Weekly Report - 19 March 2020 (WR-20-11)

As the vast majority of Latin American countries are adopting drastic measures in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), the leaders of the region’s two economic powerhouses, jointly accounting for more than half of its population, are bucking the trend in defiance of their own government’s health strategies.... Read More

As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, South American countries have taken the first steps towards developing a coordinated regional response to the emergency.... Read More

As a global recession caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has come to seem increasingly unavoidable, economists in Brazil have been discussing the best approach to adopt in order to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on the country’s already fragile economy.... Read More

Increased efforts by Venezuela’s de facto president Nicolás Maduro in recent months towards international reconciliation [WR-20-05] have generally been received with little enthusiasm.... Read More

The spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) has provided an unwelcome disruption at a critical moment for Bolivian politics, as emergency protective measures have already greatly affected the campaign process ahead of May’s elections, and fears remain that the pandemic may yet be used to justify delaying the vote, further extending the contested mandate of Jeanine Áñez’s interim government.... Read More

The governments of both Ecuador and Peru ratcheted up their response to contain the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) this week by implementing some of the toughest measures in the region.... Read More

US law enforcement has landed “the single largest strike” against the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking organisation (DTO).... Read More

The long-ruling Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) suffered a serious setback in the rescheduled municipal elections on 15 March.... Read More

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele declared a national state of emergency last week in response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

President Jovenel Moïse named his environment and interim economy & finance minister, Joseph Jouthe, as his new prime minister, filling a post which has been vacant for a year, after Jean Henry Céant was forced to quit following a no-confidence vote [WR-19-11].... Read More

The declaration of a final result in Guyana’s disputed 2 March general elections is no closer.... Read More

“Don’t be surprised if you see me, over the next few days, getting on a crowded metro in São Paulo, on a boat crossing [from Rio de Janeiro] to Niterói, on a bus in Belo Horizonte.... Read More