Latin America Update

Venezuela is working on trimming costs at its state oil company, and after the hassle of dealing with services contractors demanding payment, has decided to slowly pay its outstanding bills and then simply replace them all.

Ecuador, by slapping new tariffs on 627 imports, has become the global protectionism posterboy, including mentions in a new WTO report, a World Bank report, and The Economist, as well as lengthy features in the Washington Post and Independent.

Colombia and Panama still have free trade agreements pending with the US. The Obama administration and key members of Congress have signaled a willingness to bring them up, if there is progress on eliminating tax havens in Panama and creating benchmarks for enforcing labor protections in Colombia. The Post interprets this as a toughening of US trade policy, but it may just be the only realistic way to make progress in the current economic and political environment.