Having returned to his native Latin America, Francis has renewed his left-leaning critiques on the inequalities of capitalism, describing it as an underlying cause of global injustice, and a prime cause of climate change. 

Pope Francis denounced the "throwaway" culture of today's society that discards anyone who is unproductive as he celebrated his first public Mass in Bolivia on Thursday, one of the key days of his South American pilgrimage.

Several Taiwanese hospitals are offering medical assistance to the nation’s diplomatic allies in Latin America and the Caribbean in an effort to promote medical diplomacy, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said on Thursday.

Premier Li Keqiang is bringing along another group on his trip to Latin America as he tries to increase China’s influence and soft power in the region – novelists. A special delegation will attend a seminar in Colombia on cultural exchanges between China and Latin America, the People’s Daily reported.

And the new star in Latin America is ... the United States? The reviews are in, and while the United States still faces plenty of tricky relations in a diverse region of 35 states, President Obama walked away with more salutes than swipes from a regional Summit of the Americas where the United States usually takes a drubbing. The question now is whether Mr. Obama and his successors can capitalize on the new credibility Washington has earned, primarily through his reconciliation with Havana.