Mexican manufacturing reported annual declines in the first quarter of 2014 in 9 of its 21 subsectors, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (NEGI).  

Used by Colombian rural people for centuries to clear land, machetes are becoming a significant business for Colombia, which has become the world’s largest exporter. 

Havana is turning more state businesses into cooperatives as part of its political balancing act in allowing the slow but controlled rise of capitalism. 

In late March 2014 several “lynchings” were carried out or at least attempted in various cities of Argentina.  In one, 18-year-old David Moreira was killed by a group of citizens after he allegedly tried to steal a woman’s purse in Rosario. 

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Honduras leads the region (and Central America leads the world) in homicides for the fifth consecutive year. 

With the World Cup just a couple months away, expect a lot more troops in Brazilian streets this year, but it probably won’t mean more security. 

The latest cycle of talks between the government and the FARC ended without agreement, but the guerrillas pushed for the establishment of a truth commission. 

With the backing of former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, the Aché indigenous community of Paraguay filed a complaint for genocide committed during the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. 

The governments of Panama and Peru signed two agreements to establish in Panamanian territory a subsidiary of state-owned Peruvian Services, Industriales de la Marina (SIMA), and promote bilateral maritime cooperation in the fight against organized crime. 

Everyone would agree that when elected officials become prisoners of special interests, or are provided with corrupting perks, “democracy becomes more oligarchic,” which helps “destroy the citizen’s trust” in the system.