LatAm Daily News Roundup, June 2nd

Argentina’s government has proposed extending talks to resolve its $65 billion debt to June 12th.  Economy Minister Martín Guzmán acknowledged however that the government only has a “thin margin” to make any changes, while indicating that, if necessary, the deadline could be extended further. He said that while the government and its creditors are getting closer, there was still a long way to go before an agreement would be reached. A previous proposal to resolve the debt issue had been rejected as insufficient by some investors, and is now assessing additional adjustments, Guzmán said. Argentina defaulted on its sovereign debt in May for the ninth time.

E-commerce in Brazil has hit an all-time high as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with sales in April up by 98.7% in comparison with the same month in 2019, according to the country’s chamber of electronic commerce (BCEC). Revenues for e-commerce companies increased by 81.6% year-on year during the month, as consumers were prevented from physically visiting stores, BCEC said. The retail sectors that saw the biggest expenditure were home office equipment, technology and communications equipment, which represented 40% of sales, followed by furniture and home appliances, with 24.5%, apparel, with 12.4%, and personal care products, with 10% of the total, according to BCEC.

Colombia has reported a drop in the number of Covid-19 cases, with the number of new cases on Monday at 1,110, down from 1,548 new cases reported on May 30th, which was a record figure. Bogotá, which remains the worst affected region of the country, recorded 383 new cases on Monday, down from Sunday’s 352 and the 475 reported on Saturday. Quarantine measures are scheduled to be eased in the capital from June 15th, but it may be extended if the number of new infections remain high, a decision to be taken by the city’s mayor, Claudia López. The nationwide quarantine is to remain in place until July 1st. The country’s death toll from the virus is currently 969, with more than 30,400 confirmed cases.

Canadian mining company Lundin Gold is in the process of reopening its Fruta del Norte gold and silver mine in Ecuador, the country’s largest mine, as the government eases Covid-19-related restrictions on the mining sector. The mine has been closed since March 22nd. The company said that supplies that had been in storage at the port of Guayaquil, one of the country’s regions worst hit by the virus, are now being transported to the mine after the government established logistics corridors to facilitate transportation for the mining industry. Lundin says a seven-day quarantine period followed by a negative test for the virus is required before an employee or contractor is allowed to enter Fruta del Norte. “We are in the last stages of finalizing the restart of our operations, which is expected to occur early in the third quarter of this year,” the Vancouver-based company said.

Mexico has surpassed 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 on the first day of the phase that the government has called ‘the new normality’, with various sectors reopening, although schools remain closed and the population has been advised to stay at home except for essential shopping. The country’s total number of infections had risen by 2,771 to 38,497 on Monday, with the rate of infection at 73.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. Mexico City and the state of southeastern, oil-producing state of Tabasco have reported the highest number of cases, but the central state of Puebla, a major manufacturing center, and the largely agricultural state of Sinaloa, in the country’s northwest, have also seen an increase in cases, according to the Health Ministry. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had said on Monday that the country would revert to a total shutdown if a surge in cases occurs as a result of the economy’s partial reopening from June 1st.  

South Korea has delivered 50,000 Covid-19 testing kits to Peru, in a bid to speed up diagnosis and slow the spread of the virus in the South American country, which has so far recorded a death toll of 4,634, with more than 170,000 confirmed cases. Peru’s Health Minister Victor Zamora was quoted by local news agency Andina as saying: “In the tough moments our country is going through, we find a very important supporting hand,” adding that South Korea will also be supporting Peru with other methods of collaboration. Zamora said in a tweet that the tests will be administered in areas that have seen the biggest outbreak of Covid-19 cases, and that more than one million tests have already been carried out in the country.