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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 23rd 2026 - 02:39 UTC

Politics

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 09:52 UTC

    Ruling party wins election in Paraguay, but with surprise performance of the opposition

    Mario Abdo Benitez won slightly more than 46% of the vote, with his centrist opponent Efrain Alegre taking almost 43% in a race that was far closer than expected.(Pic AFP)

    Paraguay's Mario Abdo Benitez, “Marito”, who represents the country's long-dominant Colorado Party, was elected as president on Sunday, landing the top job in the country with the smallest economy in Mercosur. The US-educated son of a senior aide to the country's late dictator, Abdo Benitez won slightly more than 46% of the vote, with his centrist opponent Efrain Alegre taking almost 43% in a race that was far closer than expected.

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 09:49 UTC

    Nicaragua's Ortega cancels social security reform following riots and death of 26 killed by police

    Human rights groups said at least 26 people were killed in several days of clashes. Dozens of shops in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua were looted

    Nicaragua's president on Sunday withdrew changes to the social security system that had triggered several days of deadly protests and looting. President Daniel Ortega said in a message to the nation late Sunday that the National Social Security Institute's board of directors had canceled the changes that were implemented April 16.

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 09:35 UTC

    “Involuntary exodus” is forcing 10% of Venezuelan population to abandon their country

    UNHCR already estimates that this year the figure could more than double, even surpassing 3 million people, 10 percent of the total Venezuelan population.

    The Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro has sent a message to the Venezuelan people that are experiencing an involuntary exodus, forced upon them by the growing economic and institutional degradation of the country. By the end of this year it is estimated that over 10% of the Venezuela population will have left the country.

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 09:05 UTC

    Welsh Labour needs a “radical” new leader: party has been in office since the creation of the Assembly

    Carwyn Jones, first minister since 2009, made the shock announcement at the Welsh Labour conference on Saturday

    The next Welsh Labour leader must “shake-up” the party after almost two decades in power, a former Welsh secretary has said. Carwyn Jones is to step down as the party's leader and first minister in the autumn.

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 08:58 UTC

    Customs union debate in Commons on Thursday; Lords voted in support

    Peers voted by 348 to 225 in favor of a plan requiring ministers to report on steps to negotiate a continued union last week.

    The UK government has restated its commitment to leaving the EU's custom union - ahead of a symbolic vote on the issue this week. Last Wednesday, the government suffered defeat on the EU Withdrawal Bill in the House of Lords - when peers voted in favor of staying in the customs union. As a result, MPs will get a chance to debate the proposal on Thursday..

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 08:51 UTC

    Woman power in Germany: the two most important leaders are female

    “Today, at this party congress, we're breaking through the glass ceiling in the SPD,” Ms Nahles told the convention. “And the ceiling will stay open.”

    Germany's junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Social Democrats (SPD), has elected its first female leader in the party's 154-year history. Former Labour Minister Andrea Nahles was chosen to replace Martin Schulz, who resigned after the SPD's worst result since 1933 in last year's polls.

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 08:42 UTC

    Corruption a threat to democracy, remarks top Brazilian military on Army Day

    The general spoke alongside Temer, who himself has been charged twice with corruption but so far remains protected by Congress from having to face a trial.

    Brazil's top army commander made another foray into political commentary, warning that corruption poses a threat to democracy in Latin America's biggest country. The comment by General Eduardo Villas Boas was his second high-profile remark on the state of Brazil's democracy this month, going against an unwritten rule that high-ranking military officers keep out of politics.

  • Monday, April 23rd 2018 - 08:33 UTC

    President Trump expected to visit London in “late summer”

    The Daily Mail report a visit from Mr Trump has been “penciled in” for July, while the Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed US official saying in the “late summer”.

    United States president Donald Trump is planning on visiting the UK in the summer, it is reported. Mr. Trump has not visited the UK since he was elected to the White House in November 2016, with a potential visit to London to open the US Embassy in January not taking place.

  • Saturday, April 21st 2018 - 07:42 UTC

    Irish border remains stumbling block in Brexit negotiations

    UK plans for avoiding a hard border with Ireland were subjected to “a systematic and forensic annihilation”, during a meeting between UK and EU officials. (Pic BBC)

    Fresh doubts have been raised over Theresa May’s hopes for a deal on future relations with Europe, after reports that her proposals for the Irish border have been comprehensively rejected in Brussels. One report of a meeting this week between Britain’s lead negotiator Olly Robbins and senior EU officials suggested that the Prime Minister’s plans for avoiding a hard border with the Republic were subjected to “a systematic and forensic annihilation”.

  • Saturday, April 21st 2018 - 07:12 UTC

    King-in-waiting confirmed as the next head of the Commonwealth

    Commonwealth leaders meeting in London confirmed that the next chief of the 53-nation group “shall be His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales.”

    Prince Charles has spent a lifetime waiting to be king. On Friday the 69-year-old heir to the British throne got another position to wait for — he was approved as the next head of the Commonwealth made up of the U.K. and the countries that once were its colonies.