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. 

In El Nuevo Diario of Managua Óscar Sánchez wrote that Nicaraguan families will continue to pay more than usual for perishable and staple grains. 

The Buenos Aires Herald reported that following a video conference from Government House, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner slammed the “speculative sectors” who “want to see us flying through the air,” and urged local politicians to help in the implementation of the Precios Cuidados program.

El Tiempo of Bogotá reported that consumer prices in Venezuela continued to increase despite promises by the government that it could control their escalation. 

In Colombia Reports of Medellín Steven Cohen noted the beginning of the 20th round of Colombian peace talks in Havana.  Like the round before it, which ended on January 23rd, the 20th round will focus on the cultivation of illicit narcotics, the third in a six-point topic agenda. 

Semana Magazine of Bogotá pointed to increasing threats against journalists in Colombia.  Since 1977, 142 journalists have been killed “in the exercise of their profession.” 

El Heraldo of Tegucigalpa noted in an editorial that over 9,000 young people have died in 16 years.  During the Porfirio “Pépe” Lobo administration alone there were 3,901 violent deaths. 

El Comercio of Quito noted that thirty years after his death in Paris, “Julio Cortázar and his brilliant pen continue to inspire new generations of Argentine writers.”  “I think Cortázar is present when I think about my characters, the importance of cities as recurrent settings for my fiction, as well as the quest for writing