Weekly Report - 10 September 2020 (WR-20-36)

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is facing distinctly uncomfortable questions after the online investigative newspaper El Faro published an incendiary report which alleges that, since taking office in June 2019, his government has been involved in private negotiations with one of El Salvador’s main street gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).... Read More

Four opposition parties presented a motion of censure against the economy and finance minister, María Antonieta Alva, on 9 September for alleged mishandling of resources to combat the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

The primary goal of the protests that swept Bolivia in August was to ensure that the country’s general election would be held on 6 September.... Read More

Within the space of five months, three separate courts have deemed Ecuador’s former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017) to have been guilty of bribery during his time in office [WR-20-14].... Read More

Senator Iván Cepeda, of the left-wing Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA), has been a nemesis of influential former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) since the early years of Uribe’s rule, as one of the foremost voices in the fight against paramilitarism in Colombia.... Read More

Twice former president Lula da Silva (2003-2011) made a return to the public political stage with a video address to mark Brazil’s independence day on 7 September.... Read More

This time last year, President Jair Bolsonaro was facing international recriminations over his dismissive response to fires in the Brazilian Amazon.... Read More

The death of two minors at the hands of the security forces during an operation targeting the Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP) guerrilla group has put the Paraguayan government led by President Mario Abdo Benítez in the international spotlight.... Read More

The decision by a federal court to grant house arrest to a well-known businessman under prosecution over corruption charges has stoked Argentina’s political divisions.... Read More

The rift between President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and governors representing parties opposed to his ruling left-wing Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) is deepening.... Read More

MEXICO | Herrera tables austere budget.... Read More

The emphatic victory for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) on 3 September vindicated the decision of Prime Minister Andrew Holness to call a snap election.... Read More

This week Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández faced nationwide blockades from transport workers, protesting over the lack of subsidies or support to alleviate the impact of measures taken to stop the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).... Read More

Venezuela’s opposition figurehead Juan Guaidó made an effort to reassert his authority this week after twice former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski defied his call to boycott legislative elections on 6 December [WR-20-35].... Read More

“The Salvadorean people are happy that after a civil war and 30 more years of crime, they can live in a much safer country than before.” El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.... Read More