Weekly Report - 15 August 2024 (WR-24-32)

Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García, the co-founder of the Sinaloa drug trafficking organisation (DTO) who was arrested in the US at the end of July, released an explosive statement on 10 August that has pointed to the murky links between politicians and DTOs in Mexico.... Read More

Three weeks on from Venezuela’s 28 July presidential election, President Nicolás Maduro is adamant that he will not relinquish power despite signs that he lost by a wide margin to opposition candidate Edmundo González.... Read More

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro marked the half-way point in his four-year presidency on 7 August, with an army of pundits attempting to score his performance so far and predict what might happen over the course of the next two years.... Read More

President Dina Boluarte has signed into law a controversial bill imposing a statute of limitations on crimes against humanity, despite legal advice that it violates principles of international law.... Read More

ECUADOR | Slowdown or recession? The economy and finance minister, Juan Carlos Vega, insisted this week that Ecuador was not in recession as indicated in a recent report published by the country’s central bank (BCE).... Read More

The president of the lower chamber of congress, Arthur Lira, has criticised a recent ruling issued by supreme court (STF) justice Flávio Dino which suspended the payment of some ‘emendas parlamentares’, budgetary grants for projects or works selected by legislators.... Read More

A plane bound for the São Paulo Guarulhos airport on 9 August crashed in the town of Vinhedo, São Paulo state, killing all 58 passengers and four crew members.... Read More

Chile is beginning to focus not just on the next elections – municipal and regional polls due in October – but on the ones after that too (presidential and congressional polls due in November 2025).... Read More

Argentina’s ministry for human capital has become locked in conflict with the courts over its failure to distribute some 5,000 tonnes of food to community kitchens in various parts of the country.... Read More

BRAZIL | Services sector grows in June.... Read More

Alejandro ‘Alito’ Moreno, the controversial leader of Mexico’s centrist opposition Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), has been re-elected as the party’s president.... Read More

President Daniel Ortega has expelled Brazil’s ambassador to Managua, Breno de Souza Brasil Dias da Costa, prompting Brazil’s government led by leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to reciprocate.... Read More

Panama’s new right-of-centre president, José Raúl Mulino, has provided more details regarding repatriation flights pledged as part of efforts in cooperation with the US, to reduce illegal migration through the Darién Gap, a roadless expanse of jungle on Panama’s border with Colombia, which serves as a major migration route to the US.... Read More

Bolivia’s President Luis Arce appointed new ministers for hydrocarbons (Alejandro Gallardo), rural development (Juan Yamil Flores), and labour (Erlan Julio Rodríguez) on 12 August.... Read More

“I call on the people of Sinaloa to use restraint and maintain peace in our state.... Read More