The U.N. says extreme violence committed by criminal gangs inside jails highlights problems with Brazil’s penal system.  In other news, the State of Rio de Janeiro is the first in the country to plan for refugees. 

On the second day of meetings with local authorities and businessmen in Beijing, the Argentine delegation signed a bilateral agreement for the building of the Atucha III power plant using Chinese investment funds.  And other Latin America nations have their eyes on the growing Chinese market. 

Venezuela’s government has quietly secured the backing of nations in Latin America and the Caribbean to obtain a diplomatic trophy that long eluded the late Hugo Chávez: a seat on the United Nations Security Council. 

The country sent nurses, epidemiologists, and infection control experts who will focus on Sierra Leone. 

A trade mission of 23 employers in the pharmaceutical sector in India met with 85 Guatemalan companies to negotiate generic formulas on active ingredients in herbal and traditional medicines. And the Venezuelans announced the awarding of a contract to China.

Brazil, Chile, and Peru reactivated their diplomatic relations with Israel and ordered their ambassadors back to TelAviv. 

An international survey ranked Latin America countries for citizen insecurity, and noted that despite the progress made in other areas, security concerns remain a challenge. 

Brazil’s agricultural competitiveness is a concern to countries and trade blocks who are negotiating agreements with Brazil, according to Ambassador Paulo Estivallet de Mesquita, head of the Economics Department of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Relations. 

Visiting South Africa Bachelet drew comparisons between the two countries’ recent histories. 

The project is aimed at lending money to developing nations for investments, much like how the American and European-backed International Monetary Fund and World Bank operate.