LatinNews Daily - 09 May 2018

Development: On 8 May Edita Hrda, the European Union’s (EU) Managing Director for the Americas at the European External Action Service (EEAS) tweeted that for “dialogue to succeed, a credible independent investigation should be held into the recent deaths and injuries” which occurred during the recent crackdown by the Nicaraguan government on anti-government protesters.... Read More

Development: On 8 May Luis Alejandro Ratti, one of the four opposition candidates running against Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro in the 20 May presidential election being organised by his government, announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and endorsing that of fellow opposition candidate Henri Falcón.... Read More

Bolivia: The local government institutions of Bolivia’s Chuquisaca department have rejected a proposal from the national Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) government led by President Evo Morales aimed at resolving a dispute between Chuquisaca and neighbouring Santa Cruz department over royalties from the Incauhusi gas field – one of Bolivia’s largest active gas and condensate fields.... Read More

Development: On 8 May, the former head of Brazil’s supreme court (STF) Joaquim Barbosa from the centre-left Partido Socialista Brasileira (PSB) said he would not be running for the presidency.... Read More

*Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras finished the first financial quarter of 2018 with a net profit of R$6.96bn (US$1.95bn), 57% up from the R$4.45bn (US$1.25bn) reported during the same period last year.... Read More

Central America... Read More

Development: On 8 May, the leading candidate in Mexico’s presidential election, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the leftist opposition Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) party, said that he would consider legalising drugs to reduce levels of violent crime in the country.... Read More

*Representatives from Mexico’s official trade promotion agency, ProMéxico, have inaugurated the Mexico-Egypt business council during a ceremony in Egypt’s capital, Cairo.... Read More

Development: On 8 May Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri announced that his government had started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a contingency credit line that will help to shore up his government’s financial position.... Read More

Argentina: The energy ministry has announced that the government led by President Mauricio Macri has reached an agreement with some of the leading energy firms that currently operate in Argentina, under which they have agreed to freeze all petrol fuel prices until July.... Read More