With our eyes on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in our own national landscapes, it is easy to overlook what is happening elsewhere in the world. Here are three things you might have missed in LATAM in September 2020.
1. VENEZUELAN LEADER INCITES UN MEMBERS TO RESIST SANCTIONS
The United States approved new measures in August. These included the ability to sanction non-US nationals doing business with the Venezuelan government. Controversial Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has called on United Nations members to demand the end of US sanctions, and deemed them to be "coercive methods". Will the threat of sanctions deter nationals of foreign states from continuing their valuable support to Venezuela? To what extent will these new measures bring closer the end of the Maduro regime?
2. MEXICAN PRESIDENT REQUESTS REFERENDUM FOR INVESTIGATION OF FIVE PREDECESSORS
The five former Mexican leaders sat from 1988 to 2018, and have been subject of numerous allegations of corruption and collusion with organised crime. The request from Andrés López Obrador to the Mexican Senate is backed by a popular petition that reportedly has over 2.5 million signatures. Is López Obrador fulfilling his promise to end corruption, or distracting from economic and healthcare issues? How many national and international businesses would be implicated in the investigations?
3. COSTA RICAN CHOSEN FOR FIRST LATIN AMERICAN SPACE MISSION
The Latin American space agency, LATCOSMOS (established in 2017), aims to show the capability and unity of Latin American nations. The crew also comprises an Ecuadorian, a Mexican and a Mexican-American; they will conduct scientific experiments during the mission. But will these ambitions be dashed by economic pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?
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