PáginaSIETE of La Paz reported that President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela created the “Vice Ministry for the People’s Supreme Social Happiness.” 

In El Universal of Mexico City Jesús Zambrano Grijalva of the PRD cut to the chase regarding the tax reform proposed by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Patricio Navia argued in the Buenos Aires Herald that in spite of Peru’s strong economic growth over the last two decades, “Peruvians show signs of discontent.” 

El Espectador of Bogotá editorialized that its neighbor’s “many problems are compounded daily.” 

The Run-Up to the Election Didn’t Look Good for the Government Marcelo Izquierdo broke it down in El Telégrafo of Guayaquil.  The opposition and dissident Peronistas expected a major victory over the governing Frente para la Victoria, FPV, especially given the absence of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was recovering from an operation.   

El Periódico of Guatemala City reported that the coffee industry in Central America will require at least two years to recover from the plague of rust, which has affected half of the region’s plantations and about 500,000 jobs, and caused losses of $681 million U.S. dollars,

La Tribuna of Tegucigalpa recounted the death of yet another young victim of severe dengue. 

Dominican Today of Santo Domingo announced that the environmental organization Grupo Jaragua won the Brugal distillers’ Grand Prize 2013, for its work to protect the country’s natural resources, in the 22nd annual awards hosted by the Brugal Foundation.  

Dominican Today of Santo Domingo lamented that the number of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans in New York City will fall by 2020, according to a demographic study released City University of New York’s (CUNY) Social Studies Center. 

The Buenos Aires Herald reported that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expelled the top U.S. diplomat in his country, along with two others, accusing them of meeting with opposition leaders and encouraging “acts of sabotage” against his country.