LatAm Expat & Nomad Daily Guide for Saturday, August 8, 2026
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Good morning. Your LatAm expat nomad daily guide opens on what Colombia’s new government said it will do to taxes, a soft US jobs number that moved every currency in the region, and a weekend of parades.
00The LatAm Expat Nomad Daily Guide Status Board
| Story | Yesterday | Today | Next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia handover | Ceremony day in Cali | Wealth tax and fracking announced | Whether Congress takes the tax bill |
| Cali restrictions | Car-free day and dry law | Drone ban only, to 11:59 p.m. | Normal from Sunday |
| US rates | Jobs report due | Payrolls fell 23,000 | Fed on hold; September odds down |
| Regional currencies | Quiet | Peso and sol at multi-month highs | Monday reopen |
| Argentina | Country risk near 440 | 451 and a sixth down session | INDEC inflation on 13 August |
| Brazil weather | Cyclone hits Rio and São Paulo | Wind alert holds through today | Clearing Sunday |
01Visas & Residency
| Where | What changed | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Colombia | The new government says it will abolish the wealth tax as the centrepiece of a structural tax reform, and announced a decree freezing public spending. Nothing has passed Congress. | The wealth tax is the levy that catches foreign tax residents on worldwide assets above the threshold, so this is the single biggest change to the calculus of becoming a Colombian tax resident in years — if it survives Congress. Do not restructure anything on an announcement. |
| Colombia | Fracking will be re-authorised under what the president called responsible and sustainable technical standards. | Nothing for your visa. It matters for energy costs and for anyone with upstream exposure, and it will draw an immediate court challenge. |
| Region-wide | No visa or residency rule changed anywhere in the region on Friday or overnight. | The rules that bind you today are the ones that bound you last week — Argentina’s border insurance check, Brazil and Panama’s insurance conditions on visas, and the tighter tourist-stay enforcement across the region. |
02Cost of Living & Money
Markets are closed for the weekend, so the rates below are Friday’s close — except the Colombian peso, where the official rate is set daily and carries through today. The direction of travel came from Washington: US payrolls fell 23,000 in July against a consensus of about 80,000 gains, with May and June revised down by a combined 103,000 and participation at a five-year low of 61.4 percent. The dollar sagged and every currency in the region firmed.
| Currency | Per US$ | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Brazilian real | 5.09 | firmer on the US data |
| Mexican peso | 17.14 | five-month high for the peso; intraday 17.09 |
| Colombian peso | 3,157 | official rate in force today |
| Chilean peso | 915 | barely moved |
| Peruvian sol | 3.38 | four-month low for the dollar |
| Argentine peso | 1,520 | retail; blue near 1,525, CCL near 1,579 |
| Uruguayan peso | 40.25 | stable |
If you earn in dollars and spend in pesos or soles, this is the worst level since March in Mexico and since April in Peru. If you have a local obligation you were planning to fund, the arithmetic just got worse. The Fed is on hold at 3.50 to 3.75 percent, and the market cut the odds of a September hike from about 57 percent to about 44 after the jobs print — an unusual direction for this region to be reading. Mexico’s Banxico held at 6.50 percent on Thursday, its second hold in a row.
Argentina is the exception and it is worth watching. Country risk closed at 451 basis points, up 3 percent on the day and the highest since June, with the Merval down for a sixth straight session while Wall Street rallied. The blue-dollar gap has collapsed to under half a percent, but the CCL gap has widened to about 5.6 percent — the tell that the pressure is on institutional money leaving rather than retail.
03What’s On
Sunday is the big day. Medellín’s Feria de las Flores closes with the Desfile de Silleteros, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., in its 69th edition, with around 700 silleteros carrying flower arrangements that can weigh over 100 kilos along a 2.4-kilometre route. Get there early and check the route on the day — local outlets are giving different versions of it.
Cali opens the 30th Festival Petronio Álvarez the same day with the commemorative parade “Bundeando pa’ la Casa Grande”, with more than 1,600 participants from 23 Pacific-coast colonias. The main programme — the music competition, the traditional-expressions showcase and the Caserío Pacífico — runs 12 to 17 August at the Unidad Deportiva Alberto Galindo.
In Brazil, Sunday is Dia dos Pais. Restaurants in Rio and São Paulo will be full and reservations scarce, so book today if you have not. São Paulo also has the Heritage Festival and the Festa de Nossa Senhora Achiropita, the Italian street festival in Bixiga. In Mexico City, the Festival de Culturas Indígenas, Pueblos y Barrios Originarios is running free in the Zócalo until 23 August, with a large food pavilion.
04Art & Culture
The Petronio is the cultural event of the Colombian year for anyone interested in Afro-Pacific music, and the 30th edition adds a Global Afro-Diasporic Summit and an anniversary exhibition. If you are in Cali this week, the free programming around the Unidad Deportiva is the part most visitors miss.
Medellín’s silleteros are the older tradition — campesino flower growers from Santa Elena who once carried their stock into the city on their backs, now carrying arrangements as artworks. It is the one day of the year the city genuinely stops.
05Food & Coffee
Two practical notes. In São Paulo and Rio, Father’s Day Sunday is the single busiest restaurant day of the Brazilian winter — if you want a table anywhere good, today is the last realistic moment to book. And in Cali, the Caserío Pacífico at the Petronio is the best week of the year to eat Pacific-coast food outside the coast itself, from encocados to viche.
06Community & Safety
Brazil. The cyclone has moved out to sea, but INMET’s windstorm alert runs through today across eleven states including Rio, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, with gusts of up to 100 km/h possible on the Rio and São Paulo coasts. The Port of Santos channel was shut for about 90 minutes on Friday and ferry services were halted. Expect residual delays at Santos Dumont and Congonhas and rough seas. The serious damage was in Rio Grande do Sul on Thursday: one person killed, five injured, 118 municipalities reporting damage, more than 1,800 people out of their homes and around 229,000 properties still without power on Friday afternoon.
Cali. The drone ban over Cali and neighbouring municipalities runs until 11:59 p.m. tonight, enforced with anti-drone systems, and downtown road closures hold through today. If you are heading to Sunday’s Petronio parade, expect closures to be lifting only through Sunday morning. Our guide to the Cali restrictions has the detail.
07What to Watch — August 8–17
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Colombia’s new president announce?
Abelardo De La Espriella said the wealth tax will be abolished as part of a structural tax reform, announced a decree freezing public spending, and confirmed that fracking will be re-authorised. All of it is announced; the tax reform needs Congress.
Why did the Mexican peso and Peruvian sol strengthen?
US payrolls fell 23,000 in July against a consensus of about 80,000 gains, with 103,000 in downward revisions. The dollar weakened and the peso hit a five-month high while the sol hit a four-month high.
What are today’s exchange rates?
At Friday’s close the dollar bought roughly 5.09 Brazilian reais, 17.14 Mexican pesos, 915 Chilean pesos and 3.38 Peruvian soles. Colombia’s official rate in force today is 3,157.
Is it safe to travel in Cali this weekend?
Yes, with restrictions. The drone ban over Cali and neighbouring municipalities runs until 11:59 p.m. tonight and downtown road closures hold through today. The car-free day and alcohol ban applied only on Friday.
What is happening in Medellín and Cali on Sunday?
Medellín closes the Feria de las Flores with the Desfile de Silleteros from 2 p.m., the 69th edition with around 700 silleteros. Cali opens the 30th Festival Petronio Álvarez with a commemorative parade.
Connected Coverage
Sources: Presidency of Colombia; El Tiempo; INDEC; BCRA; Banco de la República (TRM); US Bureau of Labor Statistics; Banco de México; INMET; Defesa Civil do Rio Grande do Sul; Alcaldía de Cali; Alcaldía de Medellín; IBGE.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error