LatinNews Daily - 20 June 2018

Development: On 19 June, Mexico’s foreign minister, Luis Videgaray Caso, condemned the new US policy of separating irregular migrant children from their parents as “inhumane and cruel” and called on the US to fully respect children and migrant rights... Read More

Development: On 19 June, Colombia’s outgoing president, Juan Manuel Santos, urged the national senate to pass the procedural legislation which regulates the transitional justice system (JEP) under which demobilised guerrillas from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) are to be tried, warning that if a vote is not held by today (20 June) he would summon the senate to hold extra sessions to debate the bill.... Read More

Peru: Peru’s national congress has approved a request to delegate temporary legislative powers in the areas of economy and the fight against corruption, among others, to the government led by President Martín Vizcarra for a period of 60 days.... Read More

Development: On 19 June, representatives of some of Brazil’s major banks called on former finance minister Henrique Meirelles (2016-April 2018) to drop out of the race for the presidency.... Read More

* According to local media, Odebrecht, the Brazilian engineering company which has been involved in an international government corruption scandal affecting 10 countries in Latin America and Africa, has agreed to pay R$7m (US$1.8m) to the authorities in the city of São Paulo after a fraud investigation.... Read More

Development: On 19 June, the Guatemalan government announced the dismissal of the presidential spokesperson, Heinz Hiemann, for saying that the government led by President Jimmy Morales respects the US migration policy of separating irregular children migrants from their parents.... Read More

El Salvador: Vice President Óscar Ortiz has asked the national legislative assembly to approve a proposal to join the customs union created by Guatemala and Honduras in June 2017.... Read More

* The Mexican government has set terms for the public tender of 37 oil blocks that will be auctioned off on 27 September, as well as seven other blocks in which state-owned oil company Pemex is looking for a partner.... Read More

Development: On 19 June, Argentina’s truck drivers’ union, the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Camioneros (Fedcam), called off a 48-hour strike scheduled for next week after striking a salary deal with the sector’s employers’ federation.... Read More

Argentina: The national statistics institute (Indec) has released new figures which show that in the first quarter of 2018 Argentina’s GDP increased by 3.6% relative to the same period of 2017.... Read More