Argentina was one of six countries to be chosen to join BRICS earlier this year, but with the election of Javier Milei as the new president-elect, this will no longer be the case.

Colombian President Petro is working to boost public spending and increase economic growth, particularly in the face of his quickly declining approval ratings. Petro needs to prove that his policies can benefit the people or he's unlikely to win re-election in 2026.

On November 1st, President of Brazil Lula da Silva announced that 3,600 military personnel will be deployed to increase security in the country’s most important airports—Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo—and ports—Port of Rio de Janeiro and Santos Port in Sao Paulo.

On October 26th, Maria Machado overwhelmingly won the opposition-organized presidential primary in Venezuela, with 93% of the vote. Roughly two and half million Venezuelans made it out to vote in hopes of having a presidential candidate to challenge Nicolas Maduro and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in the 2024 presidential elections.

Colombia and Israel have suspended all sales and supplies of both defense and military hardware. This could severely impact the maintenance and production of key military equipment in Colombia, as they utilize a lot of Israeli equipment and technology across its military force.

With Paraguay taking over the presidency of the Mercosur trade block, the Paraguayan president has said that trade negotiations will stop with the EU if a deal is not reached soon. It looks as though Mercosur will turn to Asia should relations with the EU remain unresolved.

On September 12th, Guyana allowed bids from several international oil companies, including Exxon and TotalEnergies, for the right to explore 14 offshore oil blocks. Negotiations with the bidders will take place next month. However, neighboring Venezuela has voiced its displeasure with the Guyanese auction, arguing that Guyana does not have sovereign rights over the area and therefore cannot grant rights to third parties for oil exploration.  

On September 9th, a federal judge in New York ordered the nation of Argentina to pay $16 billion to minority shareholders of YPF, over the Argentine government’s 2012 seizure of a majority stake in the energy company. Following this concern, the current Peronist administration led by President Alberto Fernandez and Vice President Cristina Kirchner, who was President when YPF was expropriated, could be replaced by political outsider Javier Milei, a fierce libertarian with an economist background.  

During his campaign for the presidency, Petro promised major changes and initiatives that would take place during his time in office, including a focus on expanding peace processes with armed groups, environmental protection, and social welfare in historically neglected parts of Colombia. However, a year in, Petro has largely failed to deliver on his campaign goals and is facing major challenges in his administration's efforts via crumbling legislative support, personal scandals, and increasing disapproval from Colombia’s populace with their new leader.

On April 6, the United Nations ruled to “reject Venezuela’s challenge to the case’s admissibility” meaning that the ICJ officially has jurisdiction over the border dispute case. Guyana has asked the court "to rule that the 1899 border decision is valid and binding on both countries." Should the court rule favor Venezuela, Guyana could lose up to half its territory. However, should the court rule in favor of Guyana, it has the potential to become one of the largest oil producers in Latin America.