Ecuador has registered its second consecutive month of deflation. Official figures for June just released show deflation of 0.23%, after a decline in prices of 0.14% in May. The fall in consumer prices was attributed in large part to retail promotions; government officials deny it signals a recession. The government has targeted inflation this year of 3.1%. Inflation to May was running at 1.54%.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
AMLO Demands Thorough Recount
Presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who appears to be trailing in Mexico’s Sunday election, has demanded a thorough recount of the votes. A preliminary count gives AMLO’s rival, ruling party candidate Felipe Calderón, a 0.64% advantage. The Mexican electoral institute, IFE, said it hoped to have a final result by Sunday.
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New President For Cofetel
Héctor Osuna Jaime has been named head of Mexico’s telecoms regulator Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel). The regulator has been virtually inactive since April when four key board members resigned over upcoming regulation. The changes to the law, known popularly as Ley Televisa, will take power away from Cofetel in favor of the transport and communications ministry and is seen by critics to benefit dominant TV broadcasters.
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Televisa May Sell Univision Stake
Mexican media group Televisa, which failed in its bid to buy Univision, the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, has offered to sell its stake in the US company to the group of investors that bought the broadcaster last month. It has put forward an offer price of $36.25 per share for its 11% stake to the Providence and Saban group that successfully bid $12.3 billion for Univision. The sale would free Televisa from an agreement that restricts its expansion in the US market.
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Morales Wins, But Divisions Remain
Despite being heralded as a great victory for the ruling MAS party, Bolivia’s elections Sunday have not gone entirely president Evo Morales’ way. Preliminary results show that MAS failed to gain a two-thirds majority to control the constituent assembly charged with drafting a new constitution for the country. And the issue of autonomy has underscored the social division in Bolivia: the four wealthiest provinces voted “yes” to more autonomy.
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Mexico Awaits Result
Mexican authorities begin a recount of votes today, Wednesday, in a presidential race that has become too close to call. Felipe Calderón of the ruling PAN party and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) of the PRD party are neck and neck, although the preliminary vote count showed Calderón had a 1% advantage over his rival, gathering 36.38% of the votes against AMLO’s 35.34%. Early results also show that Congress will, once again, be divided.
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Nicaragua Candidate Dies
Nicaraguan presidential candidate Herty Lewites, of the Sandanista Renovation Movement (MRS), has died of a heart attack in the capital, Managua. The center-left ex-mayor of Managua had served as tourism minister under Daniel Ortega in the 1980s but later broke away from the Sandanista Party to run for the presidency later this year against Ortega. He had been expected to take away votes from the former president.
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Mexico Decides
Mexicans cast their votes yesterday, Sunday, to decide who will succeed Vicente Fox as the country’s next president. The two frontrunners out of the five candidates standing in the hotly contested race are left-of-center former mayor of Mexico City, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and right-of-center former energy minister, Felipe Calderon of the ruling PAN party. Mexicans also voted for 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 128 members of the Senate, as well as governors in the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco and Morelos and the mayor of Mexico City. Mexicans abroad, including an estimated 35,000 based in the US, were eligible to vote in elections for the first time.
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Guatemala Implements Cafta; DR Delays
Guatemala joined El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua to become the fourth Central American nation to implement Cafta, the free trade agreement with the US. Meanwhile, Dominican Republic delayed the planned July 1 implementation of the Treaty while it continued to negotiate some aspects of the agreement.
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Colombia Inflation Falling
Colombia’s inflation continues to trend downwards. Figures just released show consumer prices rose only 0.3% in June, down from the 0.4% in June last year. Inflation for the year to end-June stands at 3.02%, down from 3.93% as at end-March.