Here is our Thursday Sociedad Media Now newsletter on the latest stories in Economics, Trade, and Everyday Life in Latin America.
Chile’s Kast Inherits Economic Emergency. Now His Austerity Agenda Is Bringing Students Into the Streets
SANTIAGO, CHILE — Three months after winning Chile’s presidency with 58% of the vote, José Antonio Kast is governing through the sharpest social unrest his government has faced — inheriting a structural fiscal deficit of 3.6% of GDP, more than double what the outgoing Boric administration claimed, and responding with a $6 billion austerity plan that sent thousands of students and teachers into the streets of Santiago this week, clashing with police and carrying signs warning Colombia that the same awaits if de la Espriella wins on June 21.
South America’s Most Ambitious Infrastructure Project Is Almost Complete — And It Will Change How the World Trades With the Continent
ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY — With just 21 meters of concrete separating the two ends of a 1,294-meter bridge over the Paraguay River, South America’s most ambitious infrastructure project is days from a historic milestone — a transcontinental road corridor spanning 2,400 kilometers across Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile that will connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, cut shipping times to China by up to 17 days, and reshape freight economics and investment calculations across the Southern Cone before the end of 2026.
Latin America Is Turning Right — And the Money Is Moving to Miami
MIAMI — As right-wing governments sweep across the region — Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and potentially Colombia — the most significant reallocation of Latin American capital in a decade is flowing to one city — Miami — where Latin American buyers acquired 49% of all new South Florida luxury units in cash; JPMorgan’s Latin American private banking team expanded by 10%; and a new generation of fintech platforms including dLocal, Securitize, and the Leste Group are positioning the city as the operating system through which Latin American capital moves, invests, and compounds.
