EMERGING MARKETS-Most Latam currencies firm, Brazilian real lags

    * Brazilian real falls to near three-month low
    * Fed minutes show split over jobs, bond-buying taper
    * Colombian shares jump to four-month highs

 (Adds comments, bullets; Updates prices throughout)
    By Susan Mathew and Shreyashi Sanyal
    Aug 18 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies firmed on
Wednesday as the dollar struggled for direction after the
release of minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting,
while Brazil's real was hit by political tensions. 
    Brazil's real slumped 1.6%, hitting
three-month lows. 
    With elections due next year and President Jair Bolsonaro's
popularity plunging amid allegations of corruption and his
handling of the pandemic, analysts were concerned about the
actions he might take. 
    "Our concerns center around President Bolsonaro attempting
to rally support for his re-election, and in turn, potentially
implementing policies that place Brazil's fiscal and debt
trajectory on a more unsustainable path," said Brendan McKenna,
economist and currency strategist at Wells Fargo Securities. 
    "Given these rising fiscal and political risks, we expect
the Brazilian real to come under renewed pressure next year."
    Meanwhile with the dollar trading sideways and oil prices
recovering, Colombia's peso rose 0.7%. {O/R}
    Minutes from the Fed's meeting last month showed officials
felt the employment benchmark for decreasing support for the
U.S. economy "could be reached this year," but had not yet been
satisfied. 
    "It's clear from the minutes that the Fed isn't ready to
start tapering yet, but they are leaning towards making an
announcement by the end of the year at the latest," said Chris
Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor
Alliance. 
    "In the short run, the market is going to remain focused on
growth and Delta variant concerns."
    Massive stimulus from major central banks to combat the
economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic have helped
inflows into riskier assets. Tapering of those measures could
have a negative impact on emerging market assets, although
analysts say the possibility of a crisis is low as economies and
markets are better prepared. 
    Chile's peso was up 0.3%, snapping a four-day losing
streak after data showed economic growth rose 1% from April to
June compared to the first quarter.  
    The data set prompted economists at Capital Economics to
raise Chile's 2021 GDP growth forecast to 10% from 9%
previously.  
    Peru's sol rose 0.4%. In a blow to President Pedro
Castillo's newly formed cabinet, Peru's foreign minister, Hector
Bejar, resigned on Tuesday amid outrage over remarks he made
before taking office about a rebel group that killed tens of
thousands of people.
    His resignation comes days ahead of a confidence vote on the
cabinet, usually within 30 days since the cabinet is announced.
    Colombian shares jumped 2% to hit a four-month
high, extending gains to a seventh straight session. 
    
    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1905 GMT:
    
        Stock indexes                 Latest    Daily %
                                                change
 MSCI Emerging Markets                 1261.67     0.47
 MSCI LatAm                            2408.38    -1.16
 Brazil Bovespa                      117945.17     0.04
 Mexico IPC                           51999.62     0.82
 Chile IPSA                            4342.25      0.5
 Argentina MerVal                     67678.69   -0.471
 Colombia COLCAP                       1328.43     2.05
                                                       
            Currencies                Latest    Daily %
                                                change
 Brazil real                            5.3504    -1.55
 Mexico peso                           19.9775     0.10
 Chile peso                              786.9     0.36
 Colombia peso                            3847     0.75
 Peru sol                                4.088    -0.17
 Argentina peso (interbank)            97.2500     0.00
                                                
 Argentina peso (parallel)                 179     2.23
                                                
 
    
    

 (Reporting by Susan Mathew, Medha Singh and Shreyashi Sanyal in
Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum)