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Uruguay · 228 articles

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South American English-language wire service

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mercopress22h ago

"Who is that guy?": Lula's response to Milei's remarks in São Paulo

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed for the first time the remarks made against him by Argentine President Javier Milei, with a brief and ironic response that avoided escalating the controversy. Asked by reporters while preparing to receive South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, he replied: "Who is that guy?"

mercopress7d ago

Chile declares state of catastrophe in the north after storm leaves at least ten dead

Chile's president, José Antonio Kast, declared on Monday a 30-day constitutional state of catastrophe in the Coquimbo region and the Huasco province, in the Atacama region, in response to the intense storm battering the country's north. According to the government's latest tally, the phenomenon has left at least ten people dead nationwide, four missing, and nearly 100,000 residents cut off by road closures. Authorities warned the toll could rise, as numerous areas remain unreachable.

mercopress12d ago

Argentina-UK: HMS Medway protest, released after the match, reignites Falklands tension

Argentina's government released on Wednesday night, amid celebrations over its team's World Cup semifinal win against England, a note of protest to the United Kingdom over the movements of HMS Medway, a Royal Navy patrol vessel assigned to the Falklands. The protest had been formally lodged with the British Embassy in Buenos Aires on July 13, but the Foreign Ministry chose to make it public once the match had ended, fusing the diplomatic complaint with the gesture of the Argentine players, wh...

mercopress18d ago

Milei plans regional tour seeking investment, with a Bolsonaro visit that irks Lula

Argentine President Javier Milei announced a busy international schedule for the coming weeks, with trips to Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, which he presented as part of an outward-looking strategy aimed at attracting trade and investment. The itinerary includes a gesture toward the Brazilian opposition that is likely to cause discomfort for the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

mercopress21d ago

Flávio Bolsonaro urges Washington to delay Brazil tariffs until after October vote

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the leading right-wing presidential hopeful, asked Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday to postpone until after the October elections a 25% tariff that the United States is considering imposing on Brazilian goods. He made the request during a public hearing before the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington.

mercopress26d ago

A multinational rescue frees Hernán, trapped eight days under Venezuela's quake rubble

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.

mercopress28d ago

Chilean rescuers allege military harassment in Venezuela's quake zone

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.

mercopress1mo ago

The EU deal's quota split will dominate the Mercosur summit as Uruguay takes the helm

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Brazilian stocks slip as the US-Iran deal sinks oil prices and hits Petrobras

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Brazil suspends its dengue vaccine as a precaution after two deaths

Brazil temporarily suspended the dengue vaccination campaign it began in January, after detecting two deaths and several cases of serious adverse reactions. The vaccine, the world's first single-dose shot, was developed by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo and had already been given to half a million people through the public health system. Health authorities stressed that there is not yet enough data to link the deaths to the product and that the interruption is a preventive measure.

mercopress1mo ago

President Kast denounces 3.6%-of-GDP structural fiscal deficit inherited from Boric administration

Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Monday delivered his first annual Cuenta Pública address before the National Congress, based in Valparaíso, in a speech of two hours and twenty-five minutes centred on the country's fiscal situation and on criticisms of the outgoing administration of leftist Gabriel Boric (2022-2026). The president denounced that the incoming executive received a preliminary structural fiscal deficit of 3.6% of Gross Domestic Product, more than double the 1.6% committed ...

mercopress2mo ago

Trump labels PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations and Brazil fears intervention

Brazil's government on Friday issued an official note rejecting the decision adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump to designate Brazil's two main organized crime groups, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho, as terrorist organizations. "We will not accept the use of arbitrary measures from abroad as a pretext to attack our sovereignty and our economy," the statement warned, while avoiding explicit reference to the US administration. The measure, ...

mercopress2mo ago

UK’s Royal College of Defense visited Brazil, Argentina and Chile

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.

mercopress2mo ago

Lula receives preventive radiotherapy against skin cancer four months before Brazilian elections

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday began a preventive radiotherapy treatment following the removal of a cancerous lesion from his scalp, in a medical intervention that places the spotlight on the health of the 80-year-old leader four months before the presidential elections in which he will seek a fourth term. The Sirio-Libanés Hospital, the private center where Lula receives care, confirmed the start of the treatment through a medical bulletin released mid-morning in Bra...

mercopress2mo ago

Chile: Security and Spokesperson ministers fall in first cabinet reshuffle of Kast's government

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...

mercopress2mo ago

Brazil leads South America's military spending and Uruguay posts one of the largest relative rises, SIPRI says

Brazil consolidated its position as South America's leading defense spender during 2025, with a military budget of approximately USD 23.9 billion and a 13% year-on-year increase, while Uruguay recorded one of the steepest relative rises in the region, according to the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Saturday. The region as a whole increased its military spending by 3.4% compared with 2024, in line with a global trend of armed forces mo...

mercopress2d ago

Mercosur's two largest partners in their worst diplomatic crisis as Brazil recalls its envoy

Brazil on Sunday recalled its ambassador in Buenos Aires, Julio Bitelli, for consultations and summoned Argentina's ambassador in Brasília, Daniel Raimondi, to provide explanations at the Foreign Ministry, in the sharpest diplomatic response between the two countries in years. The measures, taken by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, follow the speech Argentine President Javier Milei delivered on Saturday in São Paulo at the convention that formalized Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential candidacy.

mercopress2d ago

"Brazil bows to no one": the official reaction to Milei's speech in São Paulo

Brazil's government and the leadership of its judiciary responded on Saturday to the speech by Argentine President Javier Milei at the convention that formalized Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential candidacy, in which he sharply criticized Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and disparaged a Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice.

mercopress5d ago

Six candidates to lead the UN debate in the General Assembly with no clear front-runner

The six contenders to succeed António Guterres at the head of the United Nations set out their proposals on Thursday in a debate held in the General Assembly Hall, a week before the formal start of the selection process. For nearly two hours they answered questions from diplomats, UN staff, and civil society representatives, in a publicly broadcast session.

mercopress7d ago

Chile decreta el estado de catástrofe en el norte por un temporal que deja al menos diez muertos

El presidente de Chile, José Antonio Kast, decretó este lunes el estado de excepción constitucional de catástrofe por 30 días en la Región de Coquimbo y en la Provincia de Huasco, en la Región de Atacama, ante el intenso temporal que golpea el norte del país. Según el balance más reciente del gobierno, el fenómeno ha dejado al menos diez muertos en todo el territorio, cuatro personas desaparecidas y cerca de 100.000 habitantes aislados por el corte de rutas. Las autoridades advirtieron que la...

mercopress16d ago

Argentina weighs protest over British patrol ship's passage to Chile

Argentina's foreign ministry is considering a formal statement following the transit of the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Medway, which sailed from the Falklands to the Chilean port of Punta Arenas, in an episode over which Buenos Aires and London offer conflicting accounts.

mercopress20d ago

Argentina's polar spell eases as Patagonia faces rain, snow and 90 km/h gusts

The intense polar air mass that affected much of Argentina during the first days of July has begun to ease, with a gradual rise in temperatures across the center and north of the country, while Patagonia now concentrates the most severe weather. The National Meteorological Service (SMN) has kept warnings in place for rain, snow and strong winds in the far south.

mercopress27d ago

Uruguay and Chile agree to coordinate against organized crime after an Orsi-Kast summit

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.

mercopress29d ago

A regional shift to the right frames the wave of congratulations to Fujimori

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Offers of aid pour in for Venezuela from across the Americas and beyond after its earthquake

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Brazil's Supreme Court sentences Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years for coercion

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Chile's Kast government reaffirms Valparaíso's bid to host the High Seas Treaty secretariat

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."

mercopress1mo ago

Chile's far-right proposes a 'Museum of Truth' on the Allende era to counter coup memory

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Kast defends first 81 days in office ahead of first "Cuenta Pública" before Chilean Congress

Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Sunday defended the first 81 days of his administration and reaffirmed his main campaign promises on security and migration, on the eve of his first "Cuenta Pública" address to the National Congress, scheduled for Monday in Valparaíso. The far-right leader took office on 11 March and faces on Monday his annual accountability address amid a sustained decline in approval ratings and on the eve of the first legislative test for his government, the Senate vo...

mercopress2mo ago

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru sign joint agreement to combat transnational crime

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 Americ...

mercopress2mo ago

UK’s Royal College of Defense visited Brazil, Argentina and Chile

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.

mercopress2mo ago

Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 Rio-Paris crash

The Paris Court of Appeals on Thursday found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter in connection with the crash of flight AF447, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 on the Rio de Janeiro–Paris route with a death toll of 228 people. The ruling overturns the April 2023 decision in which both companies had been acquitted, and finds the airline and the manufacturer "solely and entirely responsible" for the disaster, according to the BBC news agency. Both Air France and Air...

mercopress2mo ago

Chilean executive detained in Brazil for racist and homophobic insults to Latam flight attendant

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...

mercopress2mo ago

Chilean former president defends "people-centered" multilateralism in Montevideo against authoritarian projects

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 pl...

mercopress2d ago

Cristina Kirchner expands her international legal team to take the Vialidad case abroad

Former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has added Brazilian jurist Rafael Valim to the team preparing a filing before international bodies to challenge her conviction in the Vialidad case, according to sources close to her cited by the Argentine press. Those sources did not specify when he will begin working or what the first procedural steps will be, and the information has not been officially confirmed by her defense.

mercopress9d ago

Lula asks Trump to explain 25% tariffs on Brazil, speaks of a "war of truth"

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva publicly called on his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to explain the reasons behind the 25% tariffs he imposed on most Brazilian products, a measure Brasília attributes to political rather than commercial motives. The levies, announced on July 15 by the Office of the US Trade Representative, will take effect on July 22.

mercopress16d ago

Lula aide insults Milei over plan to campaign for Bolsonaro's son in Brazil

A senior Brazilian government official called Argentine President Javier Milei an "imbecile" after he announced he will travel to Brazil on July 25 to take part in the launch of the presidential candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro, the main opposition figure to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

mercopress26d ago

In Uruguay, Kast urges harsher penalties for crime leaders and total prison isolation

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.

mercopress28d ago

Mercosur leaders push for a regional security architecture against organized crime

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.

mercopress1mo ago

Repsol, Ecopetrol and 17 other oil firms cleared for Brazil's next pre-salt auction

Nineteen oil companies, among them Spain's Repsol and Colombia's Ecopetrol, have been cleared to bid in the upcoming auction of licenses to partner with the Brazilian State in the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the pre-salt, the country's main crude reserve. The list was released on Friday by the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), following its publication in the Official Gazette.

mercopress1mo ago

Lula criticizes the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism at the G7 summit

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 transcr...

mercopress1mo ago

Santiago seeks to build a cultural avenue like those in Buenos Aires or Madrid

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 cultu...

mercopress1mo ago

Lula pushes back on US tariffs, says Brazil is the one running a trade deficit

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday rejected the US government's argument that Brazil engages in “unreasonable” practices in the bilateral relationship, arguing that it is Washington that runs a trade surplus with his country. If anyone should impose tariffs, he said, it would be Brazil.º

mercopress1mo ago

US citizen taken during Pinochet dictatorship reunited with Chilean mother after 35 years

US citizen Kyle Adler, taken as a nine-month-old baby during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile, was reunited this year with his biological mother, Chilean national Ana María Navarrete, thirty-five years after the forced separation. The reunion, which took place on Valentine's Day at Santiago airport and was documented by the Associated Press news agency, illustrates the scale of a network of fraudulent adoptions that during the Chilean military regime (1973-1990) took more...

mercopress2mo ago

Capricorn Bioceanic Corridor advances to final stretch to connect Atlantic with Pacific

The Capricorn Bioceanic Corridor, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects underway in South America, is moving through its final stretch on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, with just twenty-one metres remaining to complete the physical link of the so-called Bioceanic Bridge, according to Paraguayan government authorities cited in late May 2026. The structure, built over the Paraguay River, will connect the cities of Carmelo Peralta, in the department of Alto Paraguay, and Pue...

mercopress2mo ago

"I can take him as a slave": Argentine tourist arrested in Brazil over messages about 7-year-old

A 63-year-old Argentine tourist, identified as Eduardo Ignacio, was arrested on Sunday in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on racial discrimination charges after photographing and filming a 7-year-old Black boy aboard a tourist train, and sharing the images in a messaging group with racist comments that included the phrase: "I can take him as a slave." The case, recorded on the steam train that connects the municipality of São João del-Rei with the historic city of the same name, raises to...

mercopress2mo ago

Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office asks not to renew license of country's sole uranium mine

Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday recommended that the Brazilian Institute of Environment (Ibama) not renew the environmental license of the country's only uranium mine, in operation since 1999, until the responsible company duly consults the quilombola communities potentially affected by the activity. The recommendation does not amount to a definitive closure of operations, but it does entail a suspension conditional on compliance with the requirement of prior consulta...

mercopress2mo ago

Chilean executive detained in Brazil for racist and homophobic insults to Latam flight attendant

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...

mercopress2mo ago

Lula seeks his own security recipe to counter Brazilian right wing's tough-on-crime narrative

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday unveiled in Brasília a public security plan worth around USD 2.25 billion aimed at weakening the finances of organized crime, regaining control of prisons, curbing arms trafficking, and improving homicide investigations, five months ahead of October's presidential election. The package is designed to give the government a distinct identity on one of the issues where public opinion sees the ruling party at its weakest against the right w...