Politics

• Monday, April 20th 2026 - 18:02 UTC

  Irregular Venezuelans in Chile want to leave but can't: no papers, no consulate, no return mechanism

  

  As President José Antonio Kast's government ramps up its campaign against irregular immigration with deportation flights and promises of mass expulsions, thousands of undocumented Venezuelans in Chile face a paradox: they want to leave but cannot do so legally. Without valid passports, without Venezuelan consular services in the country and without a formal voluntary return mechanism, they are trapped between a government that does not want them and a homeland they cannot reach.

• Monday, April 20th 2026 - 06:13 UTC

  US captures Iranian cargo ship that tried to evade Hormuz blockade as new round of talks is prepared

  

  The US Navy fired on and boarded an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday in the Gulf of Oman, in the first naval seizure since Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian ports a week ago. Iran vowed retaliation, calling the operation an “act of piracy,” casting doubt on the second round of peace talks Trump announced for Monday in Islamabad.

• Monday, April 20th 2026 - 04:10 UTC

  Bolivia runoff consolidates fragmentation: ruling party keeps two regions, opposition governs the rest

  

  Voters in five Bolivian departments went to the polls on Sunday to complete the regional elections that began on March 22, in a runoff that consolidated a fragmented political map: President Rodrigo Paz's Patria coalition retained just two of nine governorships, while seven went to different opposition forces.

• Sunday, April 19th 2026 - 23:23 UTC

  Peru elections: Sanchez rules out expropriations, seeks to calm markets as he secures second place

  

  Left-wing presidential candidate Roberto Sánchez, who with 93.48% of ballots counted holds second place in Peru's election and is headed for a June 7 runoff against Keiko Fujimori, ruled out expropriations as part of his governing program and accused economic elites of spreading “financial panic” around his candidacy.

• Sunday, April 19th 2026 - 10:51 UTC

  Maria Corina Machado draws thousands of Venezuelans in Madrid, declares: “Today we begin the journey home”

  

  Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado on Saturday drew thousands of Venezuelans to Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where she received the Gold Medal of the Community of Madrid from regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso and proclaimed the start of a new phase in the push for free elections in Venezuela.

• Sunday, April 19th 2026 - 10:16 UTC

  Second trial over Maradona's death begins after first was annulled over judicial scandal

  

  A new public trial has been underway since Tuesday to determine whether Diego Maradona died due to the neglect and abandonment of the health professionals who were supposed to care for him. Seven defendants — four doctors, two nurses and a psychologist — face charges of homicide with eventual intent at the courts of San Isidro, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, with possible sentences of 8 to 25 years in prison.

• Sunday, April 19th 2026 - 10:06 UTC

  Mandelson scandal threatens Starmer: fired top official may contradict his account before Parliament

  

  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will voluntarily appear before the House of Commons on Monday in an attempt to save his government amid the revelation that Peter Mandelson, the controversial former Labour minister he appointed ambassador to the United States in 2024, had been vetoed by the UK Security Vetting agency (UKSV) before his appointment — a veto that was overridden and of which Starmer says he was never informed.

• Saturday, April 18th 2026 - 10:58 UTC

  Iran closes Hormuz again after less than 24 hours as two ships report being fired upon

  

  Iran's reopening of the Strait of Hormuz lasted less than 24 hours. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared on Saturday that it had reimposed “strict control” over the maritime corridor, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transits. At least two vessels reported being hit by gunfire while attempting to cross the strait, according to three maritime security sources cited by Reuters. It has not been confirmed whether the shots caused damage.

• Saturday, April 18th 2026 - 02:53 UTC

  Uruguayan court rejects injunction against offshore seismic prospection, allowing exploration to continue

  

  A Montevideo civil court dismissed an injunction filed by social organizations and fishing industry unions against seismic prospection activities for hydrocarbon exploration in Uruguay's exclusive economic zone, allowing operations by the company Viridien (CGG Services) to continue on an offshore block assigned to oil major Chevron.

• Friday, April 17th 2026 - 21:55 UTC

  Milei government appeals to Supreme Court to avoid applying university funding law

  

  Argentina's government filed an extraordinary federal appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday to avoid complying with the University Funding Law (27.795), which requires it to update faculty salaries and scholarship programs at national universities. The Executive argued that complying with the law would consume 90.3% of available primary spending credits and cause “a significant paralysis of the functioning of all three branches of government.”