Latin America & Caribbean Review- May 2023
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments President Lula of Brazil visited China 15-17 April and was received with full military honours, including a 21-gun salute. Over 200 Brazilian businessmen accompanied him. Brazil is still not a member of BRI but this may change under Lula. Trade with China has soared 37 […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | March 2023
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments On 8 January, echoes of the invasion of the US Congress in January 2021 reverberated through Brasilia as the principal institutions of Brazil – the Congress, Supreme Court and the President’s Palace – were attacked by thousands of violent protestors who smashed windows, damaged property […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | November 2023
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments On 30 October Brazil voted back to power Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula – president from 2003-10) as President in a second round. Lula won by a slim margin – 50.9 to incumbent President Bolsonaro’s 49.1 percent – less than 2 million votes. The turnout of […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | September 2022
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments The 15th biennial Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) was held in Brazil 26-28 July. The CDMA brings together defence ministers from 34 member states across the Americas since 1995. Attended by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, the meeting issued a declaration with a sentence (not in the original Brazilian draft) […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | July 2022
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments US-LAC Relations: The Los Angeles Summit of the Americas in June was the ninth in the series that commenced in 1994. The hosts did not invite Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, the “trio of tyranny”. Reaction from the region was negative. The Mexican President sent his Foreign Minister. The Bolivian, Guatemalan, Salvadoran […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | July 2020
COVID-19 “Latin America is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and Brazil is the most troubling country,” said Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization (WHO) executive director. By end June Latin America, with close to two and a half million cases, accounted for 25 percent of the total global infections, and 250,000 deaths. The […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | March 2022
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine elicited a range of reactions in LAC, from outright support to outright condemnation, more or less along expected lines. With high level visits from Russia’s Deputy PM and Head of the Duma, days before the action began, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro strongly supported Russia, and […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | May 2022
H I G H L I G H T S ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments Ukraine-Russia: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continue to be divided in their response to the war in Ukraine. Cuba and Nicaragua – along with Bolivia – voted on April 7 in the UN General Assembly against expelling Russia from […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | January 2022
HIGHLIGHTS ● Overview 2021● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Overview 2021 The most notable event across Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC) was undoubtedly the continuing devastation caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. A study by the UN in October estimated the region lost 1.5 million lives and had more than 44 million confirmed cases since February 2020. This accounts […]
Latin America & Caribbean Review | Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani | November 2021
HIGHLIGHTS ● Political Developments● Economic Developments● Focus India-LAC Political Developments Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro suffered another setback in mid-October with the publication, and public broadcast of a 1179-page report by the Senate, accusing him of crimes against humanity (intentional ‘extermination’ of half the Brazilians dead) and other charges for allegedly bungling Brazil’s response to COVID- 19, leading to the […]