LatinNews Daily - 19 July 2021

On 18 July Chile staged two crucial primary elections to select candidates to compete in the presidential elections on 21 November.... Read More

On 16 July Peru’s right-wing Fuerza Popular party, represented by Keiko Fujimori in the disputed presidential election against Perú Libre’s Pedro Castillo, presented a last-minute legal challenge against the national electoral court (JNE), which has said it will declare a winner in the coming days.... Read More

* Peru’s central bank (BCRP) has published figures showing that government investment at the central, regional and local levels increased by 127% in the first six months of 2021 compared with the same period last year.... Read More

On 16 July, Brazilian daily Folha de São Paulo reported that former health minister Eduardo Pazuello (2020-2021) took part in a meeting to negotiate the purchase of Chinese firm Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine against the coronavirus (Covid-19) at a price triple that agreed in previous contracts.... Read More

* The state government of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil has completed the privatisation of electricity company Companhia Estadual Transmissão de Energia Eléctrica (CEEE-T).... Read More

On 17 July the Core Group, which comprises the Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, and the US, among other foreign representatives, called on Haiti’s Ariel Henry to form a government.... Read More

* Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo and Japan’s foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi have announced plans to strengthen trade ties as well as Japan’s interest in investing in Panama.... Read More

On 18 July a new self-defence group of armed civilians or ‘autodefensa’ named ‘El Machete’ was formally presented in Pantelhó municipality, Chiapas state, in an event attended by thousands of Tzotzil and Tzeltal indigenous people.... Read More

* Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has announced that a new international airport will be constructed in Tulum, Quintana Roo state, as part of efforts to alleviate the pressure on Cancún International Airport, located some 100km up the coast in the same state.... Read More

* Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera has defended the promotion of free trade as an important tool to help the global economy recover from the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

Nicaragua: On 12 July the US Department of State imposed visa restrictions on 100 members of Nicaragua’s national assembly and judicial system, including prosecutors and judges, as well as some of their family members.... Read More