LatinNews Daily - 19 August 2019

On 18 August, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri accepted the resignation of his finance minister, Nicolás Dujovne, and appointed Hernán Lacunza as his replacement.... Read More

On 17 August, the party plenary of Peru's opposition Partido Aprista Peruano (PAP) approved the proposal of its congressional deputy Mauricio Mulder to present an impeachment motion against President Martín Vizcarra for moral incapacity to govern.... Read More

* Colombia’s national statistics institute (Dane) has revealed new figures which show 3% growth in GDP in the second quarter of 2019, in annual terms.... Read More

On 18 August, state governors from the Amazon region of Brazil published a statement repudiating the federal government’s position on the Amazon Fund, a source of financing from Norway and Germany aimed at preservation of the rainforest.... Read More

* A non-profit research institution, Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (Imazon), has released new research which shows that in July 2019 1,287 km2 of the Amazônia Legal (an area composed of nine states that occupies 61% of Brazilian national territory) was lost to deforestation.... Read More

On 16 August, Nicaragua’s government led by President Daniel Ortega filed a complaint against Costa Rica before the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, and the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR).... Read More

* Honduras’ central bank (BCH) has revised its growth forecasts for 2019 and 2020 to 3%-3.4% in both cases, down from 3.3%-3.7%.... Read More

On 16 August, thousands of women took to the streets in Mexico City to protest against gender violence.... Read More

* Economist Gabriela Siller, an economics professor at the private Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and director of analysis at Mexican bank Banco Base, has described the recent decision by Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) to reduce its benchmark interest rate to 8% from 8.25% as “adequate”.... Read More

* Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri has signed a decree which freezes fuel prices for 90 days as part of measures adopted to address the financial crisis stemming from the recent party primaries ahead of the 27 October general election.... Read More

Colombia: On 8 August, the US government issued a  Memorandum on the Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2020 which hailed the Colombian government led by President Iván Duque for making “early progress in rolling back the record-high coca cultivation and cocaine production levels inherited from his predecessor [Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018)] and in leading efforts to restart a Colombian-led aerial eradication program”.... Read More