All Americas
- Brazil: So hot right nowBrazilian culture is gaining popularity in the United States with everything from theater to video games. But its image isn't always positive or accurate.
- Historic corruption trial begins in BrazilSome 38 people are accused of buying political favors under former President Lula - whose future career could hinge on the trial.
- An accident or a plot? Deaths of Cuban dissidents raises questions.Despite Cuban government reports and public comments from the two survivors of the crash saying it was an accident, a dissident鈥檚 family believes someone ran the car off the road.
- In historic achievement, Colombian cocaine production plunges...or does it?Colombian cocaine production fell by 25 percent from 2010, according to US data. But a UN report says otherwise. Why the discrepancy?
Brazil is stamping out favela violence 鈥� now on to trash collection and educationBrazil's first impact study on its Police Pacification Units reveals that the program has significantly reduced violence, but still needs extensive reform.- Gang truce in El Salvador: An opportunity the region can't afford to missEl Salvador's gang truce needs to be followed by job training, rehabilitation programs, and humane prison conditions in order to create a sustainable peace, writes a guest blogger.
- Uruguay: A laboratory for controversial drug policies?Critics of Uruguay's marijuana legalization plan say it will bring corruption and create a black market for drugs. But Uruguay is a small and relatively stable, so why not try, asks a guest blogger.
- 5 things to watch for in Venezuelan kingpin Walid Makled's trialVenezuelan drug lord Walid Makled claims he has evidence of military and government links to the drug trade. Three months into his trial, there are several ticking time bombs to watch out for.
Cover StoryHow Latin America is reinventing the war on drugsFrustrated with US dictates, countries across the region are floating new ideas to curb drug trafficking, from 'soft' enforcement to legalization.聽- Supersized Brazil: Obesity a growing health threatThe successes of Brazil's new middle class 鈥� including greater access to jobs, technology, and rising purchasing power 鈥� could be the source of increased obesity, writes a guest blogger.
Does oil giant Chevron want Chavez to win reelection in Venezuela?Chevron has been in Venezuela since the 1920s when politicians were heavier handed than Chavez. Now, Chevron in Venezuela may be too big to nationalize, writes a guest blogger.
Honduras: Contraceptive may be handed out at Catholic church...to pigeonsNets installed at a Honduran cathedral to keep pigeons from roosting on the historic structure were met by calls of animal cruelty. Now an environmental group suggests using contraceptive feed.
Ending gang violence and creating peace: Colombia's lessons for El SalvadorA truce between El Salvador's rival gangs this year is off to a good start, but it's worth looking at lessons from Colombia, which created a program to demobilize paramilitaries a decade ago.
Caught in FARC-government crossfire, Colombia's Nasa say 'get out'The Nasa indigenous community in southwest Colombia is asserting control over its ancestral land, which has become a battleground for government troops and FARC guerrillas.
'Building Hope' in Haiti: New radio soap opera connects displaced to servicesHaiti's 2010 earthquake sent some 1.5 million Haitians to live in tent cities. A new radio series follows a family living in a camp, educating listeners on everything from health to housing services.- Rumored Zetas split: Would this bring more violence or peace for Mexico?A weakening of the Zetas in the northeast may discourage the drug gang's forays into other parts of Mexico, but internal strife often leads to more murders, writes InSight Crime.
Despite bloody headlines, Americans still flock to MexicoLast year, a record 22.7 million visitors chose Mexico as a tourist destination, and only 7 percent of American retirees who live there or travel to Mexico have been scared off by violence.
Nicaragua's Olympic hero returns to the Summer Games 鈥� as a NicaraguanMichele聽Richardson swam for the US in the '84 Olympics after the Sandinistas wouldn't let her represent her native country. Nearly 30 years later she'll lead Nicaraguan athletes at the opening ceremony.
Venezuela's liberation hero Simon Bolivar turns 229Celebrations in honor of Bolivar's birthday come in the middle of Hugo Chavez's reelection campaign, and include the opening of a personal mausoleum, writes a guest blogger.
Cuban dissident Oswaldo Pay谩 blazed path for democracy in CubaMr. Pay谩 was one of the only dissidents whose work for democratic reform reached thousands of Cubans, writes a guest blogger. He died in a car accident on Sunday.
