☀ Domingo Brief — Election week, BRICS expansion, & a digital Paraguay

Each Sunday, take two minutes to catch key stories and opportunities shaping Latin America.

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Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re reeling from the announcement that Argentina will be joining the BRICS, two intense elections in Ecuador and Guatemala, and more!

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Trivia of the Week

A little over half of you (56%) were right in guessing that Santo Domingo was the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement founded in the Americas. The city, founded in 1496 by the Spanish, served for centuries as the Gateway to the Caribbean. It’s also the site of the first major slave revolt in the Americas.

Each week, tune back in for the answer to the previous week’s trivia question. No cheating!

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🇦🇷🇧🇷 Argentina is joining the BRICS! South America’s 2nd-largest country was officially invited to join the famous club of the Global South’s largest economies. When it officially joins on January 1st, Argentina will be the 2nd Latin American to form part of the grouping, behind only neighboring Brazil, which under President Lula da Silva has supported Argentina’s bid.

Latinometrics: Currently made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the BRICS first assembled in the late 2000s. This week was their largest expansion yet, as they added five additional countries besides Argentina: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Come January, the 11-member club will be one of the largest groupings of global economies.

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🇪🇨 Ecuador held a snap general election amidst a crime wave which has seen even presidential candidates killed. The country elected members of the National Assembly, voted in two separate referenda, and cast their support for president, with Luisa González and Daniel Noboa advancing to the October runoff.

Latinometrics: This is a difficult time for Ecuadorians. The election is the result of incumbent President Guillermo Lasso, who is not seeking reelection, invoking in mid-May a constitutional mechanism that avoids impeachment. The great face-off in October will come between billionaire Noboa, seeking to draw together a stabler center-right government than Lasso did, and González, a disciple of controversial leftist ex-president Rafael Correa.