Brazil & Southern Cone - June 2021

This June edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Brazil & Southern Cone went to press over a month after Chile elected the 155 members of a constituent assembly on 15-16 May, yet the results of this election – a rejection of traditional political parties, particularly on the Right – continue to worry proponents of free-market economics in Chile.... Read More

Chile’s business community is fretting over the results of the 15-16 May elections of a 155-strong constituent assembly, where right-wing parties failed to secure one third of the seats, the amount necessary to block radical changes in the new constitution that the assembly will be drafting.... Read More

Brazil’s central bank (BCB) on 24 May issued an information note explaining the general principles it believes should govern the hypothetical launch of its own digital currency, part of a new breed of Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs.... Read More

Brazilian airlines are in the middle of a coronavirus (Covid-19) catastrophe, struggling with low demand, bankruptcies, and heavy debts.... Read More

A recent series of violent confrontations on Yanomami indigenous territory in Brazil’s northern state of Roraima shines a spotlight on the growing attacks against indigenous rights under President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, and the resultant hardships faced, in this case, by the Yanomami indigenous people.... Read More

Fahd Jamil Georges, a Brazilian criminal who was known as the ‘king of the border’ with Paraguay for his illicit business in the region, turned himself in to the authorities on 19 April.... Read More

Paraguay has taken on a new, more active, role within the international drug trade.... Read More

Every year on 20 May, Uruguay holds the ‘Marcha del Silencio’ – now in its 26th year – during which the victims of the 1973-1985 military dictatorship are remembered.... Read More

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the Uruguayan economy published on 25 May praises the country’s policy response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, but its predictions for recovery may be over-optimistic, given the latest spike in infections.... Read More

Last year, 4.673 gigawatts (GW) of new wind power capacity were installed in Latin America, led by Brazil with nearly half of this capacity (49.5%), and followed in second place by Argentina (21.7%), and in third place by Chile (14.6%).... Read More

The Argentine government led by President Alberto Fernández announced a one-month ban on beef exports in mid-May, and cattle ranchers hit back with a nine-day strike during which they refused to send live animals to market for slaughter.... Read More

PARAGUAY | Sales of beef surge, underpin rising exports.... Read More