OAS Commission warns that democracy without a free press will dissolve. 

July 3rd, 2014 Juan Carlos Varela took office on July 1 as Panama’s president, pledging to finish a troublesome canal expansion, stamp out corruption and get more people out of poverty. 

UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) had been silent about abuses in Venezuela, though voices in the human rights community and on the Venezuelan left are beginning to speak out against President Nicolás Maduro. 

  Brazil’s World Cup could have a huge effect on the October presidential election; leaders of the Brazilian Labor Party broke with the governing coalition and have gone over to the opposition candidate.  

Horacio Serpa urged former President Uribe to respect democracy as President Santos must now deal with a plethora of conflicting interests, and the leader of the UP says Colombia’s left must reorganize and unite. 

The arguments over voluntary versus compulsory voting in Latin America continue, and were given new strength after the presidential election in Colombia in which just shy of 50% of voters turned out. 

The PRSC calls on Dominican women to restore family values. 

Colombians stay the course and reelect their president.  The peace process was the key. 

There is still no dialogue in Venezuela, and the opposition says it’s the result of President Maduro’s intransigence. 

The Mayor of Mexico City has a will to defend the rights of the elderly, and says the city has a “clear commitment to the left.”