Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re keeping up with multilateral trade deals, Chilean stocks, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Just shy of 42% of you correctly guessed Bogota’s El Dorado airport as the airline which has recently displaced Mexico City and São Paulo as the busiest airport in Latin America. Colombia has increasingly become an aviation hub owing to its central location and good connections across the hemisphere.

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

🇧🇴 The Bolivian government has unveiled a sweeping fiscal adjustment plan that includes a 30% reduction in public spending for the 2026 budget. Economy Minister Gabriel Espinoza announced the administration will also eliminate four "inefficient" taxes—including levies on large fortunes and financial transfers—which currently generate less than 1% of total tax revenue yet significantly hamper private investment.

🇨🇱 Nearly 77% of companies in Chile's benchmark IPSA index improved their results in the first nine months of 2025, with combined profits reaching $9.8B—a 6% year-over-year expansion. Latam Airlines led with $976M in accumulated earnings, followed by Banco de Chile and Santander, while SQM swung from losses of $524M last year to profits of $404M.

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re tracking new US trade deals, Mexican retail holidays, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Precisely half (50%) of you were right when you guessed Mexico as the country which was famously called the “perfect dictatorship.” Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Lllosa gave Mexico this title as he felt the rule of the then-hegemonic Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which had been in power at the time for 61 uninterrupted years, was in truth a camouflaged dictatorship. He made such comments at a 1990 conference held in Mexico and broadcasted on local television. The PRI would hold power for another ten years before finally being defeated in 2000.

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

🇦🇷🇪🇨🇸🇻🇬🇹 The United States has released frameworks for four trade deals expected to be signed in the coming weeks with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala. These four US partners, which together supply around 7% of total US coffee imports, will be seeking exemptions for the baseline 10-15% tariffs seen on all goods since April. Home staples such as coffee and bananas are expected to be exempted, as consumer prices have increased in recent months: coffee, for example, is up 41% year-over-year.

🇧🇷 Climate activists and indigenous protesters marched on the COP30 talks in the first mass protests permitted near the event since 2021 (as the past few years have been held in countries which forbade protests near the event). Thousands of activists marched for both an end to fossil fuel exploitation and demarcation of indigenous lands.

🇨🇱 Chileans head to the polls today in a general election that will almost surely shift the balance of power in the developed Andean republic. In addition to 23 Senate seats and all 155 lower-house seats in Congress, voters will choose between a number of presidential candidates, with a run-off second round next month all but guaranteed given no candidate will receive over 50% of the vote. Left-wing Jeannette Jara is likely to advance to the run-off, given the left has largely consolidated around her, but she faces an uphill battle against whoever emerges as the top right-wing candidate—most likely the far-right Jose Antonio Kast, who famously suffered defeat in the last election against current President Gabriel Boric.

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re following Bolivia’s presidential inauguration, Panamanian airports, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Just 35% of you correctly guessed Chicago as the city which houses the largest collection of Mexican art outside of Mexico. The National Museum of Mexican Art, located in Chicago’s Lower West Side, borders the Latino enclaves of Pilsen and Little Village, which have been for decades the most heavily Latino parts of the city. Over 18K sculptures, photographs, and other pieces of Mexican art can be found at this free-entry museum.

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

🇧🇴 Rodrigo Paz has been sworn in as the 68th President of Bolivia, formally bringing to an end nearly twenty years of uninterrupted rule by the left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party. Born in Spain to former President Jaime Paz Zamora (1982-1984), Paz has been involved in Bolivian politics for over two decades. His primary challenges include boosting Bolivia’s abysmal foreign reserves, rebuilding engagement with international financial partners, harnessing national energy and lithium potential, and addressing massive informality rates. Buena suerte, Presidente Paz!

🇩🇴 The Dominican Republic has postponed this year’s Summit of the Americas, the tenth edition since 1994, which was to gather the leaders of North and South America in Punta Cana in an effort to jointly tackle shared problems. This was to be the first Summit of the Americas since the controversial 2022 edition held in Los Angeles, which was boycotted by numerous left-wing leaders owing to its exclusion of dictators in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This year’s summit, meanwhile, was challenged by both timing as well as regional politics, in particular growing US military pressure on Venezuela.

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re keeping up with Milei’s midterm successes, Mexican green investments, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Just 28% of you correctly guessed Buenos Aires as the Latin American city which received the first overseas banking office of a US bank. In 1914, National City Bank (today Citibank) opened an office in the Argentinean capital; it followed this up with a branch in Rio de Janeiro the following year. Citi’s previous international offices in cities like Calcutta, London, and Shanghai stemmed from the International Banking Corporation, as in the first decade of the 1900s US banks weren’t permitted foreign operations. Citi went on in the 1910s to acquire control of Haiti’s treasury and impose crippling debt payments on the small Caribbean island country.

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

🇦🇷 Javier Milei scored a decisive and much-needed political victory in Argentina’s midterm elections last Sunday, with his La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party exceeding expectations and winning over 40% of votes across the country. LLA won 15 of 24 provincial elections and was the most-voted party nationwide, indicating voters are still largely backing his sweeping libertarian political agenda of deregulation and liberalization. Markets rallied at the sign of Milei’s electoral successes, having been weakened in recent months by both Milei-linked political scandals and weaker LLA performances.

🇧🇷 Brazilian police carried out the deadliest raid in the history of Rio de Janeiro, carrying out operations against Brazil’s second-largest gang, the Red Command (CV), in the North Zone favelas of Penha and Complexo do Alemão. The raid left at least 119 people dead, though how many victims were CV members versus civilians remains unclear. Videos from the raid evoked imagery of a warzone, with drones carrying explosives and shootouts in both urban and forested areas, while the entire city, Brazil’s second-largest, largely shut down as roads were blocked. Penha citizens protested in front of the seat of the state government at Guanabara Palace, calling for the resignation of the governor of Rio state.

Table of contents

Today we have a perfect example of why it is worth always taking a step back before interpreting a news story in the worst possible way.

For the first time since the global financial crisis of 2009, exports of tequila and mezcal declined last year. Taken at face value, this might suggest that the industry is struggling; in fact, several media outlets have already jumped to that conclusion.

This is where Latinometrics comes in. Looking at the period since the pandemic, the industry hasn’t just done well—it’s done extraordinarily well. Between 2020 and 2023, its value nearly doubled.

Tequila slows down for the first time in 15 years

Our friends to the north, especially in the United States and Canada, have bought almost every bottle exported from our beloved Jalisco, a full 87% of total export value. In the United States, only vodka currently outsells tequila and mezcal.

So what has been happening in the rest of the world?

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

Last week, we provided an overview of surface temperatures across Latin America, in the process showing that many disparate crises in the region – from droughts and water insecurity to Brazilian forest fires – were tied to changing climate conditions.

Now, it’s worth recalling that most excess pollution happens (or has happened) in the developed world, particularly the United States, European Union, Japan, and Russia. Other developing regions, in particular East and South Asia, also play a significant role in emitting the greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide or methane) which trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and exacerbate climate change.

But don’t think that Latin America is merely subject to the impacts of climate change. Across the region, countries are also emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs), with certain industries in particular driving emissions.

What produces LatAm's greenhouse gases?

Agriculture is by far the largest source of GHG emissions in Latin America, making up over a third (35%) of the total. In a way, this isn’t too surprising, especially given the essential role played by regional farming in both the local economy and global food supply chains. Agriculture and transport alone make up half of all emissions.

But agriculture can also be a particularly high-emitting sector. Take soy, long a top crop for the much of the region, making up over 10% of both Argentine and Brazilian exports and nearly 30% of Paraguayan exports, in 2023. International researchers have tracked for years the high carbon footprint associated with Brazilian soy, examining not only the export process but also the deforestation and land-use change associated with the crop’s production.

And if soy is bad for the environment, beef is even worse, not least due to the high amounts of soy needed to feed cattle.

Can you guess then, which country is the top emitter top per-capita emitter in Latin America?

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re following tracking Brazilian oil drilling, Paraguayan crypto mining, and more.

The Latinometrics team got to present an exclusive analysis of upcoming regional elections to the annual Forecast on Latin America and the Caribbean hosted by the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA).

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Just over a third (36%) of you correctly guessed the Bronx as the New York City borough shouted in the album opener to Bad Bunny’s most recent album, January’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. The first song on the album, “NUEVAYoL,” explores Puerto Rican identity and shouts out traditional Puerto Rican neighborhoods in the song’s titular city, including the Bronx as well as Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan.

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

🇦🇷 Argentina is holding midterm legislative elections today which are widely seen as a referendum on the administration of President Javier Milei, who has successfully brought down national inflation but has struggled to deliver the economic growth — and greater purchasing power for citizens — he promised as a candidate. The controversial libertarian president suffered a big blow following a major loss in last month’s election in the province of Buenos Aires, and has otherwise seen his year-long honeymoon period ended by scandals involving both himself and major figures in his La Libertad Avanza party.

🇧🇴 Rodrigo Paz, a 58-year old centrist lawmaker and the son of a former president, has been elected the President of Bolivia with 54.5% of the vote and will take office on November 8th. Born in Galicia, Paz was educated in Washington, D.C. and has been serving as a senator since 2020. Previously, he was the mayor of Tarija (2015-2020) and a member of the Bolivian chamber of deputies (2002-2010). Paz will take office in a country facing profound economic crisis, including dismal foreign reserves, as well as a sprawling informality rate of over 80%. He also hopes to rebuild his country’s relations with the US, Europe, and multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

Social media. Some would call it the best invention of the 21st century. Others…well, others would say it may just be the worst.

Like elsewhere in the world, Latin American leaders have mobilized both traditional and newer forms of social media to reach their audience. Some leaders have weighed in on pop-culture debacles, while others have taken to growing on TikTok through short, easily shareable videos.

One thing’s for sure: looking to the most popular leaders across social media on a per-capita basis (to remove Lula da Silva’s obvious population advantage), one name towers above the rest.

Now, Nayib Bukele’s high popularity across social media is understandable. His high approval ratings, for one, must count for something. He’s also far more personally active than more institutional or traditional leaders like Paraguay’s Santiago Peña (who follows us on Instagram!) or Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum (who should!).

With Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro ranked behind Bukele on X-formerly-Twitter, we can also draw the conclusion that more demagogue-type leaders tend to attract more followers than their peers on this site in particular, especially since some of these exact leaders will literally bicker with each other publicly on the timeline at two in the afternoon. Hard to believe the site’s free, really.

But Bukele’s power on the Internet goes way beyond roasting Petro, tweeting our charts, or making light of executive overreach by his allies. It speaks to the way he’s become a go-to model for how leaders around the region should approach public security and crime. And what do you think most Latin Americans would call the top issue?

A few months ago, most Bolivians probably couldn’t tell you who Rodrigo Paz is. The man even missed the earliest televised presidential debates earlier this year. “An unknown face with a well-known name,” some called him, as the centrist senator and former mayor of Tarija happened to also be the son of former President Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-1993).

Yet Paz is officially set to become Bolivia’s next president, taking office in just over two weeks. His win last Sunday night marks a transition away from the country’s powerful left-wing Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), which has ruled the country almost uninterruptedly since 2006.

But Bolivia’s unlikely to be the last place where the Latin American left loses in the coming months. We’re in full election season, and many of the most vulnerable presidents are of the left.

Where is political change most likely?

Take Chile and Colombia. Both Gabriel Boric and Gustavo Petro are on their way out, with their stubbornly low approval ratings meaning it’s likelier than not they’ll be replaced by an ideological adversary. The frontrunner in this year’s Chilean election, for example, is ultraconservative José Antonio Kast, who’s about as ideologically far from Boric as possible.

Radical change in the presidency is also likely to be on the menu in neighboring Peru, where one unpopular president after another has been ousted from power by congress. Peru today may be the rare Latin American country heading towards a parliamentary oligarchy, where true power lies not in the executive branch but in the legislature, which would be an anomaly in this region of the world.

Speaking of legislatures, Argentina’s midterms are this Sunday, and everyone’s eyes are on whether President Javier Milei can protest his ambitious agenda from the powerful Peronist opposition which dealt him a blow in a regional election last month.

In addition to his country’s fiscal and monetary stability, roughly $40B in support from the US is on the line for Milei, as US President Donald Trump has conditioned his government’s help on the electoral success of his ideological ally.

But not every leader’s losing sleep over approval ratings.

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

“We’re all on our screens too much nowadays.”

We’ve all heard this—some of us even go around saying it. But how true is the cliche? How much time does the average Latino spend looking at a device each week? Let’s use Hispanics in the US as a benchmark, comparing this group to the US population at large.

Whether it be on phones, social networks, or even watching TV the old fashioned way, Hispanics actually have less screentime than most people in the US overall. The only exception is with video-based apps on smartphones, reflecting perhaps longer commutes being punctuated with the latest bingeable drama.

How do US Latinos consume content?

At the highest level, Hispanics spend upwards of ten hours watching TV each week, which sounds high until you realize that the average American is watching nearly 50% more.

But does the actual content being watched differ? Interestingly, the biggest departure between the overall US population and the Hispanic subgroup is with situation comedies (or sitcoms), which are far more popular with non-Hispanics than Hispanics. Remember that next time you want to force a friend to watch The Office.

However, Hispanics on average are proportionately more plugged into everything from feature films and news documentaries to sports events.

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

Outside of a few choice corridors, the global community today accepts that the climate is changing, leading to increasingly extreme weather worldwide.

Latin America is no exception. In fact, by some sources the region is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of this meteorological shift. To deliver on their commitments under the Paris Agreement, meanwhile, Latin America’s countries would need between $470B and $1.3T in investments—figures especially difficult to mobilize given many of the most vulnerable countries are also among the most cash-strapped and least developed.

Rising sea levels and starker cold waves are being seen around the world, but in Latin America rising surface temperatures demonstrate the problem. Across the region, the average annual surface temperature has risen by about 1.5 degrees Celcius since the 21st century started, from Central America and the Caribbean all the way down to Patagonia and the Andes.

How fast is Latin America heating up?

A few extra degrees may not seem like much, but it makes all the difference in terms of extreme weather events.

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re keeping up with a Venezuelan Nobel Prize winner, Chilean telecoms shifts, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Just under a quarter (24%) of you correctly guessed Tarcisio de Freitas as the Brazilian politician who announced last week they’re running in next year’s presidential election. The conservative São Paulo state governor, considered a frontrunner to replace convicted ex-president Jair Bolsonaro as the primary right-wing figure in next year’s election, announced he intends to instead run for reelection. This colossal shift in the political landscape opens up the political race among multiple other center-right and right-wing politicians from around the country, including most notably Minas Gerais governor Romeu Zema.

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

🇧🇷 Brazil is rolling out a new housing credit model including $6.7B in real estate loans. The new funding framework loosens rules on bank allocations to the real estate sector, building upon the widespread use of savings accounts for housing credit across Latin America.

🇨🇱 América Móvil and Entel are reportedly considering a joint offer for acquiring all of Telefónica's Chilean assets, with AM more interested in the mobile phone assets while Entel instead focuses on Movistar Chile’s fixed-line assets and fixed networks. This prospect comes as Spanish mobile giant Telefónica, a major player in Chile’s telecoms sector since 1990, reportedly seeks to divest from the country alongside many Latin American neighbors.

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

A walk through contemporary Buenos Aires would showcase Argentina’s rich immigration history for you.

Look to the classical European architecture evocative of Madrid or Paris rather than Mexico City or São Paulo. Look to the Argentinean take on the pizza, which many locals would tell you has surpassed its Italian ancestor. Look even to the descendants of Arab immigrants such as former president Carlos Menem.

Argentina’s history is in many ways the history of the immigrant, to an extent that rivals even other melting-pot countries like Brazil or the United States.

Yet immigration has changed over the years, reflecting the country’s appeal for certain nearby national groups.

Argentina's changing flow of migrants

Paraguayans have risen to become the top immigrant group in Argentina, numbering over half a million last year.

Despite Argentina’s economic uncertainty, the country’s more dynamic and diversified economy provides opportunities for many working-class Paraguayans seeking a better life. Similar language and a short transit back to home cities like Asunción or Ciudad del Este only sweetens the pot.

Other Andean and Southern Cone countries such as Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Uruguay also serve as significant sources of Latin American immigrants to Argentina. Meanwhile, Spaniards and Italians, historically the largest immigrant populations in the country, have over the generations become a relatively small share of the total immigrant stock.

Let’s take a look at where all of them come from.

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re following Chile’s presidential race, Nubank’s surprising move, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Roughly 35% of you correctly answered that Bolivia’s judicial branch was located in the constitutional capital of Sucre. Meanwhile, the other three branches of government — electoral, legislative, and executive — are all based in La Paz. Neither city is even Bolivia’s largest: that title would be reserved for Santa Cruz, which actually has a larger population than that of both Bolivian capitals combined.

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

🇧🇷 Nubank has applied for a US banking license, meaning the world’s largest neobank may well be en route to entering the world’s largest economy, Latin America’s most historic fintech success story, fresh off 100M customers across Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, is now turning its sights north to conquer the fabled US banking market, where it will go up against not only fintech adversaries but established giants like Bank of America, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo. Boa sorte to the purple revolution!

🇨🇱 Chile’s presidential election is heating up as two clear frontrunners emerge: ultra-conservative José Antonio Kast and longtime communist Jeannette Jara. The two have cleared much of their competition and settled into comfortable leads ahead of next month’s first-round vote. Given neither is expected to obtain an outright majority, a second-round run-off will be set for mid-December, with Kast currently a clear favorite to win.

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

How many of you are shrimp eaters?

Whether in the form of mariscos, scampi, gambas, or camarones and camarões, shrimp is one of the most popular delicacies worldwide. It’s become an integral part of the seafood preferences in cuisines as diverse as Cantonese or Mediterranean.

In Latin America in particular, shrimp has formed part of delicious dishes such as Peruvian ceviche or Mexican gambas al ajillo. Yet neither Mexico nor Peru is the shrimp capital of the world. For that, you need to look to a much smaller country.

On Monday, we’ll be hosting a data-based panel exploring the North American trade alliance as part of the North Capital Forum in Mexico City, hosted by our friends at the US–Mexico Foundation. We hope to see you there!

Canadian and Mexican policymakers and businesses may have needed a strong drink a few months back when their countries were hit by massive tariffs by the United States. But it’s worth recalling that not every sector was equally impacted.

Take energy. Canada is actually the largest energy supplier of US imports (and the second-largest energy importer from the US), serving for example as the source of 60% of all US oil imports.

With this in mind, and knowing how sensitive Americans are about prices at the gas pump, the Trump administration kept Canadian oil and energy tariffs at 10%, rather than the 25% slapped on everything else from Canada (and Mexico).

But don’t think North American energy integration is exclusive to the US-Canadian border.

The North American energy trade alliance

So if Canada anchors 60%, where does Mexico’s $78B actually change the calculus?

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re keeping up with Argentina’s US swap line, Mexico’s beer dethroning, and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Only 21% of you correctly guessed stablecoins as the crypto-asset with the greatest share of digital currency transactions in Argentina. Roughly 61.8% of all crypto transaction volume is done in stablecoins in Argentina, largely as a result of ongoing currency instability and hyperinflation. The most common stablecoins in use are pegged to the U.S. dollar and thus not as volatile as popular crypto coins like bitcoin. Argentina’s Central Bank does not consider stablecoins as legal tender. As President Javier Milei continues to advocate in favor of replacing the Argentine peso for the U.S. dollar, he may be served to consider stablecoins as a legitimate store of value in his crypto-friendly administration.

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

🇦🇷 Argentina is negotiating with the United States to receive a $20B swap line and sell its dollar-denominated debt, seeking financial reprieve for its sputtering economy. A defeat for President Javier Milei’s party in regional elections and a corruption scandal have sparked a run on the peso, forcing the government to spend $1B of dollar reserves to prevent a chaotic devaluation. Argentina’s dollar bonds rallied on the news, while the peso soared 10% and the country’s leading Merval index increased nearly 5% in dollar terms.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s lower chamber of Congress approved a constitutional amendment bill that would effectively shield lawmakers from criminal accountability. The measure cleared the chamber with chamber with support from both government allies and members of the opposition, overcoming the required 60% majority in two rounds of voting. In response, the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee unanimously rejected the proposed bill, with President Lula da Silva welcoming the Senate’s decision.

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

In 2018, there were 7.7B credit cards in the world, meaning slightly more cards than human beings on Earth.

Partly this makes sense, especially when you consider that one friend you have who’s overly into finance and who tries to maximize points through nineteen different credit cards.

Yet across much of Latin America, millions of people actually live without the plastic. As of 2023, a whopping 42% of Latin Americans didn’t have a credit card—which isn’t to say this isn’t slowly changing in countries like Mexico.

10M+ Mexican credit cards were added in 4 years

In Latin America’s northern giant, the credit card market is booming, and formal banking is on the rise. BBVA and Tarjetas Banamex are leading the charge in the growing financial inclusion of everyday Mexicans.

But who are these cards really built for and how much can they spend?