LatinNews Daily - 19 February 2019

On 18 February, Brazil’s presidential spokesperson Otávio do Rêgo Barros confirmed that Gustavo Bebianno was being dismissed from his position as secretary-general to the presidency in President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.... Read More

US President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Venezuela’s armed forces on 18 February, saying that they stood to “lose everything” if they continued to buttress the government led by Nicolás Maduro and refused to allow humanitarian aid amassing on the borders to enter the country.... Read More

* Bolivia and Argentina have renegotiated their natural gas provision contract valid until 2026 and agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further bilateral trade relations.... Read More

* Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Twitter that upcoming airport concessions will generate R$3.5bn (US$938m) in investment.... Read More

On 18 February, Haiti’s national police (PNd’H) arrested eight individuals in the capital, Port-au-Prince, while driving in two vehicles without license plates, with a cache of automatic rifles and pistols.... Read More

* The women’s union Federación Sindical de Mujeres de Guatemala (FSMG) and Manfredo Marroquín, the director of Acción Ciudadana (the Guatemalan chapter of Transparency International) have publicly criticised Guatemala’s suspension from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EISI), a global standard for promoting good governance of oil, gas, and mineral resources.... Read More

On 18 February, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that Guillermo García Alcocer, head of Mexico’s energy commission (CRE), is affected by a case of conflict of interests and called for him to resign.... Read More

* According to a new report by BBVA Bancomer bank on the banking sector in Mexico, there was a 6.7% annual increase in credit availability given to the private sector in 2018, slightly higher than the 6.4% recorded in 2017.... Read More

On 18 February, Uruguay’s President Tabaré Vázquez held an open ministerial council in Pueblo Centenario, in Durazno department, where he faced heavy criticism from local residents who will be directly affected by the government-backed plans for Finnish firm UPM to build a second pulp mill in the area... Read More

* Paraguay’s heath minister, Julio Mazzoleni, has announced that the public health ministry will assign US$270m to buy medicines for the public health system this year, an increase of US$40m on 2018.... Read More