Patricia Laya

Venezuela is ramping up dollar sales to the private sector as authorities try to contain a slide in the bolivar that risks reigniting hyperinflation, sources say bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Colombia’s largest oil workers union dropped a strike threat after Ecopetrol's chief executive officer was removed following a board decision bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Wild story: President appoints someone to the central bank recommended by his own finance minister. The appointee resists the president's demands to approve bigger rate cuts, and now the president says he "stupidly" followed the minister's advice, leading to "the worst mistake of my government." Economists say the appointee is maintaining an important source of confidence that inflation won't be a bigger problem.

Colombia Finance Minister German Avila abruptly left Tuesday’s central bank board meeting, where officials were widely expected to increase interest rates, a ministry official said bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Gustavo Petro says that naming Olga Lucía Acosta to Colombia’s central bank was his biggest blunder. Others credit her with saving the monetary authority’s independence and the nation’s inflation-targeting model, @omedinacruz reports bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The US Embassy in Venezuela is formally resuming operations Monday, the latest step in the Trump administration’s plan to spur the nation’s economic recovery and eventual democratic transition bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Lo prometido es deuda. Aquí les dejo la crónica muy detallada que escribí para ⁦@EfectoCocuyo⁩ de cómo ver a Nicolás Maduro y Cilia Flores a 3 metros de distancia durante su audiencia en NY. Solo 50 personas entramos y yo fui una de ellas… efectococuyo.com/internacionale…

Nicolás Maduro is set to return to a Manhattan federal court Thursday as the US pushes forward with a broad drug-trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy case against the ousted Venezuelan. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Ecopetrol’s board will decide March 30 on CEO Ricardo Roa, as political backing clashes with union threats and internal divisions, raising the stakes for Colombia’s largest oil company bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

A defaulted bond issued by an old Venezuelan power company and long regarded as a lost-cause by investors has almost doubled in value this year bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Great from from @bloggingsbyboz on the Delcyfication of US foreign policy. boz.substack.com/p/a-delcyfied-…

As I told @business here, naming González López defense minister makes it look like #Venezuela's Delcy Rodríguez might be unable to present a credible image of change to Venezuelans due to her ongoing internal balancing act inside the ruling party. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez ousted defense chief Vladimir Padrino in a sweeping shake-up of the armed forces bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Venezuela beat the US in the World Baseball Classic finals 3-2, capping off an exciting tournament that saw major upsets, record viewership and significant buzz bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Venezuela’s interim government appointed new leadership at Citgo, its most valuable foreign asset, a week after the US recognized the administration led by Delcy Rodríguez, a move that could reshape control of the refiner bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Colombia and Ecuador traded accusations over alleged bombing along their chaotic joint border, raising tensions that were already high due to a trade war bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

“In terms of the real tangible progress for ordinary Venezuelans, there isn’t much to show. Inflation is high, the bolivar is losing value, and people are still earning poverty wages.” @philgunson bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The Trump administration promised Venezuelans economic prosperity after removing Maduro from power. Life has only gotten harder in the two months since, with annualized inflation reaching 600% in February, the highest in the world: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

As Trump prepared to take out Maduro, the CIA asked Chevron’s man in Venezuela for advice. Take out the entire regime and install an opposition led by María Corina Machado and you’ll create a quagmire, he told them. That concern landed on Trump’s desk. wsj.com/world/americas…

The Trump administration is working with Venezuela’s interim government to bring a key ally of ousted leader Nicolás Maduro to the US to face prosecution on charges that could include money laundering, according to sources bloomberg.com/news/articles/…