Argentina EV Sales Up 148%; Mexico’s Pemex Seeks Gas Project Partners

Bloomberg Línea — Electric car sales in Argentina increased by 148% in 2021, totaling 5,871 vehicles, and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Wednesday that the government is seeking partners to develop a gas project in the Gulf of Mexico in collaboration with state-owned oil company PEMEX.

Following is a roundup of Wednesday’s news from our reporters across Latin America.

Argentina

The sale of hybrid and electric cars grew 148% in the country in 2021, with 5,871 vehicles sold during the year.

The U.S. recommended its citizens not to visit Argentina due to the risk of contagion, as the number of people infected with Covid-19 is increasing. Argentina’s labor minister clarified that employees who tested positive for the virus and did not need to be hospitalized may return to work after 10 or seven days, without the need for a negative test.

Brazil

The frontrunner in opinion polls ahead of October’s election, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday for the first time that he does not see “obstacles” to dialogue with an independent Central Bank, presenting a position that is different from the prevailing view of the Brazilian left.

Investment firms 777 Partners and DaGrosa Capital are evaluating the possibility of buying Brazilian soccer teams Vasco da Gama and América-MG.

Colombia

President Iván Duque said that the Colombian economy points toward growth of more than 5% in 2022, during the Latin American panel of regional leaders of the World Economic Forum.

Technology and Communications Minister Carmen Ligia Valderrama said in an interview with Bloomberg Línea that the government will insist on the 5G rollout in 2022, as the planned auction is still to be defined.

Ecuador

President Guillermo Lasso plans to discuss the renegotiation of oil-backed loans with Chinese companies during a visit to the Asian country in February, Petroecuador’s executive president, Ítalo Cedeño, told a press conference.

Ecuador’s insurance sector will likely see a shake-up this year after Seguros Equinoccial, which for 48 years has been dedicated to general insurance, announced last December its merger with Equivida, a company dedicated to life insurance.

Mexico

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is seeking a partnership with private companies for a gas extraction project with state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Four U.S. Democratic senators have asked President Joe Biden to confront Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s regarding the latter’s plans for his country’s energy sector.

Panama

The Panamanian Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday the purchase of two lots of antiviral treatments against Covid-19 for use in high-risk patients. One is the oral treatment molnupiravir, from the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. (MRK), and the other is paxlovid, produced by Pfizer Inc. (PFE).

Peru

Betterware de México (BWMX), a direct-to-consumer household products company, will halt for the time being its expansion plans into Latin America, including Peru, to focus on the U.S. market, following the purchase of the local operations of cosmetics firm Jafra.

This is how the region’s markets and currencies closed on Wednesday, January 19: