Weekly Report - 07 November 2019 (WR-19-44)

Just as it seemed that the international pressure on Venezuela’s de facto president Nicolás Maduro was relenting, with daily headlines dominated by major protests elsewhere in Latin America, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced the expulsion of Venezuela’s entire diplomatic corps on 2 November.... Read More

Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno sent a draft budget for 2020 to the national assembly on 31 October which tries to perform a delicate balancing act: stimulating economic growth and averting the threat of renewed social unrest.... Read More

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Faced with an upsurge in violence in the south-western department of Cauca, Colombia’s President Iván Duque has responded with a combination of force, sending in an additional 2,500 troops, and social programmes, announcing some US$400m in spending.... Read More

With the concessions offered by President Sebastián Piñera failing to appease the demonstrators that have been mobilising in Chile for the past fortnight [WR-19-42] in rejection of social and economic inequality in the country, the government and Chile’s political class are under considerable pressure to usher in major changes to try to resolve the crisis.... Read More

The Brazilian government seems to be going ‘full neoliberal’ just as public opinion in other countries – notably Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador – is swinging sharply in the opposite direction and becoming more critical of undiluted capitalism.... Read More

Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou is the favourite to win Uruguay’s presidential run-off on 24 November, bringing to an end the 15-year tenure of the ruling left-wing Frente Amplio (FA).... Read More

Nearly two weeks on from Alberto Fernández’s victory in the first round of Argentina’s presidential elections and neither voters nor investors are any the wiser about his economic plans ahead of his investiture on 10 December.... Read More

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused opponents of his government this week of using ‘bots’ to try to discredit the local press on social media platforms as part of efforts to undermine his administration.... Read More

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse is facing growing international pressure over human rights in relation to the ongoing protests calling for his resignation.... Read More

The five-day Havana International trade fair opened on 4 November, attended by businessmen from 55 countries, as Cuba tries to attract foreign investment at a very challenging time.... Read More

“In El Salvador, which does not sit on seas of oil, a toilet roll does not cost a monthly salary.”... Read More