Latinnews Daily - 14 February 2018

Development: On 13 February, Guatemala’s former president Alvaro Colom (2008-2012) and 10 former ministers in his Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) goverment, including the chairman of NGO Oxfam International, Juan Alberto Fuentes, were arrested over allegations of fraud and embezzlement.... Read More

Development: On 13 February, the ‘Lima Group’ of countries that are monitoring the political crisis in Venezuela called on the government led by President Nicolás Maduro to come up with a new electoral calendar and backed Peru’s decision to declare Maduro ‘not welcome’ to the VIII Summit of the Americas meeting due to be hosted by Peru from 13-14 April. ... Read More

Colombia: The Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) umbrella workers’ union has called on the Colombian government and the state-owned oil firm, Ecopetrol, to offer solutions to the current workers’ strikes affecting oil production in the country’s central Meta department, Colombia’s main oil producing area.... Read More

Development: On 13 February, samba school Beija Flor staged a parade to draw attention to growing violence in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro city.... Read More

* Colombia and Brazil have signed an agreement to fight against corruption and international bribery.... Read More

Central America... Read More

Development: On 13 February Ricardo Anaya, the presidential candidate of Mexico's Por México al Frente opposition coalition, said he was a victim of spying from the federal civil intelligence agency (Cisen).... Read More

* Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has released new figures which show that unemployment in the last quarter of 2017 remained at 3.4%, the same as the previous quarter.... Read More

Development: On 13 February, Paraguayan authorities reported that Sonia Muñoz, a suspected member of the insurgent Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP) criminal organisation, had turned herself in to the authorities in the city of Concepción, the capital of the eponymous northern department.... Read More

Chile: Chile’s car association, Asociación Nacional Automotriz de Chile (Anac), has released new figures showing that car sales sharply incrased in January.... Read More