Weekly Report - 25 February 2016 (WR-16-08)

After nearly a decade in power, an end date to the mandate of President Evo Morales, Bolivia’s longest-serving president, is finally in sight.... Read More

There is much speculation as to the purpose of a new state company that appears to increase the Venezuelan military’s involvement in the oil and mining sectors.... Read More

Julio Guzmán should be able to run in the presidential elections on 10 April.... Read More

President Juan Manuel Santos warned the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) in no uncertain terms this week that “time is running out” to conclude the peace talks by 23 March.... Read More

COLOMBIA | Another budget cut.... Read More

Thousands of Argentina’s public sector workers took to the streets of Buenos Aires and gathered outside the presidential palace on 24 February as part of a national strike in protest against the dismissal of thousands of public sector workers.... Read More

While the threat against President Dilma Rousseff in terms of the impeachment proceedings in the federal lower chamber of congress may be receding, developments this week raise the possibility that it is the challenge to her mandate in the supreme electoral court (TSE) that may prove more serious.... Read More

Brazil’s battered economy took another blow on 24 February when Moody’s became the last of the three major credit rating agencies to strip the country of its investment grade status.... Read More

BRAZIL | Unemployment up.... Read More

The Mexican government is battling to mitigate the impact of twin threats to the economy.... Read More

It will be a short hop for Air Force 1.... Read More

The new conservative Frente de Convergencia Nacional (FCN-Nación) government led by President Jimmy Morales faces serious challenges in tackling official corruption, his chief campaign pledge, not least with regard to restoring credibility to the 158-member unicameral legislature, one of the country’s least trusted institutions.... Read More

A court in San Salvador began legal proceedings against former president Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) and one of his sons Diego this week.... Read More

PANAMA | Dell Global Command Center.... Read More

President Michelle Bachelet might have to give up on holidays to southern Chile as they are becoming a bad omen.... Read More

“President, what the vote of the Bolivian people has said is that there are no indispensable people, but there are indispensable causes.” Former Bolivian president Carlos Mesa (2002-2003), who at the behest of President Evo Morales is leading Bolivia’s case in its maritime dispute with Chile at The Hague.... Read More