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

President Juan Manuel Santos faces many challenges in the year ahead, including completing the peace process, navigating between opposition on the right and left, and maintaining national unity before regional elections.  For Mayor Petro, the most high-profile politician on the Colombian Left who was temporarily pushed from his office last year, time is running out

The northern coast of Peru receives international recognition as a tourist destination, while Puno’s Candelaria Festival was declared by UNESCO to be part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Peru. 

Costa Rican hotel owners and tour guides “may have to start learning Mandarin” if President Luis Guillermo Solís’ administration makes good on their goal of courting more Chinese tourists.  

Boosters say the destination is an oasis of peace, ideal for rest and healthy recreation options. 

Residents of Itapé, in the Department of Guaira, claim that the sugar company Azucar Paraguaya SA (AZPA) dumps waste into the Tebicuarymí River, killing fish. 

Five active fires in La Pampa to the south and west of the Greater BA area involve thousands of hectares. 

The mysterious collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization has been attributed to a variety of factors, but in recent years the theory of prolonged, extreme drought has been gaining ground among the scientific community. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged billions of investment dollars for Latin America over the next five years as part of a drive to boost China’s influence in the region. 

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will be travelling to Beijing to return the visit from her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last July, when the bilateral relation was upgraded to a “comprehensive strategic association.”