Latin America

• 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.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 19:24 UTC

  Honduras recount of presidential votes “extremely consistent”

  

  Honduras' electoral tribunal has finished the partial recount of votes from the disputed presidential election, declaring the results are “extremely consistent” with the original count. In the partial recount of 4,753 ballot boxes, President Juan Orlando Hernandez won 50.1% of the votes, against some 31.5% for his rival Salvador Nasralla.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 05:25 UTC

  Honduras opposition, backed by international observers, challenges election results and insists on full recount

  

  The challenger in Honduras' still unresolved presidential election has filed a challenge to the November 26 contest that seeks to annul the results and requests a recount. Salvador Nasralla, candidate of the opposition alliance, and his campaign team handed over the paperwork with just minutes to spare before a midnight deadline on Friday.

• Saturday, December 9th 2017 - 19:51 UTC

  Brazilian auto industry recovering above expectations

  

  Auto sales in Brazil are likely to beat prior forecasts and accelerate next year, national automakers association Anfavea said on Wednesday, underscoring the gathering strength of a recovery in Latin America’s largest economy.

• Saturday, December 9th 2017 - 19:14 UTC

  Santander sells assets in United States to a Chilean bank

  

  Spain's Banco Santander said it had sold its U.S. unit Totalbank to Chile’s BCI for US$528 million as part of moves to sell non-core assets it inherited when it bought Banco Popular. BCI owns City National Bank of Florida and had been in talks with TotalBank’s former owner Banco Popular before it was acquired by Santander.

• Saturday, December 9th 2017 - 19:12 UTC

  Brazilian economy gradually picking up with growing confidence from investors

  

  Brazil’s economic recovery gained traction in the third quarter, supported by steady family consumption and a rebound in investment. GDP expanded 0.1% from the second quarter and 1.4% from the previous year, the national statistics agency said.

• Wednesday, December 6th 2017 - 21:31 UTC

  Peruvian construction companies accused of colluding with Brazil's Odebrecht

  

  Four former and current executives of Peruvian construction companies were detained pending trial, accused of colluding with Brazilian builder Odebrecht to bribe a former president.

• Wednesday, December 6th 2017 - 09:19 UTC

  Honduran electoral authorities agree to a recount of 5.000 polling stations

  

  Honduran electoral authorities on Tuesday agreed to opposition demands for a recount of returns from more than 5,000 polling places, representing almost 30% of all voting sites in last week’s disputed presidential election.

• Tuesday, December 5th 2017 - 08:41 UTC

  Mexican frontrunner considers an amnesty for drug-cartel leaders

  

  With less than seven months left for Mexico’s presidential election, the leading candidate caused controversy when he announced a willingness to forgive cartel leaders’ crimes to restore peace throughout the nation.