☀ Domingo Brief — Boric Visits Antarctica

Each Sunday, take two minutes to catch key stories and opportunities shaping Latin America.

Author

Latinometrics
January 05, 2025 • Reading Time: 3 minutes

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re following Mexico’s minimum wage hike, Brazil’s new Formula 1 prodigy, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Just about 40% of you correctly guessed Uros as the name of the floating villages on Lake Titicaca. Built by the Uru, an indigenous people found in both Bolivia and Peru, these villages stand on a group of about 120 self-fashioned floating islands near the southeastern Peruvian city of Puno. Each island, made of dried Tortora reeds, lasts about 25 years, after which water seeps through the reeds and a new island is built to let the old one sink to the bottom of the lake.

Each week, tune back in for the answer to the previous week’s trivia question. No cheating!

Colombia is the world’s leading producer of which of the following precious gemstones?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

🇦🇷 Argentina’s central bank closed a $1B repurchase agreement with five international banks, a key step in President Javier Milei’s promise to eliminate capital controls in 2025. The five banks will receive dollar-denominated bonds paying 4.75% over the USD secured overnight financing rate, bolstering international reserves and allowing the country to better manage its foreign currency liquidity. The deal should facilitate the lifting of capital controls this year, which will incentivize greater investment in the real economy, as companies and investors will be permitted to take money out of the country to pay dividends or invest capital elsewhere.

Latinometrics: Argentina’s continued economic normalization under Milei has attracted rising interest from foreign investors, with the strongest decline in the country’s risk premium since 2018. Its international reserves have also been growing steadily, increasing by more than $10B last year. The country’s repurchase agreement comes amidst negotiations for a new loan with the International Monetary Fund, with a deal expected to be announced in March for additional financing of $10B following the expiration of a previous loan program.

🇧🇷 Gabriel Bortoleto will become Brazil’s first full-time Formula 1 (F1) driver since 2017. The 20-year-old Brazilian will represent Kick Sauber at the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2025 F1 circuit, after being crowned Formula 2 champion last year. Hailing from São Paulo state, Bortoleto will also be the youngest Brazilian driver to line up on the F1 grid since legend Felipe Massa joined Sauber in 2002, holding high hopes and expectations from his country’s fans.

Unlock Unique Insights with Latinometrics Premium.

Become a paid subscriber of Latinometrics to get access to this data story and other subscriber-only content.

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

A subscription gets you:

  • • 📈 Unlimited early access to all of our charts
  • • ☀️ Full access to our Domingo Brief — a must-read for decision-makers.

Reply

or to participate.