LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 18 May 2018

Development: On 17 May Brazil's foreign minister, Aloysio Nunes, vehemently rejected calls from a small group of European former leaders to release Brazil's jailed former president Lula da Silva (2003-2011) of the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT).... Read More

*Brazil’s anti-trust agency, Cade, has approved a bid by energy firm Neoenergia (controlled by Spain’s Iberdrola) to takeover electricity company Eletropaulo.... Read More

Development: On 17 May thousands of protesters took part in two parallel marches in central Buenos Aires against the decision by the Argentine government led by President Mauricio Macri to seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).... Read More

Argentina: The federal government has announced that it has received 32 bids for a public-private partnership (PPP) contract to renovate some 3,300km of roads across the country.... Read More

Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri did his level best this week to assuage the concerns of businessmen and opposition politicians about the decision to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance, and to drum up support for his government at its most challenging time.... Read More

President Sebastián Piñera announced a pro-investment plan this week to “transform Chile”, creating some 250,000 jobs.... Read More

Two months after the assassination of Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco from the leftist Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL), Brazilians are demanding to know “who killed Marielle?” At least two suspects have been named.... Read More

Best-known for its starring role in the corruption saga ‘Operation Car Wash,’ the name of Petrobras is never far from the headlines.... Read More

BRAZIL | Airport bankruptcy.... Read More