A visit by Chinese specialists in Tibetan studies provided an important opportunity for Chileans to understand more about Tibet, the director of the delegation said Tuesday.

Latin America already has significant Chinese investments and trade agreements under its belt, but the region could set its sights on another resource-hungry Asian giant: India. A new report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recognizes that, even though Latin America’s commercial ties with India have been on the upswing in recent years, more could be done to build up the South Asian country as a Latin American market.

Some come from nearby villages just over the next mountain ridge. Others must walk or ride a bus for hours over frigid Andean mountain passes. Regardless of their origin, they have one thing in common: they are rural indigenous students looking for a high-quality, low-cost college education.

The sight of youngsters speaking Chinese in the Mexican heartland is unusual, to say the least. Parents told that pupils as young as 9 would be taught Mandarin had been skeptical. Wouldn't French or Italian (Romance languages closer to Spanish) make more sense? some wondered. Savvy Mexican politicians have other ideas.

Audiences for daytime shows have shrunk in the United States since the 1980s, as the number of channels increased and more women entered the workforce...By relegating soap operas to daytime television and female audiences and resisting changes to a formula that worked during the 1950s and 1960s, the United States could inadvertently relinquish a hefty, if unintentional, tool in its soft-power arsenal.

In the last several years, at least since 2004, Iran has created a large network of installations of various kinds in Venezuela and in other countries in Latin America. It has engaged vigorously in activities covering such areas as diplomacy, commerce, finance, industry and energy. The total of the announced investments of Iran in Latin America exceeds $20 billion.

Most Latin Americans responded enthusiastically to Barack Obama’s election and to his first statements and actions on U.S. relations with Latin America. President Obama’s statement at the Trinidad Summit of the Americas that his administration sought a relationship “without senior and junior partners” epitomized what was attractive about the Obama vision.

APDS Blogger: Hilary Tone

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 into law, legalizing one of the harshest immigration enforcement laws this country has seen in decades. SB1070, dubbed by some as the “Papers, Please” law, is a hefty piece of legislation whose creators claim that the unprecedented crack down on illegal immigration will lead to safer neighborhoods in Arizona.