South America

News from South America

MercoPress South Atlantic News Agency

  • Fujimori nears victory in Peru's presidential count as the left calls for protests
    on June 17, 2026

    Ten days after the June 7 presidential runoff, Peru still has no proclaimed winner, but the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is heading toward victory. With 99.1% of the vote counted, she leads the left-wing Roberto Sánchez by some 36,889 votes and is projected as the virtual winner, while the left pushes mobilizations and nullity appeals. The official […]

  • Spain's ex-PM Zapatero testifies as a suspect in the Plus Ultra bailout case
    on June 17, 2026

    Spain's former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero appeared on Wednesday before Judge José Luis Calama, of the Audiencia Nacional, as an investigated person in the Plus Ultra case, in what constitutes an unprecedented event in Spanish democracy: it is the first time a former head of the Executive sits before a magistrate as a suspect. He will […]

  • Uruguay enjoys 'positive discrimination' but must lift investment and productivity, BBVA says
    on June 17, 2026

    Uruguay enjoys a "positive discrimination" relative to other economies for its institutional solidity, respect for agreements and political maturity, but its economic growth has been low over the past decade and its potential GDP —now at 2.1%— is declining. That was the assessment of economists from BBVA Research, one of Europe's largest banks, at the […]

  • With a historic Messi, Argentina begin their title defense by thrashing Algeria
    on June 17, 2026

    Argentina began their defense of the World Cup title won in Qatar 2022 on Tuesday with a 3-0 thrashing of Algeria, in the Group J opener of the 2026 World Cup, played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Captain Lionel Messi guided Lionel Scaloni's side with a hat-trick that left him atop the tournament's all-time scoring history.

  • Brazil's Supreme Court sentences Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years for coercion
    on June 16, 2026

    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 […]

  • Lula criticizes the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism at the G7 summit
    on June 16, 2026

    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 […]

  • Some Iranian Americans wave protest flags, others cheer as Iran open the World Cup
    on June 16, 2026

    Iran began their World Cup campaign in Los Angeles on Monday with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand, before a crowd that mixed fans cheering the team and Iranian Americans waving symbols of protest against the government in Tehran. The match was played barely 24 hours after the announcement of a preliminary agreement to end the war that the United States and […]

  • Bolivia's Paz bets on wearing down protests and holds off deploying the army
    on June 16, 2026

    Bolivia's government has opted to wear down the social protests that have shaken the country for about six weeks, rather than resort to a hard line. President Rodrigo Paz promulgated a law regulating states of exception in early June, but has so far not ordered the deployment of the Armed Forces to clear the roads, leaning instead toward exhausting the […]

  • Brazilian stocks slip as the US-Iran deal sinks oil prices and hits Petrobras
    on June 15, 2026

    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.

  • Chile's Kast government reaffirms Valparaíso's bid to host the High Seas Treaty secretariat
    on June 15, 2026

    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 […]