Since the beginning of the year, Maduro has redoubled allegations of coup plans and assassination attempts, with plenty of accusations against media, businessmen, and foreign dignitaries. 

Colombia’s central political battles have nearly been reduced to “Communists” vs. “Fascists.” 

Eduardo Cunha, the new Speaker of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, is an “entrepreneur” of policy and a master of realpolitik who reminds some in Brazil of Frank Underwood (the central character in the U.S. television series House of Cards) in his ability to debase high-minded policy. 

The Mexican private sector says security concerns are now affecting the bottom line, and they are calling on politicians to act.  And while some would give President Enrique Peña Nieto more credit, others point to the breakdown of politics since the massacre of the student teachers in Guerrero. 

The son of former presidential candidate, Óscar Iván Zuluaga, paid $95,000 to the “Peace Talks hacker.” 

The law that will amend the binomial system relaxes the requirements for forming a party and could affect governance. 

Jesús “Chuo” Torrealba predicted a “likely victory for the opposition” in the parliamentary elections scheduled for the second half of the year, driven by what he sees as the yawning breach growing between the government of Nicolás Maduro and Venezuelans suffering severe economic hardship. 

The dirty money scandal plagues the Chilean Right a year after it suffered a crushing defeat, while the Chilean Senate votes to end the Pinochet-era electoral system. 

President Dilma Rousseff begins her second term with a divided country, an economy in crisis, and a massive corruption scandal at Petrobras. 

Most of the candidates who would be president have made it to the Atlantic coast for vacation and political exposure.