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[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.

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 06:42:00 GMT <![CDATA[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.

]]> Thu, 28 May 2026 07:26:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile: Security and Spokesperson ministers fall in first cabinet reshuffle of Kast's government]]> “I did not expect to carry out this cabinet reshuffle, it was not what I had planned for this stage,” Kast said Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Tuesday carried out the first cabinet reshuffle of his administration and removed from their posts the Security Minister, Trinidad Steinert, and the Government Spokesperson, Mara Sedini, in a reorganization that amounts to the fastest ministerial adjustment in Chile since the return to democracy in 1990. The decision comes just over two months after the inauguration of the far-right president, against a backdrop of falling presidential approval to around 40% and an increase in public disapproval to 60%.

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 01:39:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chilean executive detained in Brazil for racist and homophobic insults to Latam flight attendant]]> The executive refers to the cabin crew member as “mono” (monkey) and makes gestures imitating a primate Chilean executive Germán Naranjo Maldini has been held since Friday 15 May at the Guarulhos prison on the outskirts of São Paulo, charged with racial slur after directing racist and homophobic insults at a flight attendant of the airline Latam during a flight between São Paulo and Frankfurt on 10 May. The Chilean fishing company Landes, where he served as commercial manager, formally and preventively removed the executive from his position following the circulation over the weekend of a video showing the verbal attacks.

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 01:42:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chilean former president defends "people-centered" multilateralism in Montevideo against authoritarian projects]]> Bachelet linked the regional democratic erosion to the “profound disconnect between institutions and people” Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, currently a candidate for the United Nations Secretary General, defended on Thursday in Montevideo the need for "a more representative, inclusive, and people-centered multilateralism" in the face of advancing "authoritarian projects" in the international order, during the keynote of the seminar "Geopolitics, Multilateralism, and Risks to Gender-Parity Democracy in the New International Order." The event, organized by IDEA Internacional, is taking place at Uruguay's Legislative Palace as part of the Latin American Women in Politics Meeting, which brings together regional political leaders until Friday.

]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 13:27:00 GMT <![CDATA[Bullrich vows that Argentina's government will capture former guerrilla Apablaza for extradition to Chile]]> Apablaza, a former member of the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, is identified by Chilean justice as the mastermind of the assassination of Senator Jaime Guzmán, architect of the 1980 Constitution Argentine senator and former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said in Santiago on Tuesday that Javier Milei's government maintains "the firm determination" to locate Chilean former guerrilla Galvarino Sergio Apablaza, on the run since April 1 in Argentine territory, in order to extradite him to Chile. "If he is in Argentina, we are going to find him. That is the commitment of the Argentine president, it is the commitment of the government," Bullrich told local media during her visit to the Andean country, where she will meet with Chilean President José Antonio Kast.

]]> Tue, 05 May 2026 18:28:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile's labor market hits 38 months of unemployment above 8% as growth forecast is revised down]]> INE attributed the increase to a 0.7% rise in the labor force, above the 0.5% registered by the employed population, which translated into a 3.3% increase in the total number of unemployed persons Chile's unemployment rate stood at 8.9% during the moving quarter from January to March 2026, a 0.2 percentage point increase over twelve months, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The figure exceeded market expectations, which projected 8.6% according to the Bloomberg consensus, and completes 38 consecutive months with the indicator above 8%, confirming a structural weakness in the Chilean labor market that remains one of the main concerns of President José Antonio Kast's administration, in office since March 11.

]]> Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:11:00 GMT <![CDATA[Kast–Paz rapprochement opens door to potential restoration of Bolivia–Chile relations]]> The diplomatic shift responds to a direct “mandate” from the presidents of both countries — far-right José Antonio Kast, who took office in Chile on March 11, and center-right Rodrigo Paz The foreign ministers of Bolivia, Fernando Aramayo, and Chile, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, agreed on Friday to deepen bilateral ties and advance a joint economic agenda, amid a decisive diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries after nearly five decades without ambassador-level relations. The meeting, held at an event organized by the Chamber of Industry, Commerce, Services, and Tourism (Cainco) in Santa Cruz, concluded a two-day official visit by the Chilean minister.

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 19:49:00 GMT <![CDATA[LATAM and Aerolíneas Argentinas aircraft collide on the ground at Santiago airport with no injuries reported]]> Chile's Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) reported that both aircraft were immediately stopped and subjected to technical assessment in line with operational safety protocols Two commercial aircraft collided on the ground at Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport on Wednesday evening in an incident that left no injuries but forced the rescheduling of both affected flights. The collision occurred at around 8:00 p.m. local time, when a LATAM Airlines Airbus A321 struck a stationary Aerolíneas Argentinas Boeing 737 that was holding on the apron awaiting clearance for take-off.

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 22:58:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chile closes ranks on Strait of Magellan sovereignty a week after Argentine admiral's remarks]]> The head of Argentina’s Naval Hydrography Service had stated that “the mouth of the Strait of Magellan is Argentine,” a claim that Chile’s foreign minister described as “unfounded.” A week after remarks by Argentine Rear Admiral Hernán Montero on the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan went viral, the Chilean government has consolidated a unified stance in defense of its sovereignty, while internal debate has shifted toward the executive's handling of the communications response.

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