid votes against her rival's 49.87%, a difference of 49,641 ballots, in one of the closest elections in the country's recent history.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 08:33 UTC

    Paraguay declares a holiday after reaching the World Cup's last 16 by beating Germany

    The decree states that Paraguay “has shown the world” its resilience and that the government “cannot remain indifferent to this achievement”

    Paraguay's President Santiago Peña declared a national holiday for Tuesday, June 30, to celebrate the national team's qualification for the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup, after eliminating Germany in a penalty shootout. “Today a whole country is celebrating,” the president wrote on the social network X, where he published the decree and congratulated the team, which he called by its nickname, the Albirroja.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 08:32 UTC

    A regional shift to the right frames the wave of congratulations to Fujimori

    Argentine President Javier Milei was among the most emphatic. “I congratulate Keiko Fujimori on her historic victory in Peru. The Peruvian people join Colombia and have sent a clear message”

    The confirmation of right-wing Keiko Fujimori's victory in Peru's presidential runoff drew a wave of congratulations from leaders across the region, who framed the result within the shift to the right underway in several Latin American countries. With Fujimori's arrival in power, the right will add a new government, alongside those of Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and El Salvador, and the recent victory of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 08:27 UTC

    Argentina taps the local market to fund a $4.2 billion bondholder payment due July 9

    The strategy of Economy Minister Luis Caputo was aimed at obtaining foreign currency in the local market rather than turning to international credit markets, where rates for Argentina remain high

    Argentina's Economy Ministry on Monday completed the placement of the Bonar 2028 (AO28), a dollar-denominated bond under local law, raising most of the funds needed to face a maturity of around $4.2 billion with private debt holders due on July 9. In the second round of the auction, the Finance Secretariat awarded $100 million, thereby reaching the authorized cap of $2 billion for that instrument.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 07:41 UTC

    Venezuela's María Corina Machado accuses the government of blocking her return after the earthquake

    Machado left Venezuela in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and has repeatedly called for the support of US President Donald Trump to achieve a change of government

    Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday accused the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez of closing the country's airspace to prevent her return, as Venezuela copes with the emergency caused by the June 24 twin earthquake, which has left more than 1,700 dead and some 5,000 injured. “They want to block my return to Venezuela,” Machado said in a video posted on social media, in which she said she was in Panama.

  • Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 07:35 UTC

    Mexican rescuers in Venezuela call it one of the largest tragedies they have faced

    The Mexican detachment numbers some 280 soldiers, plus close to 300 members of the Red Cross, firefighters and civil protection, deployed as part of the DN-III civilian-assistance plan

    Rescuers from the Mexican Army's Emergency Response Battalion (BAE), considered among the most experienced in the world in natural disasters, say the earthquake that devastated north-central Venezuela is “one of the largest tragedies” they have attended, above all because of the scale of the damage. The team is working in the coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, where the official toll exceeded 1,700 dead on Monday.