In early December 2013 Uruguay became the first country to decriminalize the production and sale of marijuana. 

Paulo de Tarso Lyra says in Correio Braziliense of Brasilia that close to finishing her third year in office and on the eve of a reelection campaign, President Dilma Rousseff is hustling to have the largest possible bunch of achievements to put before the electorate. 

Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office, led by Alejandro Ordóñez, used its power to dismiss Bogota’s mayor, Gustavo Petro, and even went on to bar him from public office for 15 years, all over “irregularities” concerning the city’s waste collection. 

President Enrique Peña Nieto took office a year ago intent on reforming Mexico’s economy even though he had no majority in Congress, and faced charges that he stole the election. 

In La Tercera of Santiago Constanza Cortés Miquel noted the huge, nationwide victory celebrations marking the successful end of the Michelle Bachelet reelection campaign.

Honduras Weekly of Tegucigalpa says that the Hernández administration has already begun.

Gestión of Lima reported that Peruvian celebrity chef Gastón Acurio has yet again said he will not run for president, but insisted that he will do “policy from the kitchen.” 

On December 8, 2013 Venezuela held municipal elections that were closely watched throughout the region as an indicator of how Venezuelans view the job performance of President Nicolás Maduro,

El Heraldo of Tegucigalpa reported that in 2013 over 37,500 Hondurans were deported by the United States. 

El Espectador of Bogotá noted that U.S. President Barack Obama’s support for the Colombian government’s dialogue with FARC gives a new twist