Brazil & Southern Cone - June 2026

When José Antonio Kast became president of Chile in March, markets rallied amid investor optimism that the far-right leader would push business-friendly reforms. More than three months later, that prospect looks far less certain, partially due to global headwinds but also to homegrown problems. This June edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Brazil & Southern Cone begins with an analysis of the struggles of the Kast administration during its first few months in office as well as its proposed economic reforms, including a bill to implement tax cuts and other measures aimed at stimulating growth.

Still focusing on the challenges that the Chilean government has faced, the next article examines the decision by Kast to replace his security minister, Trinidad Steinert. This move came amid criticism over the government’s apparent lack of a concrete strategy to address crime. The following piece looks at Kast’s decision to appoint economist Bernardo Fontaine as the new chairman of the state mining company Codelco, who will be expected to deliver on a mandate to streamline the mining giant and return it to growth.

Moving on to Brazil, the next piece analyses at new security initiative launched by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which will boost funding for law enforcement institutions. We then look at Lula’s priorities regarding the country’s critical minerals. As this article explains, the government is eager for foreign investors to support the development of critical mineral projects. However, Lula is adamant that Brazil should not sell off its raw materials to the highest bidder but instead should seek to maximise value added by processing them domestically.

The following article considers tensions between Brazil’s governing institutions, which intensified due to a bill that proposed reducing jail time for individuals convicted in relation to the far-right riots in Brasília on 8 January 2023. President Lula vetoed the bill earlier this year, and congress overturned his veto in late April, but in May supreme court (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended the legislation. Next, we move on to trade tensions between Brazil and the European Union (EU), with Brussels announcing plans to ban Brazilian meat imports from September onwards.

The final article of this edition looks at relations between Paraguay and Taiwan, with President Santiago Peña cementing the long-standing partnership and affirming Paraguay as one of the few remaining countries to officially recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state during a visit in May. However, Peña faces significant pressure to shore up ties with Beijing rather than Taipei.