Univision News

This week we launch our business & finance newsletter which will highlight the top stories in the Americas each week. (Photo: visualphotos.com)

By STEPHEN KEPPEL
Channel: Economics, Latin America

There is a lot going on in the Americas these days. The U.S. economy is beginning to rebound, Mexico is preparing for a big election, and South American countries like Brazil, Chile, and Colombia are emerging to become major players in global business and finance. Here at Univision News we are watching the Americas closely.

This newsletter is designed to bring you the stories that you need to read each week to keep up-to-date with what is going on throughout the region. We will focus on the key players like Mexico and Brazil but will also fill you in on up-and-comers like Colombia, Peru, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The U.S. and it how it interacts with Latin America through trade, investment, and immigration will also be an important focus.

So here is a look at what we are reading this week, we hope you enjoy! Please send your comments to news@tv.univision.comSOUTH AMERICA

Is Brazil heading for a prolonged slowdown? – The Brazilian economy is coming off a good economic run but after a decade of growth Joe Leahy from the Financial Times argues that Latin America’s biggest nation has entered a slowdown that will test politicians…via The FT

China’s influence in Latin America is rising, should we be worried? – During the Great Recession of 2007-09 Latin American economies held up surprisingly well. One of the main reasons is China’s demand for Latin America’s natural resources. This week I took a closer look at China’s impact in the region and, while some in the region have indeed benefited, things are not as rosy as they seem…via Univision News

Who would have thought? Investors are warming to Peru’s Humala - What a difference six months can make. When Ollanta Humala was elected as Peru’s president, markets crashed and business confidence plummeted. The onetime close ally of Venezuela’s radical leftist president Hugo Chávez had pledged a new, centrist, and business-friendly agenda to improve social inclusion. Scepticism ran deep. But having sold a smidge over half of the Peruvian electorate on his “investment = social inclusion” formula, Humala also appears to be winning over investors six months on…via The FT’s Beyond Brics

Video - Hundreds of Haitian nationals are seeking a better life in…Brazil – Eschewing the more traditional and easier trip to the U.S., many Haitians are now taking the arduous path to Brazil in order to find jobs.

“Then we finally got to Brazil, which I’m told is building everything, stadiums, dams, roads,” said Mr. Saint-Fleur, 27, a construction worker, one of hundreds of Haitians who gather each day around the gazebo in Brasiléia’s palm-fringed plaza. “All I want is work, and Brazil, thank God, has jobs for us.” …via The New York Times

Progress against guerrillas leads to IPO in Colombia - Construcciones El Condor SA, a Medellin-based construction company, aims to raise as much as 200 billion pesos ($111 million) in an initial public offering to help finance Bogota’s airport expansion and jungle highway projects in areas once overrun by guerrillas. Proceeds from a sale in the first quarter will help fund a backlog of 1.3 trillion pesos in projects, including the airport, Luz Maria Correa, the company’s president, said in an interview. ..via Bloomberg

Spotlight on Davos:

Latin Americans giving lessons at World Economic Forum in Davos - Europeans have a lot to learn from their friends in Latin America. Latin American politicians and business leaders gathered among the world’s elite at a Swiss ski resort are speaking from a position of power, crowing about successes in places like Brazil, Mexico, and Chile, and even offering lessons to Europe about how to deal with crippling debt crises.

“Latin America has never been better equipped to move forward,” said Guillermo Ortiz, former governor of the Bank of Mexico. “We don’t have to worry about inflation shooting up to 100 percent next year. This is invaluable, because it unleashes the possibilities at a micro level of doing everything that we need to do.” …via AP

Colombian mining minister tells Davos audience he expects $10bn in mining/energy investments - Colombia, South America’s third- largest oil producer, expects about $10 billion in international investment in crude, mining, and energy projects this year, Mines Minister Mauricio Cardenas said. The amount is similar to last year’s foreign direct investment, Cardenas said in an interview today at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland…via Bloomberg

Top Tweets: #Latino

@Jordanfabian: In Fla., Republicans scramble in pitches to #Latino voters … http://uninews.us/Ao5S2h by @matthewbjaffe

@PewHispanic : 43% of Florida #Latino eligible voters are naturalized U.S. citizens http://pewrsr.ch/yuE92v

 @UnivisionNews: VIDEO: #Latino exodus hurts South Carolina http://uninews.us/xkc5nZ

NORTH and CENTRAL AMERICA

Top consulting firm sees no end in sight for Mexican drug violence - Deploying the Mexican army to attack drug cartels will do little to stop Mexico’s drug war, the Texas-based security consulting firm Stratfor said on Tuesday. The strategy, promoted by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, is only likely to prolong the conflict and spread it around the country, by prompting cartels to fight over new routes and plazas that have not been secured by the limited manpower of the Mexican army, Stratfor said in its annual report on Mexican drug cartels. The consulting firm says that, even though the army captured some important cartel bosses this year, there is no end in sight to drug violence in Mexico…via Univision News

Guatemala’s president shows his “iron fist” - He’s been in power for a little over a week. But Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina has wasted no time in going after the drug traffickers and criminals who have turned Guatemala into one of the world’s most violent countries. A retired general, who was elected on promises of tackling crime with mano dura, or an iron fist, Perez Molina deployed more than 700 soldiers across the country’s roads on Friday, setting up 32 permanent road blocks along routes, which the government says are used by drug traffickers to move their merchandise…via Univision News

Spotlight on US Election:

Video - Republicans court Latinos in Florida - Jorge Ramos talks to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. The top two Republican presidential candidates spent the day Wednesday catering their campaigns to the Latino community in South Florida, particularly the influential Cuban-American community. Afterwards I spoke with Univision News’ top political reporters Jordan Fabian and Matthew Jaffe…via Univision News

Video - Romney at Univision forum: “I’m not anti-immigrant” - At the second and final “Meet the Candidates” event organized by Univision on Wednesday, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney defended his tough stance on illegal immigration, explaining his self-deportation plan. He also expounded on his net worth in light of his disclosure this week of his tax plan. Romney also quipped that his father’s Mexican roots can help his chances with Florida’s Latino voters…via Univision News

Video - Newt Gingrich at Univision forum: “I’m for half the Dream Act” - In a “mano a mano” interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos at the network’s Miami studios, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich answered questions regarding his position on immigration, Cuba, and his lack of appeal to the Latino community, a decisive voting bloc. In the latest Univision News/ABC poll, Gingrich would lose to Obama by a whopping 48-point margin…via Univision News

Gingrich mocks Romney’s immigration stance - Newt Gingrich mocked rival Mitt Romney’s notion that a “self-deportation” policy with undocumented immigrants could work in this country, blowing off the idea with a dismissive laugh at a forum hosted by Univision in Miami.

“How close are you to breaking up laughing out loud?” Gingrich said to Univision correspondent Jorge Ramos, who moderated this morning’s event. “I think you have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatic — you know, $20 million a year of no work — to have a fantasy this far from reality.”…via Univision News

Video - A closer look at Mitt Romney’s tax rate and the US tax system - What are capital gains taxes and why do Mitt Romney and the super rich pay a lower tax rate than most middle-class Americans? What is the Warren Buffet rule? In this week’s video I spoke with Mariana Atencio to answer these questions…via Univision News

Foreign investors favor Obama – The current U.S. President wins a global poll, which also shows that investors resist Gingrich. U.S. investors are rooting for Mitt Romney and those outside the country are for Barack Obama. Newt Gingrich is generating little enthusiasm anywhere. The expectation in markets of every region is that Obama will be reelected president in November, an outlook shared by 72 percent of respondents worldwide in a quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll of 1,209 Bloomberg customers who are investors, traders, or analysts, conducted Jan. 23-24. Whom do you prefer? … via Bloomberg

Marco Rubio holds sway over Republicans as the campaign hits Florida - Every time Romney and Gingrich and Santorum and Paul thump on about “illegals” or about keeping them from invading America, many Latinos don’t hear a law-and-order argument. They hear: We don’t like you. Senator Rubio (R-FL), who says that his endorsement, which is highly coveted, will not be given before the Florida primary next Tuesday, knows this. Clearly, Rubio would like the anti-immigrant rhetoric toned down. Just Wednesday, he felt compelled to intervene, like a campaign traffic cop, asking Newt Gingrich to remove a radio ad accusing Romney of being “anti-immigrant.” The language, he cautioned, was “inflammatory.” Out of “respect for the Senator’s wishes,” Gingrich complied…via The New Yorker