Carlos Flores Marini was an architect and advocate of Mexican art; Neé Emelia Pérez Castellanos, better known as Ninón Sevilla, was born in Havana, Cuba, and started out to be a missionary nun, but instead followed her love of dancing and acting.

The play “The Captive,” which was performed in Lima, was investigated the by anti-terror police who alleged that it is a work of apology for the “subversive group” Sendero Luminoso, while its author says it is a story and a work of fiction.

Twenty-five years after the murder of the Jesuits in El Salvador the case still has a powerful presence, and will now make it to the small screen through the miniseries Cortar el puente. 

The dirty money scandal plagues the Chilean Right a year after it suffered a crushing defeat, while the Chilean Senate votes to end the Pinochet-era electoral system. 

President Dilma Rousseff begins her second term with a divided country, an economy in crisis, and a massive corruption scandal at Petrobras. 

Most of the candidates who would be president have made it to the Atlantic coast for vacation and political exposure. 

President Juan Manuel Santos faces many challenges in the year ahead, including completing the peace process, navigating between opposition on the right and left, and maintaining national unity before regional elections.  For Mayor Petro, the most high-profile politician on the Colombian Left who was temporarily pushed from his office last year, time is running out

The northern coast of Peru receives international recognition as a tourist destination, while Puno’s Candelaria Festival was declared by UNESCO to be part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Peru. 

Costa Rican hotel owners and tour guides “may have to start learning Mandarin” if President Luis Guillermo Solís’ administration makes good on their goal of courting more Chinese tourists.  

Boosters say the destination is an oasis of peace, ideal for rest and healthy recreation options.