LatinNews Daily - 01 August 2022

On 29 July Guatemalan security forces arrested José Rubén Zamora, a prominent local journalist and critic of President Alejandro Giammattei.... Read More

On 29 July, the UK’s High Court of Justice ruled against the claim of President Nicolás Maduro’s government to US$1.9bn in Venezuelan gold reserves stored in the Bank of England (BoE), in a verdict that reinvigorated opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s claim to be the legitimate president of Venezuela.... Read More

* Colombia’s national statistics department (Dane) has released the latest employment figures, putting the unemployment rate in June at 11.3%.... Read More

A Datafolha opinion survey circulated in Brazil’s local media on 30 July showed that more than one out of three voters believe that Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will try to steal the presidential election in October. Analysis:... Read More

* Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, Petrobras, has announced that it expects to begin new drilling operations in the northeastern Equatorial Margin area in November.... Read More

* Costa Rica’s central bank (BCCR) has released a new report which forecasts that Costa Rica’s economy will grow 3.4% in 2022 and 3.2% in 2023 respectively, down from 7.8% in 2021.... Read More

On 29 July, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a decree to address the shortage of drinking water for inhabitants of Nuevo León state.... Read More

*Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has released the latest figures on its quarterly estimation of GDP, showing that economic activity increased 1% in the second quarter of 2022 as compared to the previous quarter.... Read More

On 29 July, the Chilean congress approved a sixth extension to the state of exception in the southern regions of Araucanía and Biobío, a security measure adopted in the face of growing violence linked to the intractable Mapuche conflict.... Read More

*Argentine agribusiness lobby the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) has responded to the naming of Sergio Massa as the country’s new economy ‘super minister’.... Read More

Paraguay: On 22 July US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US had designated Paraguay’s former president Horacio Cartes (2013-2018) for his alleged involvement in significant corruption. According to a US State Department press release, Cartes obstructed a major international investigation into transnational crime in order to protect himself and his criminal associate from potential prosecution and political damage. The same source warns that these actions “undermined the stability of Paraguay’s democratic institutions by contributing to public perception of corruption and impunity within the office of the Paraguayan President”.... Read More