All Americas
Uruguay: Another Latin American country goes against US drug policyUruguay is considering legalizing and regulating marijuana sales in an effort to cut cocaine consumption and remove a significant source of funding for criminal groups, reports InSight Crime.
Rio+20: Growing cities and the search for clean water accessLives revolve around finding water in parts of Mexico City, a megacity where 33 percent of residents don't have daily access to it.- Central America: one of the happiest regions on earth?According to the new Happy Planet Index, Central America is one of the happiest regions in the world. Don't mind the violence.
- Chile and the temptations of petro-populismIf Venezuela and Chile agree on one thing, it's the merits of keeping citizens happy with access to cheap gas and parking, writes a guest blogger.
Rio+20 welcomes heads of state, but change driven at local levelLeading up to the Rio+20 conference, there was skepticism an agreement on a green future could even be drafted before global leaders arrived. But real action is taking place at the community level.- Latest shortage to plague Venezuela? Parking spotsParking prices are controlled by the government, writes a guest blogger, and recent legislation that irked the national parking association has resulted in drastically curtailed garage schedules.
- WikiLeaks' Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador, an anti-press regimeAssange defends the publishing of classified diplomatic cables as a right to freedom of expression, but turned to a country that has been accused of limiting press freedom in recent years.
G-20 deal sets up BRICS to backstop eurocrisisPower shifts are on display at the G-20 in Mexico as emerging markets pledge funds to the International Monetary Fund in order to avert a European meltdown and its global impact.
As Rio+20 kicks off, locals on the front lines of conservationAs the world gathers in Rio on June 20 to discuss how to move toward a more sustainable future, locals have the self-interest to conserve as a source of income and sustainable way of life.
At G-20, Mexico joins negotiations for next generation trade deal with AsiaThe Trans-Pacific Partnership 鈥� including the US, Vietnam, and seven other countries 鈥� was a priority for Mexico. It includes labor rights and small business development.
Immigration reform: Will the US go any further?Changing illegal immigration is like trying to apply car brakes on a boat: It only drifts, trapped in the same current, writes a guest blogger.
Hosting the G20, Mexico is 'Greece no more'Mexico is increasingly speaking as a world leader as it shed its image as the 'Greece of the '80s and '90s,' when it suffered excruciating debt and monetary crises.
Rio+20: Brazil's big testRio+20 kicks into gear June 20 with the arrival of about 100 heads of state. 'As usual,' writes a guest blogger, everything is coming together last minute for the 50,000-plus visitors to Rio.
Mexicans hail Obama's call for a freeze on deporting young illegal immigrantsToday, President Obama ordered his administration to stop deporting young immigrants who came to the US illegally as kids and don't pose a security threat.
Traveling to the Rio+20 Earth Summit? A list of what to see and do.As thousands descend upon Rio for the Rio+20 sustainability conference, here's a list of some of the newest attractions 鈥� beyond the beach.
Venezuela building drones and assault riflesOver a dozen of the hemisphere's militaries already have drones, and small arms remain the much larger threat to the region's security, writes a guest blogger. They could be stolen and trafficked.
Rio+20: Latin American cities on the frontlinesA report released in the lead-up to the Rio+20 global sustainability conference says 95 percent of cities in Latin America are planning how to tackle the negative effects of climate change.
Falklands war 30 years on: Will a vote solve the dispute?Of all the potential solutions for the Falkland Islands conflict, the most creative is the one allegedly floated by iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges in 1982: Give them to Bolivia.- Why prescription drug abuse in the US impacts Latin AmericaA new Senate report says prescription drug abuse is one of the biggest drug policy threats facing the US, casting doubt on the conventional wisdom of Latin American cartels posing the greatest risk.
Brazil hosts Rio+20: a big surprise to some at homeEnvironmental consciousness may be on the rise in Brazil, but only 22 percent of Brazilians know what Rio+20 鈥� the global sustainability conference they are hosting 鈥� is, writes a guest blogger.