LatinNews Daily - 21 August 2018

Development: On 21 August El Salvador’s President Salvador Sánchez Cerén announced that his country had severed ties with Taiwan, establishing diplomatic relations with mainland China.... Read More

Development: On 20 August Ecuador’s ombudsman’s office called on the country’s judiciary to annul the requirement that Venezuelan nationals must show a passport in order to enter the country.... Read More

Venezuela: The Federación de Cámaras y Asociaciones de Comercio y Producción (Fedecámaras), Venezuela’s main business owners’ lobby, has warned that the country’s businesses are facing bankruptcy following the latest economic measures decreed by President Nicolás Maduro.... Read More

Development: On 20 August, Brazil’s deputy attorney general, Humberto Jacques de Medeiros, challenged the presidential candidacy of former president Lula da Silva (2003-2011) before the supreme electoral court (TSE).... Read More

* Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, has halted operations at its Paulínia refinery (Replan), the country’s largest refinery, as result of a fire.... Read More

Region: The presidents of Central America’s ‘Northern Triangle’ (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) have signed a declaration under which El Salvador is formally incorporated into the customs union previously formed last year by Guatemala and Honduras.... Read More

Development: At a press conference on 20 August, Mexico’s President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador reaffirmed his intention of scrapping the 2012-2013 education reform that was approved by the outgoing government led by President Enrique Peña Nieto.... Read More

* Javier Jiménez Espriú, named by Mexico’s President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador as his future transport & communications minister, has presented two alternative plans to build a new international airport for Mexico City (NAICM) to Mexico’s civil engineers’ association.... Read More

Development: On 20 August the Uruguayan media reported that the organised crime prosecutor, Luis Pacheco, is considering launching a formal investigation into allegations that bribes collected by former Argentine government officials may have been deposited in bank accounts in Uruguay. ... Read More

Chile: Chile’s central bank (BCCH) has released its latest economic growth figures, which show that GDP grew by 5.3% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, compared to 4.3% growth in January-March.... Read More