LatinNews Daily - 14 December 2018

Development: On 13 December Venezuela’s foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, said that Venezuela is prepared to wage “the mother of all battles” if it is subjected to a foreign military attack.... Read More

* Bolivia’s mining minister César Navarro has announced that mining royalties are expected to reach US$182m this year, up from US$174m in 2017.... Read More

Development: On 13 December, Brazilian media reported that Rio de Janeiro state’s civil police had uncovered a plan by local militias to murder Marcelo Freixo, a Rio de Janeiro state deputy and federal deputy-elect for the left-wing Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL).... Read More

* The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Court has ruled that Brazil’s tax benefits measures in the automotive and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors are illegal under WTO rules.... Read More

Development: On 13 December the rector of El Salvador’s state-run Universidad de El Salvador (UES), Roger Arias, criticised Nayib Bukele, the frontrunner ahead of the 3 February 2019 presidential vote, for refusing to take part in a presidential debate scheduled for 16 December.... Read More

* In a recent press conference, Jorge Quijano, the head of the Panama Canal authority (ACP), said that for FY 2018 contributions from the Panama Canal to the state amounted to US$1.70bn, US$44m more than was budgeted for and US$53m more than in FY 2017.... Read More

Development: On 13 December, US President Donald Trump repeated on Twitter his intention to make Mexico pay for a border wall between the two countries.... Read More

* Mexico’s federal chamber of deputies has formally ratified the appointment of Carlos Urzúa as the new head of the finance ministry (SHCP).... Read More

Development: Argentina’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 3.2% in November, bringing accumulated inflation for the first 11 months of the year to 43.9%, according to figures published by the national statistics institute (Indec) on 13 December.... Read More

* Uruguay’s central bank (BCU) has released new figures which show that the country’s third quarter GDP was up 2.1% compared with the same period last year.... Read More