Bolivia
_Cropped_(1).jpg){kind=spacer}
Bolivia shuns emergency rule as Morales-backed protests tighten grip on La Paz
Bolivia’s government rejected calls for a state of emergency even as escalating protests led by supporters of former president Evo Morales paralysed key transport routes and triggered violent clashes in La Paz.
Bolivia deploys thousands of troops to break La Paz siege as economic crisis bites
Bolivian security forces clashed with anti-government demonstrators outside La Paz on May 16, deploying some 3,500 soldiers and police officers in a bid to clear road blockades that have severed supply lines to the capital for two weeks.
IMF ready to assess Bolivia financing request as $3.3bn package talks confirmed
IMF says it stands ready to assess Bolivia's financing request as La Paz confirms talks on a $3.3bn package to address a dollar liquidity crunch and mounting debt obligations amid declining natural gas revenues.
Latin America's democracies face silent erosion from within, UN warns
Latin America and the Caribbean's political systems are experiencing a gradual institutional decay that rarely manifests as outright democratic collapse but instead hollows out governance from within, the UNDP has warned in a new report.
China's lithium push in Latin America locks region into raw materials trap, report warns
Beijing controls 65% of global lithium refining while Latin America supplies the raw materials and absorbs the environmental costs. A new report warns the region risks permanent relegation to the bottom of the energy transition value chain.
_1777385484.jpeg){kind=spacer}
ECLAC cuts Latin America growth forecast as Middle East war fans inflation
ECLAC trims Latin America's 2026 growth forecast to 2.2%, warning that soaring oil prices, tighter credit and slowing global trade are locking the region into a fourth consecutive year of sluggish expansion.
Latin America's unfinished battle with inflation leaves the region exposed to the Iran shock
The Middle East conflict has landed on Latin America at an awkward moment. After two years of gradual progress bringing inflation under control, the region's central banks now face the prospect of that effort being undone by an external conflict.
Latin America oils up as Hormuz crisis reshapes global energy supply
From Vaca Muerta to the Orinoco, Latin America is sitting on the world's most coveted untapped crude. The Iran war may finally force it to act.
IMF raises Latin America growth forecast but warns of uneven impact from Middle East war
The IMF raised its 2026 growth forecast for Latin America and the Caribbean by a tenth of a percentage point to 2.3%, while cautioning that the economic consequences of the war in the Middle East will most impact the region's smaller economies.
Latin America growth slips as weak investment persists, World Bank says
The World Bank has cut its 2026 growth forecast for Latin America and the Caribbean to 2.1%, down from 2.4% recorded last year, warning that the region faces a toxic combination of weak investment, tight fiscal space, and productivity deficits.
Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” reveals new phase of US power politics in Latin America
Trump launched the “Shield of the Americas” with 12 Latin American leaders in Miami, proposing military action against drug cartels while signalling a broader effort to reassert US influence in the region and counter China.