LatinNews Daily - 01 February 2021

On 1 February Óscar Ortiz, the secretary general of one of El Salvador’s two main opposition parties, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), accused President Nayib Bukele of inciting hatred and said he no longer “recognised him as president”.... Read More

On 31 January, Venezuela’s foreign ministry issued a statement accusing Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali of “seeking to fabricate a conflict in the region”, in relation to the detention by the Venezuelan navy of two Guyanese-registered fishing boats and their crews since 21 January.... Read More

* Colombia’s mines & energy ministry has reported that oil production in 2020 totalled an average of 781,300 barrels per day (bpd), down 11.8% on the 885,850 bpd registered in 2019.... Read More

On 31 January, the Democratas party (DEM) in Brazil decided that it would remain neutral in the internal election for the presidency of the federal chamber of deputies, choosing not to back the chosen successor of the outgoing president, federal deputy Rodrigo Maia, who is from the DEM.... Read More

* Brazil’s public sector has closed 2020 with a record primary deficit of R$703bn (US$128.7bn), the highest figure since current records began in 2001.... Read More

* The Panamanian government led by President Laurentino Cortizo has reopened the country’s land borders for nationals, residents, and international travellers, with a requirement of a negative coronavirus (Covid-19) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or antigen test taken within 48 hours before entering the country.... Read More

On 29 January Mexico’s powerful private sector lobby, Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana (Coparmex), released a statement appealing for more financial assistance from the government in order to preserve jobs as a result of the damaging economic fallout of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

* Mexico’s finance ministry (SHCP) has released new figures which show the country’s public debt totalled M$12.13trn (US$597bn) in 2020, up 6.4% from M$11trn in 2019.... Read More

On 29 January, the Mesa de Presidentes de Partidos de la Oposición, a forum that groups together all the leaders of Paraguay’s opposition parties, threatened to advance impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Sandra Quiñónez if the president of the main opposition Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA), Efraín Alegre, is not immediately released from prison and that the judicial charges presented against him dropped.... Read More

* Chile’s national statistics institute (INE) has released the latest figures for unemployment, which show the unemployment rate fell to 10.3% in the October-December 2020 rolling quarter.... Read More

Brazil: On 25 January US President Joe Biden issued an executive order that reinstated coronavirus (Covid-19)-related travel restrictions for Brazil, as well as other nations – such as the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, and the 26 member states of Europe’s Schengen area – deemed high-risk for public health due to growing concerns over mutations of the virus.... Read More