Peru will lead growth in Latin America, according to the IMF, while Peruvian Energy says Peru has the resources to become a hub of energy integration in the region. 

President Rousseff’s ruling PT party has been accused of receiving millions in the Petrobras graft scandal. But some commentators say the company’s troubles have been engineered by forces that do not want to see healthy state-run enterprises. 

According to information from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, the United States was the main destination for fresh Colombian flowers between January and November 2014, with exports reaching US $975.5 million, in value, growing by $21 million over the same period of 2013. 

The level of “informality” rises during Carnival. 

In Venezuela increasing fuel prices is “almost a taboo,” especially after a 1989 fuel price increase was one of the triggers of the “Caracazo,” as the “bloody social explosion” was known. 

Peru asked Argentine energy company Pluspetrol to leave a restive Amazonian town in a natural gas block to calm tensions after protests against the company this week left one dead and dozens injured. 

A group of experts led by Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz is in favor of a new system to address sovereign debt.  Stiglitz criticized the judgments against Argentina in the United States’ courts. 

Pirates preying on fishermen in the Gulf of Fonseca are becoming more and more of a threat. 

After being included in the gray list of FATF, the Panama is said to be prone to money laundering. 

The collapse of oil prices will likely have positive effects on the global economy, accelerating growth.  Yet in the region there will be losers, as well as winners as the price of oil sinks.