Qel Salvador's New Legislative Assembly
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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR A DAILY PUBLICATION OF THE DIALOGUE www.thedialogue.org Friday, May 14, 2021 BOARD OF ADVISORS FEATURED Q&A TODAY’S NEWS Diego Arria Director, Columbus Group POLITICAL Devry Boughner Vorwerk Is El Salvador’s Venezuela to Hold Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Grubhub Local, Regional Joyce Chang Global Head of Research, Bukele Undermining Elections Nov. 21 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Venezuela will hold regional and Paula Cifuentes local elections in November, said Director of Economic & Fiscal Affairs, the Rule of Law? Pedro Calzadilla, the president of Latin America & Canada, Philip Morris International the country’s electoral council. Marlene Fernández The announcement came after Corporate Vice President for Venezuela named two opposition Government Relations, members to the council. Arcos Dorados (McDonald’s) Page 2 Peter Hakim President Emeritus, Inter-American Dialogue ECONOMIC Donna Hrinak Senior VP, Corporate Affairs, Brazil Joins South Royal Caribbean Group American Effort Jon E. Huenemann Council Member, for Undersea Cable GLG Inc. Brazil has joined an effort to build James R. Jones Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party this month ousted the attorney Chairman, general and the five magistrates of the constitutional chamber of the country’s Supreme Court . an 8,200-mile undersea fiber optic Monarch Global Strategies // File Photo: Salvadoran Government. cable from South America to Asia. Officials are planning the project Craig A. Kelly El Salvador’s new Legislative Assembly, controlled by the Senior Director, Americas to improve Internet connectivity. Int’l Gov’t Relations, Exxon Mobil New Ideas party of President Nayib Bukele, in its first Page 2 John Maisto session on May 1 voted to remove the five magistrates of Director, U.S. Education Finance Group Q the constitutional chamber of the country’s Supreme Court. POLITICAL Nicolás Mariscal Hours later, it voted to fire the attorney general. The international com- Chairman, Colombian Grupo Marhnos munity—including U.S. administration officials and legislators, the U.N. Foreign Minister Thomas F. McLarty III human rights chief and the Organization of American States—quickly Chairman, Steps Down McLarty Associates blasted the moves as an attempt by Bukele to control the country’s Colombian Foreign Minister Clau- institutions. What are the most important consequences of the Legis- Beatrice Rangel dia Blum resigned amid deadly Director, lative Assembly’s sacking of the Constitutional Court magistrates? Will AMLA Consulting LLC protests in the Andean nation. Her departure followed that of Finance Jaana Remes Bukele’s moves, which some consider to be undermining the rule of law, Partner, significantly affect the country’s business environment, or are the pres- Minister Alberto Carrasquilla McKinsey Global Institute earlier this month. Ernesto Revilla ident’s pro-business policies enough to retain and attract investments? Page 2 Head of Latin American What explains the contrast between sharp criticism of Bukele abroad Economics, Citi and his high popularity at home? Gustavo Roosen President, IESA Andrés Rozental Ernesto Muyshondt, former mayor of San Salvador: “El President, Rozental & Salvador has been suffering a spectacular democratic and Asociados institutional regression since well before the past legislative Shelly Shetty Managing Director, Sovereigns and municipal elections. The use of government resources Fitch Ratings A and institutions for electoral purposes was coarse and shameless; not only to promote official candidates, but also to harass and even persecute political opponents (even using the police and army for political purpos- es). That was the main reason why Bukele won a majority in Congress and municipal governments. The illegal and unconstitutional removal of constitutional magistrates and the attorney general were the first moves Blum // File Photo: Colombian Government. Continued on page 3 COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 1 LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR Friday, May 14, 2021 POLITICAL NEWS conducive to the restoration of democracy and NEWS BRIEFS justice in Venezuela.” Almagro added, “These Venezuela to Hold recent moves only show the dictatorship’s Paris Club Reportedly determination to toy with the international com- Willing to Allow Argentina Regional, Local munity and trick it into thinking that it is acting in good faith.” to Delay Debt Payment Elections on Nov. 21 The Paris Club group of international creditors Colombian Foreign is willing to allow Argentina to delay a $2.4 Venezuela will hold regional and local elections billion debt payment due at the end of this on Nov. 21, the president of the country’s elec- Minister Resigns month if the country meets certain conditions, toral council, Pedro Calzadilla, said Thursday, Bloomberg News reported today, citing three Reuters reported. The country’s opposition, Amid Deadly Protests people with direct knowledge of the discus- including Juan Guaidó, whom the United States sions. The creditors will reportedly allow Argen- and several other countries recognize as Ven- Colombian Foreign Minister Claudia Blum has tina to avoid default if it misses the payment. ezuela’s legitimate interim president, has also resigned amid international condemnation Argentine President Alberto Fernández spent called for presidential and legislative elections. of Colombian authorities’ reported use of this week in Europe to hold talks on the matter. The country’s new electoral council, which was excessive force against protesters in recent named earlier this month, will oversee the re- weeks, Agence France-Presse reported. “I am gional and local elections, said Calzadilla. The sure that ... the country will continue on the Cuba Begins Inoculations new board consists of three members close to path of sustainable development, social and President Nicolás Maduro’s Socialist Party and economic recovery from the effects of the pan- With Locally Produced two members linked to the opposition. “This demic, and consolidation of the consensus that Covid-19 Vaccine [electoral council] is the result of a national dia- confirms the unity and strength of our nation,” Cuba on Wednesday began mass inoculation logue,” said Calzadilla, Reuters reported. “It is Blum wrote in her resignation letter, which was of its population with two locally manufactured with active and hopeful electoral participation signed May 11 but made public on Thursday. Covid-19 vaccines, even though late-stage that the Venezuelan people have expressed Blum’s resignation followed that of Finance clinical trials are still underway, NBC News their clear mandate. Our differences should be Minister Alberto Carrasquilla on May 3. reported. The Cuban government had planned resolved peacefully.” Previous electoral boards for vaccinations in June following authoriza- have consisted entirely of Maduro loyalists. tion from its health regulator, but the Health The inclusion of the opposition members on ECONOMIC NEWS Ministry announced it would inoculate 1.7 mil- the board have led some opposition leaders to lion residents of Havana, and additional people support participation in the elections after they from other provinces, in the next three months. boycotted presidential and legislative elections Brazil Joins South Havana is at the center of the island’s current in recent years, saying the votes were rigged. American Effort to coronavirus outbreak. Some have seen Maduro’s appointment of the opposition members and other recent actions, Build Undersea Cable such as granting house arrest to six former executives of Citgo, as conciliatory signals to Brazil has joined South American efforts to Mexico’s Grupo Comercial the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden. build the first submarine fiber optic cable Chedraui Agrees to Buy “While President Maduro’s recent moves will connecting the continent to Asia, Chilean U.S.-Based Smart & Final not by themselves bring an end to the conflict, Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand announced I believe that these gestures from Caracas Thursday, Reuters reported. Allamand told re- Mexican retailer Grupo Comercial Chedraui has send a signal to Washington that there’s a porters that Brazil had decided to formally join reached a deal to buy California-based grocer willingness to open conversations toward the initiative, which is to build an 8,200-mile Smart & Final Stores for more than $600 mil- reaching a negotiated solution in Venezuela,” cable that is expected to strengthen connec- lion, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) told the tivity for 270 million people in South America. citing people familiar with the matter. The Advisor in a Q&A published Thursday. However, The project is expected to incur an investment move would expand the Mexican company’s in the same issue, Organization of American of $388 million. “The incorporation of Brazil presence in the U.S. supermarket business, States Secretary General Luis Almagro told the to this project gives it a definitive economic which soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. Advisor that the designation of an “illegitimate viability, and at the same time a definitive politi- The sources said private equity firm Apollo National Electoral Council” is not “significant or cal viability as well,” Allamand said. Chile and Global Management is selling Smart & Final to Bodega Latina, a subsidiary of Chedraui. COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 2 LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR Friday, May 14, 2021 Argentina are already part of the