Our Thursday Sociedad Media Now daily newsletter on the region’s top stories in Everyday Life & Economy.
Brazil’s Inflation Surprise Clears Way for Fourth Rate Cut, With an Election Just Months Away
Brazil’s inflation unexpectedly slowed to 4.52% in early July, beating every economist’s forecast and strengthening the case for a fourth consecutive interest rate cut at the central bank's August 4-5 meeting, likely bringing the Selic to 14%.
The timing carries real political weight: cooling inflation and a friendlier rate environment could ease pressure on household budgets just as Lula ramps up social spending ahead of Brazil's tightly contested October election against Flávio Bolsonaro, even as economists caution the trajectory beyond August remains far less certain.
Fujimori’s First Security Pledge: The Same Military Model Her Predecessors Already Tried
LIMA, PERU — In her first address to Congress, Keiko Fujimori pledged that the Armed Forces will lead security operations during states of emergency — but it’s the same model Peru has run since 2023 under three prior governments, without reducing crime, per the country’s own Interior Ministry data showing 425,239 police complaints filed in just the first half of 2026.
Whether new AI surveillance and prison reforms she’s promised change that outcome, or whether critics’ fears of repeating her father's authoritarian excesses prove founded, is likely to define the first real test of her presidency.
