In La Hora of Guatemala City Marion Castañón examined the outlook for young people in Guatemala, where 69% of the nation’s 15 million inhabitants are under 30 years of age. 

El Heraldo of Tegucigalpa reported that Honduras joined Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama in reducing the portion of its population that suffers from undernourishment to fewer than 10%, according to data provided by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Vistazo Magazine of Quito noted that Ecuador is the Latin American country with the largest number of theft victims, followed by Peru and Bolivia, according to the Human Development Report for the region, 2013-2014, by the United Nations (UNDP). 

El Comercio of Quito observed that despite the widespread “body worship” found in Rio de Janeiro, and its beach culture of “dental floss” bikinis, and the so-called “monokini,” the Brazilian city still retains a good deal of “modesty” and legal “taboos.” 

El Espectador of Bogotá editorialized about attempts to intimidate and control the press in Ecuador, and insisted that Colombia’s media “cannot help but protest the situations faced by our colleagues” there. 

In The Rio Times of Rio de Janeiro María López Conde pointed to the “irregularities” exposed in Brazil’s “More Doctors Program” as Cuban doctors defect.  Groups that represent Brazilian doctors published an open letter criticizing the harsh conditions imposed by the Programa Mais Médicos (More Doctors Program) on its participants on Sunday, February 9th.

Giuliana Vallone wrote in Folha de São Paulo that everyday fear of aggression makes gay people walk in groups in São Paulo.  Biologist Julián Polidoro, 26, joined the sad statistics when he became a victim of a homophobic attack on Paulista Avenue. 

In Honduras Weekly of Tegucigalpa Michael Lohmuller observed that “Honduras’ new government has lauded increased arrests and drug seizures under the new president’s hard line security policy, although reports that the country’s prisons generate US$180 million in illegal annual earnings serve as a reminder of the negative effects that filling prisons can have.

Prensa Libre of Guatemala City reported that indigenous young people, especially children, are the most vulnerable to becoming slaves because the trafficking networks offer them work in tortillerías  in the capital and make them believe that they will have a better life. 

Luis Mealla wrote in La Razón of La Paz that the governments of Bolivia and Peru are preparing a new strategic agreement that will include the ability to export Bolivian gas to overseas markets through the Peruvian port Ilo, a possibility already explored ten years ago.