Economy & Business - May 2026

In a move that echoed the opening up of Venezuela’s hydrocarbon industry earlier this year, on 9 April the national assembly approved sweeping legislation aimed at transforming a mining sector plagued by illegality and environmental degradation into a hub for the West’s critical mineral supply chains.... Read More

Marcelo Blanco was sworn in as Bolivia’s new hydrocarbons and energy minister on 22 April, having formerly served as deputy to Mauricio Medinaceli, who had held the role since President Rodrigo Paz took office in November 2025.... Read More

The general secretariat of the Andean Community (CAN) trade bloc met on 4 March with representatives of the Latin American steel association (Alacero), as well as with individuals representing the steel industry in each of the CAN member countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru).... Read More

ECUADOR | Return to the bond markets.... Read More

President Javier Milei’s deregulation drive has reached nearly all aspects of the Argentine economy, mostly recently even the peaks of the Andes mountains.... Read More

President Javier Milei enjoyed another major breakthrough when a US appeals court backed Argentina in a long-standing legal dispute surrounding minority shareholder claims related to the nationalisation of oil company YPF in 2012.... Read More

Since taking office in 2023, President Santiago Peña pushed hard to implement market-friendly reforms and tighten the reins of public spending to consolidate Paraguay’s reputation as one of the region’s economic success stories.... Read More

For President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, few institutions carry as much weight – or as much baggage – as the Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social (INSS).... Read More

ARGENTINA | Chevron to launch new oil project.... Read More

On 14 April, President Nayib Bukele announced the expansion of the DoctorSV AI-assisted telemedicine service, with the second phase focusing on diagnosing and treating chronic illnesses.... Read More

On 16 April the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) sanctioned seven individuals and seven companies in a marked expansion of its sanctions regime against Nicaragua's gold mining sector.... Read More

Continued conflict in the Middle East, which has severely restricted shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, has increased the prices shipping firms pay to transit the Panama Canal, creating a significant windfall for the public purse.... Read More

The effects of the war in Iran are cascading unevenly through the Caribbean, with a strongly negative bottom line.... Read More

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) on 1 May extending economic sanctions against Cuba.... Read More

It could be described as a quick turnaround.... Read More

PANAMA | Banana sector recovery.... Read More

Once a fierce opponent of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, President Claudia Sheinbaum is controversially proposing to develop the practice in order to access Mexico’s unconventional natural gas deposits so that the country can reduce its reliance on US imports, as Mexico struggles with disruptions to global energy markets caused by the war in Iran [EB-26-04].... Read More

Mexico’s steel sector is set to receive a much-needed boost after President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged that her government would purchase steel produced nationally as part of her flagship Plan México, which is designed to strengthen domestic industry and supply chains.... Read More

On 30 April the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) removed Mexico from its priority watch list for Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Enforcement, which Mexican officials have interpreted as a positive sign ahead of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review.... Read More

MEXICO | Central bank cuts interest rates as inflation slows.... Read More