International

In Chile, 6,281 couples have married after three years of the same-sex marriage law

Three years after the entry into force of the Equal Marriage Law in Chile, a total of 6,281 homosexual couples have married, the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh) reported on Tuesday, after obtaining figures from the Civil Registry.

55% of marriages have been between women (3,456) and 45% between men (2,825), and 56 divorces and 70 nullities have been recorded to date, whose sum corresponds to 1.1% of the total ceremonies held since the approval of the rule until December 2, 2024.

A total of 824 people have been registered as sons and daughters of same-gender couples, 710 as children of two mothers (86.2%), and 114 as children of two fathers (13.8%).

“This is not only a legal transformation, but also a profound cultural change,” said Movilh spokeswoman Javiera Zúñiga in the statement.

“In all regions there have been equal marriages and registrations of people as children of same-sex couples, which is good news, because it ends inequalities due to sexual orientation or gender identity of families,” he added.

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The Metropolitan region concentrates 54.5% of marriages contracted (3,428), followed by Valparaíso (790), Biobío (308), Bernardo O’Higgins (262) and Antofagasta (247) as the territories where more couples have married.

Aysén (14), Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica (47), Arica and Parinacota (70), Los Ríos (79) and Ñuble (80), the least populated regions of the country, are the ones with the fewest marriages.

The registration of sons and daughters of homosexual couples also corresponds to the number of inhabitants of each region, being the Metropolitan the one that has registered the highest number (466, representing 56.5% of the total), followed by Valparaíso (102), Antofagasta (38) and Biobío (36).

Majority of marriages between women

In all territories, except in Aysén, the number of marriages between women is higher than that of men, and in all cases there have been more children recognized by female couples than male couples.

Equal marriage was legalized in Chile after in 2016 the Chilean State and Movilh signed an Amicable Settlement Agreement before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where the country committed to create, process and approve the rule.

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Until then, homosexual couples could resort to the Civil Union Agreement, promulgated in April 2015, which allows the regularization of “the legal aspects of a common, stable and permanent affective life,” the law indicates.

Since its entry into force on December 10, 2021, this agreement has resulted in 12,830 links, 6,566 between women (51.1%) and 6,264 among men (48.9%).

The third anniversary of the publication of the Equal Marriage Law in the Official Journal of Chile coincides with International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.

International

MEPs Approve Plan That Could Fast-Track Rejection of Some Asylum Claims

With an overwhelming majority of 408 votes in favor, the European Parliament backed the creation of a list of safe countries of origin for asylum seekers.

People coming from Colombia, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia who apply for asylum in the European Union could see their requests rejected on the grounds that the bloc’s 27 member states consider those nations safe. Applicants would have to prove their individual circumstances, showing evidence of persecution or specific risks if they were to return.

At the same time, while their applications are processed or their return is arranged, migrants could be transferred to third countries outside the EU if the bloc has an agreement with them, if the individuals previously transited through those nations, or if they have family or cultural ties there. The measure provides legal cover for the creation of processing centers beyond EU territory, similar to an initiative previously pursued by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Albania.

Tuesday’s vote reflects the tightening of European migration policy in recent years, despite asylum applications having fallen by more than 20% last year and the issue not ranking among citizens’ top concerns, according to recent surveys.

International

Chile Unveils Latam-GPT to Give Latin America Its Own AI Model

Chile on Tuesday launched Latam-GPT, an initiative aimed at providing Latin America with its own artificial intelligence model in a field largely dominated by U.S. companies, while seeking to reduce biases identified in existing systems.

The project is led by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), a private corporation funded with public resources.

Latam-GPT is backed by universities, foundations, libraries, government agencies and civil society organizations from across the region, including Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina.

“Thanks to Latam-GPT we are positioning the region as an active and sovereign player in the economy of the future. We are at the table — we are not on the menu,” President Gabriel Boric said during the presentation of the initiative on national broadcaster Televisión Nacional.

The tool aims to break down prejudices and prevent Latin America from being portrayed as a single, uniform reality, Chile’s science minister, Aldo Valle, told AFP.

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The region, he added, “cannot be merely a user or passive recipient of artificial intelligence systems. That could result in losing a significant part of our traditions.”

Despite its name, the initiative is not an interactive chatbot. Instead, it is a large regional database trained on Latin American information that can be used to develop technological applications, the minister explained.

International

Mexico Rises Slightly to 141st in Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2025

Mexico improved by one point in its rating and climbed to 141st place in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published Tuesday by the anti-corruption organization Transparency International, which gave the country a score of 27 out of 100.

The slight increase in score comes after Mexico recorded its lowest CPI result in history in 2024 during the final year of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term, also scoring 27 out of 100. The CPI is widely regarded as the main global measure of perceived public-sector corruption, where 0 represents high corruption and 100 denotes very low corruption.

Within the region, Mexico ranks above only Guatemala (26), Paraguay (24), Honduras (22), Haiti (16), Nicaragua (14) and Venezuela (10), but trails key economic peers such as Brazil (35) and Chile (63).

Among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mexico ranks last. In the G20 grouping, it sits in the penultimate position, ahead of only Russia. Experts say Mexico’s persistently low score reflects ongoing challenges in curbing corruption and protecting public funds.

Transparency International’s report also highlights structural corruption issues that have allowed organized crime to infiltrate politics and weaken governance, as well as risks to journalists covering corruption.