Latin American advances in universal access to health care face the challenge of meeting new demands arising from longer life expectancy, says a study. 

In Paraguay formal employment increased to 47% of the market; advocates in the DR warn that it is impossible to reduce poverty if the country does not invest in sex education.

About 865,000 women underwent illegal abortions in Brazil in 2013, and pressure is building for a real debate.  Peru is the country in South America where the largest number of teenagers leaves school due to pregnancy. 

A Colombian court has ordered 11 companies to halt gold-mining operations in a 50,000-hectare reserve in the northwest of the country and return the land to the native tribe that previously lived there. 

Lima, seen as a “chaotic megalopolis,” faces urgent challenges to structure its growth, while indigenous leaders in Peru are learning to use drones to look after their communities. 

Governments have ignored the issue of forced displacement in their countries, and are now being obliged to deal with millions of such victims.  

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says that well-paid jobs with social security and rights are one of the keys to ending inequality in the region.  

“From a lack of toilet paper that caused a stink, to a dearth of staple food items that left shoppers sucking salt, the Venezuelan people have been reeling under the blows of almost constant shortages for well over a year.   A recent addition to the chronic shortage list…is a scarcity of quality breast implants that

The natural wealth of the Amazon contrasts with its impoverished population without access to many basic rights, such as sanitation, housing, health and welfare, among others. 

The new Penal Code hands out a 1-3 year prison sentence that can run 16 to 19 years, based upon aggravating circumstances for every caregiver subject to its reach.