Daily Headlines: June 27, 2013

* Latin America: More than 100,000 people participated in a march calling for educational reform in Chile, while ongoing street protests continued yesterday in several Brazilian cities.

* Peru: Prosecutors have reportedly revealed a scheme alleging that $240,000 in illicit payments were made to then-President Alan Garcia's administration in exchange for the pardoning of imprisoned drug traffickers.

* U.S.: A new State Department report concluded that Iranian influence in Latin America is declining due to several factors including “a strong sanctions policy, and Iran’s poor management of its foreign relations.”

* Dominican Republic: With a fatality rate of 41.7 per hundred thousand people, the World Health Organization found that the Dominican Republic is the world’s worst country for drivers.

Video Source – YouTube via user NTDTV

Online Sources- The Guardian; GlobalPost; Peru this Week; Bloomberg; Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: May 13, 2013

* Brazil: An Associated Press analysis concluded that Brazilian-made cars are “dangerous” since they’re made with materials of inferior quality and a lack of safety features.

* Guatemala: Several hundred supporters of ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt gathered outside a Guatemalan military prison and protested his conviction on Friday on genocide charges.

* U.S.: Sesame Street will add a new Latino, Spanish-speaking character named Armando for the upcoming 44th season of the classic children's TV series.

* Mexico: According to a recently released report the number of homicides related to organized crime dropped 18% during the first five months of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration.

Video Source – YouTube via user autobr

Online Sources- LAHT; New York Daily News; Huffington Post; Boston.com; The Latin Americanist

World Watch: Escape

* Ivory Coast: A humanitarian crisis is rapidly developing on the Ivory Coast as an estimated one million refugees are fleeing the country.

* Portugal: The E.U. is considering a hefty bailout for Portugal after legislators rejected government-backed austerity measures.

* Canada: The Conservative Party-led government was defeated today after a vote of no confidence in the Canadian parliament.

* World: Unrest in Libya and the recent natural disasters in Japan could hurt the global auto industry according to this article.

Image – Reuters via Al Jazeera English (“The UNHCR's estimates of the number of displaced nearly doubled in the past week amid ongoing fighting.”)
Online Sources- USA TODAY, Xinhua, Bloomberg, euronews

Daily Headlines: July 13, 2010

* Latin America: The sky above parts of Latin America including Easter Island briefly plunged into darkness due to a rare solar eclipse.

* Mexico: Does a boost in Mexican car sales mean that the country’s economy is improving?

* Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez has singed several multibillion-dollar bilateral cooperation contracts during her visit to China.

* Guatemala: At least 23 people were killed during a 24-hour period including an armed attack on a minibus allegedly by gang members.

Image – CBS News (“The sun is covered by the moon during the solar eclipse, in Easter Island, Chile, Sunday, July 11, 2010.”)
Online Sources- Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, LAHT

Major car recall in Brazil

While Toyota has undergone a global recall of over four million vehicles, another major auto firm is starting a recall in Brazil.

Approximately 200,000 Volkswagen Novo Gol and Novo Voyage models in Brazil are being pulled back. A statement from the company said that rear wheel bearings are possibly defective due to insufficient lubrication. This could cause the wheels to lock up and, in some circumstances, make the wheels fall off the axle.

Volkswagen- which is the second largest carmaker in Brazil- has undergone previous recalls in recent years:

In April 2008, it recalled 477,000 of its Brazilian-made Fox compact models to fix a fault with the rear seat.

Eight Fox owners had their fingers mutilated and 14 suffered lesser hand injuries as they tried to fold the seat down to enlarge trunk space.

In December of that same year, 120,000 late-model Fox, Novo Gol and Voyage cars were recalled because of a brake fault.

Image- The Globe and Mail
Online Sources- Reuters, BBC News, AFP

GM LatAm divisions untouched by bankruptcy

This week’s bankruptcy filing by auto giant General Motors (GM) sent shockwaves throughout the U.S. economy. Yet the troubled automaker’s Latin American divisions may weather the storm.

Despite the troubles GM has had in the U.S., its auto sales in Latin America have gone well such as the 10% increase in Brazil last year. Therefore, GM will not sell off its branches in Brazil and Argentina and may expand its operations there:

“There are no plans to sell GM operations in Brazil, or anywhere else in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East," said Jaime Ardila, the chief executive officer of General Motors do Brasil Ltda. and chief financial officer of GM's Latin America, Africa and Middle East division, or GM LAAM.

After months of uncertainty, the Detroit automaker sold a majority stake to the U.S. government in order to keep itself in business. Its LAAM division is one of its most profitable. GM LAAM, of which Brazil is the largest subsidiary, saw 2008 sales rise around 3% compared with a 20% decline in GM's North American car sales…

"We had a great 2008 and will have a lucrative 2009," Ardila said.

In terms of Brazil, GM has $2.5 billion invested there through 2012 with at least $1.5 billion of that secured. (The other $1 billion is expected to soon be financed partly via local banks).

Despite decreased sales in Argentina, a statement by GM Argentina said that the division “is economically and financially solvent thanks to our healthy balance in the region.” Additionally, the Argentine government is expected to soon provide some $55 million with the goal of developing a new car line for GM.

Image- BBC News (“Chevrolet's Brazilian range consists mainly of re-badged Opel models.”)
Online Sources- WSJ, CNNMoney.com, AP, New York Times

Brazil slump hurts ailing GM

General Motors (GM) has been feeling the pinch lately as a result of the global economic slowdown and decreasing auto sales. It’s a dire situation which has led its CEO to beg for a multibillion dollar government bailout.

One of GM’s few bright spots has been its sales in Latin America which have reached record highs. Yet it appears as if that gravy train may soon come to a screeching halt:

New automobile sales in Brazil slumped for the second straight month in November, falling 25.7 percent from October as a nagging credit crunch and a slowing economy kept many consumers out of showrooms, the national automakers' association said on Thursday…

Exports also fell sharply in November, dropping 23.1 percent from the previous month to $1 billion.

With Brazil serving as GM's largest market outside the U.S., today’s news is another pothole in the road for a firm desperate to stay afloat.

Other auto companies have had recent troubles in Brazil; according to AFP, firms like “Ford, Fiat, Peugeot, Volkswagen and General Motors have put many of their workers on mandatory vacation to idle assembly lines.”

Image- AFP (“Hundreds of new cars of US carmaker General Motors remain at the GM car park in Sao Paulo.”)
Sources- boston.com, AFP, Fox News, Latin Business Chronicle, Reuters, CNNMOney.com

GM’s silver lining in LatAm

Auto giant General Motors (GM) has fallen on hard times; yesterday it was announced that they will be suspending its dividend for the first time in over eighty years, withhold bonuses, and will lay off white collar workers. The overall goal is to save $15 billion by the end of the year as plummeting auto sales domestically have led to heavy losses for the largest U.S. automaker.

Despite the grim picture at GM there has been a bit of good news; sales in foreign markets such as Latin America grew:

GM reported that second-quarter sales generated by its Latin America, Africa and Middle East division surged 18% and that its market share in the regions rose almost a full percentage point, to 17.5%.

Total division sales for the latest quarter reached 346,100 units, up from 294,000 a year ago, with sales in Egypt doubling in that time. Brazil, Chile and the North Africa markets also hit all-time quarterly sales records.

It may not be enough to pull GM out of its deep financial crisis, but at least there’s some silver lining that can be taken advantage of.

Image- RTE

Sources- AFP, Bloomberg, AFP, MarketWatch