FT Latam Viva for January 27, 2017

	11:42 AM (17 hours ago)
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Trump vs Mexico: the gloves come off By Joe Leahy  January 27, 2017 Remember the media speculation about how US President Donald Trump would moderate his seemingly outrageous campaign promises? That was, as he would say, “fake news”. Mexico is discovering to its horror that Trump is a man of his word - and a man of action, for better or for worse. In his first days in office, he signed off his plans to build a wall along part of the 3145-kilometre border between the US and Mexico. Even more outrageously from the Mexican point of view, he is fulfilling his campaign promise to force his smaller and poorer southern neighbor to pay for it. Proposals include a 20 per cent import tax on imports from Mexico. Mexican president Enrique Penã Neto cancelled a planned meeting with Mr Trump at the White House and Vincente Fox, the former president of Mexico, put the US president straight by tweeting: “Mexico is not going to pay for that f*****g wall.” Mr Trump also cancelled the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would have united the US, Mexico, Peru and Chile with countries in Asia and Oceania in a free trade agreement. While Mexico tried to keep the spirit of the deal alive by beginning negotiations with other member countries excluding the US, the rest of the continent was keeping its head down rather than risk catching the notice of the rampaging Trump administration. In Brazil, there were some other distractions. After a long Christmas and New Year break, the Petrobras investigation roared back to life with federal police seeking the arrest of Eike Batista, formerly Brazil’s richest man, on accusations of corruption. Police drove into the former oil and logistics magnate’s mansion in Rio de Janeiro in the wee hours of Thursday morning only to find he was not home. He apparently left earlier in the week for New York. He is now considered a fugitive from justice, although his lawyers say he plans to return home soon and give himself in to police. Quote of the week “Simply put, any policy proposal which drives up costs of Corona, tequila, or margaritas is a big-time bad idea. Mucho Sad” – Tweet from Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator and frequent critic of Mr Trump Chart of the week Brazil’s unstoppable market and currency rally The week in review FTfm: Mexican stand-off looms between Fed and White House   Janet Yellen wants restraint and the Trump team wants stimulus, writes John Dizard     Fast FT: Trump, Peña Nieto speak on telephone a day after summit plans collapse       Trump’s campaign rhetoric raises stakes in Mexico   Diplomatic collision course puts investors’ nerves put to the test     Carlos Slim calls press conference following Trump Mexico tweets       Eike Batista sought in Brazil corruption probe   Sweeping Petrobras investigation targets highest-profile business figure yet     Brazil prison riots serve to highlight a broken system   Unrest and ‘Lava Jato’ corruption case underline inequality and iniquity in jails     White House weighs 20% import tax to fund US-Mexico border wall   Peña Nieto cancels Washington summit in first diplomatic row for new administration     Gillian Tett: Donald Trump’s campaign shifted odds by making big data personal   Social media surveys helped to target thousands of individuals in swing states     Mexican president scraps Trump meeting over border wall dispute   Enrique Peña Nieto insists his country will not pay for US leader’s project     Fast FT: Mexico's president says it will not pay for Trump's wall       Trump begins to put anti-immigration promises into action   President raises concern among allies as he expresses openness to waterboarding     Mexico braced for confrontation with Trump team   Enrique Peña Nieto vows to stand up to Nafta pressure from new US president     FT LatAm Viva features commentary by the FT's Latin America team and stories from across the FT. Forward this email to friends and colleagues, who can sign up here. Send your feedback to viva@ft.com Subscribe to the FT