LatinNews Daily - 01 September 2023

On 31 August representatives of the Colombian government led by President Gustavo Petro and Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest grouping of dissident units of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, began four days of exploratory discussions at an undisclosed location “in the mountains of Cauca [department]”.... Read More

*Colombia’s national statistics department (Dane) has released the latest employment figures showing that the unemployment rate stood at 9.6% in July.... Read More

On 31 August the joint committee of inquiry (CPMI) in Brazil’s congress investigating anti-democratic acts questioned the former head of the presidential security bureau (GSI) Marco Edson Gonçalves Dias.... Read More

* Brazil’s planning & budget minister, Simone Tebet, and finance minister, Fernando Haddad, have submitted to congress the draft legislation for the 2024 budget, Projeto de Lei Orçamentária Annual (PLOA).... Read More

On 31 August the Organization of American States (OAS)’s electoral observation mission (EOM) in Guatemala expressed concern about the plight of Movimiento Semilla (Semilla), the left-of-centre party of president-elect Bernardo Arévalo.... Read More

*Nicaragua’s government led by President Daniel Ortega has announced the inking of a free trade agreement (FTA) with China.... Read More

On 31 August Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced a reduction in flights at the Benito Juárez International Airport (AICM), the main airport serving Mexico City (CDMX).... Read More

*Mexico’s national statistics institute (Inegi) has released employment figures for July, which show that the percentage of the economically active population (EAP) – people over the age of 15 who are employed or seeking employment – that is unemployed has risen from 2.7% in June to 3.1% in July, with 1.9m people unemployed.... Read More

On 31 August Patricia Bullrich, the presidential candidate of Argentina’s right-of-centre opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) named Carlos Melconian as her economy minister should she win election.... Read More

*Chile’s national statistics institute (INE) has released the latest figures for its index of industrial production (IPI), which show that the rate of industrial production has decreased by 1.7% year-on-year in June, as a result of negative trends in two of the three industries which are considered in the index.... Read More