Obesity weighs on Latin America after success in fighting hunger.  More than half of Latin American adults are overweight, and the percentage increases for the region’s poorest inhabitants. 

Honduras wants to target 400,000 illiterates, and the government expects to double the number of people who attend literacy programs. 

El Salvador has worked to reduce “extreme rural poverty,” but the numbers are squishy.  About 14 percent of the Honduran population does not have electrical service, mainly in rural areas and poor neighborhoods.  In Panama neglect of the rural sector has worsened since 2009, cutting the number of people working in agricultural production. 

Critics say the rapid deterioration of the Venezuelan economy, marked by distressing levels of scarcity that keep the shelves of supermarkets empty, is pushing the Maduro government towards a new stage of political instability. 

Hundreds of Indians, members of the Achuar community, disrupted production in 16 oil wells operated by Pluspetrol; Peru is one of the countries of Latin America that most reduced its poverty. 

Colombian women complain of the lack of attention by the authorities to cases of domestic violence, while Peruvian officials say domestic violence hurts society’s productivity. 

President-elect Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay will take steps to reduce the work week for its citizens. 

Journalists have been harassed and detained, while many small farmers refuse to make way. 

People are moving down market to avoid the higher costs of name brands. 

Income inequality in Latin America has been underestimated, but it’s known to be high, said French economist Thomas Piketty.