Increasing growth, while fighting economic inequality, is the challenge for Panama, which is leading the pack in Latin America in curbing cigarette consumption. 

Brazil approved a landmark Internet Rights Law while President Rousseff announced welfare reform. 

Peruvian universities were ranked low in the latest international competitiveness rankings as the legislature debates measures for university education. 

In mid May farmers ended their strike in southwest Colombia, but remained skeptical of the government’s plan. 

The Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment limiting military jurisdiction in cases of crimes by military personnel against citizens so that members of the armed forces can be prosecuted in civilian courts. 

Members of various student organizations assembled in Plaza Italia to express their interest in the process of education reform. 

Incumbent vice president turned opposition candidate, Juan Carlos Varela, won Panama’s presidential election. 

In Brazil, Guatemala, and El Salvador past dirty wars continue to reverberate, while in Colombia and Mexico they never actually ended.  Current practices of political violence (or the threat of its use) and torture show clear continuities with the past. 

Paramilitary groups and so-called “self-defense” groups are active in Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador (as well as other counties).  Some are community-based while others have clear ties to organized crime and regional elites. 

Many observers in Brazil and Argentina are pointing to the futility of the “war on drugs.”