Less than three months before the most important soccer event in the world, mass demonstrations continue throughout the country. 

Cuba needs to attract $2 billion to $2.5 billion in foreign direct investment per year to reach its economic growth target of 7 percent, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, said on Cuban state television. 

Representatives of Latin American immigrants in the U.S. asked Pope Francis to intercede with U.S. President Barack Obama to end deportations of undocumented immigrants. 

In early April Panama hosted the Ninth World Economic Forum for Latin America, and expected to host 600 leaders from government, industry, civil society, and academia from over fifty  countries, there to analyze the challenges facing the region. 

Legalization will not solve the world’s narcotics problem, the UN anti-drugs chief insisted, indicating his disapproval of the decision by Uruguay to allow the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana, according to the MercoPress of Montevideo. 

Sebastián Premici wrote in Página/12 of Buenos Aires that the Argentine government is one step closer to a compensation deal with Spaniards. 

In La Jornada of Mexico City Eric Nepomuceno observed that while Brazil will host the 2014 Soccer World Cup in a few short months, there are still “concerns.” 

MercoPress of Montevideo reported that the Argentine government made known that its social programs were praised by FAO and World Bank.  Argentina welcomed some of the “positive and favorable comments” by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank regarding the country’s social and economic agenda, but regretted that “certain” media

Inside Costa Rica of San José says Russia has its eyes on expanding its military presence by establishing military bases in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba according to a statement by Russian Defense Minister, Serguei Shoigu, and Costa Rica is not thrilled by the proposal. 

Camilo Mejía Giraldo wrote in Colombia Reports of Medellín that Colombia’s Inspector General has submitted a request to meet with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) to explain his office’s decision to remove and politically sanction the Mayor of Bogotá.