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[Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Medway makes first port call at Chile's Punta Arenas]]> According to the Austral Port Authority (Epaustral), the ship will be handled during its stay at the Arturo Prat pier by a local agency The British Royal Navy's patrol vessel HMS Medway (P223) docked on Sunday morning at Punta Arenas, in Chile's Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, on its first visit to the port. The stop, for resupply, is due to last until Wednesday, July 8.

]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:05:00 GMT <![CDATA[In Uruguay, Kast urges harsher penalties for crime leaders and total prison isolation]]> Kast held that security is the main condition for economic development and described organized crime as a “cancer” affecting all of Latin America Chile's President José Antonio Kast argued on Wednesday in Montevideo that the region's countries must toughen their laws to combat organized crime, with life sentences for those who lead gangs and a regime of total isolation in prisons to stop them from continuing to operate from behind bars. The president laid out his position after meeting with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, as part of an official visit to Uruguay.

]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:55:00 GMT <![CDATA[A multinational rescue frees Hernán, trapped eight days under Venezuela's quake rubble]]> Gil, who worked as a guard in the underground parking garage of a shopping mall, survived by sheltering under the desk of his booth when the building collapsed A 43-year-old Venezuelan security guard, Hernán Gil, was rescued alive on Thursday after eight days trapped under the rubble of a building that collapsed in Catia La Mar, in La Guaira state, during the twin earthquake that struck the country on June 24. The Costa Rican Red Cross, which took part in the operation, confirmed the rescue, considered one of the most complex and prolonged of the disaster, which has left at least 2,295 dead and more than 11,000 injured, according to the official toll.

]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[Uruguay and Chile agree to coordinate against organized crime after an Orsi-Kast summit]]> Kast said that both countries' security “has been undermined by transnational organized crime” The presidents of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi, and Chile, José Antonio Kast, agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation against transnational organized crime, following a meeting held on Wednesday at the Suárez y Reyes presidential residence in Montevideo. In a joint statement, the leaders announced understandings on security, fisheries, Antarctica, the bi-oceanic corridor and economic integration, as part of Kast's official visit to Uruguay.

]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:11:00 GMT <![CDATA[Mercosur leaders push for a regional security architecture against organized crime]]> The security debate unfolded alongside the trade tensions that dominated the summit The fight against transnational organized crime emerged as one of the central themes of Mercosur's 68th summit of heads of state, held on Tuesday in the Paraguayan city of Luque, where several leaders called for building a regional security "architecture" with concrete goals and deadlines. The issue ran through the addresses of the bloc's presidents and those of its associated states, at a summit where Paraguay handed over the pro tempore presidency to Uruguay.

]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:28:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chilean rescuers allege military harassment in Venezuela's quake zone]]> According to Lermanda's account to Venezuelan and Chilean media, soldiers have repeatedly demanded identity documents from his 46 rescuers, on suspicion of espionage The leader of the Topos Chile rescue group, Francisco Lermanda, alleged that his teams deployed in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira have been harassed by soldiers during search operations in the area hardest hit by the June 24 twin earthquake, which according to the official toll has left at least 1,943 dead. The Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the accusations.

]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 22:08:00 GMT <![CDATA[A regional shift to the right frames the wave of congratulations to Fujimori]]> Argentine President Javier Milei was among the most emphatic. “I congratulate Keiko Fujimori on her historic victory in Peru. The Peruvian people join Colombia and have sent a clear message” The confirmation of right-wing Keiko Fujimori's victory in Peru's presidential runoff drew a wave of congratulations from leaders across the region, who framed the result within the shift to the right underway in several Latin American countries. With Fujimori's arrival in power, the right will add a new government, alongside those of Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and El Salvador, and the recent victory of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia.

]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 08:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile's Kast government reaffirms Valparaíso's bid to host the High Seas Treaty secretariat]]> Known as the “Pearl of the Pacific,” Valparaíso lies 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago and was the most important commercial port in the South Pacific during the 19th century Chile's government on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to Valparaíso's candidacy to host the Executive Secretariat of the High Seas Treaty, a key instrument of ocean governance, and held that the port city has "relevant strengths" to secure it. The Foreign Ministry said the bid responds to the importance that Chilean foreign policy places on protecting the ocean and to the country's "maritime vocation."

]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:35:00 GMT <![CDATA[Santiago seeks to build a cultural avenue like those in Buenos Aires or Madrid]]> “The goal is to propose a very broad range of activities and to ease public access,” explained the executive director of the Centro Arte Alameda, Roser Fort More than fifty institutions and cultural centers located around Santiago's main avenue agreed on Tuesday to expand their cooperation and coordinate their programming to turn that historic thoroughfare into a cultural hub, similar to those in other capitals such as Buenos Aires or Madrid. Museums, theaters, libraries, cinemas and universities created the Red Alameda Cultural, a platform on which they will publish all their activities to enliven the corridor and offer citizens a complete cultural experience.

]]> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:23:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile's far-right proposes a 'Museum of Truth' on the Allende era to counter coup memory]]> The coup led by Pinochet ousted Allende and began a 17-year dictatorship (1973-1990) in which thousands of people were killed, disappeared or tortured. Seven of the eight deputies of the National Libertarian Party (PNL), the far-right group founded by Johannes Kaiser, presented a resolution in Chile's Congress asking President José Antonio Kast to create a "Museum of Truth" devoted to what they describe as "the abuse, hunger and humiliation" of the Popular Unity government, led by Salvador Allende from 1970 until his overthrow on September 11, 1973.

]]> Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:06:00 GMT