Editor's note: This article was first published in The American Lawyer's April issue.

Brazil is expected to drive the bulk of mergers, acquisitions and other deals this year in Latin America, as pro-business President Jaír Bolsonaro unloads public assets and dials back government investment.

The region's largest economy should draw an outsize amount of attention, lawyers say, picking up slack from the second-largest economy, Mexico, as anxiety over the decisions of leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador makes investors more wary of Mexico.