By ANTONIO GARZA, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico

Over the past few weeks, the U.S. Congress has been focused on impeachment proceedings. With so much activity and the situation very much in flux, I recommend Axios for up to date coverage and Five Thirty Eight for polling on the ongoing constitutional process.

This week, the U.S. Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown, as congressional leaders have yet to reach a compromise on comprehensive spending bills. House and Senate leaders were eventually able to pass a stopgap measure, which U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Thursday, Nov. 21, hours before the deadline, funding the U.S. government through Dec. 20. But Congress will have to keep negotiating to reach a compromise on thornier issues, such as the president’s desired border wall funding.

With the year’s end quickly drawing near, global trade agreements also appear to be increasingly out of reach. It it is looking unlikely that there will be a U.S.-China agreement by the end of the year, or even in early 2020. And, after more than two years, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) is also not yet a done deal.

On Thursday, Nov. 21, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi noted that even if Congress was able to get a deal soon, there wouldn’t be enough time to finish the agreement by year’s end. Freshman democrats and U.S. labor organizations have continued to express skepticism that Mexico’s higher wage laws will be adequately enforced and reduce the differences among the salaries in the three countries. Without their support, it will be very difficult to move forward with the agreement.

For months, the United States’ trade battles have dragged down global growth. Yet, assuming that the trade deals eventually come to fruition, there could be a slight reversal of the recent negative trends. Earlier in the week, Morgan Stanley projected that global growth could shift upward from 3 percent to 3.2 percent, and Goldman Sachs published analysis suggesting that global growth should stabilize in 2020, as tariffs and monetary policy ease up.

Across Latin America, there has also been ongoing political uncertainty. In recent weeks, protestors have filled the streets and clanged pans to make their voices heard. Their discontent has been widespread and varied, taking shape against corruption, election tampering, economic malaise and unfulfilled promises to reduce economic inequality.The current wave of protests began in early October, as Ecuadorians paralyzed the federal government and country over a slashed fuel subsidy and austerity package. By mid-October, an uptick in the Santiago metro fare sparked protests and brought general discontent into the open and into the streets of Chile. On Nov.10, after several weeks of protests and an international auditor confirming electoral irregularities, the Bolivian military pushed President Evo Morales to resign and ushered in a power vacuum and even more protests. And on Nov. 16, Venezuelans took to the streets once again by the thousands to support Juan Guaidó and stand up to Nicolás Maduro’s grip on power.