LatinNews Daily - 15 August 2018

Development: On 14 August Panama’s attorney general Kenia Porcell called on the interim president of the supreme court (CSJ) Hernán De León to file a formal complaint regarding claims that he had been blackmailed.... Read More

Development: On 14 August Venezuela’s opposition-controlled national assembly (AN) called for the staging of a protest march in the western state of Zulia in repudiation of the interruption of electricity, natural gas, water and other public services in the state.... Read More

Ecuador: ProEcuador, a government body responsible for promoting trade and investment, has revealed that Ecuador received US$6.39bn from non-petroleum exports in the first half of the year, a 4.25% increase over the same period in 2017.... Read More

Development: On 14 August data released by the Rio de Janeiro state’s public security institute (ISP) show that the number of deaths resulting from police interventions in the Brazilian state has increased by 105% in July, compared with the same period last year.... Read More

* Brazil’s national statistics institute (IBGE) has reported that the country’s services sector posted growth of 6.6% in June compared with May, recovering from a 5% monthly contraction in May, when the eleven-day lorry drivers’ strike brought the country to a standstill.... Read More

Nicaragua: Nicaragua’s 92-member unicameral national legislature, which is controlled by the ruling Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) party, has approved the proposal put forward by President Daniel Ortega to cut the 2018 state budget by 9.2% - the steepest cut seen since President Ortega took office in 2007.... Read More

Development: On 14 August Mexico City’s governor-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, met with the outgoing governor, José Ramón Amieva, to discuss the ongoing reconstruction efforts after the September 2017 earthquake that heavily affected the city.... Read More

* According to a new report by Moody’s Investor Service, the international ratings agency, the outlook for business and for the overall economy in Mexico will remain positive during the first year of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government.... Read More

Development: On 14 August the Uruguayan government’s ethics and transparency board (Jutep), a national oversight body, issued a resolution saying that it had not found sufficient evidence to investigate the corruption allegations levelled against the deputy interior minister, Jorge Vázquez.... Read More

Argentina: The Argentine government has announced the temporary suspension of its plan to cut taxes on exports of soya and soya by-products, notably soya meal and soya oil.... Read More