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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 5th 2026 - 14:31 UTC

Politics

  • Saturday, May 30th 2026 - 07:51 UTC

    Uruguayan released in Venezuela slept in his building's hallway after finding home taken by his captor

    Originally from Uruguay, Breijo arrived in Venezuela in 1979 to work as a cook

    Uruguayan-Venezuelan citizen José Breijo, 70, on Wednesday recovered the apartment that had been confiscated during his imprisonment in Caracas, after spending several days sleeping in the building's hallway because one of the police officers who had arrested him in 2023 was occupying his home. The case, documented by the AFP news agency, illustrates the pattern of home confiscations denounced by Venezuelan political prisoners and exiled opposition figures during recent years.

  • Saturday, May 30th 2026 - 07:31 UTC

    United States and Iran acknowledge preliminary agreement but disagree on its essential terms

    The most significant divergences concern the practical aspects of the eventual deal

    The administrations of US President Donald Trump and the Iranian government confirmed on Friday the existence of a preliminary agreement aimed at extending the current ceasefire by sixty days and opening formal talks on Iran's nuclear program, in what amounts to the most significant diplomatic advance since the start of the war three months ago. However, the versions disseminated by Washington and Tehran on the content of the understanding differ substantially on the central points: the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the fate of the highly enriched uranium under Iranian control, and the possible payment of frozen funds to the Islamic Republic.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 23:32 UTC

    Trump labels PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations and Brazil fears intervention

    Lula da Silva accused Flávio Bolsonaro, his most likely rival in October's presidential elections, of having “betrayed the homeland by going to the United States to ask for an intervention in Brazil”

    Brazil's government on Friday issued an official note rejecting the decision adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump to designate Brazil's two main organized crime groups, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho, as terrorist organizations. “We will not accept the use of arbitrary measures from abroad as a pretext to attack our sovereignty and our economy,” the statement warned, while avoiding explicit reference to the US administration. The measure, announced on Thursday, adds both organizations to a list that includes Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the main Mexican cartels, and the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 23:09 UTC

    Colombia votes for new president with healthcare system on verge of collapse as main concern

    The cross-spectrum diagnosis agrees on the gravity of the situation, but the causes divide the political spectrum

    Colombia will hold on Sunday 31 May the first round of the presidential elections that will determine the succession of President Gustavo Petro for the 2026-2030 term, with an electoral roll of 41,287,084 voters and healthcare emerging as the electorate's main concern, according to opinion polls. The national health system is going through its most severe crisis in decades: pharmacies are denying medications, hospitals are closing services, and specialist appointments are indefinitely postponed. A possible runoff would be held on 21 June if none of the fourteen candidates surpasses 50% of the vote.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 07:51 UTC

    Argentine justice advances on 111 assets of the Kirchners and Lázaro Báez in Vialidad case

    Following the Cassation ruling, all that remains for Cristina Kirchner and her children is to file a direct complaint before the Supreme Court

    The Federal Criminal Cassation Chamber of Argentina on Thursday rejected the extraordinary appeals filed by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, her children Máximo and Florencia, and businessman Lázaro Báez against the confiscation of 111 assets ordered as part of the Vialidad case. The decision, adopted by the court's Chamber IV, virtually closes the path to the country's highest tribunal and clears the execution of the asset-related measures associated with the conviction for fraudulent administration imposed on the former president in December 2022 and confirmed by the Supreme Court in June 2025.

  • Friday, May 29th 2026 - 06:42 UTC

    Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru sign joint agreement to combat transnational crime

    “This is not just a political gesture, it is not a diplomatic milestone,” Kast said at the opening, arguing that “there can be a before and an after here”

    The governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru on Thursday signed in Santiago a joint cooperation agreement against transnational organized crime, in a meeting convened by the Chilean government of President José Antonio Kast and attended by five foreign ministers, four security ministers, and one interior minister. The so-called Santiago Regional Compact articulates five areas of cooperation and will be presented before the 56th General Assembly of the Organization of American States to extend the initiative to the rest of the continent.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 08:11 UTC

    Scotland wants a new independence referendum, despite Downing Street’s rejection

    During the debate in Holyrood, First Minister John Swinney claimed he was confident Scots would back independence if given the chance to vote on the issue again. (Pic PA)

    The consequences of the disastrous results of the recent local elections in UK, both for the incumbent Labour and the Conservatives, not only have questioned PM Keir Starmer’s leadership but revived old challenges. And one of those is Scotland’s call for a second independence referendum.

  • Thursday, May 28th 2026 - 07:26 UTC

    UK’s Royal College of Defense visited Brazil, Argentina and Chile

    The delegation at the Chilean Antarctic Institute

    A delegation from the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) visited Chile the week of 18 May as part of its annual tour of Latin America, aimed at strengthening strategic analysis and global understanding of challenges related to security, defense and international cooperation.

  • Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 20:41 UTC

    Uruguay: President Orsi faces questions over purchase of vehicle with USD 25,000 discount

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi is this week facing public questioning over the purchase, eight days before his inauguration on 1 March 2025, of a zero-kilometre Hyundai Santa Fe SUV for an invoiced value of USD 54,000, although the model was being offered by the same company at around USD 78,990. The difference, close to USD 25,000, was confirmed by the presidential entourage as a “discount or rebate” on the transaction, without specifying whether it corresponded to a standard commercial policy of the dealership or to a particular condition extended to the then-president-elect.

  • Wednesday, May 27th 2026 - 18:47 UTC

    Blair calls on Labour to abandon ideology and embrace a “radical centre” or face relegation

    The text also targets the two main contenders to succeed Starmer in the leadership election being pressed for from the parliamentary base

    Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on Wednesday in the Labour Party's internal crisis with an essay of more than 5,600 words published on the website of his organization, the Tony Blair Institute, in which he demands that his party colleagues abandon ideological disputes, adopt what he calls a “radical centre,” and formulate a national project before contesting the party's leadership. “Trying to remove a prime minister before even knowing what new political direction is being proposed is not a way to behave,” the former Labour leader wrote, in an intervention that has received no public backing from the party's main figures.