MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[The EU deal's quota split will dominate the Mercosur summit as Uruguay takes the helm]]> The agreement's commercial chapter entered provisionally into force on May 1, after more than 25 years of negotiations The internal distribution of export quotas under the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union will dominate much of the debate at the bloc's summit of heads of state, to be held on June 30 in Asunción, where Paraguay will hand over the six-month presidency to Uruguay. The meeting coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Treaty of Asunción, the bloc's founding charter.

]]> Thu, 25 Jun 2026 22:13:00 GMT <![CDATA[Offers of aid pour in for Venezuela from across the Americas and beyond after its earthquake]]> Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his “concern and dismay” and instructed his Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Caracas to assess assistance measures Governments from across the Americas and other regions of the world expressed solidarity with Venezuela and offered assistance after the twin earthquake of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that struck the north-central part of the country on Wednesday and that, according to the first official toll, left at least 32 dead and more than 700 injured. Several countries announced the dispatch of rescue teams, while acting President Delcy Rodríguez thanked them for the shows of support.

]]> Thu, 25 Jun 2026 06:41:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazil softens Selic rate but concerns grow about fiscal stimulus on election year and impact of El Niño]]> Inflation expectations have risen steadily as President Lula da Silva rolls out measures boosting household spending as he bids for re-election in October Brazil’s central bank interest rate-setting committee, Copom, ‌unanimously voted on Wednesday to lower its benchmark Selic rate by 25 basis points to 14.25%, a level last seen in May 2025, ‌but acknowledging a tougher inflation outlook given the risks from election-year fiscal stimulus and the impact of a likely El Nino weather pattern shock.

]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:53:00 GMT <![CDATA[Trump calls Brazil 'politically difficult'; Lula says he should learn about 'civilized elections']]> “I think Trump knows little about Brazil; if he knows it, it is through his relationship with the Bolsonaro family,” Lula said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday asked his US counterpart, Donald Trump, not to interfere in Brazil's elections, a matter he stressed is exclusive to Brazil, just as his country does not seek to meddle in the electoral processes of the United States. The demand was a response to remarks Trump had made about Brazil hours earlier.

]]> Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:05:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazil's Supreme Court sentences Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years for coercion]]> Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that Eduardo Bolsonaro himself admitted having moved to the US in 2025 to lobby the US administration for sanctions against the judges prosecuting his father Former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced on Tuesday to four years and two months in prison by Brazil's Supreme Court for coercing the justice system through his lobbying of the United States government to impose sanctions against the country. The sentence would be served under a semi-open regime and automatically entails his political disqualification.

]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:48:00 GMT <![CDATA[Lula criticizes the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism at the G7 summit]]> The president held that the distance between the prosperity of the most developed economies and the reality of the billions of people living in the global south had grown in recent years Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday criticized the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism during the G7 summit, arguing that those practices worsen the inequalities between rich and developing countries. "Protectionism and unilateralism are now resurfacing as fallacious responses to the complexity of our problems," he said in his address at the meeting, held in the French city of Évian, in an apparent reference to Donald Trump's government, according to the transcript released by the Brazilian Presidency.

]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:48:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazilian stocks slip as the US-Iran deal sinks oil prices and hits Petrobras]]> The shares that lost the most value were those of the private oil firms Prio (-6.9%) and Petroreconcavo (-6.5%), also affected by the fall in crude São Paulo's stock exchange closed on Monday down 0.42%, dragged by the plunge of the state oil company Petrobras after the international crude price fell, linked to the preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran. The Ibovespa, the benchmark index of Latin America's main exchange, ended the session at 170,415 points.

]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:50:00 GMT <![CDATA[Two helicopters collide over Rio, killing six, including singer Oliver Tree and YouTuber Gaspi]]> All the victims were traveling in the aircraft. Among them were US singer Oliver Tree and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known as Gaspi. Two helicopters flying over Rio de Janeiro collided in mid-air on Sunday morning and crashed into an urban area of the city, in an accident that left six people dead, the fire department confirmed. All the victims were traveling in the aircraft. Among them were US singer Oliver Tree and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known as Gaspi.

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 21:44:00 GMT <![CDATA[Who was Gaspi, the popular Argentine YouTuber killed in a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro?]]> Born in Buenos Aires on December 28, 2002, Gaspi began posting content in 2015 and reached mass recognition from 2021, when his channel passed two million subscribers Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim Díaz, known as Gaspi, 23, was one of the six people who died on Sunday in the collision of two helicopters over Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian authorities released the names of the victims in the afternoon, following the accident in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood, in the west of the city.

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 19:50:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazil's lower-house committee approves lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 16]]> The initiative resurfaces in an election year, with general elections in October. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opposes the measure, while the right is championing it The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee (CCJ) of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday, by 44 votes to 18, the constitutional amendment proposal seeking to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16. The approval, however, is only the first step in a long process before the measure could become law.

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