Latin America

Wedged between Brazil and Argentina—two neighbors with serious economic problems—Uruguay is an attractive foreign direct investment alternative in Latin America.

Major rating agencies are chasing each other in downgrading Brazil, as the country struggles with recession, a spiraling devaluation of the real and a damaging political crisis.

In the race to attract foreign direct investment, countries are opening SEZs at a furious rate. Winnowing down the choices requires some serious due diligence.

Global Finance interviewed Derek Pattison, Scotiabank’s VP of wealth management, Bahamas, on the importance of responding to clients’ needs for any product, anywhere.  

Newsmakers | Mexico
In June, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón became the first independent candidate to be elected a state governor in Mexico, winning office in Nuevo León.

Milestones | Venezuela
Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, is being squeezed by low oil prices, and the government in Caracas is feeling the pain.

Chile | For years Chile has been recognized as one of the best-performing emerging markets in the world. But a combination of external and internal factors have changed that.

Capital Markets | Project Finance
Brazil’s multinational metals and mining group Vale has signed a $2.1 billion agreement with the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Newsmakers | Nicaragua
When Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega announced last December a plan to construct a controversial transoceanic waterway that would provide an alternative to the Panama Canal, he vowed the project would create jobs and bring prosperity to the hemisphere’s second-poorest nation.

Global Finance sat down with Luiz Carlos Angelotti, MD and head of investor relations at Brazil’s Banco Bradesco, to discuss the bank’s bullish approach to investing despite the country’s economic downturn.

Special Report | The Caribbean
The Caribbean’s economies are expected to improve this year on the back of growth in tourism, but the economic climate remains frail with the drop in oil prices proving a mixed bag for countries in the region.

The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Lima, Peru, in October, will provide world leaders with the right stage to discuss poverty and inequality and suggest ways for Latin American economies to foster growth less dependent on commodities, according to former president of Peru, Alejandro Toledo.

Global Finance talked money laundering, Cuba and banking regulation with David Schwartz, president and CEO of the Florida International Bankers Association, a nonprofit representing financial institutions in the US, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.

FDI Update | FDI Magnet
Countries that dismantled protec-tionist policies are still attracting FDI, despite the commodities bust. Others aren’t doing so well.

Global Finance sat down with José Francisco de Lima Gonçalves, a professor of economics at São Paulo University and chief economist at Banco Fator, to discuss his views on Brazil in 2015.

Capital Markets | Q&A
Eduardo Suárez, co-head of Latin America strategy in the Global Banking and Markets division of Scotiabank.

Country Report | Brazil
Brazil is fighting to restore economic growth and its international standing, as the Petrobras bribery scandal continues to wreak havoc on the economy and investment.

Management | Corporate Reporting
For Petróleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, as the giant Brazilian oil company is called, the time to present audited 2014 results, including the write-downs associated with the highly publicized historical corruption scandal, is running out.

Milestones | Mexico
Mexico is now Latin America’s largest annual automobile manufacturer, with 2014 production outpacing that of Brazil for the first time since 2002.

Regional Report | Latin America
Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru are handling the drop in commodities prices better than the rest of Latin America.