LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 22 May 2019

On 21 May, Brazil’s presidential spokesperson Otávio Rêgo Barros said that President Jair Bolsonaro was considering making changes to the decree loosening regulations on the right to purchase, own, and carry a firearm, which he signed earlier this month.  ... Read More

* Swedish vehicle manufacturer Scania, which specialises in heavy trucks and buses and is owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced that it will invest R$1.4bn (US$347m) in its São Bernardo do Campo plant in Brazil’s São Paulo state between 2021 and 2024.... Read More

On 21 May, Argentina’s justice minister, Germán Garavano, denied that former president and opposition leader Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) was the victim of political persecution by the government led by President Mauricio Macri. ... Read More

* Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benítez has partially vetoed a bill on doctors’ pensions citing its lack of financial sustainability.... Read More

This May edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Brazil & Southern Cone covers issues which are of global concern but are having national repercussions across different policy areas in Chile, Brazil, and Argentina.... Read More

Chile’s water resources came under heavy strain over a punishingly hot summer this year.... Read More

As an agricultural powerhouse, Brazil depends heavily on the use of agrochemicals.... Read More

Campaigning for Argentina’s October 2019 general election officially begins on 12 July, but smear campaigns are already underway.... Read More

Vale’s negative quarter: On 9 May, Brazilian mining giant Vale released its financial performance report for the first quarter of 2019, in which it reported net losses of US$1.64bn over that period.... Read More

On 10 May Presidents Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil met in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in a ceremony to mark the start of the construction of a second bridge across the River Paraná.... Read More