June 20, 2014

Rousseff leads in poll as World Cup kicks off
Petrobras and Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras poised to fall

Petrobras and Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras are poised to fall today, following a plunge in Brazilian state-run companies’ New York-traded shares after President Dilma Rousseff held her lead in an election poll, said hedge-fund manager Luiz Carvalho. Support for Rousseff ahead of the October 5 election was 39 percent in the Ibope poll published Thursday. In an earlier Ibope poll this month she garnered 38 percent, Bloomberg reports.

Peru proposes new tax stability contract for miners
Measure is part of reforms package aimed at boosting economy

Peru's President Ollanta Humala (left) proposed a new tax stability contract for mining companies that would lock in taxation rates for 15 years on investments of at least $500 million. The measure is part of a package of reforms Humala is asking Congress to pass urgently to boost private investment in the Andean country as its economy slows on a drop in mining exports, Reuters reports.

Cuba seeks foreign investment for industry
Country sees special potential in bottling and packaging sectors

Cuba is looking to attract foreign investment in a range of industrial sectors, a government official said. The government sees special potential for capital inflows to the bottling and packaging, and electronic equipment and appliances industries. "The main sectors we're focusing on, the biggest opportunities, are in the bottling and packaging sector," the Industry Ministry's director of industrial management, Adriana Barcelo, said, Fox News Latino reports.

Colombia economy grows at fastest rate in two years
Gross domestic product grew 6.4 percent in the first quarter

Colombia’s economy grew at the fastest pace in more than two years in the first quarter, beating all analysts’ forecasts, after a surge in government spending ahead of President Manuel Santos’ re-election. Gross domestic product grew 6.4 percent from the year earlier, the national statistics agency said, compared with 4.9 percent in the previous three months, Bloomberg reports.

Argentina's trade surplus narrows 12 percent
Sluggish start to soy harvest and plunge in car shipments hit exports

Argentina's trade surplus narrowed 12 percent on the year to $1.26 billion in May as a slow start to the soy harvest and a plunge in car shipments dented exports, the government said. Unable to borrow money abroad, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's (right) government depends on U.S. dollars from trade to pay creditors and support the Argentine peso. However, double-digit inflation and a sluggish Brazilian economy have crimped exports, Nasdaq reports.

 MOREOVER

BBC opens new Latin American headquarters RapidTV News

Bolivia central bank bans digital currencies CoinDesk

Mexico central bank likely to modify 2014 growth forecast: Carstens Reuters

Credit Suisse sees Peru's GDP growth at 4.9 percent Andina

Risks to the Mexico moment: Part 1 and Part 2

Does Latin America need a Silicon Valley? Next City