LatinNews Daily - 30 May 2018

Development: On 29 May, the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, issued a statement via Twitter in which he declared that a report compiled by a panel of independent international experts outlining evidence of human rights abuses committed in Venezuela would be submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague for consideration.... Read More

Colombia: Colombia’s national statistics department (Dane) has reported that the national unemployment rate stood at 9.5% in April.... Read More

Development: On 30 May, Brazil's superior labour court (TST) declared the strike called by workers at state-owned oil company Petrobras illegal.... Read More

* Brazil's President Michel Temer’s new minister, Ronaldo Fonseca, resigned less than 24h after being sworn in as the secretary-general to the president.... Read More

Development: On 29 May, Colonel Carlos Geovanni Mejía Girón, a Guatemalan military attaché to Brazil, was arrested by the national police (PNC) at Guatemala City’s international airport, La Aurora, on accusations of embezzlement, illicit association and bribery.... Read More

Central America... Read More

Development: On 29 May, the Confederación Patronal Mexicana (Coparmex), Mexico’s largest business sector lobby, called on the federal government to adopt immediate actions to address the rising public insecurity in the country and restore the defunct public security ministry (SSP).... Read More

* Mexico’s state-owned oil firm, Pemex, has announced that a consortium formed of Saipem and Saimexicana, two local subsidiaries of Italian energy firm Eni, have been awarded a M$779.1m (US$39.24m) contract to renovate and return to operations its Planta H-Oil facility of its ‘Miguel Hidalgo’ refinery located in the central state of Hidalgo.... Read More

Development: On 29 May, national legislators from the centre-left opposition Nueva Mayoría (NM) coalition complained about the decision by the government led by Chile's President Sebastián Piñera to withdraw a pension reform proposal put forward by the previous administration led by former president Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010; 2014-2018).... Read More

* The Uruguayan government has received three bids from international companies for a tender to build a new railway line linking the capital Montevideo with the city of Paso de los Toros in the central department of Tacuarembó.... Read More