Andean Group - September 2020

Ecuador’s government found itself dragged unexpectedly into the spiralling geopolitical tensions between the US and China in August, as a fishing dispute off the country’s Pacific coast escalated quickly into a broader diplomatic debacle.... Read More

In August, Ecuador’s government found itself dragged unexpectedly into the spiralling geopolitical tensions between the US and China, as a fishing dispute off the country’s Pacific coast escalated quickly, leading US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to pledge protection to all countries whose “economies and natural resources are threatened” by China’s “predatory fishing practices”.... Read More

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on 28 August that its technical team had reached a provisional agreement with Ecuador’s government for a 27-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) credit agreement.... Read More

A new report by researchers at Harvard University detailing human rights abuses under Bolivia’s interim government since November 2019 – described as “one of the most lethal and repressive periods in Bolivia in recent decades” – prompted the ire of interim president Jeanine Áñez, who has repeatedly rejected international criticism of her government’s human rights record [RA-20-03].... Read More

The president of Peru’s anti-drug agency Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo y Vida Sin Drogas (Devida), Rubén Vargas, voiced criticism on 1 August of a report on coca eradication in Peru, published by the US Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).... Read More

The beleaguered Hidroituango hydroelectric dam project, based in Colombia’s Antioquia department, was dealt yet another blow on 12 August, when the entire board of directors of Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), the state-owned utility company responsible for the project, sent a letter to the mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, announcing their resignation.... Read More

It was announced on 14 August that the subscription television service DirecTV would be returning to Venezuela after a three-month hiatus, following US telecommunications company AT&T’s decision to cease operations in Venezuela.... Read More

PERU | Historic GDP crash in Q2.... Read More