A Cuban doctor working in Brazil has sought political asylum in the office of a conservative party complaining that Cuba's communist government takes too big a slice of her pay, a party official said on Wednesday. Ramona Rodriguez, 51, entered the office of the center-right Democratas party leadership in the lower chamber of Brazil's Congress on Tuesday afternoon and slept the night on a sofa, the official said.

A national body to combat human trafficking has been set up in Brazil as part of a new strategy aimed at tackling the crime; but without much needed changes in the law, slave labor in the country will continue to flourish.

Cuban President Raul Castro called on Latin American and Caribbean leaders Tuesday to work together on pressing regional problems at a gathering of all Western Hemisphere nations except the U.S. and Canada.

In less than four years, more than 1.6 million individuals and businesses, mostly start-ups, have created a website with an address ending with .co. That is a staggering number for a new top-level domain (the last bit of a web address). Contrast that with .biz, which was introduced in 2000 and by April last year had chalked up just 2.4 million registrations.

Criminal agendas could represent a critical "blind spot" in attempts to resolve armed conflicts in Latin America, capable of sabotaging negotiations and derailing entire peace processes. Taking these agendas into account in two ongoing peace processes in Latin America could now be the difference between sustainable peace and continued turmoil.

Thirty years ago, after the fall of Argentina’s military dictatorship following defeat in the Malvinas/Falklands war with Britain, a newly elected President Raúl Alfonsín created the Human Rights Commission known as Conadep (Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas, or National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons). The first of its kind, Conadep’s main purpose was to investigate the crimes committed by the preceding military dictatorship and bring its perpetrators to justice.

The 2013 list of the world's 50 most dangerous cities, compiled by an NGO from Mexico, shows how shifting criminal dynamics through the year have affected violence in places like Cali, San Salvador, Ciudad Juarez and Medellin. San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is the most dangerous city in the world for the third year in a row, according to the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on 100,000 Strong in the Americas on Friday, January 17, 2014, at 2:45 p.m. at the Department of State. The event will also feature remarks by Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson, and Special Advisor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.