Workers at Antofagasta Minerals’ Centinela mine voted 98.73% in favour of a strike over equal pay and brought their protest to Santiago. Chile’s unemployment rate reached 9.6% in June–August, industrial production fell 5.7% in August, and copper output dropped 12.8%. Labor disputes, household costs and government measures shaped economic news across the region.
Workers and Household Costs
In Chile, the head of shipping line CSAV said labor reforms were costing US$4 billion. President José Antonio Kast sent Congress a bill to extend a monthly fuel bonus of 100,000 pesos, about US$103, for taxis, shared taxis and school transport until December. Chile’s Senate president ruled that migrant detention reform could return with 29 Senate votes.
Argentina’s pensions rose 1.66% for October, while rents under contracts adjusted every three months by the central bank’s ICL index rose 6.72%. Utility bills changed, too. A report in Ámbito said Javier Milei’s image recovery was slowing because of wages, utility bills and household debt.
In Colombia, unemployment rose to 9.4% in August, above an 8.1% forecast and the 8.6% rate a year earlier, according to DANE. The government requested an IMF technical mission and discussed possible financing. The fiscal-rule committee, Carf, projected a 2026 deficit of 7.8% of GDP, compared with the government’s 7.2% projection.
Markets, Ownership and State Action
Brazil’s Ibovespa closed Wednesday up 1.37% at 186,340 points, and the real firmed 0.53% to 5.1743 per U.S. dollar. A Quaest runoff poll released Monday showed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro tied at 42% each ahead of the first round on 4 October. Datafolha’s poll on 24 September put Lula at 47% and Flávio at 45%, within the margin of error. A runoff is scheduled for 25 October if needed.
The Superior Electoral Court began judging a dispute over false posts claiming Flávio Bolsonaro would strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her title. The court formed a majority to keep offline posts linking Flávio Bolsonaro or his family directly to the claim. Under the electoral code, voters can’t be arrested from Tuesday until 17:00 on 6 October, except when caught in the act.
In Argentina, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Milei’s decree lifting limits on foreign ownership of rural land. Milei was in Paris for an investment week, with a speech at the OECD and a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron scheduled for Thursday. Mining exports topped US$6 billion in eight months, helped by a 190% jump in lithium. INDEC estimated residents held US$268.8 billion in foreign cash and deposits outside Argentina’s banks.
Colombia’s central bank raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 12.25%, against expectations of a hold. The vote was 4–2–1. After the decision, the peso firmed 0.68% to 3,307.50 per U.S. dollar, while the COLCAP fell 0.38% to 2,549 points. A decree also banned imports made with forced labour.
Regional Pressures and Responses
In Mexico, exports rose 40.4% in August to about US$78 billion, and shipments of electrical and electronic equipment more than doubled, according to INEGI data. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned 21 people and 25 entities linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, including Carlos Torres Torres, the ex-husband of Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila. Banxico Governor Victoria Rodríguez Ceja said Mexico needn’t mechanically follow the Federal Reserve; the policy rate was 6.50%.
Hurricane Polo made landfall in Baja California Sur and then Sonora, flooding parts of Puerto San Carlos and closing schools in Sonora. No deaths were reported in Baja California Sur.
Colombia’s trucking association counted 2,841 road blockades, with an estimated cost of about 12.7 trillion pesos, or US$3.8 billion. President Abelardo de la Espriella ordered Juan Guillermo Monsalve, a key witness in the Uribe case, transferred to the high-security Cómbita prison. Monsalve was briefly hospitalised, then discharged and sent to Cómbita.
Regional market closes were mixed. Mexico’s S&P/BMV IPC fell 1.38%, Chile’s S&P IPSA fell 0.78%, Argentina’s S&P Merval rose 1.32%, and Colombia’s COLCAP fell 0.38%.