LatinNews Daily - 01 December 2020

On 30 November the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the evolution of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Mexico is “very worrying” and called on the country to take the matter “very seriously”.... Read More

On 30 November, Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, accused the government led by Nicolás Maduro of using “food as a weapon of social control” ahead of the 6 December legislative election called by the government.... Read More

* Ecuador’s Labour Minister Andrés Isch has announced that the national minimum wage will remain at US$400 per month in 2021, after negotiations between representatives of workers and employers broke down, leaving the labour ministry responsible for determining next year’s minimum wage.... Read More

On 30 November Brazil’s Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Inpe) released its annual data on deforestation in the legal Amazon, which shows that the area of forest lost between August 2019 and July 2020 has increased 9.5% on the previous year.... Read More

* Brazil’s central bank (BCB) has released its latest fiscal data, which show Brazil’s public sector (which comprises the central government, state governments, and state-owned companies) recorded a R$3bn (US$562m) primary surplus in October – the first primary surplus in eight months, after the onset of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the government’s response drove monthly deficits in excess of R$100bn in March and April.... Read More

On 30 November Guatemala’s constitutional court (CC) suspended legal action against two of its magistrates, Gloria Porras and Francisco De Mata Vela.... Read More

* Panama’s national statistics institute (Inec) has released new figures which show that the country’s GDP fell by 38.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, while in the first half of the year GDP shrank by 18.9% compared with the same period in 2019.... Read More

* Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has unveiled a second package of investment projects with the private sector which includes 29 projects worth M$228bn (US$11.4bn).... Read More

On 30 November Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández held a virtual meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro during which he appealed to his Brazilian peer to set aside their differences in order to revitalise the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc.... Read More

* Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán, and Energy Secretary Darío Martínez have unveiled a US$6.5bn investment plan for 2020-2024, to develop gas projects in order to increase production, boost jobs and exports, and reduce energy costs.... Read More