Weekly Report - 06 October 2022 (WR-22-40)

All opinion polls conducted by widely recognised research institutes in Brazil suggested that former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) of the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) would win with a comfortable advantage of 10-17 percentage points over President Jair Bolsonaro, from the Partido Liberal (PL), in the elections on 2 October.... Read More

Regional elections on 2 October reaffirmed the atomisation of Peruvian politics, a trend in evidence since 2006.... Read More

Bolivian opposition parties are up in arms at the manner in which the ruling left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) has elected a human rights ombudsman.... Read More

Just two weeks after Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro slammed the “irrational” US-led war on drugs in front of the United Nations General Assembly, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Bogotá on 3 October for wide-ranging discussions with the country’s new leader.... Read More

President Nicolás Maduro’s government made two further attempts to repair its relations with regional neighbours this week, announcing a prisoner exchange with the US and hosting a meeting between the Colombian government and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) guerrilla group.... Read More

Argentina’s political opposition should be in a strong position.... Read More

ARGENTINA | Boosting reserves.... Read More

Pegasus spyware has once again reared its head in Mexico.... Read More

Mexico’s defence ministry (Sedena) suffered a major cybersecurity breach on 29 September, when hackers broke into its servers and leaked six terabytes of email data containing sensitive and confidential information to the press.... Read More

MEXICO | Combating inflation.... Read More

Over the past week Nicaragua’s government led by President Daniel Ortega has ejected the ambassador of the European Union (EU), Bettina Muscheidt, refused entry to the US nominee for envoy to Managua, Hugo Rodriguez, and severed ties with the Netherlands.... Read More

With Guatemala’s electoral authority (TSE) due to officially call the June 2023 general elections at the start of next year, 13 civil-society groups have recently flagged up anomalies in the process for contracting software and technology for the electoral process.... Read More

“As voracious as it was suspicious.” This subheading in Paraguay’s national daily ABC Color accompanied a piece describing a conflagration at the headquarters of the supreme electoral tribunal (TSJE) in the capital Asunción on 29 September.... Read More

“For my love for Brazil, for democracy and for the constitution, for the courage I never lacked, I apologise to my friends and companions who begged for neutrality in this second round.... Read More