LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Mexico’s president says summit in doubt as Peru’s Castillo blocked from travel

The latest in Latin American politics today:

Mexico’s president says summit in doubt as Peru‘s Castillo blocked from travel MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday it was likely that a Latin American summit would be canceled after Peru‘s Congress refused to allow President Pedro Castillo to travel to Mexico.

The leaders of Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia were scheduled to gather later this week at the Pacific Alliance summit in Mexico City. Castillo, a leftist, is embroiled in a political battle stemming from corruption allegations against his government. The country’s Congress, which is controlled by a coalition of right-wing parties, denied last week his request to travel.

Back in Brazil, Lula faces tough choices in forging new government BRASILIA – President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to Brazil on Sunday, after basking in the glory of an international tour, to confront the tough task of defining his government amid jitters in financial markets and divisions in his coalition.

While Lula was cheered by allies in Portugal and at the United Nations climate summit, the challenging tradeoffs facing him back home were threatening to spoil his post-election party. Brazil’s currency slipped about 5% and the benchmark Bovespa stock index fell nearly 8% in the past two weeks as investors have grown impatient with a lack of clarity about Lula‘s key economic policies.

Members of Lula‘s transition team have voiced contrasting views on 2023 budget talks and the leadership race for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The president-elect has backed efforts to create a standing exception to one fiscal rule without proposing another. Brazil’s Lula discharged from hospital after throat treatment

SAO PAULO – Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left hospital on Monday after a procedure to remove potentially pre-cancerous patches from his vocal cords, doctors said, adding they had found no abnormal tissue mass in the process. Doctors at Sao Paulo’s Sirio Libanes Hospital, where the 77-year-old Lula was treated for throat cancer 11 years ago, said the procedure had removed small white patches called “leukoplakia” from his vocal cords.

FARC dissident fighting leaves 18 dead in southern Colombia BOGOTA – At least 18 people died in fighting between two FARC dissident factions for control of a drug trafficking area in Colombia’s southern jungle, said Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez on Monday.

The clashes took place over the weekend in a rural area of Putumayo province, bordering Ecuador and Peru. The incident is the highest death toll from fighting among illegal armed groups since President Gustavo Petro took office in August as Colombia’s first leftist leader.

Petro has promised to bring “total peace” to Colombia by ending a nearly six-decade bloody internal armed conflict that left at least 450,000 dead between 1985 and 2018. Mexican president says he is considering options for central banker Esquivel’s future

MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he was considering “alternatives” for the country’s central bank deputy governor Gerardo Esquivel, who lost a bid to become the next president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The president said various posts were under consideration for Esquivel, declining to say if the central banker, whose term is up in December, would have his current role renewed.

Cuba‘s president to visit China Nov 24-26 BEIJING – Cuba‘s President Miguel Díaz-Canel will visit China from Nov. 24-26, Chinese state media reported on Monday.

At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Díaz-Canel, first secretary of the CPC Central Committee and president of the Republic of Cuba, will pay a state visit, CCTV reported. (Compiled by Steven Grattan Editing by Chris Reese)

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