LatinNews Daily - 09 May 2019

On 8 May, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled national assembly (AN) and the country’s internationally recognised interim president, Juan Guaidó, denounced the detention of the AN’s deputy vice president, Édgar Zambrano, by agents from the national intelligence service (Sebin).... Read More

* Bolivia’s state-owned oil company YPFB has announced that it has signed two strategic agreements with its Argentine counterpart YPF, which express the interest of both countries in carrying out joint projects with regard to 1) exploration and production of hydrocarbons and 2) refining and trade of hydrocarbons.... Read More

On 8 May, a presidential decree which relaxes the laws concerning the right to carry a gun was published in Brazil’s official gazette, O Diario Oficial da União.... Read More

* The council for Brazil’s investment partnerships programme (PPI), part of the secretary of government (Segov), has held its first meeting under the government of President Jair Bolsonaro and announced that it expects its portfolio of infrastructure projects to attract R$1.6trn (US$400bn) in investments.... Read More

On 8 May, the Nicaraguan government led by President Daniel Ortega and the Alianza Cívica por la Justicia y la Democracia (ACJD) opposition grouping failed to reach an agreement regarding the relaunch of talks aimed at finding a solution to the crisis stemming from the government’s crackdown on its opponents which began in April 2018.... Read More

* Melvin Redondo, the Secretary-General of the secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (Sieca), has announced that, subsequent to the 2012 European Union-Central America Association Agreement, as of 7 May the Central American Single Declaration form (Duca) will replace the Central American Single Customs Form (Fauca) and the Single Declaration of Goods for the International Terrestrial Customs Transit (DUT) and will be used as a Goods Declaration (DM) by the states that are party to the general treaty of Central American economic integration.... Read More

On 8 May, Mexico’s institute for national transparency, access to information, and protection of personal data (Inai) called for the federal attorney general's office (FGR) to publish the names of all those under investigation in the corruption case involving Odebrecht, the Brazilian engineering firm.... Read More

* Foreign tourists in Mexico spent US$7bn (M$123bn) in January-March, according to new figures released by Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi).... Read More

On 9 May, Chile’s finance minister Felipe Larraín unveiled the government’s first observations regarding a tax modernisation initiative before the congressional finance committee.... Read More

* Uruguay’s automotive trade association (ACAU) has released new figures which show that a total of 3,061 vehicles were sold in April 2019, down from 3,980 in the same month in 2018.... Read More