LatinNews Daily - 25 October 2018

Development: In the early hours of 25 October Argentina’s federal chamber of deputies approved a version of the zero-deficit draft 2019 budget proposal submitted by the government led by President Mauricio Macri after a marathon and tense session.... Read More

Development: On 24 October, the leader of the Soberanía y Libertad (Sol.bo) party and current mayor of Bolivia's capital La Paz, Luís Revilla, announced an alliance with former president Carlos Mesa (2003-2005) for the 2019 general election.... Read More

* The international media has cited Marshall Billingslea, the US Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, as saying that Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is “looting” his country’s gold in a new strategy to replace Venezuela’s failing state-run oil company, Pdvsa.... Read More

Development: On 24 October, Brazil’s former president Lula da Silva (2003-2011) shared a letter with the Brazilian people from his prison cell, calling them to unite in the name of democracy behind his Partido dos Trabalhadores’ (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad for the presidential run-off vote on 28 October.... Read More

* Brazilian mining company Vale, the world’s largest producer of iron ore and nickel, has released its third quarter results, which show that its free cash flow generation totalled US$1.4bn, up from US$76m in the second quarter of 2018.... Read More

Development: On 24 October the US government and the United Nations (UN)-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) announced a new agreement.... Read More

* Costa Rica’s national salary council (CNS), a tripartite body comprising representatives from the government, private sector (which provides 80% of jobs in the country), and unions, has approved a 2.96% salary increase for private sector workers.... Read More

Development: On 24 October, Mexican daily El Universal reported that Roy Campos, president of national pollster Consulta Mitofsky, said that the future of the project for a new international airport in Mexico City (NAIM) had become a question of partisanship.... Read More

* Pablo Siade, the regional director of France’s Coface, an international trade credit insurance network, has warned about an increase in Mexico’s fiscal deficit if adjustments are made to the 2019 budget as well as the slim margin of manoeuvre for President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador to make good his electoral promises to increase social spending.... Read More

* Uruguay’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nelson Chabén, has announced the signing of a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement between Uruguay and the UAE.... Read More