Andean Group - January 2021

We begin this January edition of Latin American Regional Report: Andean Region in Venezuela, where the death of 33 people in a shipwreck has drawn international attention to the dangers faced by migrants seeking to flee the country by making the dangerous 50-mile crossing to Trinidad and Tobago.... Read More

The 33 people killed in a shipwreck off the coast of Venezuela in December were by no means the first to lose their lives while fleeing the country in recent years.... Read More

In December, Bolivia’s interior minister Eduardo del Castillo unveiled the new administration’s five-year plan to tackle the illicit trafficking and production of drugs.... Read More

Jorge Hernando Pedraza, the secretary general of the Andean Community (CAN) trade bloc, lauded the Andean Environmental Charter – signed on 1 December by foreign ministers from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru – as a pivotal step towards achieving “sustainable, inclusive development that is respectful of the environment, in order to maintain and improve the well-being of 111m Andean citizens”.... Read More

After more than a month of negotiations, representatives from the Ecuadorean and US governments met in Quito in December to sign a new ‘protocol on trade rules and transparency’, covering issues including customs provisions, regulatory practices, anti-corruption measures, and support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).... Read More

The repeal on 4 December of a 20-year-old law regulating Peru’s agricultural sector, prompted by protests held by farm workers across the country, launched a protracted national debate over what form the new agrarian law should take.... Read More

Coal mining company Cerrejón announced on 30 November that an agreement had been reached with mine workers’ union Sintracarbón to bring an end to a strike that for 91 days had paralysed operations at the Cerrejón mining complex – the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America, located in north-east Colombia’s La Guajira department.... Read More

BOLIVIA | Natural gas windfall.... Read More