LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 20 March 2020

On 19 March the Chilean government announced that, following a broad political agreement, the national plebiscite on whether to draft a new constitution set for 26 April has been rescheduled for 25 October due the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

On 19 March, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo expressed his repudiation of the Chinese ambassador in Brazil’s reaction to comments made the previous day by federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, who publicly blamed China for the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

* The Confederação Nacional do Comércio de Bens, Serviços e Turismo (CNC) has calculated that revenue in Brazil’s tourism sector was down 16.7% in the first two weeks of March compared with the previous year, equivalent to losses of around R$2.2bn (US$432m).... Read More

* Argentina’s central bank (BCRA) has announced a ream of measures as it seeks to limit the negative impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on the country’s economy, which is already in crisis.... Read More

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