Weekly Report - 09 January 2025 (WR-25-01)

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro seems all but certain to be sworn in for a third term on 10 January despite a final push by the political opposition to try and encourage a military rebellion against his leadership.... Read More

The deep animosity between Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa and Vice President Verónica Abad came to a head shortly before the campaign period for general elections began on 5 January.... Read More

The scene in cell 25 of La Picota prison in southern Bogotá could have come straight out of one of the Netflix episodes on Colombia’s notorious former drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.... Read More

Argentina’s President Javier Milei’s chainsaw does not seem to have blunted at all as he kicked off his second year in office.... Read More

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, clad in dark sunglasses and bright orange expeditionary gear holds up the Chilean flag against the backdrop of the icy South Pole.... Read More

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held an event to commemorate the second anniversary of Brazil’s 8 January riots, when thousands of supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) stormed the seats of government in Brasília.... Read More

At the start of this year, Brazil assumed the annual rotating presidency of the Brics group of developing economies it initially established with Russia, India, China, and South Africa, before the groups invited new full members in 2023 and new partner countries in 2024.... Read More

The start of the year has brought signs that Mexico’s state-run airline Mexicana de Aviación is struggling, with reports that it is suspending routes and reducing its fleet.... Read More

A group of armed men stormed La Casita Azul, a bar in the Tamulté de las Barrancas neighbourhood of Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco state, on 4 January and opened fire.... Read More

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele did not have to wait long.... Read More

Suriname’s former president Desi Bouterse (2010-2020) died in hiding in late December.... Read More

The Honduran national police arrested the former head of the joint command of the armed forces, Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, on 5 January along with two other senior former members of the top brass.... Read More

Guatemala’s left-of-centre government led by President Bernardo Arévalo claimed on 6 January that a new minimum wage increase could provide an important boost to economic growth.... Read More

CUBA-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Contrasting fortunes.... Read More

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino celebrated the 25th anniversary on 31 December of the full transfer of sovereignty over the Panama Canal from the US to Panama.... Read More

“The elections in Venezuela were not free…Colombia will not sever diplomatic relations with Venezuela, it will not intervene in internal matters in that country, without invitation…The progressive forces in Colombia will maintain a relation of collaboration and friendship with all progressive forces in Venezuela.”... Read More