Southern Cone Briefing: Chile’s Supreme Court Expels Eleven of Its Own Judges
SOUTHERN CONE · WEEKEND BRIEFING
Key Facts
- —Chile The Supreme Court removed eleven judges over two days for travelling abroad while on medical leave.
- —The catch Most removals failed. Cooperativa counted 26 rejected, seven of them short of the required quorum.
- —Argentina August inflation came in at 1.7%, the lowest monthly reading since June 2025.
- —Argentina Country risk fell to 485 basis points, a one-month low, while the Merval slipped about 2%.
- —Uruguay The president convened all nineteen governors over El Niño, with 25,000 displacements projected.
- —Paraguay The president announced a sovereign AI computing centre with a first phase costed above US$300 million.
Chile marked the coup anniversary without an official ceremony for the first time since 1990. Argentina posted its lowest monthly inflation since June 2025.
The most consequential thing in the Southern Cone this week was a court dismantling part of itself. Chile’s Supreme Court removed eleven of its own judges.
The grounds were not corruption or misconduct in a case. The judges had travelled abroad while signed off on medical leave.
Elsewhere the Southern Cone’s numbers improved. Argentina posted its lowest monthly inflation in fourteen months and its country risk fell to a one-month low.
Chile: A Court Purges Itself
The removals came from the full bench of the Corte Suprema, using its own constitutional disciplinary power. Three were agreed on Thursday and eight more on Friday.
The legal basis is article 80 of the Chilean constitution, which requires judges to maintain good behaviour. Each removal needs at least eleven favourable votes of the court.
Most proposals failed. Cooperativa reported 26 removals rejected, of which seven fell short of the quorum, fifteen were rejected by majority and four tied.
Outlets differ on the scale of the exercise. La Tercera counted 58 proceedings opened; The Clinic counted 56, following a review of more than 100 officials.
They also differ on how many cases remain frozen by the Constitutional Tribunal, with counts of ten, eleven and thirteen. The names of the eleven removed have not been published.
Chile: A Fake Police Station
A separate case produced the week’s strangest detail. A former prosecutor, Vinko Fodich, was ordered into preventive detention over an extortive kidnapping.
Cooperativa reported that the operation ran from a fake police precinct built in a building basement. The gang wore uniforms of the investigative police and displayed unauthorised weapons.
The victims were Chinese nationals, threatened with fictitious investigations by the American authorities. Seven people were detained, including serving officers.
The director of the investigative police said it pained him that former officials had strayed from ethics and probity. Fodich’s defence accepted detention temporarily while preparing appeals.
Live Market IntelligenceArgentina — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Argentina — Live Market Board
-1.87%
187,206.89
-0.56%
63,815.90
-0.45%
11,220.10
-0.16%
3,098,898
-1.87%
2,589.69
-1.41%
59,373.28
-0.32%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MERVAL | 3,098,898 | -1.87% | +30.51% | 3,022,485 | 3,042,365 | 2,991,150 | — |
| USD/ARS | 1,493 | +0.10% | +12.96% | 1,491 | 1,494 | 1,480 | — |
| YPF | 7,810 | +0.26% | +72.84% | 7,790 | 7,850 | 7,600 | 1,763,858 |
| GGAL | 6,980 | -0.78% | +1.82% | 7,035 | 7,115 | 6,920 | 1,564,062 |
| PAMPA | 5,115 | +0.69% | +26.70% | 5,080 | 5,140 | 5,000 | 721,190 |
| TXAR | 747.50 | -2.35% | +18.67% | 765.50 | 770.00 | 742.50 | 771,892 |
| ALUAR | 938.00 | -1.21% | +29.83% | 949.50 | 951.00 | 932.50 | 135,426 |
| TGS | 8,870 | -0.17% | +15.05% | 8,885 | 9,075 | 8,720 | 143,546 |
| CEPU | 2,156 | +1.84% | +28.36% | 2,117 | 2,165 | 2,086 | 404,146 |
| MIRGOR | 1,650 | -1.20% | -92.90% | 1,670 | 1,670 | 1,635 | 20,877 |
| COME | 40.93 | -0.73% | -30.47% | 41.23 | 41.60 | 40.50 | 4,258,884 |
| LOMA NEGRA | 3,130 | +0.08% | +5.80% | 3,128 | 3,205 | 3,090 | 182,992 |
| BYMA | 275.00 | -1.70% | +35.14% | 279.75 | 282.50 | 272.00 | 1,409,575 |
| TELECOM ARG | 4,233 | -0.70% | +55.19% | 4,263 | 4,335 | 4,160 | 31,896 |
| GLOBANT | 38.10 | -2.26% | -49.65% | 38.98 | 38.70 | 36.77 | 793,552 |
| MERCADOLIBRE | 1,870 | -3.59% | -20.71% | 1,940 | 1,927 | 1,870 | 329,640 |
Chile: A Silent Anniversary
Friday was 53 years since the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende. For the first time since democracy returned in 1990, the government held no official commemoration.
President José Antonio Kast took office on 11 March and this was his first coup anniversary in the job. He made no formal address from La Moneda.
El Clarín reported that he did speak while visiting the Los Ríos region, saying Chileans should not remain condemned by their history. A junior minister said the government’s duty was to look at the next fifty years.
Commemorations went ahead without the state. There were events at the General Cemetery and at memorial sites.
A march ran to the Plaza de la Constitución. Members of Allende’s family joined it.
Chile: The Central Bank Halves Its Forecast
The Banco Central cut its 2026 growth forecast to a range of 0.25% to 0.75%. The previous range was 1.0% to 1.75%.
The bank said the economy had weakened through the year, with supply problems early on and weak demand after that. It sees 2.0% to 3.0% growth in 2027.
Inflation is running near 4% and is expected to converge on the 3% target in the second quarter of 2027. The policy rate was held at 4.5% on 8 September.
Argentina: Three Good Numbers
INDEC reported August inflation at 1.7% on 10 September. That is the lowest monthly reading since June 2025, when it was 1.6%.
Prices are up 21.3% so far in 2026 and 33.5% over twelve months. Core inflation, food, services and regulated prices all came in at 1.8%.
Country risk fell to 485 basis points on Friday, down six points and the lowest in nearly a month. The Merval fell about 2% in peso terms on the same day.
A family of four needed 1,605,497 pesos to stay above the poverty line, roughly US$1,050 at Friday’s official rate. Outlets differ on the exact closing rate, giving between 1,530 and 1,535 pesos to the dollar.
Argentina: The PASO Manoeuvre
Karina Milei met PRO figures at the Casa Rosada on Wednesday for about two hours. Diego Santilli, Cristian Ritondo and Fernando de Andreis attended.
The government wants to suspend the PASO primaries and pass the change in September or October. The argument is that it improves Javier Milei’s 2027 re-election prospects.
The meeting followed two defeats in the Chamber of Deputies, where the opposition advanced bills on disability assistance and debtor relief. PRO has not committed publicly.
Milei separately cancelled a planned trip to the United Kingdom, amid continued tension over the Falklands. Argentina is buying four Black Hawk helicopters from the United States.
The Rest of the Southern Cone
President Yamandú Orsi convened all nineteen departmental governors at Anchorena on Thursday. The subject was El Niño, expected to persist until February 2027.
Projections presented put internal displacement at a minimum of 25,000 people, with 5,000 needing evacuation. Orsi cited US$750 million in contingency funds from the IDB and CAF.
A separate dispute is running at Montevideo’s container terminal. Orsi gave the parties a 72-hour window and kept an essential-services declaration on the table without invoking it.
In Asunción, President Santiago Peña announced a sovereign AI computing centre with Taiwan. It is the largest technology commitment made in the Southern Cone this week, costed above US$300 million.
Paraguay also closed a case that changed its law. A court in Coronel Oviedo handed down the maximum eight-year sentence available for a juvenile offender.
It concerned the 2025 killing of a pregnant 17-year-old. It was one of six convictions, and the case drove a law raising the juvenile maximum to ten years.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Chile’s Supreme Court remove eleven judges?
Because they travelled abroad while on medical leave, which the court treated as a failure of the good behaviour required by article 80 of the constitution. Removal requires at least eleven favourable votes of the full court.
Why was there no official ceremony for Chile’s coup anniversary?
The government of José Antonio Kast, in office since March 2026, held none. It was the first year without an official act since democracy returned in 1990.
What is the PASO in Argentina?
It is the compulsory simultaneous open primary system used to select candidates before general elections. The government wants Congress to suspend it before the 2027 vote.
What is Uruguay expecting from El Niño?
Above-normal rainfall in the north and northeast, with a projected minimum of 25,000 people displaced and 5,000 requiring evacuation, lasting until February 2027.
Sources: La Tercera, Cooperativa, The Clinic, Emol, Meganoticias, El Clarín Chile, El Desconcierto, Diario Talca, La Nación, INDEC, Infobae, Canal 26, El Observador, El Cronista Uruguay, ADN Digital, Última Hora.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times