DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Brazil's vaccine-skeptic Bolsonaro got the shot, document indicates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A health ministry record indicates that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a vocal skeptic of COVID-19 vaccines who vowed to never get the jab, may have received one in 2021, the country's comptroller general's office said on Friday. The office said it was examining a vaccine card provided by the health ministry recording the far-right former president's vaccination, though in a statement it cautioned that the card could have been altered. It said it had sought information about Bolsonaro's vaccination record from the health ministry following last month's inauguration of new leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "The record exists, that's as much as we know," comptroller general's office head Vinicius Carvalho said during an interview with CNN Brazil. Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BRASILIA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is taking a fresh tack in its effort to crack down on illegal gold mining in the Amazon, preparing legislation that would require electronic tax receipts for the buying and selling of the precious metal, four sources with knowledge of the plans said. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants to end years of environmental backsliding under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and crack down on illegal mining in the Amazon. The central bank said the goal was to implement "a new inspection system that allows the traceability of the gold extracted, as well as the adoption of electronic invoices." The situation is so bad, Ibram says, that even the central bank does not know if the gold it buys is legal or illegal. The mining lobby has been calling for the adoption of electronic invoices to end the illegal gold trade, Ibram President Raul Jungmann told Reuters.

☆ Germany pledges funds to help Brazil defend Amazon rainforest
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Germany on Monday pledged 200 million euros ($217 million) to help Brazil defend the Amazon rainforest, a global ecosystem devastated during years of rule under former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The sum includes a donation of 35 million euros ($38 million) to the Amazon Fund to strengthen a billion-dollar initiative funded by Norway and Germany to protect the South American rainforest and fight deforestation. The Amazon Fund was re-activated by Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva the day she took office vowing to halt deforestation in the world's largest tropical rainforest. As president Bolsonaro said Brazilians had the right to develop natural resources in the Amazon. The German assistance includes socio-environmental projects to support Brazilian states in the Amazon rainforest and low-interest loans to farmers for the reforestation of their land, a statement issued by Brazil said.

CNN —The Mexican ambassador in Lima has been summoned by Peru’s foreign ministry on complaints Mexico is interfering in its internal affairs, after top officials weighed in on the ouster earlier this week of Peru’s former President Pedro Castillo. Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard later said that Castillo requested for asylum, and Mexican President Lopez Obrador criticized Peruvian elites, calling for the protection of the ousted president’s human rights. Lopez Obrado also said he had directed Ambassador Pablo Monroy to “open the embassy’s door” to Castillo. The same day, Mexico’s leftist President Obrador told journalists that Castillo tried to go to the Mexican embassy in Lima to request asylum. I asked him to talk to the ambassador (Monroy) and to open the embassy’s door according to our asylum tradition,” the President told journalists.

CNN —Peru’s new President Dina Boluarte ruled out early elections on Thursday, her first day in office following the dramatic ousting and arrest of her predecessor Pedro Castillo. Boluarte became Peru’s first female President on Wednesday after lawmakers defied Castillo, who in a fight for his political survival had attempted to dissolve Congress earlier that day and call for early elections ahead of a third impeachment vote against him. Peruvian lawmakers described the move as a coup, and a majority of the 130-person Congress voted to impeach Castillo on Wednesday. The former president was later arrested for the alleged crime of rebellion, according to the country’s Attorney General. “I know that there are some voices that indicate early elections and that is democratically respectable.

☆ JPMorgan expects to keep growing in Latin America with improved outlook
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Tatiana Bautzer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) will keep growing in Latin America over the next few years as it expects the region's geopolitical outlook to improve, said Alfonso Eyzaguirre, the bank's chief executive for Latin America and Canada. He expects Latin America to profit from the changes. Latin America also stands to receive a large portion of private investment to tackle climate change, Eyzaguirre added. JPMorgan has been adding headcount and new services for corporate clients in Latin America. Brazil and Britain are the only countries apart from the United States where JPMorgan has retail banking activities.

☆ Venezuela's long-suffering manufacturers face new challenge: Colombian imports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Deisy Buitrago | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The change opens Venezuela to more imports from its neighbor as domestic manufacturers are still struggling, though some got a boost from a de facto dollarization. Tini's company Full Time, one of Venezuela's largest shoe manufacturers, is set to increase production to 20,000 pairs this year from 12,000 in 2021, but imports worry him. Local industries "cannot compete on equal terms with Colombian products," said Luigi Pisella, president of Conindustria, one of the top business associations representing Venezuela's manufacturers. Between January and August this year, the Colombian government's DANE statistics agency valued the country's exports to Venezuela at some $400 million while Venezuelan imports to Colombia were just $56 million. Business people said there are few incentives for manufacturers, high taxes and not enough efforts to combat inflation.

☆ Colombia, Venezuela Leaders Meet Amid Thawing Relations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Kejal Vyas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BOGOTÁ, Colombia—The leaders of Colombia and Venezuela met Tuesday for the first time in six years, the latest sign of how new leftist governments in Latin America are breaking from a U.S.-led campaign that unsuccessfully sought to oust Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro . Colombian President Gustavo Petro , a former guerrilla who once held close ties to Venezuela’s ruling socialist party, traveled to Caracas to have lunch with Mr. Maduro and discuss bilateral trade. Mr. Petro said he would also call on Mr. Maduro to commit to promoting democracy in the region and ending political persecution.

☆ Suspension of oil exploration in Colombia would be high risk -fiscal paneld
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Income derived from hydrocarbon exploration and production in Colombia is key to the country's financial stability and its trade balance, its fiscal rule committee said on Monday, and suspension of exploration would put fiscal sustainability at risk. Hydrocarbons represent nearly 40% of exports, 20% of foreign direct investment and between 10% and 20% of the national government's income, the Autonomous Fiscal Rule Committee (CARF), which oversees public finances, said in a statement. "Certainty about future income is indispensable to maintain financing sources and an adequate level of risk," it said. The high level of public debt is a fiscal risk and high interest rates, increased risk premiums and a deep depreciation of the peso currency will mean higher interest rates on the country's debt, CARF said. For that reason it is important that planning for the resources which come from the tax reform is done in concurrence with the fiscal rule and its objective to reduce net debt."

☆ Colombia will respect current oil contracts, ministry says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Colombia's government will respect already-signed oil contracts, the energy ministry said on Thursday, amid industry jitters over tax reform and plans by the new leftist government to move the country more aggressively toward renewables. President Gustavo Petro, who took office in August, has pledged to raise an additional $5 billion in tax revenue next year, partially through higher taxes on oil exports. He has also backed a ban on fracking and said he will not support the inking of new oil development contracts. But current contracts will be respected, the energy ministry said in a statement. Of 207 exploration contracts, 117 are active, the ministry said.

☆ Colombia gov't agrees to ease tax changes to oil, mining
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterColombia's President Gustavo Petro addresses the media after a meeting, in Bogota, Colombia July 22, 2022. The threshold for the export tax on oil will now be $71 per barrel, compared to a previous $48 per barrel. The reform may not raise 25 trillion pesos in additional income next year, Ocampo said, though he did not give more details. Meanwhile a proposal to raise taxes on gasoline will be scrapped, and more changes to the bill are expected next week. Thousands marched earlier on Monday to urge changes to the reform, which would also raise taxes on those earning more than $2,259 per month, about 10 times the minimum wage, and eliminate exemptions.

☆ Colombia Reopens Border With Venezuela in Bid to Mend Ties With U.S. Adversary
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Kejal Vyas | Jenny Carolina González | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Colombian and Venezuelan officials watched the first truck cross a bridge connecting the two countries during a Monday ceremony to open their land border. CÚCUTA, Colombia—Colombia and Venezuela on Monday reopened their 1,400-mile border after it was closed for seven years as the new leftist government in Bogotá took a major step toward normalizing relations with a regime that the U.S. has accused of narco-trafficking and rights abuses. Surrounded by crowds of cheering onlookers, Colombian President Gustavo Petro met on the Simón Bolívar International Bridge with Venezuelan officials, as they held up the peace sign and sang their national anthems before the first Venezuelan cargo truck carrying steel crossed over the bridge into Colombia.

Search resuls for: "New Left"

12 mentions found