LatinNews Daily - 22 January 2020

On 21 January, the government led by President Iván Duque insisted that it is unable to negotiate on most of the demands issued by the Comité Nacional del Paro protest group, after the first major demonstrations of the year in cities across Colombia led to renewed clashes with the controversial anti-riot police (Esmad).... Read More

* Peru’s President Martín Vizcarra has unveiled the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project portfolio for the next 18 months, which involves 23 initiatives for a total investment of US$5.351bn.... Read More

On 21 January, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro announced the creation of a ‘council of the Amazon’ which will be responsible for coordinating actions on the protection and sustainable development of Brazil’s Amazon region.... Read More

* Brazilian prosecutors have brought charges for homicide and environmental crimes against Brazilian mining giant Vale SA and German auditor Tüv Süd, as well as a total of 16 executives and employees from both companies, over the collapse in January last year of a Vale-owned tailings dam in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, which killed at least 270 people.... Read More

On 21 January Honduras's President Juan Orlando Hernández tweeted that he was going to ask the 128-member unicameral national legislature to discuss and make decisions on legislative initiatives proposed by the Organization of American States (OAS)-sponsored Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (Maccih) aimed at tackling corruption.... Read More

* Guatemala’s central bank (Banguat) expects Guatemala will close 2019 with 3.6% GDP growth, up from initial forecasts of between 3% and 3.8% (3.4% average) made at the start of 2019.... Read More

On 21 January Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador defended his government’s actions against the migrant caravan that is trying to reach the US, saying that migrants’ human rights had been fully respected.... Read More

* Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has released new figures which show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December 2019 stood at 3.1% – lower than the 3.6% registered in December 2018.... Read More

Analysis: This would be the second impeachment trial that Abdo Benítez faces in under a year, after he survived an impeachment motion last August.... Read More

* Argentina’s economy minister, Martín Guzmán, has announced that the government led by President Alberto Fernández has sent down to the federal congress a new bill outlining its proposal to restructure the country’s foreign public debt.... Read More