In early February, as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro commemorated the 15th anniversary of the coming to power of the late president Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), his political opponents conducted anti-government demonstrations that turned deadly. 

On February 3, 2014 Semana Magazine of Bogotá broke the story that members of the Colombian Army’s intelligence division were spying on government and FARC negotiators as they discuss a peace deal in Havana, Cuba. 

MercoPress of Montevideo reported that the Economy Minister of neighboring Uruguay, Mario Bergara, believes that “it is not very clear who is in charge of” Argentina’s economic policy, nor what is its “logic.”   

Xavier Bonilla, the Ecuadorean humorist and political cartoonist also known as Bonil, has received the dubious honor of being the first journalist to be sanctioned under his country’s new and controversial communications law.  By implementing the new law, the government of President Rafael Correa has fined his newspaper, El Universo of Guayaquil, $93,000 and ordered

So noted El Espectador of Bogotá.  The Peruvian president’s approval rating rose to 39%, 8 points more than in January, due to the decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague in favor of Peru over Chile regarding a territorial dispute. 

The Buenos Aires Herald recalled the old quip attributed to Mexican writer Octavio Paz: “Mexicans descended from the Aztecs, Peruvians from the Incans, and Argentines, from the boats.”  Paz sought to illustrate how Argentina is a country largely built by immigrants following the genocide of native populations by the descendants of Spanish colonialists. 

MercoPress of Montevideo reported that Uruguay will renew the contract for the purchase of Venezuela oil and accept the stake increase of that country in a local bio-fuels corporation during the scheduled visit of President Nicolás Maduro to Montevideo next month, as was announced by the Uruguayan Foreign affairs ministry. 

Eugene Malthouse wrote in The Santiago Times that Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru aim to eventually phase out all tariffs, while Costa Rica wants in on the deal.  President Sebastián Piñera met with heads of state from Colombia, Mexico and Peru for the eighth Pacific Alliance summit in the Colombian city of Cartagena on Monday,

DominicanToday of Santo Domingo recounted that President Danilo Medina said the Government’s push to bring 10 million tourists within 10 years isn’t a crazy idea and vowed to invest all the needed resources to achieve that goal. 

The Buenos Aires Herald reported that Argentina’s incoming tourists declined 7% last year.  The statistics bureau uses airport and port data to calculate the number of visitors.  The number of Argentines going abroad rose 6.2%, though “the Argentine tourism deficit,” which represents a growing strain on the Central Bank’s foreign reserves, “clocked in at US$553.5