LatinNews Daily - 15 March 2019

On 14 March, the US government suspended the transfer of some equipment and military training that it provides to Guatemala to protest the “misuse” of vehicles it donated to the country.... Read More

On 14 March, the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented its annual report on the situation of human rights in Colombia, highlighting concerns with high levels of violence.... Read More

* Peru’s national statistics institute (Inei) has published new figures which show that the country’s GDP increased by 1.58% year-on-year in January, the lowest GDP growth rate since December 2017.... Read More

On 14 March, Brazil’s supreme court (STF) ruled by six votes to five that cases involving non-electoral crimes, such as corruption and money laundering, but that are linked to electoral crimes, such as undeclared campaign financing (‘caixa 2’), must be judged in the country’s electoral courts.... Read More

* Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released figures which show that retail sales increased 0.4% month-on-month in January, after a 2.1% monthly decrease in December 2018.... Read More

* The Dominican Republic's central bank (BCRD) has released new figures which show that inflation in February 2019 was 1.19% year-on-year.... Read More

On 14 March Mexico’s federal chamber of deputies approved a constitutional reform bill that introduces changes to the process of calling legally binding public consultations and introduces the possibility of staging a presidential recall referendum.... Read More

* A local business lobby, Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación (Canacintra), has come out against the measures announced on 13 March by Mexico’s federal finance ministry (SHCP) to guarantee the supply of medicines.... Read More

On 14 March, Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) reported that inflation for the month of February reached 3.8%, bringing 12-month inflation to 51.3%.... Read More

* Paraguay’s central bank (BCP) has released the latest instalment of its monthly economic activity indicator (Imaep), a GDP proxy measure, which shows that activity fell by 0.1% in January.... Read More