LatinNews Daily - 22 May 2023

On 19 May Guatemala’s electoral authority (TSE) suspended the presidential candidacy of Carlos Pineda, who was running for the conservative Prosperidad Ciudadana (PC), ahead of Guatemala’s 25 June general elections.... Read More

On 19 May the Colombian army announced that over 50 special forces commandos had been deployed to join the search for four children who went missing following a plane crash in the southwestern department of Caquetá three weeks ago, amid intense media speculation that the children may still be alive in the jungle.... Read More

* Peru’s central bank (BCRP) has published the latest employment figures, showing that formal employment increased by 2.6% year-on-year in March, representing 148,000 new jobs since March 2022.... Read More

On 21 May Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva concluded a visit to Japan, where he had been invited as an external partner to the G7 leaders’ summit, where he continued his calls for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.... Read More

* Brazil’s central bank (BCB) has released the latest economic activity index (IBC-Br), which is used to anticipate GDP figures.... Read More

* Independent media such as the Cuban news website, El Toque, have cited official figures from Cuba’s national statistics institute (ONEI) which show that year-on-year inflation in Cuba was running at 45.36% in April, up from 23.69% in April 2022.... Read More

On 21 May Grupo México, one of Mexico’s largest conglomerates, said that the government’s expropriation of part of its railway concessions could lead to the “deterioration” of the company, its staff, and customers, and have a negative impact on the free market.... Read More

* Mexico’s economy ministry (SE) has released new figures which show that foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country in the first quarter of 2023 totalled US$18.63bn.... Read More

On 21 May Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández escalated internal tensions within the ruling left-of-centre Frente de Todos (FdT) coalition with a pointed response to comments by Vice President Cristina Fernández.... Read More

* Chile’s state-owned copper mining company, Codelco, has announced the creation of two new subsidiaries to explore and exploit lithium, in line with the plan announced in April by the leftist government led by President Gabriel Boric to bring the lithium industry under state control.... Read More

Mexico: On 10 May, the chief officer for North America at Mexico’s foreign ministry (SRE), Roberto Velasco, and the director of Mexico’s agency for international development and cooperation (AMEXCID), Laura Elena Carrillo visited the White House to explore “new collaborative policies” to address the root causes of migration.... Read More