Latin America Daily Briefing

Jordana Timerman
January 13, 2025

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum marked her first hundred days in office yesterday launching “Plan México,” a business friendly economic development program the regional development of the country, focused on consumer goods, technology, tourism, the automotive industry and energy. By 2030, at the end of her term, Sheinbaums aid she aims for Mexico to be among the top ten economies worldwide. (Animal Político, Animal Político)

Sheinbaum said the government has already identified more than 2,000 investment projects that could be brought to Mexico, with a total sum of 277 billion dollars. “Our goal is for people to know that, in the face of any uncertainty in the near future, Mexico has a plan and is united moving forward.” (El País)

The plan is “aimed at curbing imports from China in an apparent nod to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his allegations that Mexico is a back door for Chinese goods entering the United States,” according to Reuters.

More Mexico-US

• “Mexico’s trade relationship with China has placed it at the heart of North America’s simmering economic and geopolitical tensions,” reports Americas Quarterly. Chinese companies have greatly expanded their presence in Mexico in recent years, a gateway to the North American market, and “there’s also reason to believe that the true extent of China’s economic ties to Mexico are not captured in official statistics.”
  
  
• Ahead of Trump’s inauguration next week, Mexico’s government has announced that it will prioritize the defense of its compatriots in the United States, especially the more than five million undocumented citizens; it has outlined its plan for the renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and has sent signals of cooperation in the field of security, reports El País.

Guatemala

• Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora will remain under house arrest, and will not return to prison, according to a new ruling by the country’s supreme court. But the prosecutor general’s office immediately challenged the ruling, and seeks to return Zamora to jail — he spent more than two years behind bars in a case he says is retaliation for his reporting on corruption. (El País)

Venezuela

• “Since his election loss, governing for Maduro has largely become an exercise in repression and controlling the narrative, much of which has involved efforts to censor and manipulate media coverage of his government,” writes James Bosworth in World Politics Review. (See yesterday’s post.)
  
  
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro is concerned that opposition Venezuelan politician Edmundo González Urrutia could attempt to cross from Colombia into Venezuela without previous notice, which would pose a diplomatic challenge for Colombia’s government, according to El País.

Regional

• Brian Winter analyzes trends for the region in the next year — analysts are focused on the incoming U.S. administration and whether Trump “will follow through on tariffs and other threats, or perhaps pursue a more benign strategy of integrating supply chains and cooperation on security issues.” (Americas Quarterly)
  
  
• In its latest issue, Americas Quarterly also tracks political and economic trends to watch and key indicators in 12 of the region’s largest economies.

More Mexico

• U.S. toxic waste sent to Mexico for processing has contaminated communities in Monterrey with alarming levels of dangerous chemicals: “This raises the question of why US companies are sending hazardous waste to Mexico in the first place, and whether the country is equipped to handle it,” reports the Guardian in an investigation carried out with Quinto Elemento Lab.
  
  
• Mexico’s former immigration chief has been accused of mismanaging and minimizing the migrant crisis, and is also facing criminal charges in connection with a fire at a migration detention center that killed 40 people in 2023 — New York Times.

Colombia

• InSight Crime reviews the key developments in Colombia’s peace dialogues and examines their criminal implications for 2025: “The prospects for peace in Colombia appear increasingly remote as illegal armed groups fragment amid a gold and cocaine bonanza.”

Haiti

• The International Organisation for Migration says internal displacement in Haiti, largely caused by gang violence, has tripled over the last year and now surpasses 1 million people — a record for the country, reports the Associated Press.
  
  
• A Haitian judge again postponed a hearing for 19 suspects — most of the Colombian — accused in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. (Associated Press)

Brazil

• The case of a Black man wrongly accused of 62 crimes has spotlighted the widespread use by Brazilian law enforcement of showing photos to victims to identify suspects. “Such procedures have long been known to reflect racial biases and lead to miscarriages of justice, but they are still commonly used by Brazilian police, and have led to wrongful convictions of countless people, particularly Black people,” reports the Guardian.
  
  
• A new Brazilian law bans students from using cellphones in schools, the latest addition to a countries with such prohibitions, including the Netherlands, France and Italy. (Washington Post)
  
  
• “ Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has signed into law a bill authorizing the development of offshore wind farms, a statement said late on Friday, a bid to strengthen the country’s energy security and spark a wave of investment,” reports Reuters.

Suriname

• An extended drought has isolated villages in Suriname’s interior, who rely on rivers for connection — with impacts on health, education, and communities’ livelihoods. (Guardian)

Bolivia

• Thousands of supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales arrived in La Paz yesterday after a four-day march of about 100 kilometers, protesting against economic hardship. (AFP)

Paraguay

• Paraguayan lawmakers extended a state of emergency for the country’s prison for a second year in December. “Yet without measures to tackle the root causes, the relentless grip of prison gangs, both Paraguayan and Brazilian, will likely continue,” argues InSight Crime.

Argentina

• Argentine President Javier Milei is advancing a reform that would eliminate the country’s simultaneous and obligatory primary system, which essentially serves as an informal first round of voting for national elections. (El País)

Peru

• A Peruvian judge threw out a money laundering trial that began last year involving former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, who was accused of receiving illegal funds, reports Reuters.
  
  
• Peruvian President Dina Boluarte appeared before prosecutors to explain a two-week absence for plastic surgery on her nose that she insists was medical, not cosmetic, reports AFP.
  
  
• Peru’s Congress, which an investigation recently pinpointed as the center of a prostitution ring and with accusations of rape against lawmakers, has chosen to respond with a prohibition on its workers’ wearing miniskirts, reports El País.

Histories

• New laser imaging studies of 1,000 year-old mummified remains of ancient Peruvian communities reveal intricate details of tattoos with lines finer than those produced by many contemporary artists using advanced tools. (Associated Press, New York Times)

EnergiesNet.com 01 14 2025