LatinNews Daily - 15 August 2022

On 12 August Paraguay’s Vice President Hugo Velásquez announced that he was resigning and abandoning his 2023 presidential ambitions after the US government banned him, his family members, and an associate from entering the US for alleged involvement in “significant corruption”.... Read More

On 14 August, Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of exception in Guayaquil, the capital of Guayas province, after a “terrorist” explosion left five people dead and 16 injured.... Read More

* Colombia’s national statistics department (Dane) has released the latest figures on industrial production, which increased 8.8% in June compared with the same month in 2021.... Read More

On 14 August Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to extend benefits of the Auxílio Brasil social welfare programme beyond December, after former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), his main rival, said its recent increase was just an election ploy.... Read More

* Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has signed an executive decree (MP) authorising private companies to enter partnerships with state-controlled uranium company Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB).... Read More

On 12 August the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a resolution which condemns the closure of NGOs and “harassment and arbitrary restrictions” by the Nicaraguan government led by President Daniel Ortega on its critics.... Read More

* Panama’s leading business lobby Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá (CCIAP) has issued a statement calling for the postponement of an executive decree issued on 10 August by President Laurentino Cortizo which reduces the prices of 170 medicines by 30%.... Read More

On 13 August Mexico’s federal government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced it was deploying security forces to the northern state of Baja California after five cities there were hit by an outburst of criminal activity, which included the burning of vehicles and road blockades.... Read More

* Mexico’s government has announced further reductions in state subsidies for both high octane (premium) and low octane (standard) gasoline for the period 13-19 August.... Read More

* Chile’s state development agency (Corfo) has announced a new call for domestic and foreign companies to submit project proposals for developing value-added lithium products in the country.... Read More

Colombia: On 8 August, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) held a press conference in which USAID Administrator Samantha Power remarked on the inauguration the previous day of Colombia’s new left-wing president, Gustavo Petro.... Read More