With one country out of its ranks and another trying to make its way in, Mercosur has come to a virtual standstill. 

–Researched and written by Brandon Cartagena The Venezuelan government closed its border with Colombia in 2015, but swarms of Venezuelan citizens have been crossing the border to purchase basic goods that are unavailable in their home country. Due to the high demand for Colombian goods, the Venezuelan government has allowed temporary visits to Colombia; however,

The tenth Joint Commission of Cooperation will take place between Bolivia and Ecuador and will be led by Fernando Yépez, vice minister of Foreign Affairs and Political Integration of Ecuador and his Bolivian counterpart Juan Carlos Alurralde.

The Mercosur summit, originally scheduled for July in Montevideo, will not occur due to political instability in Brazil and Venezuela.

Honduras proposed a system to observe the competitiveness of Central America.

Bolivia, Brazil, and Perú created the Centro de Inteligencia Policial (Center for Police Intelligence) to win the war against drugs.

Amid the political crisis in Venezuela, Colombian public officials have expressed concern over a potential influx of Venezuelan migrants.

Representatives of Chile and Bolivia appeared before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to determine a timeline for litigation over the disputed body of water, the Silala.

Over the last five years, Mexican drug cartels have begun to control drug markets in Central American countries.

Peruvian, Chilean, and Bolivian truck drivers protesting excessive customs fines continue to blockade the border crossing between Chile and Peru.