LatinNews Daily - 13 December 2018

Development: On 12 December US legislators and international human rights groups hailed the US House of Representatives’ day-earlier approval of the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act (Nica Act) which seeks to condition US approval for loans from international financial institutions to the Nicaraguan government led by President Daniel Ortega.... Read More

Development: On 12 December Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro said that he is determined to swear-in for a new six-year presidential term on 10 January 2019 and that he will not bow to international diplomatic pressure for him not to do so.... Read More

* Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno has announced that China has agreed a US$900m loan to Ecuador at the “lowest interest rate in history” (without specifying what it was).... Read More

Development: On 12 December, incumbent governors and governors-elect from 24 of Brazil’s 27 states met in Brasília to discuss their concerns around public security with the president of the supreme court (STF), José Antonio Dias Toffoli, and the future justice minister, Sérgio Moro.... Read More

* Brazil’s transparency ministry and federal comptroller general (CGU) have announced that so far this year R$7.23bn (US$1.86bn) has been recovered for public coffers through effective internal control mechanisms.... Read More

* The Panama Canal authority (ACP) has announced that a US-based arbitration panel has ordered Grupo Unidos por el Canal, S.A.... Read More

Development: On 12 December opposition legislators in Mexico’s federal congress accused the Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of seeking to severely undermine the efforts to reform the federal attorney general’s office (PGR).... Read More

* Lawyers representing holders of bonds issued by the Mexico City airport trust (Mexcat) to finance the new Mexico City international airport project (NAIM) have rejected the latest improved offer made by Mexico’s finance ministry (SHCP) to buy back their bonds.... Read More

Development: On 12 December, seven former Chilean foreign ministers signed a joint declaration lamenting the decision by the government led by President Sebastián Piñera to take Chile out of the United Nations (UN) global compact on safe, orderly, and regular migration.... Read More

* Following a recent visit to Uruguay by a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the IMF notes that Uurugay's “economy remains resilient, reflecting its strong institutions, prudent policies, and large buffers”.... Read More