On the face of it, the pundits appear to have got their projections for Latin America’s two biggest economies upside down this year. Mexico, which started with the most promise, unexpectedly suffered a 0.7% slump in the second quarter compared with the first three months, according to data released on August 20th, due to a slump in construction, mining and exports. Brazil, which has been the subject of much hand-wringing since China’s demand for commodities collapsed, is expected to show decent growth when second-quarter figures are published on August 30th.

Brazil’s foreign minister on Thursday denied that the government’s plan to hire 4,000 Cuban doctors to work in isolated areas has any “ideological aspect.” The decision “was taken to improve public services and has no ideological motivation of any kind,” Antonio Patriota told a congressional committee. The aim is to offer medical services in places where Brazilian professionals do not want to go, he said. “There are many Cuban doctors ready to do that type of work and perhaps not many Austrian doctors, for example, who want to do it,” Patriota said.

I got into the public diplomacy game as a local hire as a Foreign Service National (FSN) working for the Israeli Foreign Ministry as a Press Officer for the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest. As such, I have a deep appreciation for others who work as FSN for various foreign ministries and the U.S. Department of State.

Brazil said Wednesday it is moving to secure its communications through its own satellite and digital networks to end its dependence on the United States, which is accused of electronically spying on the region. "Brazil is in favor of greater decentralization: Internet governance must be multilateral and multisectoral with a broader participation," Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo told a congressional panel.

The head of the Olympic Public Authority (APO), Marcio Fortes, delivered his letter of resignation, raising concerns about Brazil’s handling of the preparations for the upcoming Games. The resignation of one of the most senior figures involved in planning of the 2016 Olympics comes just two weeks before a team of inspectors from the International Olympic Committee were scheduled to visit Rio.

The strength in U.S.-Brazil relations remains in the shared values of the two nations, says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. On his first visit to the country as secretary of state, Kerry said Brazil and the United States “share a remarkable and dynamic partnership” — one that should not be derailed by inevitable disagreements. “I ask the people of Brazil,” Kerry said in Brasilia August 13, “to stay focused on the important realities of our relationship, the bilateral relations between our countries which continue to grow stronger and stronger.”

Press reports of Secretary of State Kerry’s description of the Western Hemisphere as “our backyard” overlooked the next words, “[our] neighborhood … I think there are relationships we could improve.” [1] The focus on “our backyard” caused President Evo Morales to announce on May 1, 2013 that he was expelling the USAID mission from Bolivia because, among other accusations, it reminded hemispheric leaders of U.S. relations toward the hemisphere during the Cold War.

How is social media affecting political participation in Brazil? Fábio Malini, who studies data patterns in Brazilian social media, spoke to AS/COA Online about how Twitter is changing the ways Brazilians interact with the government, as well as the role of social media in Brazil’s June protests. One of the heads of the Research Laboratory on Internet and Cyberculture (Labic) at the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Malini uses big data and data visualization to explore the evolution of social media in Brazil.