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The Latin America Brief

Issue #18 · Saturday, October 24, 2026 · 5-min read

Top stories

Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro Trade Insults and Proposals in the Final Debate Before Sunday's Runoff

President Lula (PT) and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) met Friday night on TV Globo, moderated by César Tralli, in the last debate before Sunday's vote. They clashed over the minimum wage, pensions, household debt, the SUS public health system, sanitation, infrastructure and exports. Flávio repeated his proposal to freeze the debts of individuals and companies and pledged pension increases above inflation; Lula cited a debt-purchase auction he said could exceed R$150 billion. The exchange turned personal: Flávio called Lula "nove dedos" (nine fingers), later saying "if I offended you, I apologize," while Lula called his opponent a "miliciano" and raised the case of Ana Clara, a 5-year-old killed by a rifle shot, whose accused police officer had Flávio as a lawyer. g1 fact-checked the debate live. In the first round on Oct. 4, Flávio took 47.03% of valid votes and Lula 45.16%; Datafolha and Quaest are due to publish final polls on Saturday.

Sources: G1 · ES/PT  |  CNN Brasil · ES/PT  |  O Povo · ES/PT

Electoral Court Justice Bars TSE President From Shutting Down the 'Exército do Lula' WhatsApp Channel

TSE Justice Floriano de Azevedo Marques on Friday partially granted a writ filed by Lula's coalition and suspended the effect of any orders from the court's presidency that could suspend, remove or restrict the "Exército do Lula" WhatsApp channel, run by federal deputy André Janones. The decision blocks TSE President Kassio Nunes Marques from acting administratively against the channel until the full court rules on it in a judicial proceeding, two days before Sunday's runoff.

Sources: G1 · ES/PT  |  O Globo · ES/PT  |  TSE decision (PDF) · ES/PT

Judge Dismisses the $LIBRA Crypto Case Against President Milei and His Sister Karina

Federal judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi on Friday dismissed the case against President Javier Milei, his sister and presidential secretary-general Karina Milei, and nine others, including trader Mauricio Novelli, $LIBRA promoter Hayden Davis and Julian Peh, ruling that the events "do not fit a legal offense." He agreed with prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, who requested the dismissal, that the token's promotion, rise and crash after Milei's Feb. 14, 2025 post did not amount to fraud without a proven "concrete deceptive maneuver" that misled buyers. None of the defendants was ever called to testify. Investor plaintiffs had been excluded from the case and have appeals pending before the Federal Court of Cassation.

Sources: Infobae · ES/PT  |  La Nación · ES/PT  |  BBC

Region roundup

Ecuador Judge Orders Pretrial Detention for Luisa González in the 'Laberinto' Case

Judge Henry Navarrete Vélez ordered pretrial detention on Friday for former Revolución Ciudadana presidential candidate Luisa González and two others, Santiago Díaz and Wendy Onofre, in the money-laundering case over 2023 campaign financing. A fourth defendant, Estefanía Molina, received periodic reporting, a travel ban and an electronic ankle monitor. Per El Universo, the case file says González allegedly received at least US$500,000 from a network of companies tied to Guayaquil mayor Aquiles Alvarez. Prosecutors opened a 90-day investigation phase. The hearing was held behind closed doors and online from Guayaquil's Cuartel Modelo.

Sources: El Universo · ES/PT  |  El Comercio · ES/PT  |  AP (Spanish) · ES/PT

Venezuela Talks Close Third Round With Deals on Banned-Candidate Laws and Bank of England Gold, but No Election Date

Negotiators for the government, led by National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez, and for the 2015-elected assembly headed by Dinorah Figuera presented the results of the third round to acting president Delcy Rodríguez. They agreed to review four laws on political rights, disqualifications and terrorism, to advance the selection of 32 new Supreme Court justices, and to form a joint commission to manage Venezuelan gold held at the Bank of England. The U.S. State Department welcomed the progress, said more than 1,000 political prisoners have been released since Nicolás Maduro's capture in January, and called for the release of the rest. No election date has been agreed. The fourth round is scheduled for Nov. 11–15.

Sources: EFE · ES/PT  |  El País (Cali) · ES/PT

Rubio Urges Cubans Seeking Change to Form a 'Discreet Partnership' With the CIA

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X on Friday: "To those seeking to create positive change in Cuba: now is the time," urging them to act "through a discreet partnership with the CIA." The CIA then released a Spanish-language video with instructions for contacting it, including using a VPN, a private browser and a temporary email account. At a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, the same day, President Trump said U.S. ships returning from Iran would stop off Cuba's coast and that Rubio would "close the deal." Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío mocked the appeal on X, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused Washington of "ambitions of domination" over the island.

Sources: Infobae · ES/PT  |  CNN en Español · ES/PT  |  Euronews · ES/PT

Argentina's Country Risk Closes at 707, a 12-Month High, as the Merval Jumps 4.4%

JP Morgan's country-risk index for Argentina closed Friday at 707 basis points, up 0.4% and its highest level since October last year, after touching 717 in early trading, as sovereign bonds fell (globales lost up to 0.4%). Per TN, it is up 16.5% this month and 23.8% this year. Stocks moved the other way: the S&P Merval rose 4.4% to 102,278 points, led by Ternium Argentina (+15.9%) and Banco Supervielle (+11.4%), and Argentine banks led gains on Wall Street. The official dollar held at ARS 1,550 at Banco Nación, while the MEP rate rose to 1,562.27 and the CCL to 1,649.24. The central bank bought US$42 million, taking October purchases above US$1.2 billion; gross reserves stood at US$50.203 billion.

Sources: TN · ES/PT  |  Rava Bursátil · ES/PT  |  Infobae / EFE · ES/PT

Colombia Swaps COP 10.3 Trillion of Debt to Push Back 2026–27 Maturities

Colombia's Finance Ministry completed its second debt reprofiling in a month, exchanging TES treasury bonds worth COP 10.3 trillion (about US$3.27 billion) to cut amortizations by COP 1.5 trillion in 2026 and COP 8.8 trillion in 2027. The swap costs the government an extra COP 467 billion, 4.5% of the operation, and lengthened the average life of domestic debt from 10.14 to 10.21 years. Together with the Oct. 2 operation, the program has reduced 2026 maturities by 50% and 2027 maturities by 19%, the ministry said. The 2025 fiscal deficit was 6.4% of GDP, and the central bank has warned it could reach 7.4% this year without corrective measures.

Sources: Infobae / EFE · ES/PT  |  Semana · ES/PT  |  El Espectador · ES/PT

Chile's Central Bank Renews Its US$7.5 Billion Currency Swap Line With China for Five Years

The Banco Central de Chile renewed for five more years its renminbi–peso swap agreement with the People's Bank of China, in place since 2015 and worth about US$7.5 billion. The bank describes the line as precautionary, available to support financial-market stability if activated; it has never been used. Chile also has an IMF Flexible Credit Line of about US$11.8 billion, renewed in August, and held US$53.547 billion in reserve assets as of September, per BioBioChile.

Sources: BioBioChile · ES/PT  |  CNN Chile · ES/PT

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