Latin America

• Saturday, December 16th 2017 - 16:29 UTC

  A disenchanted Chile will elect the least unpopular of two candidates on Sunday

  

  Chile faces on Sunday one of the elections with most uncertain result. Longstanding disenchantment with the center left leaning coalition that has ruled Chile since the return of democracy in 1990, and a Latin American natural reaction which erupts every now and then when an economy stalls and the blame goes to the local elite in combination with outside “treachery capitalists”, seems to be the scenario.

• Friday, December 15th 2017 - 14:53 UTC

  Brazilian beef exporters expect a record year in 2018: 1.68 million tons

  

  Brazilian beef exporters expect shipments to grow 10% in 2018 after rising an estimated 9% this year despite corruption and food safety scandals that temporarily closed off major markets. Trade group Abiec on Thursday said Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, would likely sell 1.68 million tons of beef abroad next year, up from 1.53 million tons in 2017. Revenue is expected to rise about 11% to US$6.9 billion in 2018, after a 13% rise this year to US$6.2 billion.

• Friday, December 15th 2017 - 08:38 UTC

  Falklands' call for “the world's greenest cruise ship”, MS Roald Amundsen

  

  From an environmental perspective, it’s easy to see how cruise ships have long been one of the harshest modes of travel. They’re big, slow, fuel-hungry, and rife with excess. However, forward-thinking cruise line Hurtigruten is looking to change the game with the launch of what they’re calling “the world’s greenest cruise ship.”

• Friday, December 15th 2017 - 01:40 UTC

  Brazilian police raids offices and homes of two members of Congress

  

  Brazilian police raided the offices and homes of two members of Congress on Wednesday in the country’s latest corruption probe as the government makes a last-ditch effort to vote on an overhaul of the national pension system.

• Thursday, December 14th 2017 - 05:53 UTC

  Mercosur/EU accord will have to wait until 2018; Europe needs more time to assess latest proposal

  

  Negotiations for a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur will extend into next year, officials from both sides said on Wednesday, after the Europeans asked for more time to analyze proposed changes.

• Thursday, December 14th 2017 - 05:13 UTC

  Chile: Sunday's winner will have to learn to cohabit with the opposition

  

  With only a few days left for next Sunday's runoff in Chile's presidential election two factors have become decisive and a challenge for the two hopefuls, opposition candidate conservative Sebastian Piñera, and Alejandro Guillier, the incumbent, reluctantly accepted by the current system in office.

• Wednesday, December 13th 2017 - 21:50 UTC

  OAS observers will be deployed in Brazil's general election of October 2018

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Brazil signed the Procedural Agreement for the first deployment of an Electoral Observation Mission to Brazil.

• Tuesday, December 12th 2017 - 10:47 UTC

  Mexico and Brazil compete for investors in deepwater projects

  

  Mexican national oil company Pemex blamed the cancellation of a potentially lucrative deepwater Gulf of Mexico project on weak investor appetite due to competition from recent auctions in Brazil and low oil prices. Mexico’s oil regulator canceled a tender to pick an equity partner for Pemex’s Nobilis-Maximino project, as company interest was not as robust as expected.

• Tuesday, December 12th 2017 - 10:34 UTC

  Mercosur/EU hurdles remain, and a deal announcement might not be reached this week

  

  Free-trade talks between the European Union and Mercosur still face hurdles over beef and ethanol, and an expected deal announcement this week might not happen, officials involved in negotiations admitted on Monday. Mercosur diplomats on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires said EU officials had not presented improved offers on EU tariff-free imports for beef and ethanol as promised.

• Tuesday, December 12th 2017 - 08:13 UTC

  Peruvian president admits working for Odebrecht, as financial advisor or irrigation project

  

  Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski acknowledged that he worked as a financial adviser for an irrigation project owned by the Brazilian builder Odebrecht, contradicting his previous denials of having any links to the company. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America’s biggest graft scandal and has admitted to paying about US$ 30 million in bribes to secure contracts in Peru over a decade.