Domingo Brief

Take two minutes to catch the exciting stories and opportunities that are shaping Latin America

Dear Reader,

We're experimenting with expanding Latinometrics to bring you thought-provoking insights about Latin America in a new format today — the Domingo Brief. Please respond to this email (hit reply as you would for a typical email) and give us any feedback you have!

The idea is to provide insights and data points that are just as valuable and compelling as the ones you get from our charts but in a quick, bullet-point format. Ideally, you'll start your week feeling hopeful, excited, or even inspired about Latin America's potential.

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🇧🇷 Brazilian telecoms are rolling out 5G networks in major cities, with countrywide expansion to smaller cities expected by the end of the 2020s.

Latinometrics: Brazil is once again leading Latin America in technology adoption. Some predict that 5G will boost the economy by $117B by 2032.

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🇨🇱 Chile had its first-ever citizen recognized as an Emerging Space Leader at the International Astronautical Congress.

Latinometrics: Chile has played an important role in space exploration. It has 3 of the 10 largest telescopes in the world. The country’s climate and location is a “match made in heaven” for telescopes.

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🇨🇴 Colombia has finally ratified the Ecuazú Agreement, joining a dozen other countries in the region in creating protections for environmental defenders and open-access information on the environment.

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🇲🇽 Mexican startup Plerk is teaming up with global coworking platform WeWork to take advantage of the push for hybrid/remote working.

Latinometrics: Many companies are embracing remote work — a study revealed that 23% of office space in Mexico City is empty.

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🇵🇦 Panama-founded Selina was listed in the US public market via a SPAC. The company runs a hotel chain that caters to millennials and digital nomads.

Latinometrics: We wrote about Selina going head-to-head against the biggest hostel/millennial hotel brands in the world, even leading in locations over Marriott-owned and operated Moxy.

Their IPO is bold: Very few companies are going public compared to last year, and there are talks of a looming recession. The stock is down 64% since it debuted (ouch).

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🇵🇾 Paraguay’s leading presidential candidates are discussing their aims in renegotiating the Itaipú Dam treaty next year, expected to bring massive windfalls to the country if the terms are set more fairly with neighboring Brazil.

What’s considered unfair about the treaty? Paraguay only uses about 7.5% of the electricity produced, and the rest is effectively subsidized to Brazil. Paraguay seeks the option to sell more of its share at fair market prices.

Latinometrics: Itaipu Dam sits on the border of Paraguay and Brazil, and is the 2nd-largest dam in terms of electricity production worldwide.

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🇵🇪 Peruvian farmers are showing their resourcefulness by turning to guano, the poop of fish-eating seabirds, to cultivate crops amidst a global fertilizer shortage

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Venture Capital

Cortex, a marketing analytics startup from Brazil, secured a $48M Series C, led by Lightrock last month.

What to know:

• Founded in 2003

• SoftBank also participated, for the first time in 3+ months

• Cortex is the best-funded marketing analytics startup in Latin America

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Visualizing Latin America’s Potential via AI

Thanks to the marvels of AI-generated art technology, we can create artwork based on stories we’ve written.

For our first edition:

A blueberry plantation in the Peruvian mountains, inspired by our story about the country’s blueberry boom.

Peru Became the World's #2 Blueberry Producer in a Decade

Quick Survey 🗳

We at Latinometrics hope you realize Latin America’s potential this week.