As much of the world’s media continues to focus on the politics of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the continued violent protests in the Ukraine, another country closer to home threatens to descend into civil war. Street demonstrations throughout Venezuela, now entering their second week, have turned a country already suffering from high rates of violent crime and murders into a battleground.

The massive protests sweeping Venezuela come at a time when many in that country have an increasingly dark view of both their own standard of living and the direction of the nation’s economy. A record low 33% of Venezuelans said their standard of living was improving, according to a Gallup poll conducted last fall and released Tuesday. Just a year earlier, 54% had said their standard of living was improving.

One often hears that Brazil’s economy is stuck in the “middle-income trap.” Since the debt crisis of the 1980’s, Brazil has failed to revive the structural transformation and per capita income growth that had characterized the previous three decades. But, with the right mix of policies, it could finally change its fortunes.

Tens of thousands of white-clad demonstrators flooded the streets of eastern Caracas yesterday in the largest show of strength so far against President Nicholás Maduro’s rule. The arrest of opposition firebrand Leopoldo López for fomenting unrest – and the heavy-handed tactics of security forces – hasn’t snapped the momentum of the demonstrations. Instead, Venezuela's fractured opposition banded together to denounce the jailing of Mr. López and the government’s broader crackdown on dissent.

On a warm summer morning earlier this month, dozens of building workers were putting the finishing touches to the restoration of Casa Moreyra, a 17th-century colonial manor house in San Isidro, the business district of Lima, Peru’s capital. With an investment of $6m, Casa Moreyra is the new home of Astrid y Gastón, a restaurant ranked 14th in the world by Restaurant magazine.

Colombia offered “permanent training” in human rights and landmine programs to countries of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) during a meeting on Thursday, according to the Colombian Defense Ministry.

Many objected when Secretary of State John Kerry referred to Latin America as "the backyard" of the United States last April. While his statement may have been intended as an innocuous comment on geography, the implications of his words represent an all too common attitude about our Southerly neighbors that is not only ignorant, but often inaccurate. 

Venezuelan street demonstrations entered their second week after National Guard troops arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez following protests that have left five people dead, including one today. Crowds gathered today in downtown Caracas in front of the Palace of Justice after the Voluntad Popular party called on supporters to rally behind Lopez.