August 12, 2021: Latin America Advisor
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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR A DAILY PUBLICATION OF THE DIALOGUE www.thedialogue.org Thursday, August 12, 2021 BOARD OF ADVISORS FEATURED Q&A TODAY’S NEWS Diego Arria Director, Columbus Group POLITICAL Devry Boughner Vorwerk What Does Castillo’s Brazil’s Congress CEO, DevryBV Sustainable Strategies Joyce Chang OKs Future Global Head of Research, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cabinet Mean for Vaccine Patent Paula Cifuentes Suspensions Director of Economic & Fiscal Affairs, Latin America & Canada, Peru’s Direction? Brazil’s Senate approved a mea- Philip Morris International sure, which the lower chamber Marlene Fernández previously passed, to tempo- Corporate Vice President for rarily suspend some patents on Government Relations, vaccines in emergency situations. Arcos Dorados (McDonald’s) President Jair Bolsonaro has Peter Hakim criticized the legislation. President Emeritus, Inter-American Dialogue Page 2 Donna Hrinak Senior VP, Corporate Affairs, Royal Caribbean Group BUSINESS Jon E. Huenemann Uber to Allow Council Member, GLG Inc. Taxis in Colombia James R. Jones to Access Platform Chairman, Peru’s new president, Pedro Castillo (R), swore in his prime minister, Guido Bellido (L), on July Monarch Global Strategies 29. // Photo: Peruvian Government. Uber Technologies announced Craig A. Kelly that it would allow taxi drivers in Senior Director, Americas New Peruvian President Pedro Castillo’s selection on July Colombia to access its platform Int’l Gov’t Relations, Exxon Mobil 29 of far-leftist Guido Bellido as his prime minister dashed through a partnership with Colom- Barbara Kotschwar bia-based TaxExpress. Executive Director, Visa Economic the hopes of some centrists that Castillo would name a Empowerment Institute Page 3 Q moderate to lead his cabinet. The next day, Castillo named John Maisto Director, U.S. Education center-leftist Pedro Francke, a former World Bank economist, as his POLITICAL Finance Group finance minister. What do Castillo’s selections of Bellido and Francke, Nicolás Mariscal El Salvador Eyes Chairman, and other cabinet members, say about how the new president intends Constitutional Grupo Marhnos to govern and his priorities in office? What are the main actions Bellido Thomas F. McLarty III Reform Proposal Chairman, and Francke are expected to take? To what extent will Castillo’s cabinet McLarty Associates selections make it easier, or more difficult, for him to work with Peru’s El Salvador’s government has Beatrice Rangel finalized a plan for constitutional Director, Congress? reforms that would include length- AMLA Consulting LLC ening the president’s term, Vice Jaana Remes President Félix Ulloa announced. Julio Carrión, associate professor and associate chair of the Partner, Page 2 McKinsey Global Institute Department of Political Science and International Relations Ernesto Revilla Head of Latin American at the University of Delaware: “President Castillo’s cabinet Economics, Citi is split on a range of issues. Ministers coming from his party Gustavo Roosen A President, have been questioned for their radicalism and thin resumes and tend to IESA be socially conservative. Ministers representing Juntos por el Perú and Andrés Rozental Frente Amplio, two left-wing parties supportive of Castillo in the runoff, President, Rozental & Asociados defend women’s and LGBTQ rights. Prime Minister Guido Bellido is on Shelly Shetty record as holding homophobic and misogynistic views. While Bellido Managing Director, Sovereigns Fitch Ratings now disavows them, he argues that Peruvians are not ready for ‘shock- ing’ cultural change. The cabinet also harbors serious dissent over the issue of constitutional change and economic policy. Bellido and Vladimir Cerrón, the ruling party’s general secretary, want to collect signatures to convoke a constitutional referendum, a legally dubious move. Finance Ulloa // File Photo: Salvadoran Government. Continued on page 3 COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 1 LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR Thursday, August 12, 2021 POLITICAL NEWS The country’s Senate gave its approval to the NEWS BRIEFS measure, which the lower house previously El Salvador Eyes passed. The bill now goes to President Jair Salazar Confirmed as Bolsonaro, who has previously criticized the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Constitutional proposal. Bolsonaro has said breaking patents on vaccines could hurt the country’s relation- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously Reform Proposal ships with vaccine manufacturers, and he has voted to confirm former U.S. Senator (D-Co- said that even if the government breaks pat- lo.) and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as the El Salvador’s government has finalized a draft ents on vaccines, Brazil lacks the technology United States’ new ambassador to Mexico, The proposal for constitutional changes that in- to produce vaccines on its own. The Chamber Denver Post reported. Salazar is the first of clude extending the presidential term from five of Deputies had removed some provisions of President Joe Biden’s ambassador nominees to six years as well as nonconsecutive presi- the legislation, including ones that would have to be confirmed. Salazar, 66, served as interior dential re-election, Vice President Félix Ulloa required the holders of patents to share ingre- secretary under then-President Barack Obama announced Wednesday in an interview on local dients necessary to produce vaccines as well and was a senator before that. The United radio, Bloomberg News reported. The proposal as information on their production if they do States and Mexico have been working together includes 215 changes to the constitution and not comply with the law. The Senate restored in a bid to handle a large influx of migrants is expected to be presented in full to the public those provisions to the bill, Reuters reported. In passing through the U.S.-Mexico border. and to the diplomatic corps next week. Ulloa May, the administration of U.S. President Joe said President Nayib Bukele is set to review Biden announced its support for suspending the reforms in September before they are intellectual property protections on Covid-19 Panama, Colombia submitted to the Legislative Assembly. Among vaccines. A proposal at the World Trade Organi- the suggested reforms, the president could be zation would suspend some of the protections. Agree to Receive 650 re-elected after one term out of office versus “Waiving [intellectual property] rights is one Migrants Per Day two terms currently, while legislators and step in the right direction, but it might be The governments of Panama and Colombia mayors would be allowed to run for immediate too late for it to have a meaningful effect,” agreed Wednesday to receive as many as 650 re-election and serve a maximum of three, Núria Homedes, executive director of Salud y migrants per day, an agreement that came as three-year terms, according to the report. More- Fármacos, told the Advisor in a Q&A published thousands of migrants are stranded at the over, presidential and congressional elections May 19. In the same issue, Rolf Hoenger, area countries’ border, waiting to continue heading would be held at the same time, instead of hav- head for Latin America at Roche Pharma, said toward the United States, Reuters reported. The ing a midterm legislative vote, and the attorney waiving patent protections would be counter- migrants, mostly from Haiti, are stranded in the general’s term would be extended from three to productive. “Waiving patent protections for Colombian resort town of Necoclí. six years. Other changes include the creation difficult-to-make pharmaceutical products in of a new electoral authority as well as a new a scenario of strained supply chains can lead constitutional court to replace the current high to a disrupted, rather than increased, supply of court in what Ulloa said was an effort to boost safe products,” he said. Argentina Planning efficiency. The vice president’s team said ear- to Open Borders lier this year that it would propose the country With Chile, Uruguay hold a referendum to vote on the suggested ECONOMIC NEWS reforms, El Diario de Hoy reported. Argentina’s government is planning to reopen its borders with Chile and Uruguay starting Mexico May Use Sept. 6, Florencia Carignano, the director of Brazil’s Congress IMF Reserves to Pay Argentina’s Immigration Department, said in a OKs Future Vaccine statement, the Buenos Aires Times reported Down Debt: AMLO Wednesday. She added that in the next several Patent Suspensions weeks the government might increase the daily cap of 1,700 passengers allowed to enter the Mexico may use recently approved reserves country through the Ezeiza International Air- Brazil’s Congress has approved legislation from the International Monetary Fund to pay port. However, she warned that the highly con- that would allow the county’s president to down debt, President Andrés Manuel López tagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus temporarily break patents for vaccines and Obrador said Wednesday at his daily press “has shown us that it might all be scrapped.” their ingredients in cases of emergency, such conference, Bloomberg News reported. [Editor’s note: See related Q&A in the Aug. 6 as the Covid-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Mexico should receive some $12 billion from issue of the Advisor.] COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 2 LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR Thursday, August 12, 2021 the IMF as part of a $650 billion allocation FEATURED Q&A / Continued from page 1 of Special Drawing Rights that the lender ‘s board approved on Aug. 2. The amount was Minister