LatinNews Daily - 22 August 2018

Development: On 21 August thousands of people took part in demonstrations across Argentina calling for former president (2007-2015) and incumbent federal senator Cristina Fernández to be stripped of her congressional immunity and face prosecution for the gross corruption charges levelled against her.... Read More

Development: On 21 August the Venezuela's political opposition and some trade union movements carried out a general strike against the economic policies of the government led by President Nicolás Maduro.... Read More

Ecuador: Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno has announced various economic measures aimed at reducing the country’s total debt which he put at US$60bn.... Read More

Development: On 21 August, the Brazilian army and police continued a military operation launched the previous day in Rio de Janeiro city, despite the death of two soldiers and five suspected criminals.... Read More

* The value of the Brazilian real fell by 2.04% against the US dollar, closing the day on 21 August at over R$4/US$1 for the first time in more than two years.... Read More

Development: On 21 August Guatemala’s Vice President Jafeth Cabrera described as “lamentable” the continued legal limbo facing Minera San Rafael (MSR), a subsidiary of Canada’s Tahoe Resources, which owns the Escobal silver mine, one of the largest in the world.... Read More

Dominican Republic: According to the Dominican Republic’s (DR) mining and oil chamber (Camipe), the DR’s mining sector registered 58.3% annual growth from 2010-2016 in terms of national exports, far ahead of agriculture (4.8%) and industry (3%).... Read More

Development: On 21 August, Mexico’s future public security minister, Alfonso Durazo, said that he was in favour of legalising marijuana for recreational use.... Read More

*According to the latest figures from Mexico’s economy ministry (SE), the country received US$17.84bn in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2018, up 14% on the same period in 2017.... Read More

Argentina: International investment bank BNP Paribas has warned about the current weakness of the Argentine peso and advised its clients not to hold the currency.... Read More