Weekly Report - 30 September 2021 (WR-21-39)

Peru’s government is lurching from one crisis to another, but a method can now be discerned.... Read More

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso suffered a setback to his economic plans on 29 September, when the national assembly’s administrative council (CAL) ruled that a mega-bill to reform the tax system and labour regulations was unconstitutional.... Read More

A national strike accompanied by protest marches was held across Colombia’s main cities on 28 September, reminding the government led by President Iván Duque that the issues raised by waves of street protests earlier this year have not gone away.... Read More

Negotiations between Venezuela’s government and political opposition in Mexico appeared to hit a wall at the third round of talks from 26-27 September.... Read More

Violent clashes between rival factions of Bolivia’s La Paz-based coca growers’ union, the Asociación Departamental de Productores de Coca de los Yungas de La Paz (Adepcoca), have now entered their second week.... Read More

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Fernández are making new efforts to show a united front ahead of the mid-term congressional elections on 14 November.... Read More

Chile’s lower chamber of congress approved a fourth 10% voluntary draw-down of pension savings in a key vote on 28 September.... Read More

President Jair Bolsonaro’s decision to celebrate his 1,000 days in government smacked of electioneering, as he faces falling public support and his government struggles to get its reforms through congress.... Read More

The Brazilian government has finally set a date for a long-delayed auction of fifth generation (5G) mobile spectrum, after the Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel), the federal telecoms regulator, approved the rules for the auction on 24 September.... Read More

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was in his element on 27 September as the steady flow of events marking the bicentenary of Mexico’s independence reached their climax with a show and fireworks in the Zócalo square in Mexico City.... Read More

Five federal senators left their respective parties to set up a new grouping this week.... Read More

In July the US Department of State announced it was “pausing” cooperation with Guatemala’s attorney general’s office, citing a lack of confidence in its head, María Consuelo Porras [WR-21-30].... Read More

Two months after assuming the post of US Special Envoy to Haiti, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse (2017-2021), Daniel Foote has stepped down.... Read More

Chile is still considered a strongly Catholic country where a significant proportion of the population has conservative social values, but the lower chamber of congress has nevertheless approved a motion to liberalise rules governing abortion.... Read More

“Governing for the people means not harming them.”... Read More