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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, February 4th 2026 - 22:30 UTC

Politics

  • Thursday, December 26th 2024 - 09:20 UTC

    Brazilian authorities close car manufacturing plant due to “forced labor”

    Production of BYD vehicles may not resume until the situation is straightened out

    Brazilian authorities reported this week that some 163 workers had been rescued from slave-like conditions at the BYD plant in Camaçari, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Salvador, in the state of Bahia.

  • Thursday, December 26th 2024 - 09:09 UTC

    At least 29 survivors reported in Brazilian-built airliner crash

    There were contradicting versions as to the cause of the accident

    A Brazilian-built Embraer E-190 jet of Azerbaijan Airlines registration 4K-AZ65 carrying 67 people crashed near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau Wednesday, killing 38 people, while 29 others, including three children, were rushed to emergency services for treatment. The passengers included 37 Azerbaijanis, 16 Russians, 6 Kazakhstanis, and 3 Kyrgyzstan nationals.

  • Thursday, December 26th 2024 - 09:02 UTC

    German fascism on the rise, and is admired by Elon Musk

    Musk was born into a wealthy South African family, went to university in Canada, and only moved to the United States when he was 20

    By Gwynne Dyer - Alternativ fur Deutschland (AfD) means ‘The Alternative for Germany’ — and the alternative on offer is fascism. Not actual Nazism, but the AfD uses fascist rhetoric and tactics to attract German voters. It has also attracted some improbable foreign admirers.

  • Thursday, December 26th 2024 - 08:45 UTC

    Brazil aerospace industry receives strong loans to promote manufacturing and exports

    Uruguay has ordered six A29 Super Tucano fighters

    Uruguay has received a small transport aircraft, Brasilia, from Embraer, the big neighbor’s aircraft manufacturer, and also has an order for six A29 Super Tucanos fighters. Brasilia is a small communal transport of up to thirty passengers, but that can also be used for ambulance and rescue operations.

  • Tuesday, December 24th 2024 - 10:50 UTC

    Colombia and Mexico to be represented at Maduro's new inauguration

    “There are still no invitations” to Donald Trump's inauguration, Sheinbaum explained

    Authorities in Bogotá and Mexico City admitted this week that their governments will be represented in Caracas on Jan. 10 when President Nicolás Maduro takes his oath of office for a new six-year term (2025-2031)for which he was chosen in the controversial July 28 elections which the opposition also claims to have won.

  • Tuesday, December 24th 2024 - 10:31 UTC

    Uruguay's BCU ups basic interest rate

    Uruguay's core inflation was above target for two months in a row, the BCU warned

    Uruguay's Central Bank (BCU) Monetary Policy Committee decided Monday to raise the TPM benchmark interest rate from 8.5% to 8.75% in a move to make inflation and expectations “meet” at 4.5% annually over the last 24 months. It was the first twitch to the TPM since April when it was cut from from 9%.

  • Tuesday, December 24th 2024 - 10:23 UTC

    Chile apologizes for military helicopter flying into Argentine airspace

    “There was indeed an unauthorized overflight over Argentine airspace,” van Klaveren owned up

    Chilean authorities admitted Monday that a military helicopter had flown into Argentine airspace last Friday in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren described the incident as “a mistake” and insisted that the case had been handled through the proper diplomatic channels. Argentina sent a consultation note on this matter, to which “a response has been given,” he explained.

  • Tuesday, December 24th 2024 - 10:16 UTC

    Uruguay: Topolansky says she will not recant

    “I cannot recant, since I knew what I said,” Topolansky stressed

    Former Uruguayan VicePresident and First Lady Lucía Topolansky Monday sent a letter to a group of relatives of people who disappeared during the military dictatorship saying she would not backtrack on saying that some witnesses had lied during the trials of those who committed these atrocities.

  • Tuesday, December 24th 2024 - 10:12 UTC

    Lula issues Christmas pardon but not for sex or antidemocratic offenders

    Lula's measure also includes prisoners with severe autistic spectrum disorder or neurodiverse conditions

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a pardon favoring terminally ill prison inmates as well as at-risk pregnant women or those with HIV but fell short of benefitting those who committed crimes that were either heinous - such as torture, terrorism, racism, money laundering, concealment of assets - or against democracy, it was announced Monday in a special edition of the Diário Oficial da Uniao (Official Gazette).

  • Monday, December 23rd 2024 - 23:05 UTC

    Andrés Ojeda chosen to chair Uruguay's Colorado Party

    Ojeda succeeds Colorado's iconic figure and former two-time Uruguayan President Julio María Sanguinetti

    Senator-elect Andrés Ojeda became the Uruguayan Colorado Party's new secretary-general in lieu of former two-time President Julio María Sanguinetti (1985-1990; 1995-2000), now aged 87. The 40-year-old Ojeda had jumped into the limelight when he ran for the presidency on Oct. 27 this year on behalf of the Colorado Party this year, clinching third place.