US religious and social leader Jesse Jackson urged Colombia on Tuesday to end its almost half a century armed conflict through reconciliation. Jackson was in the South American country to take part in a summit of Afro-descendant leaders held in the Caribbean port city of Cartagena. “I promote reconciliation. I some cases, when you can’t pick one side or the other, one should be siding with reconciliation,” the reverend said during a speech.

Venezuela was historically a reliable U.S. ally in Latin America, if always aspiring to more autonomy and a larger role in the region. This relationship was based on oil commerce and the fact that Venezuela was democratic during a period in which most other Latin American democracies broke down. During the 14 years of the Hugo Chavez government, of course, this changed.

As is always the case, the closer you get to an issue, the more complex it is. Chileans are arguing about how to make their society a more equitable one. Peruvians worry about a pause in the country’s spectacular growth, and public opinion polls show that Peruvians think corruption is the biggest challenge facing the country. The Colombian government is both negotiating with the FARC and dealing with an agrarian sector that feels it has been left out of the boom.

When contemplating the logistics of a possible war with Iran, it is helpful to consult maps indicating the multitude of US military bases that already encircle a country under crippling economic sanctions. No similar visual aids are available for Iranian bases in the vicinity of the US, for obvious reasons.However, there are various ways to compensate for the lack of an apparent Iranian threat in the western hemisphere. One is to blame it on "invisibleness".

Medellin authorities announced Thursday that Colombia’s second largest city aspires to be the principal technological innovation city of Latin America by 2021 aspires to be the principal technological innovation city of Latin America by 2021.

Looking to widen business arrangements with South American countries and increase trade with the region to $25 billion by 2015, India has lined up a series of high-level visits over this month and next, and is offering sops to exporters to explore markets in the continent. Talking to FE external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said, “India and Latin America have a large scope and potential to cooperate in the fields of energy, education and several other fields.” On the importance of the region, Khurshid said, “Latin America is something we need to work on.

The Paraguayan Army has deployed some 400 troops from its 4th Infantry Division to three northern regions — Concepción, San Pedro and Amambay — to hunt down the members of a shadowy insurgent movement, the Paraguayan People’s Army (Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo; EPP for short). The group stands accused of killing four guards at a cattle ranch and a police officer in San Pedro; the attack came days after Horacio Cartes was inaugurated as Paraguay’s new head of state on August 15. The EPP, it seems, wanted to waste no time in giving him a bloody welcome.

Colombia's police are already strategizing for the end of the country's conflict with Marxist rebels, even as the task of combating the guerrillas is increasingly falling to the police instead of the military. With talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) now almost a year old, General Jose Roberto Leon Riaño, who was director of the Colombian National Police until earlier this month, declared "the new model of service [for the police] is anticipating a post-conflict scenario, a scenario of peace."