LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 29 March 2018

Development: On 28 March, Venezuela’s attorney general’s office confirmed that 68 people had died and dozens more were injured after a riot broke out in the holding cells of the Carabobo state police headquarters, in the city of Valencia; local media reports suggest that a fire was started after clashes with guards. ... Read More

Venezuela: Switzerland has announced the imposition of economic sanctions against Venezuela for alleged human rights violations, undermining democracy and the rule of law, and repressing civil society.... Read More

Martín Vizcarra delivered a confident inaugural address after being sworn-in as Peru’s new president on 23 March.... Read More

Iván Duque is the clear frontrunner in Colombia’s presidential race, according to a glut of opinion polls published in recent days.... Read More

Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno announced his decision this week to dissolve the national intelligence agency (Senain).... Read More

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has defied US sanctions slapped on the petro, the much-trumpeted cryptocurrency launched by his government to try and escape the country’s financial and economic crisis.... Read More

Colombia might have registered its lowest murder rate in four decades last year, but attention has been increasingly focused on the rise in number of murders of social leaders (a catch-all media term for representatives of trade unions, human rights organisations, environmental and land rights groups, community pressure groups and political parties).... Read More

Colombia might have registered its lowest murder rate in four decades last year but attention has been increasingly focused on the rising number of murders of social leaders.... Read More

Two people were killed and 30 injured on 1 February, amid clashes between police and farmers engaged in a strike that caused multiple road closures and widespread disruption.... Read More

Ecuador’s education reform has been widely recognised as one of the most ambitious and successful in Latin America of the current century.... Read More

Earlier this year [RA-18-01], we noted the deepening production problems at Venezuela’s state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa).... Read More

Oil workers are not the only ‘deserters’ from the Bolivarian Revolution.... Read More

BOLIVIA | Trade deficit with CAN.... Read More