TLA TIMES | November 28, 2017
A Snapshot of LatinAmerican News
SNAPSHOT
Source: data.worldbank.org
Belizean Dollar | $2.01
Brazilian Real | $3.23
Bolivian Boliviano | $6.97
Costa Rican Colon | $570.45
Chilean Peso | $647.66
Colombian Peso | $3,020.68
Cuban Peso | $26.50
Dominican Peso | $48.54
Guatemalan Quetzal | $7.40
Haitian Gourde | $63.76
Honduran Lempira | $23.58
Mexican Peso | $18.69
Nicaraguan Cordoba | $30.66
Panamanian Balboa | $1.00
Paraguayan Guarani | $5,658.68
Peruvian Sol | $3.23
Uruguayan Peso | $29.19
Venezuelan Bolivar | $9.95
Figures from Nov. 28 Source: www.xe.com
FUN IN THE SUN
CHILE
Bank of Nova Scotia bids to buy majority interest in Chilean bank.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company reports that the Bank of Nova Scotia made a $2.9 billion offer for BBVA Chile. If the deal goes through, the Canadian firm would control the third-largest bank in Chile that is not owned by the government. The Said family owns about a third of BBVA Chile and has the right to veto the deal. Details
ARGENTINA
Hard-candy company seeks partner for access to markets abroad
Arcor, which sells more hard candy than anyone else in the world, is looking for a foreign partner to help it crack markets outside Latin America, Bloomberg reports. Luis Pagani, the chairman and a majority owner, says no talks have begun and that his company is looking to do a stock swap with another major confectioner. “I know all the owners and they know the importance of Arcor in America. The opportunities will surface,” Pagani tells the news service. Details
PANAMA
What’s in a name? Nothing good if it’s ‘Trump,’ hotel owners decide.
IA 369-room luxury condominium hotel in Panama wants to ditch the Trump name and end the Trump Organization’s management of the property, Brinkwire reports. The hotel once paid as much as $32 million a year to use the name and have Trump’s firm run the hotel. Ithaca Capital Partners, the majority owners, has decided the inn would be better off without the president’s imprimatur. Not surprisingly, the Trump Organization intends to fight the move. Details
MEXICO
Mexico to raise minimum wage by 10 percent this week.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports through its news services that Mexico is planning to raise the minimum wage 10 percent to 88.36 pesos, about $4.71 a day. The move met with harsh criticism from labor leaders, and even the Mexican business chamber. The raise is seen as too little to help Mexican workers and too little to even the playing field with Canada and the United States. "Let me tell you something, this is not a minor adjustment, considering that since this administration began almost five years ago the minimum salary was barely 60 pesos," President Enrique Pena Nieto said. Details