Cuba flight, Taiwan trade pushback, Panama probe: 7 Latin America relations reads

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Air China scrambles to fly stranded passengers out of fuel-starved Cuba

As a US oil embargo deepened Cuba’s energy crisis, dozens of Air China passengers found themselves stranded on the island.

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2. Paraguay tech minister defies Beijing sanctions, vows to deepen Taiwan ties

Paraguay’s technology minister said that sanctions imposed on him by Beijing over his country’s ties with Taiwan would only accelerate joint projects with the island. “This sanction is, at its core, a certification that what we have been doing since 2023 is the right path,” he wrote in a lengthy social media post.

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3. Brazil’s Lula hails Chinese investors as rival pitches rare earths to Trump

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva named China as a possible partner in his critical minerals plans, three days before he won re-election. He told Flow, one of the country’s most-watched podcasts, that Brazil should stop shipping out raw ore. “We want to transform them here in Brazil,” he said of the minerals.

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4. ‘Comrade Raul’: Beijing defends Cuba’s ex-leader over Florida murder warrant

China condemned an arrest warrant issued in the US state of Florida for former Cuban president Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of two civilian planes, accusing the United States of using the courts to pressure Havana.

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5. Panama auditor targets ex-port regulators, CK Hutchison’s subsidiary in canal probe

Panama’s comptroller general said that his office would send prosecutors more audit material on former executives of CK Hutchison’s local subsidiary next week, as part of a criminal investigation into the Hong Kong conglomerate’s annulled Panama Canal ports concession.

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6. Honduras targets Chinese shops, state builder as President Asfura sits on Taiwan pledge

Honduran migration officials summoned or placed under review 41 Chinese nationals after inspecting shops in the capital and a hospital being built by a state-owned contractor from China in the south of the country.

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7. China bought half of Brazil’s oil exports as Iran war drove sales to record

Trade between Brazil and China reached a record US$143 billion in the first nine months of this year, driven by Brazilian oil sales that surged after the war on Iran disrupted Gulf supply, according to a report released by the Brazil-China Business Council in October.