LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 2 July 2018

Development: On 1 July, a study by Brazil’s national industry confederation (CNI) estimated that insecurity costs the country R$365bn (US$93.32bn) a year, equivalent to 5.5% of GDP or R$1,800 per Brazilian. Significance: To put that figure in perspective, the cost of criminality to the country is higher than the contribution made by either the construction sector (5.2% of GDP) or the agricultural sector (5.3% of GDP), the leading lights of the Brazilian economy.... Read More

* According to local media, the Brazilian food company BRF, the largest exporter of chicken meat in the world, has announced a restructuring and asset-sales plan involving the sale of units in Europe, Argentina, and Thailand.... Read More

Development: On 30 June, the president of Paraguay's senate Fernando Lugo declined to swear in former president Nicanor Duarte Frutos (2003-2008) of the ruling Asociación Nacional Republicana-Partido Colorado (ANR-PC) party as an active senate member despite the fact he had been elected on 22 April.... Read More

Chile: Chile’s finance ministry has announced that the Chilean government will inject an additional US$1bn into the country’s state-owned copper mining company, Codelco, from now until February 2019 in order to help maintain its position as market leader.... Read More