Weekly Report - 20 August 2020 (WR-20-33)

As many countries across Latin America and the Caribbean are reeling from the combined health and economic impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, a ray of hope cut through the gloom.... Read More

The majority of Bolivia’s 70-odd roadblocks were dismantled on 14 August, a day after the supreme electoral tribunal (TSE) ratified the revised date of the general election as 18 October.... Read More

Ecuador’s government is appealing to the international community to improve surveillance and control of fishing activities in the region, several weeks after the widely reported arrival of 260, mainly China-flagged, fishing vessels near the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Galápagos archipelago.... Read More

After three violent attacks in the space of a week claimed the lives of at least 17 people, the United Nations (UN) peace mission in Colombia warned that the number of massacres recorded in the country so far this year – defined as the killing of three or more people in a single attack – had reached 34.... Read More

With the Venezuelan opposition having firmly committed itself to a boycott of December’s legislative elections - despite misgivings in some quarters about the viability of abstention as a strategy for challenging Nicolás Maduro’s government [WR-20-32] - opposition leader Juan Guaidó has been quick to return to the familiar exercise of gathering international backing for his position.... Read More

Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benítez marked the completion of his second year in office on 15 August.... Read More

Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera unveiled on 16 August different plans aimed at creating 250,000 jobs and stimulating economic activity, representing US$34bn in overall investment over the next two years.... Read More

“I don’t base myself on any survey.... Read More

Following the capture of the main leader of the Cártel Santa Rosa del Lima (CSRL) criminal organisation [WR-20-31], the Mexican government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador boasted this week that violence levels are finally falling in the troubled state of Guanajuato.... Read More

MEXICO | Economic recovery.... Read More

Luis Abinader was sworn-in as president on 16 August, formally ending 16 years of governance by the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD), the longest uninterrupted stretch any single party has wielded power in the Dominican Republic since the assassination of the country’s long-ruling dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961.... Read More

President Alejandro Giammattei is facing down protests demanding his resignation which have highlighted two pressing public concerns: the ongoing institutional stand-off over the election of top justices [WR-20-28] and the lack of transparency surrounding funds assigned for addressing the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

The US government’s suspension last week of private charter flights to all airports in Cuba, including Havana, is just the latest blow for the Cuban administration led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel which is facing a triple crisis posed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and its impact on the island’s crucial tourism sector, US sanctions, and the ongoing economic collapse of its key ally Venezuela.... Read More

The two Anglophone powerhouses of the Caribbean, and inveterate rivals, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica will hold elections within weeks of each other.... Read More

“Latin America and the Caribbean is distinguished by a historic fraternity, solidarity, and mutual friendship.... Read More