Jon Farmer discusses the future of the Colombian peace process in light of the announcement on 29 August that a group of dissident members of the formally demobilised Colombian guerrilla group, the FARC, are returning to the armed fight.
Constance Malleret then looks at the controversy over the fires in the Amazon, with tensions rising between the Brazilian government and the international community, as well as with Brazilian environmentalist NGOs, civil society and the business sector.
Gunther Baumgarten elaborates on the volatile situation in Argentina following the unexpected results from the primaries on 11 August, which sparked a period of turmoil in the country’s financial markets. Following the vote, the peso lost more than 25% of its value against the US dollar. There is now renewed concern that Argentina is once again at risk of debt default.
Finally, Sarah Sheldon breaks down the Guatemalan elections, which saw a surprise landslide victory by Alejandro Giammattei. Turnout was low, with voters disillusioned by persistent corruption. Giammattei’s approach to tackling corruption has not yet been fully elaborated on, but he has been clear he will not reintroduce CICIG, the UN body set up to tackle impunity in Guatemala.
Cristina Cortes, Canning House CEO, chaired the discussion.