Weekly Report - 11 May 2023 (WR-23-19)

It is no exaggeration to say that the outcome of the elections held in Chile on 7 May could not have been any worse for President Gabriel Boric.... Read More

Ecuador’s national assembly has set the stage for what could be its final showdown with President Guillermo Lasso, after it voted on 9 May to subject Lasso to an impeachment trial for his alleged role in government corruption.... Read More

The demise of Venezuela’s former opposition leader Juan Guaidó now appears certain after his party, Voluntad Popular (VP), announced on 5 May that he would not be its candidate in presidential primary elections due to be held in October.... Read More

President Gustavo Petro’s troubled relationship with Colombia’s attorney general’s office has plumbed new depths after he attempted to pull rank on Attorney General Francisco Barbosa on 5 May.... Read More

COLOMBIA | Inflation.... Read More

Tensions broke out in Uruguay’s five-party ruling coalition this week after President Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou fired the housing minister, Irene Moreira, a member of the right-wing Cabildo Abierto (CA), over irregularities.... Read More

In a last-minute move on 9 May which infuriated the left-of-centre Frente de Todos (FdT) ruling coalition, the supreme court (CSJN) issued injunctions suspending provincial elections in San Juan and Tucumán; they had been due to be held on 14 May.... Read More

Brazil’s finance minister, Fernando Haddad, announced two nominees for the board of Brazil’s central bank (BCB) on 8 May.... Read More

The openness of Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to foster diplomatic relations with every world power, regardless of geopolitical tensions, has forced him to walk a diplomatic tightrope, a task made more complicated because of his reluctance to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine explicitly.... Read More

BRAZIL | Efforts to amend Eletrobras privatisation.... Read More

On 11 May, the US federal order Title 42 was finally lifted.... Read More

Mexico’s supreme court (SCJN) has not shied away from striking down President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s key reforms in recent weeks [WR-23-16].... Read More

In a speech presented on 2 May, days ahead of his first anniversary in office, Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves outlined the main achievements of his right-of-centre Partido Progreso Social Democrático (PPSD) government.... Read More

Last week Nicaraguan human rights groups reported the arbitrary arrests of over 50 opposition figures by the authorities.... Read More

SURINAME | Debt restructuring deal reached.... Read More

Paraguayo Cubas was arrested on 5 May after orchestrating protests denouncing electoral fraud in Paraguay, particularly outside the headquarters of the electoral authorities (TSJE) in Asunción, and demanding a recount.... Read More

“One of our objectives is to prevent the radical left from advancing in installing ideologies that are damaging for the country.”... Read More