Weekly Report - 27 January 2022 (WR-22-04)

There is nothing quite like the release of the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by the Berlin-based NGO Transparency International (TI) to engender debate among policymakers, the business community, and civil society.... Read More

Faint hopes among the Venezuelan opposition that President Nicolás Maduro might be removed from power via a recall referendum appeared to be dashed this week.... Read More

Peru’s President Pedro Castillo was dealt a major blow to his ambitions to draft a new constitution on 21 January, when congress approved a bill restricting citizens’ ability to trigger referendums on constitutional matters.... Read More

Chile’s President-elect Gabriel Boric spent several weeks striving to create a cabinet that expressed his commitment to gender equality, regional and social diversity, and independent expertise, while apportioning the expected party-political rewards.... Read More

President Alberto Fernández is making a concerted effort to move beyond the constant questions about the state of play in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).... Read More

Around 1,300 armed police descended upon the favelas of Jacarezinho and Muzema in Rio de Janeiro on 19 January, part of an operation which marked the launch of ‘Cidade Integrada’ (Integrated City), a new public security programme conceived by the governor of Rio state, Claúdio Castro.... Read More

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned the 2022 budget on 21 January, the deadline for doing so, with an eye to his expected re-election bid this October.... Read More

A schism has opened between senators from the ruling left-wing Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena), with senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal on one side and a group of 29 senators, spearheaded by César Cravioto, on the other.... Read More

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has had to defend several of Mexico’s newly named ambassadors in the past week.... Read More

MEXICO | Energy reform.... Read More

Hopes for a smooth transition following November’s election, which delivered a landslide victory for Xiomara Castro and the leftist opposition Partido Libertad y Refundación (Libre) [WR-21-48], have proven premature.... Read More

Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei has reached the mid-way point of his four-year mandate.... Read More

Peru’s government has announced that it is seeking damages from the Spanish energy giant Repsol following the 15 January oil spill that devastated an area of coast north of Lima.... Read More

“I am convinced that the immense majority of Chileans are demanding structural changes that will make it possible to lead a dignified life in which the place where you are born does not determine the place where you die.”... Read More