LatinNews Daily - 24 April 2019

On 23 April, Michelle de Guizado, the president of the Panamanian association of travel agencies and tourism (Apavit), and other tourism sector representatives urged presidential candidates to consider tourism an issue of “national interest”.... Read More

On 23 April, Colombian NGO Programa Somos Defensores published its annual report on attacks against human rights defenders, in which it reported that 155 human rights defenders and social leaders were killed in Colombia last year.... Read More

* Jorge Londoño, the general manager of Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), the Colombian state-owned utilities firm responsible for the Hidroituango hydroelectric dam over the river Cauca, has announced that the main elements of risk have been contained and EPM is to begin the dam's reconstruction phase.... Read More

On 23 April, the constitution and justice committee (CCJ) of Brazil’s federal chamber of deputies ruled the pension reform proposed by the government to be constitutional.... Read More

* Brazil’s national supplies company (Conab) has announced that the country’s ethanol production will reach a record 33.14bn litres (l) for the period corresponding to the 2018-2019 crop.... Read More

* Panama’s trade & industry ministry (MICI) has announced that the fifth round of talks regarding a free trade agreement (FTA) with China will take place from 24-26 April in Beijing.... Read More

On 23 April, dozens of people in the municipality of Minatitlán, in Mexico’s Veracruz state, took part in a march in demand for justice for all those who were killed in a recent armed attack in the town.... Read More

* Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has released new figures which show that the national unemployment rate in March was 3.6% of the economically active population, up from 3.2% the same month last year.... Read More

On 23 April, Paraguay’s presidential spokesperson, Hugo Cáceres, announced that the executive led by President Mario Abdo Benítez has accepted the requests made by local business organisations to delay the presentation of a new tax reform bill to the national congress.... Read More

* The spread on Argentine sovereign bonds in JP Morgan’s Emerging Markets Bond Index (Embi) has increased by 2.72% to 868 basis points.... Read More