LatinNews Daily - 15 May 2023

On 14 May, the ruling Partido Justicialista (PJ, Peronists) celebrated a triple victory in gubernatorial elections held in the provinces of Salta in north-western Argentina, La Pampa (central), and Tierra del Fuego (far south).... Read More

On 13 May, Bolivia’s environment minister, Juan Santos, resigned following allegations of corruption.... Read More

* Colombian airline Avianca has announced its withdrawal from a planned merger with Viva Air, less than two months after its approval, resulting in the collapse of Viva – one of Colombia’s most used airlines.... Read More

On 12 May, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, concluded a mission to Brazil, in which she noted a “record of serious violations of international human rights law” against indigenous peoples and other at-risk groups.... Read More

* Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released the latest consumer price index (IPCA), which showed monthly inflation of 0.61% in April, bringing annual inflation to 4.18%.... Read More

On 12 May Guatemala’s independent newspaper elPeriódico, responsible for many trail-blazing investigations into government corruption, announced its closure as of 15 May as a result of persecution and the imprisonment of its director, José Rubén Zamora.... Read More

* Honduras’s Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina has announced that President Xiomara Castro’s government is preparing to launch negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with China.... Read More

On 12 May, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that the migration flow through Mexico to the US had reduced since the lifting of Title 42 the previous day.... Read More

* Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has published new data for its monthly index of industrial activity (Imai) showing that industrial production dropped by 0.9% in monthly terms in March.... Read More

* Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) has announced that inflation continued to climb rapidly in April, reaching a monthly rate of 8.4% and an annual rate of 108.8%.... Read More

Colombia: On 4 May the US State Department announced that it was designating three Colombian former military officials, former colonels Publio Hernán Mejía Gutiérrez and Juan Carlos Figueroa Suárez, and former general Iván Ramírez Quintero, for their alleged involvement in gross human rights violations during Colombia’s decades-long internal armed conflict.... Read More