Weekly Report - 13 July 2023 (WR-23-28)

Two developments in Central America over the course of the last week, all the more perturbing for their predictability, are fuelling concerns that democracy is under siege.... Read More

Eight Venezuelan presidential aspirants for the opposition Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD) coalition participated in a debate on 12 July ahead of primary elections, which are scheduled to take place on 22 October, if the government led by President Nicolás Maduro allows them to go ahead.... Read More

The bilateral ceasefire agreement between Colombia’s government and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) guerrilla group got off to a shaky start, with the ELN carrying out a high-profile kidnapping and launching a so-called ‘armed strike’ shortly before both sides declared a cessation of hostilities on 6 July.... Read More

The future of oil drilling in Ecuador’s Yasuní national park hangs in the balance ahead of a 20 August referendum on whether to outlaw it.... Read More

Peru’s President Dina Boluarte suffered a blow to her credibility on 11 July after the culture ministry staged a meeting with the far-right group La Resistencia.... Read More

Brazil’s left-of-centre government led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva boasted on 6 July that deforestation in the Amazon biome has decreased significantly from last year.... Read More

The government’s proposed legislation to reform Brazil’s convoluted tax system was fully approved in the lower chamber of congress on 7 July, after two rounds of voting on 6 July and further votes on amendments the following day.... Read More

Mexico’s opposition Va por México alliance, comprising the right-wing Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), centrist Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), and left-wing Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), has announced the names of those who will compete to be the coalition’s presidential candidate in 2023.... Read More

Violence has flared in Chilpancingo, the capital of the Mexican state of Guerrero following the arrest of two alleged members of local criminal organisation Los Ardillos.... Read More

Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was sentenced in February this year to in excess of 26 years in prison for charges such as treason [WR-22-33], has fast become a major thorn in the side of the authoritarian government led by President Daniel Ortega.... Read More

Suriname’s President Chandrikapersad Santokhi met Trinidad & Tobago’s prime minister, Keith Rowley, in Port of Spain on 6 July to discuss deepening bilateral relations, particularly in the energy sector.... Read More

The Honduran government held the first round of negotiations regarding a free trade agreement (FTA) with China on 7 July.... Read More

Argentina’s national electoral justice system formally launched an investigation on 11 July into La Libertad Avanza (LLA), the party led by the far-right presidential candidate Javier Milei, for the alleged sale of candidatures.... Read More

“They say we live in a dictatorship.... Read More