Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi made a day trip to São Paulo on Tuesday to meet Brazilian business leaders interested in investing in Uruguay, in an agenda Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin described as an opportunity to "move to a new phase in the levels of commercial development and Brazilian investments" in the South American country. The official delegation included Lubetkin himself, Economy and Finance Minister Gabriel Oddone, Uruguay's ambassador to Brazil Rodolfo Nin Novoa, and the executive director of investment promotion agency Uruguay XXI, Mariana Ferreira.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he will not allow other countries to take the nation's rare earths and critical minerals, in remarks widely interpreted as a direct warning to the United States amid a growing dispute over control of these strategic resources.

Brazil’s Congress on Tuesday promulgated the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, completing the final domestic step required for the treaty to take effect on the Brazilian side. The ceremony was led by Senate and Congress President Davi Alcolumbre, who framed the pact as a sign in favor of trade, stability and integration at a time of wars and commercial tensions.

Foreign residency applications in Paraguay surged 85% in the first quarter of 2026, reaching 18,071 compared to 9,760 in the same period of 2025, the National Migration Directorate reported. Temporary residency requests jumped 105% to 14,995, while permanent residency applications rose 25% to 3,076.

The US-Iran conflict has propelled currencies from energy-exporting countries into the limelight, with windfall profits from exports of oil, gas and metals helping them to outperform the US dollar.

According to a report by Agência Brasil, industry specialists and oil-sector groups say what they describe as abusive fuel price increases in Brazil are not explained by international volatility alone. The report cites cases of gasoline being sold for R$9 a liter at some stations in São Paulo and links part of the distortion to the loss of state control over the distribution chain after the privatization of BR Distribuidora.

The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Paraguay, Santiago Peña, agreed on Sunday in Campo Grande to intensify negotiations over Annex C of the Itaipú treaty, the instrument that governs the financial terms and energy sales of the binational hydroelectric dam, one of the largest in the world.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro returned to his home in Brasilia on Friday after being discharged from hospital following a two-week stay for acute bilateral pneumonia. Bolsonaro, 71, will serve at least 90 days of his 27-year prison sentence under house arrest, following a decision by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Mariano Páez, father of lawyer and influencer Agostina Páez, was filmed imitating monkey gestures at a bar in Santiago del Estero — the same racist gesticulations that led to his daughter's indictment for racial slur in Brazil, where she spent over two months detained in Rio de Janeiro. The incident took place just hours after the young woman's return to her home province.

Brazil is expanding its Antarctica presence and activities with the introduction of a new polar vessel currently under construction in the county. The vessel “Almirante Saldanha” is considered an operational and scientific leap for the Brazilian Navy in the context of the strategic development of the Brazilian Antarctic Program.

One year after the Trump administration launched its tariff offensive against more than 180 countries, Latin America presents a mixed picture: some economies lost competitiveness in the U.S. market, while others redirected exports or negotiated agreements to cushion the blow.

Agostina Páez, a 29-year-old Argentine lawyer and influencer from the province of Santiago del Estero, has been held in Rio de Janeiro since January 14, when she was filmed making racist gestures toward employees of a bar in the Ipanema neighborhood. The video quickly went viral and led to three criminal complaints for racial slur, a crime that carries a penalty of two to five years in prison per offense under Brazilian law.