Weekly Report - 15 January 2026 (WR-26-02)

Nearly two weeks on from the US military raid on Caracas to seize former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026), Venezuelans are facing the prospect of their country being pulled tightly into Washington’s orbit without any corresponding democratisation process, at least in the short term.... Read More

Colombia’s defence minister travelled to the US this week to pave the way for a visit by President Gustavo Petro to the White House in early February.... Read More

After weekend negotiations with trade union leaders from the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) and other lobby groups, the new government led by President Rodrigo Paz agreed to rescind decree 5,503 but is still claiming victory since the elimination of fuel price subsidies will remain in place.... Read More

Judge José Suing, acting president of one of Ecuador’s top courts, the Corte Nacional de Justicia (CNJ), resigned on 12 January claiming corruption within the judiciary.... Read More

Transport sector workers and employers held another one-day strike against extortion on 14 January.... Read More

Chile’s President-elect José Antonio Kast suffered a setback on 12 January when Peru’s President José Jerí rejected outright his proposal for a ‘humanitarian corridor’ for irregular migrants.... Read More

During the ceremony to commemorate the third anniversary of the 8 January riots, when thousands of far-right rioters stormed the seats of government, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vetoed the bill approved by congress last month which proposed reducing prison time for those convicted in relation to the riots [WR-25-50], including former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023).... Read More

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has appointed Wellington César Lima e Silva, the head of the legal team at state oil company Petrobras, as the country’s new minister for justice and public security.... Read More

BRAZIL | Services sector declines in monthly terms.... Read More

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has spoken on the phone with her US counterpart Donald Trump in a bid to ease tensions that have been rising ever since the US military incursion in Venezuela on 3 January.... Read More

Hopes that the 24 December certification by the national electoral council (CNE) of Nasry Asfura’s presidential victory for the opposition Partido Nacional (PN) in November would draw a line under the electoral crisis [WR-26-01] may have proven short-lived.... Read More

The US military operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has had at least one intended by-product: it makes life much more difficult for the embattled Cuban government, and after decades of Communist Party rule it might even bring forward the prospect of regime change.... Read More

Between 9 and 12 January Costa Rica’s electoral authority (TSE) held four debates between the 20 presidential candidates ahead of the 1 February general elections.... Read More

Argentina’s annual inflation was the lowest for eight years in 2025, reaching 31.5%, according to figures published by the national statistics institute (Indec) on 13 January.... Read More

“Venezuela is opening up to a new political moment that allows divergence and ideological and political diversity.... Read More