LatinNews Daily - 16 December 2020

On 15 December Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador finally congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in the US presidential elections on 3 November.... Read More

On 15 December, Ecuador’s attorney general Diana Salazar revealed that she had asked the national court of justice (CNJ) for clarification as to whether it is possible to open a criminal investigation into members of the national electoral council (CNE) in the midst of an electoral process.... Read More

* The planning commission of Bolivia’s chamber of deputies has approved the state budget proposal for 2021 put forward by the government led by President Luis Arce, which will now be submitted to the legislature for final approval.... Read More

On 15 December, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro declared that he will not be getting a vaccine against the coronavirus (Covid-19), once one becomes available.... Read More

* Brazil’s economy ministry has revised some of the figures on which its draft budget for 2021 is based, as budgetary legislation is yet to be approved by congress and the economic outlook has shifted since the government first sent the bill for the budgetary guideline laws (LDO) to congress in April.... Read More

On 15 December Nicaragua’s 92-member unicameral legislature closed its session for 2020.... Read More

* Panama’s national statistics institute (Inec) has released new figures which show that the country’s GDP contracted by 23.6% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020, largely as a result of measures taken to try and contain the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

* Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex has announced that it has carried out a debt operation worth M$95.6bn (US$4.8bn) which will enable it to cover short-term financial liabilities.... Read More

On 15 December, Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo declared that the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) has assurances of the “commitment” of the European Union (EU) to the ratification of the trade deal reached a year and a half ago between the two blocs.... Read More

* Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) has released the latest figures for the consumer price index (IPC), which show that monthly inflation stood at 3.2% in November, bringing annual inflation to 35.8%.... Read More