Americas: Brazil’s election campaign to continue to heat up Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity; political instability; civil unrest In Brazil, the election campaign ahead of the 7 October general election is expected to continue to heat up. The leftist Workers’ Party (PT) has until 11 September to name imprisoned former president Luiz Inacio Lula […]
Americas: Unprecedented peso rout triggers stricter fiscal deficit targets to contain crisis Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity; civil unrest; export taxes In Argentina, President Mauricio Macri announced a cabinet reshuffle and stricter fiscal deficit targets for 2019 following an unprecedented rout on the peso that led the central bank to raise its benchmark rate […]
Americas: Lula’s presidential candidacy formally submitted; likely to stoke further controversy Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity; political instability; civil unrest On 15 August in Brazil, the leftist Workers’ Party (PT) formally registered imprisoned former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its presidential candidate for the upcoming 7 October general elections. Over the coming […]
Americas: UN-backed Commission asks to revoke Guatemala’s President immunity Sectors: all Key Risks: civil unrest; corruption fallout; political instability; armed clashes In Guatemala, the Attorney General and the UN-backed Commission against Corruption and Impunity asked Congress on 10 August to revoke President Jimmy Morales’ immunity from prosecution, which would enable an investigation over an alleged […]
Americas: Centre-right Duque to take office in Colombia; ELN peace talks at risk Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity; terrorism; targeted attacks; kidnapping In Colombia, centre-right president-elect Ivan Duque will take office on 7 August. Although the new administration is expected to guarantee stability and broad policy continuity, Duque will be tested on economic performance, […]
Americas: President Vizcarra proposes referendum on reforms to tackle Peruvian corruption Sectors: all Key Risks: civil unrest; corruption fallout; political instability In Peru, President Martin Vizcarra urged the opposition-run Congress to call a referendum on judicial and political reforms aimed at eradicating institutional corruption. The vote would include judicial reforms and a ban on private […]
Americas: Strikes loom in Chile’s copper mines Sectors: mining Key Risks: labour strikes; unrest; business interruption In Chile, a strikes loom in copper mines as contract negotiations with workers has yet to reach an agreement. On 19 July negotiations between Lumina Copper’s Caserones mine and its workers’ union broke down, with the union calling for […]
Americas: Privatisations plans likely to continue to stall in Brazil Sectors: all Key Risks: delayed privatisation plans In Brazil, a recent ruling by a Supreme Court justice stating that privatisations should be approved by Congress is likely to continue to delay several planned privatisations. On 3 July state-owned oil company Petrobras announced plans to suspend […]
Americas: Haiti to face further disruption amid violent unrest over fuel price hike Sectors: all Key Risks: lootings; violent unrest; travel disruption In Haiti, violent unrest has been observed since 6 July across the country following the government’s controversial decision to raise fuel prices. The highly disruptive protests and blockades may continue over the coming […]
Americas: ELN and government scheduled to resume peace talks Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity; terrorism; targeted attacks In Colombia, the government and the ELN guerrillas are expected to launch the sixth round of formal peace talks on 2 July in Cuba’s capital Havana. The sixth round was originally scheduled to begin on 20 June […]
Americas: Mexico set to elect leftist president amid record-high violence Sectors: all Key Risks: policy continuity; targeted political violence; contract alteration In Mexico, general elections are scheduled to take place on 1 July. Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) of the MORENA party has consistently been the frontrunner in the polls and is expected […]
Americas: Dialogue to ease tensions to remain at risk in Nicaragua Sectors: all Key Risks: political stability; policy continuity; violent unrest In Nicaragua, the government and opposition representatives resumed a Catholic Church-mediated dialogue on 15 June to try to end a crisis in which at least 178 people have been killed since 18 April. Despite […]
