☀ Domingo Brief — Volvo’s New Factory

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 keeping up with Argentinian economic policy, the continuing Venezuelan election crisis, and more.

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Trivia of the Week

An impressive 64% of you correctly guessed Guatemala as the country (well technically, captaincy) that Mexico annexed in the early 1820s. Soon after the establishment of the First Mexican Empire in 1822, the lands of Guatemala and much of Central America were annexed. This new land made Mexico the largest independent nation in terms of land area. However, in 1823 the Central American provinces seceded from Mexico to form a short-lived federal union.

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

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🇦🇷 Argentinian President Javier Milei vowed to veto a pension reform bill which would increase government spending by 1.2% of the country’s GDP. With efforts to support the 55% of Argentinians that live in poverty, the opposition-controlled senate passed a bill that would increase retirement benefits by over 8%. Milei quickly announced his decision as this bill would significantly threaten to capsize his newly established fiscal surplus.

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🇧🇷 Brazil’s tight labor markets have made controlling inflation challenging as the reduction of price pressures back to targets have taken longer than expected. While the benchmark interest rate has remained at 10.5% after a year-long easing cycle, inflation has begun to stagnate, among its main causes being the rigid labor markets according to Central Bank Director Roberto Campos. Central Bank analysts have projected consumer price indexes to remain above the target of 3% until at least 2027.