Dealflow.la #27- Bolsonaro 🇧🇷 drops merch, Facebook 🇺🇸 takes down fake pro-Cuba 🇨🇺 and pro-Bolivia 🇧🇴 accounts, & AMLO 🇲🇽 tweets photo that he claims is a mythological Mayan woodland spirit.

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Feb 27, 2023

Funding

Kiddle Pass 🇧🇷 raised a $270,000 Seed round led by DOMO Invest 🇧🇷 with funding from COREangels 🇵🇹 and Bossanova Investimentos 🇧🇷 to make parenting easier through their online children's entertainment center. The platform specializes in engaging children in cultural, physical, educational, and leisure activities by giving them options to learn various new skills.

Dattos 🇧🇷 raised a $4.1 Million Series A round led by Igah Ventures 🇧🇷 with funding from GR8 Ventures 🇧🇷, A.B.Seed Ventures 🇺🇸, and Invest Tech 🇧🇷 to standardize, control and optimize reconciliations. The company's platform compares information from different sources, quickly identifies errors in financial controls and reports, and optimizes accounting processes, enabling clients to easily and more efficiently handle and cross-check multiple data sources, process large volumes, validate information, and deliver regulatory mechanisms.

Vaas 🇨🇴 raised a $5 Million Seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz 🇺🇸 with funding from Latitud 🇧🇷, Marathon Ventures 🇨🇴, MAYA Capital 🇧🇷, and Nazca Ventures 🇨🇱 to help the emerging private debt market. The company's platform integrates and monitor data on hedging activities, keeps track of relevant facility data and processes, and optimize collateral utilization, enabling users to automate calculations for advances, cash recycling, and reporting process.

Lemu 🇨🇱 raised an $8 Million Series A round with funding from Aramco Ventures 🇸🇦 to build an atlas of the biosphere that uses deep tech to help make conservation the best investment possible. The company helps scale nature-based solutions from conservation projects by guiding interested investors to areas of high conservation priority, and evaluating conservation outcomes by applying a local index that summarizes the evidence for conservation impact due to conservation management. Lemu also connects people, organizations, and businesses, who want to invest in nature and biodiversity conservation (investors,) with organizations, that conserve or restore biodiversity (stewards.)

Buk 🇨🇱 raised a $35 Million Seed round led by Base10 Partners 🇺🇸 with funding from Softbank Latin America 🇺🇸, and Greenoaks 🇺🇸 to manage payroll, contracts, and settlements with an electronic signature through their human resources management platform. The company's software provides performance reports and offers talent management tools to meet all the needs from the payment of salaries to professional development, enabling clients to oversee other matters, such as work environment, employee reviews, and even talent acquisition needs (surveys, performance evaluations, selection, and recruitment.)

Sociopolitical News

🇦🇷 Argentina

Argentina's government is in final talks with International Monetary Fund officials to ease foreign exchange reserves targets for 2023 under the country's $44 billion program, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. The move comes as the South American commodities exporter is facing the worst drought in 60 years, which has pummeled soy, corn, and wheat crops, compromising already weak foreign exchange reserves. Discussions include the impact of the drought on 2023 goals for net reserves, said an Argentina economy ministry adviser who asked not to be named because the talks were ongoing. (Reuters/US News)
Argentina and Chile this week offered citizenship to hundreds of Nicaraguans recently exiled by the government of President Daniel Ortega. The citizenship offers, which Spain has also made, come as human rights groups decry the move by Nicaragua's government to strip over 300 opposition figures of their citizenship. (Axios)
Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta said Thursday he will seek the presidency of Argentina, kicking off his campaign as a top contender amid a crowded field of candidates ahead of the election in October. “I want to be president so that together we end with the hate and we transform our country forever,” Larreta said in a campaign video posted on social media, speaking from an isolated lighthouse in Patagonia. (Bloomberg)

🇧🇴 Bolivia

Facebook parent company Meta said Thursday it had taken down two fake account networks with links to the governments of Cuba and Bolivia that were used to spread official propaganda and discredit the opposition. (France 24)

🇧🇷 Brazil

Brazil, the world’s biggest beef exporter, halted exports of the red meat to China after confirming a case of the animal illness known as mad cow disease. The case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was confirmed by Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday, and shipments to China were suspended as part of a trade protocol between the two nations. Brazilian authorities will be holding conversations with Chinese counterparts in a bid for a “prompt re-establishment” of trade flows, the ministry said in a statement. (Bloomberg)
Two Iranian warships docked in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government granted permission despite pressure from the United States to bar them. The IRIS Makran and IRIS Dena warships arrived on Sunday morning, Rio's port authority said in a statement. Reuters earlier this month reported that Brazil had bowed to U.S. pressure and declined Iran's request for the vessels to dock in Rio in late January, in a gesture from Lula as he flew to Washington to meet U.S. President Joe Biden. (Reuters)
The Brazilian government is closely monitoring the credit market to ensure liquidity and considering measures for specific sectors, Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron said on Monday. His comments come amid concerns of the new leftist administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva regarding the impact of high borrowing costs on economic growth, as the country's benchmark interest rate remains at a six-year high of 13.75% to combat inflation. (Reuters)
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, currently on self-imposed exile in the United States after losing his re-election bid last year, has presented his latest project: merch. With its modest selection of wooden chopping boards, beer glasses, and coffee cups, the newly launched Bolsonaro Store website offers fans of the pugnacious former president the opportunity to invest in his political future and take home a Bolsonaro-branded commemorative keepsake. "Our dream is more alive than ever," reads a wooden desk statuette that features Bolsonaro's silhouette, available for 109.9 reais ($21), which can also parceled into 12 payments of 11.03 reais. Bolsonaro's move into merch is his latest attempt to channel the success of his idol, former U.S. President Donald Trump, at monetizing the support of his base. (Reuters/US News)

🇨🇱 Chile

Chile’s government is deploying troops to its border with Peru and Bolivia to try and stem a rise in illegal immigration amid a mounting backlash against new arrivals. A bill passed by congress last month came into effect Monday, authorizing the military to take over further security tasks at the borders. Local TV showed troops patrolling one side of a ditch dug along the border high up in the Andes mountains, with would-be immigrants stranded on the other side. (Bloomberg)

🇨🇴 Colombia

Colombia and Bolivia will jointly ask the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove coca leaves from its list of prohibited substances and accept the plant's traditional uses, Colombia's government said on Wednesday. The proposal, which the two countries will make at the commission's session in Vienna in mid-March, is a bid to de-stigmatize conversations about the problem of drugs, Colombia's vice-minister for multilateral affairs, Laura Gil, said in a statement. "Bolivia and Colombia consider it is the moment to once again put this issue on the table," she said. "To remove the coca leaf - the leaf, not cocaine - from the prohibited substances list." Coca leaves are widely used in different countries in Latin America, especially by indigenous groups, to treat stomach aches and altitude sickness, among other ceremonial uses. Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro - who took office just over six months ago - has derided the U.S.-led war on drugs as a failure and called for a new international approach. (Reuters/US News)

🇪🇨 Ecuador

A major Ecuadorean Indigenous organization said on Friday it will not continue talks with the government of President Guillermo Lasso, saying the government has not complied with accords, and called for Lasso's resignation over alleged corruption. The government has said it reached dozens of accords with the CONAIE indigenous organization, including a temporary moratorium on oil blocks in the Amazon and suspension of new mining concessions in ancestral territory until community consultation laws can be passed. (Reuters)
Hitmen assassinate indigenous leader in Ecuadorian oil zone. In the area where the murder took place, the Indigenous peoples have been demanding respect for constitutional and international regulations related to the right of communities to be consulted before any oil activity is carried out in their territories. Instead of this "prior consultation" process taking place, oil companies have attempted to forcibly occupy Indigenous territories. (TeleSUR)
Ecuador's attorney general on Wednesday said she will ask for charges against former President Lenin Moreno and three dozen others for alleged corruption surrounding the construction of the country's largest hydroelectric plant between 2009 and 2018. The investigation into the case, which began in March 2019, now has the necessary documentation to ask the National Court of Justice to hold a hearing on bribery charges against Moreno and 36 other suspects, said Attorney General Diana Salazar. (Reuters)

🇸🇻 El Salvador

Thousands of detainees were transferred to El Salvador’s new mega-prison Friday, drawing suspicion from some human rights advocates who noted that the theatrical opening of what may become the world’s largest penitentiary came shortly after U.S. federal attorneys accused government officials of cutting deals with gang leaders. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele spent the weekend sharing images of inmates being moved into the mega prison, running while bent over, wearing white shorts, their feet, and chests bare. The video incorporates ominous music and the inmate’s clinking chains. (Washington Post)

🇭🇳 Honduras

Honduras expands and extends its state of emergency, as part of leftist President Xiomara Castro’s crackdown on gangs. The measure suspends some constitutional rights and allows security forces to detain people they consider to be associated with or who have committed crimes. (NBC)

🇲🇽 Mexico

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is holding a call on Monday morning with Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk, two officials said, after the Mexican leader revealed he would be talking to the "owner" of the electric vehicle maker. Lopez Obrador made his remark as he was finishing a regular morning news conference, without explaining precisely if he meant Musk, who is the company's largest shareholder. News of the call comes after Lopez Obrador said on Friday Tesla would be denied permits to build a plant in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, where the company has been considering investing, if water in the arid region is scarce. Those comments marked the strongest sign yet that the president's concerns over water supply could become a deal-breaker for Tesla's plans near the U.S.-Mexico border. (Reuters)
Tens of thousands of people filled Mexico City’s vast main plaza Sunday to protest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s electoral law changes they say threaten democracy and could mark a return to the past. The plaza is normally thought to hold nearly 100,000 people, but many protesters who couldn’t fit in the square spilled onto nearby streets. The marchers were clad mostly in white and pink — the color of the National Electoral Institute — and shouted slogans like “Don’t Touch my Vote!” Like a similar but somewhat larger march on Nov. 13, the marchers appeared somewhat more affluent than those at the average demonstration. (AP)
Mexico’s president posted a photo on his social media accounts Saturday showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not seem to be joking when he posted the photo of an “Aluxe,” a mischievous woodland spirit in Mayan folklore. López Obrador wrote the photo “was taken three days ago by an engineer, it appears to be an aluxe,” adding “everything is mystical.” The nighttime photo shows a tree with a branch forming what looks like a halo of hair, and what may be stars forming the figure’s eyes. (NBC)
A shooting by Mexican army soldiers left five people dead in the rough border city of Nuevo Laredo, igniting a clash between the soldiers and residents who came to the scene to protest. The soldiers were investigating gunshots from the area and opened fire on a pickup truck early Sunday after it failed to obey their orders to stop, according to a state crime scene report obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The report said five bodies were found in or near the bullet-riddled truck in Nuevo Laredo, which is opposite Laredo, Texas. The incident provoked a scuffle between soldiers and a large group of angry residents who believed the “victims were not armed and that there was no reason to arbitrarily kill them in this way,” the group Human Rights Committee of Nuevo Laredo said in a statement. (AP)

🇳🇮 Nicaragua

Fleeing Nicaraguans a boon to economy back home. Remittances to Nicaraguans sent home last year surged 50%, a massive jump that analysts say is directly related to the thousands of Nicaraguans who emigrated to the U.S. in the past two years. (ABC)

🇵🇦 Panama

The government of Panama temporarily suspended bus services that transfer migrants from the dangerous Darien Gap area to the north of the country Sunday after two serious mishaps aboard the vehicles. Panama’s immigration agency said no more trips would take place until transport authorities reviewed the bus lines and ensured their safety. (ABC)

🇵🇪 Peru

Peru recalls ambassador over Mexico's 'unacceptable' support for Pedro Castillo. Andrés Manuel López Obrador also said that Peru's former president, Pedro Castillo, had been "illegally ousted." Peru's current leader Dina Boluarte denounced what she said was "unacceptable" interference in its "internal affairs." She said the remarks would seriously affect relations between the nations. (BBC)

🇺🇾 Uruguay

President Luis Lacalle Pou will announce significant cuts to social security and personal income taxes during his annual address to Congress on March 2, per Finance Minister Azucena Arbeleche. Those taxes will be lowered and stay low, Arbeleche said Local FX market is well supplied with dollars from exports and tourism. “What we have today is an enormous supply of dollars that has to be accompanied by an important demand for dollars so the exchange rate doesn’t fall,” Arbeleche said. (Bloomberg)

🇻🇪 Venezuela

A conservative firebrand is seeking to take Venezuela's political opposition in a radically different tack as she works to end two decades of socialist rule. María Corina Machado, a 55-year-old former lawmaker whose father’s steel company was seized by the late Hugo Chávez, has ridden a surge in popularity to lead a pack of candidates ahead of the Oct. 22 primary vote that will decide who gets to take on President Nicolás Maduro in next year’s elections. To get on the ballot, she needs to convince followers of a fractured coalition dominated by leftist parties that a right-winger who wants to privatize the oil industry is the best person to end the autocratic movement known as Chavismo and revive an economy battered by one of history’s worst recessions. (Bloomberg)

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