News - Government and politics

Honduras and Nicaragua have been granted a total of US$390 million in development grants by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US government entity designed to promote development in emerging countries.

A bill to increase the efficiency of judicial procedures in Costa Rica passed its first round in the legislative assembly on 1 November.

Left-of-centre Argentine president Néstor Kirchner has emerged much stronger from legislative and local elections on 10 October. The Argentine bar, while cautious, are quietly positive about what the result means for the economy.

A package of energy reforms, which would open up Mexico's state-owned oil and gas industry to more private investment, has been proposed by Mexican president Vicente Fox.

The Peruvian bar is concerned that the government is not doing enough to protect the country's business interests against social unrest.

The US's approval of CAFTA has raised hopes in the Andean region that their own version will be finalised soon An Andean free trade agreement - between Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and the US - has been under negotiation since May last year. Last month the parties agreed on customs procedures and competition policy.

FKP Sojuzplodoimport, a Russian state-owned enterprise, has won an injunction from a Brazilian court allowing it to import the original Stolichnaya vodka into Brazil. The injunction is the first trademark decision in Brazil based on consumer choice.

The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has won approval from the US Senate. The region's lawyers can look forward to a slew of work once the agreement begins to take effect.

Political unrest in Bolivia is requiring intense crisis management from leading law firms - both for clients and on their own behalf.

CASA Isenbeck, the Argentine beer company, has won its case in the Argentine court of appeal seeking the revocation of preliminary injunctions which barred the company from mentioning the rival Quilmes brand in television, print and radio advertisements. The decision was delivered on May 19.

The government of El Salvador is preparing new legislation to regulate the country’s financial institutions. The Ley de Supervision y Regulacion del Sistemo Financiero will centralise control and supervision of pensions, stock market regulation, banking and insurance. The first draft is due before Congress in June.

A new government can bring more than just a change in regulatory approach; it can alter the fabric of the legal framework. Investors have tried to protect themselves against this uncertainty through complex insurance products. But when the chips are down, can you really count on them? Jeanne C. Olivier, of Shearman & Sterling LLP, argues you can if the circumstances are right, but the lessons of recent history need to be carefully considered.

Mexican internet company Corporación México Escolástica SA de CV (Escolástica) has won a trademark infringement case brought against it by US book publisher and marketer of educational materials Scholastic. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Escolástica on June 7.

Global consumer products company Rayovac Corporation has bought leading Brazilian battery manufacturer Microlite SA from a joint venture led by Germany’s Varta AG, for US$28 million in cash, plus future payments based on the company’s performance until June 30, 2005. The deal closed on May 28. The sellers were joint-venturers Varta, Interelectrica Administração e Participações Ltda and Tabriza Brasil Empreendimentos Ltda. Prior to the transaction Microlite owned the Rayovac trademark in Brazil. As a result of the sale, Rayovac now owns worldwide rights to the “Rayovac” brand name.

José Antonio Moreno Ruffinelli, founding partner of Moreno Ruffinelli & Asociados, has returned to the firm after successfully finishing his term as Minister of Foreign Affairs for Paraguay. He left office on August 15. According to the firm, his appointment two and a half years ago was "widely regarded as a response to the local and international community insisting on the need to have a respected and well-known figure in the field for the key position".