Weekly Report - 19 May 2022 (WR-22-20)

The well-meaning but improvised attempt by the government led by President Gabriel Boric to resolve a longstanding conflict with the indigenous Mapuche came to an abrupt end on 16 May when the interior minister, Izkia Siches, decreed a state of exception in two regions in southern Chile.... Read More

This week saw the start of a new attempt to break the longstanding political deadlock in Venezuela, with the US helping to get things moving by easing some of its economic sanctions.... Read More

Colombia’s presidential candidates have been ramping up their campaigns, crisscrossing the country in search of crucial votes ahead of the first round of elections on 29 May.... Read More

There were large protests in cities across Peru on 13 May, as thousands of students took to the streets to demonstrate against two education reform bills recently approved by congress.... Read More

The Australia-headquartered mining company SolGold has announced plans to invest US$2.7bn in its Cascabel concession in Ecuador’s northern Imbabura province.... Read More

Suddenly lots of Brazilian politicians are having their picture taken sitting on tractors or leaning on farm machinery.... Read More

ARGENTINA | Unbridled inflation.... Read More

When Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited Cuba on 8 May as part of a regional tour [WR-22-19], he was full of praise for Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel and keen to stress the strength of bilateral relations.... Read More

Mexican and US authorities have dedicated US$4.2bn to strengthening security and improving infrastructure along their 3,000km shared border.... Read More

MEXICO | Combating inflation.... Read More

Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei has reappointed María Consuelo Porras to the post of attorney general after her four-year term was due to expire this month.... Read More

Honduran President Xiomara Castro has completed her first 100 days in office.... Read More

EL SALVADOR | Bukele resolute on bitcoin.... Read More

The governor of Paraguay’s north-eastern department of Amambay, Ronald Acevedo, accused the government led by President Mario Abdo Benítez of lacking “a state policy” to combat organised crime after armed assailants shot and seriously wounded his brother, José Carlos Acevedo, the mayor of the departmental capital Pedro Juan Caballero (PJC), in broad daylight.... Read More

“It is never ideal having military deployed in our national territory but we are not declaring war, we are safeguarding routes in order to be able to hold dialogue, to develop an integral plan in the Macrozona Sur, Wallmapu, La Araucanía.” Chile’s presidential spokeswoman Camila Vallejo.... Read More