LatinNews Daily - 03 December 2020

On 2 December Peru’s interior minister, Rubén Vargas resigned, following controversy over interim president Francisco Sagasti’s proposed reforms to the national police (PNP).... Read More

* The governments of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru have signed the Andean environmental charter, a new multilateral agreement intended to facilitate co-operation in efforts to protect local ecosystems and tackle the climate crisis, as well as to establish shared goals for sustainable development.... Read More

On 2 December, the Brazilian city of Cametá, in the northern state of Pará, was the site of an attempted bank robbery by armed criminals, the second such security incident to take place in the country in as many days.... Read More

* The council of Brazil’s Programa de Parcerias e Investimentos (PPI), the government’s investments and partnerships programme, has approved the inclusion of 58 new state assets and two new projects in its 2021 portfolio; the plan is to auction off a total of 115 assets next year, with an expected investment of R$367bn (US$70.3bn), according to the federal government.... Read More

On 2 December Panama’s chamber of tourism (Camtur) issued a statement demanding “urgent support” from the government led by President Laurentino Cortizo.... Read More

* The Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (Eclac) has released a new report which shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) to Central America totalled US$11.5bn in 2019, a 6.4% drop on 2018.... Read More

On 2 December Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed the departure of his chief of staff, Alfonso Romo, who was also in charge of relations between the government and business organisations.... Read More

* Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has released the results of its 2020 survey of the demographics of businesses (EDN) in the country, according to which 99.8% of the 4.9m private or parastatal establishments registered in the country are classified as micro-, small-, or medium-sized enterprises (Mipymes).... Read More

On 2 December Argentine daily La Nación reported that there is deep discontent inside the national executive led by President Alberto Fernández with Foreign Minister Felipe Solá over some inaccurate public comments he has recently made.... Read More

* Paraguay’s congress has given final approval to a 2021 draft national budget and submitted it to the executive for promulgation.... Read More