LatinNews Daily - 9 January 2025

On 8 January Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested part of the US be renamed to América Mexicana (Mexican America) in response to US President-elect Donald Trump’s professed plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.... Read More

On 8 January Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro said that his government is acting in “legitimate” defence as concern continues over mounting repression ahead of the 10 January presidential inauguration ceremony, in which Maduro is set to be sworn in for a third term.... Read More

*The CEO of Colombia’s national federation of coffee producers (FNC), Germán Bahamón Jaramillo, has announced new figures showing that Colombia’s coffee production closed 2024 at 13.99m bags (one sack = 60kg), which he said represented yearly growth of 24%, while in December alone production was up 47% on the same month in 2023.... Read More

On 8 January Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held an event to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Brasília riots, when supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) ransacked the seats of government.... Read More

*Brazil’s national federation of automobile dealers (Fenabrave) has released figures on the sector’s performance in 2024, registering a total of 4.74m vehicles sold.... Read More

On 8 January Salvadorean civil society groups including community organisation Asociación de Desarrollo Económico Social de Santa Marta (Ades) rejected the decision to retry five anti-mining environmentalists over a case widely considered spurious, and called for the reversal of recently approved legislation lifting a 2017 ban on metals mining.... Read More

*Costa Rica’s national statistics institute (Inec) has released new figures showing that the monthly rate of inflation in December 2024 was 0.94%, bringing the annual rate to 0.84%.... Read More

*Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced in a press conference that the national housing authority (Conavi) will begin constructing social housing in February 2025 as part of a major campaign pledge which has the objective of building 1m new homes during her six year term which began in October 2024, as well as refurbishing a further 450,000.... Read More

On 8 January Argentina’s government led by President Javier Milei privatised metallurgical firm Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona (Impsa), marking the first privatisation since he took office in December 2023.... Read More

*A committee of ministers in Chile’s government has voted to block the controversial US$2.5bn Dominga copper and iron mining project which was proposed by the Chilean mining firm Andes Iron in the central region of Coquimbo.... Read More