LatinNews Daily - 22 February 2018

Development: On 21 February an estimated 85,000 people took part in a march in central Buenos Aires organised by Hugo Moyano, arguably Argentina’s most powerful trade union leader of the last 30 years, against the government led by President Mauricio Macri.... Read More

Development: On 21 February, Venezuela’s opposition coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) announced it was boycotting the presidential election called for 22 April.... Read More

Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos has announced Col$1.5tr (US$520m) of resources for conservation and environmental recovery in Colombia.... Read More

Development: On 21 February, the spokesperson for President Michel Temer, Alexandre Parola, said the federal intervention to put the military in charge of security forces in the state of Rio de Janeiro was not politically motivated.... Read More

Within the next few weeks, the federal government will relocate 530 Venezuelan immigrants currently in Brazil’s northern state of Roraima.... Read More

Development: On 21 February the United Nations (UN)-backed anti-impunity commission in Guatemala (Cicig) and attorney general’s office (AG) questioned a judge’s ruling which revokes an arrest warrant issued for Brigadier General Erick Fernando Melgar Padilla.... Read More

Central America: South Korea has signed bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with five Central American countries – Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica – covering various goods, services, and capital flows.... Read More

Development: On 21 February, presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya from the Por México al Frente coalition accused the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) of spreading false accusations against him.... Read More

A Mexican judge ruled the 19 February arrest in the US of José Alfredo Cárdenas, alias ‘El Contador’, a leading member of the Gulf Cartel, was illegal.... Read More

Uruguay: Uruguay’s national colonisation institute (INC), which is responsible for the granting of land by the state, has announced that dairy producers will be exempt from an increase of nearly 14% in the cost of rent, while other agriculture producers will see a drop of between 4.5% and 6% in their rent from April.... Read More