Weekly Report - 28 June 2018 (WR-18-25)

Coca leaf cultivation (and the associated cocaine production) has reached record levels in Colombia, already the world’s largest producer.... Read More

The European Union (EU) has widened its sanctions to include another 11 top Venezuelan government officials who are now banned from travelling to any of its member countries; any assets they hold in the EU will also be frozen.... Read More

This week threw up an intriguing parallel between the performance of Argentina’s government and the national football team.... Read More

One of the remarkable features of the last two years is how little the US and Brazil – respectively the most powerful countries in North and South America – have had to say to each other.... Read More

The second circuit of Brazil’s supreme court (STF) took a 3-1 decision on 26 June to release a senior former cabinet minister, José Dirceu, pending the outcome of his appeal against a sentence of 30 years and 9 months for corruption, money laundering, and illicit association.... Read More

ARGENTINA | GDP growth downgraded.... Read More

The current electoral process leading up to the 1 July general election is now officially the most violent in Mexico’s history.... Read More

With Mexico’s general election just days away, some members of the Right-Left Por México al Frente have publicly withdrawn their support for Ricardo Anaya, the coalition’s presidential candidate.... Read More

Talks between the government led by President Daniel Ortega and the Alianza Cívica por la Justicia y la Democracia opposition movement recommenced this week against the backdrop of more violence, which claimed up to a dozen lives, including that of a baby.... Read More

Trade unions in Costa Rica’s education and health sector staged a nationwide strike on 25 June to protest against the tax reform and proposed spending cuts tabled by the government led by President Carlos Alvarado.... Read More

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Anti-corruption march.... Read More

The Paraguayan senate has approved a deal signed in May 2017 between President Horacio Cartes and his Argentine peer Mauricio Macri modifying the Yacyretá bi-national hydroelectric dam treaty.... Read More

“We’ve been at this for more than 40 years…and we are not winning [but] for the first time Colombia has a plan, a viable and effective strategy to combat this scourge more effectively.”... Read More