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[Leo XIV leaves Uruguay urging Catholics to reach out to “those who have drifted away”]]> Leo XIV’s was the first papal visit to Uruguay in 38 years, since John Paul II’s in 1988 Pope Leo XIV ended his visit to Uruguay on Sunday with a Mass before some 30,000 faithful in the city of Florida, where he urged Catholics to reach out to those who have drifted away from the Church in South America’s most secular country, before flying to Buenos Aires, the second stop on his regional tour.

]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2026 20:16:00 GMT <![CDATA[Peña says he will face his impeachment trial as Argentina denies he has entered the country]]> “We have no record of him being in Argentina.” Javier Milei’s government, a political ally of Peña, has not commented on the Paraguayan crisis. Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced on Thursday night that he will appear before the Senate to defend himself in the impeachment trial against him, after Congress failed for lack of a quorum to consider the resignation he had tendered hours earlier, leaving him formally in office. Argentina’s government, meanwhile, denied any record of Peña entering Argentina, following reports that he might have left Paraguay.

]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:56:00 GMT <![CDATA[Paraguay’s Santiago Peña tenders his resignation, but Congress presses ahead with impeachment]]> “I have decided to submit my resignation from the Presidency of the Republic. I do so with the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions,” Peña said Paraguayan President Santiago Peña tendered his resignation on Thursday, cornered by the collapse of Ueno Bank, but minutes later the Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted to impeach him, in an attempt to prevent him from taking up a lifetime Senate seat with immunity from prosecution once he leaves office. The final decision rests with the Senate.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2026 22:12:00 GMT <![CDATA[Paraguay takes over Ueno Bank, with 3 million customers, and freezes its deposits]]> “We proceeded to close the entity; therefore, neither the app, nor the cards, nor any service of the entity is active,” said a member of the Central Bank’s board. Photo: EFE/ Juan Pablo Pino Paraguay’s Central Bank on Tuesday took over Ueno Bank, one of the country’s largest banks, after its solvency ratio fell below 50% of the legal minimum, and froze all its assets and liabilities, including the savings of some 3 million customers and more than US$800 million in public funds. The bank immediately suspended all its services.

]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2026 08:27:00 GMT <![CDATA[Cristina Kirchner meets Lula’s digital strategist in a bid to replicate his comeback in Argentina]]> Kirchner, who is serving a final six-year sentence for corruption under house arrest and is barred for life from public office Former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner on Monday received Brazilian lawmaker André Janones, creator of the WhatsApp channel that helped Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva win re-election, in Buenos Aires, as the Peronist opposition looks to Brazil for keys to defeating Javier Milei in the 2027 presidential election.

]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2026 20:16:00 GMT <![CDATA[Bolsonaro’s exit via Argentina further strains relations between Milei and Lula]]> Presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier said the government had “taken note of the result” of the Brazilian election but ruled out an official statement Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s transit through Argentina, after he left Brazil despite a court ban and flew to Miami from Puerto Iguazú following his election defeat, has opened a new front in the strained relationship between the governments of Javier Milei and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while the Casa Rosada maintains its refusal to congratulate the Brazilian president on his re-election.

]]> Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:30:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentina: opposition asks Milei to clarify whether Bolsonaro left Brazil through the country]]> Milei backed Bolsonaro during the campaign and repeatedly called Lula a “thief” and a “jailbird” Argentine opposition lawmakers on Tuesday demanded that Javier Milei’s government report whether Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who left Brazil despite a court ban and travelled to the United States after his election defeat, crossed through Argentine territory. The National Migration Directorate said it has no record of the senator entering the country.

]]> Wed, 28 Oct 2026 03:20:00 GMT <![CDATA[Milei stays silent on Lula’s victory as Kast and Peña congratulate him]]> Neither the president nor Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno had issued a statement on the result, according to the Argentine press Argentine President Javier Milei had not congratulated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his re-election in Brazil by Monday, unlike other right-wing South American leaders such as Chile’s José Antonio Kast, Paraguay’s Santiago Peña and Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz. Milei, who publicly backed Senator Flávio Bolsonaro during the campaign, met his cabinet at the Casa Rosada first thing in the morning.

]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2026 13:05:00 GMT <![CDATA[Paraguay’s president travels to Washington and will meet the CIA director]]> Peña has declared himself an ally of the White House on foreign policy Paraguayan President Santiago Peña travelled to Washington on Wednesday for a brief visit that includes a meeting with US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe and a keynote address at the annual gala of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank.

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:14:00 GMT <![CDATA[Milei calls Lula a “leftist thief” and says he hopes he will not “steal” Brazil’s election]]> It is not the first time Milei has called Lula a “thief”. On October 7 he posted an image of the Brazilian president with that word on Instagram Argentine President Javier Milei attacked his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva again on Tuesday, accusing him of a “dirty campaign” and saying he hoped Lula would not try to “steal” Sunday’s presidential runoff, in which he faces Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, whom Milei has publicly backed.

]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:29:00 GMT