LatinNews Daily - 22 February 2024

On 21 February Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brasília before the start of the two-day G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro.... Read More

On 21 February the Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular (VP) accused counterintelligence officials of abducting a Venezuelan citizen in Chile, warning that Venezuelan dissidents are not safe even outside the country’s borders.... Read More

*Ecuador’s government led by President Daniel Noboa has presented its 2024 national budget proposal, which outlines US$35.54bn in planned spending.... Read More

*Brazil’s largest steel manufacturer, Gerdau, has released its latest report on financial results, posting quarterly profits of R$732m (US$148.45m) in the fourth quarter of last year and annual profits of R$6.85bn for 2023.... Read More

On 21 February US assistant prosecutor David Robles gave his opening statement in the US trial of Honduras’s former president Juan Orlando Hernández (Partido Nacional, PN, 2014-2022), who is facing drug trafficking and weapons related charges.... Read More

*A delegation led by the US non-profit association, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (Nasda), has travelled to Cuba where it has met with Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel, officials from Cuba’s agriculture ministry, and others to discuss opportunities and challenges to trade.... Read More

On 21 February Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that 12 people had been killed in a clash between criminal groups in the Tierra Caliente region of Guerrero state the previous day.... Read More

*Mexico’s national aluminium chamber (Canalum) has issued a statement rejecting claims that Mexico is a “triangulation bridge” for “products from Asia, particularly China”, to enter the US.... Read More

On 21 February railroad workers in Argentina went on strike over wages as several other sectors announce industrial action.... Read More

*Uruguay’s economy and finance minister Azucena Arbeleche has said that the government is forecasting that the country’s GDP will grow 3.5% this year, up from 0.5% GDP growth projected for 2023.... Read More