* 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) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.