Opening a three-day trip to the Caribbean and Central America, President Barack Obama hopes to capitalize on mutual needs in the face of expanding Chinese influence and weakening power by Venezuela, once the energy juggernaut of the Americas.

Three major countries that have been a thorn in the side of the United States are going to see diminishing influence over the coming years because of declining oil prices.

We're making a working visit to Venezuela, primarily for sharing with the cultural authorities of the country and to publicize the work of Cuban collaborators of the Cultural Mission Corazon Adentro, Fernando Rojas, Deputy Minister of Culture of Cuba, said in Venezuela.

China has dramatically scaled up its global loan book over the past five years by dealing with countries largely ignored by Western lenders, whether for political reasons (Russia) or economic (Argentina). 

Some Caribbean and Central American countries are bracing for cutbacks in shipments of cut-rate oil from Venezuela, as Caracas struggles with sliding crude prices and a spiraling economic crisis.

As Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro grapples with chronic shortages of consumer goods and the world's highest inflation rate at 63 percent, he has turned to China for help.

The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, The Council for International People's Friendship, Rashid Diab Arts Centre and Al-Faisal Cultural Centre launched recently a traditional Venezuelan and Sudanese songs dedicated to friendship between peoples on October 22nd, 2014.

The U.S. State Department released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report today, which classified countries based on their efforts to combat the practice. There aren’t automatic penalties for countries found to be in violation, but the law does at least suggest that that the U.S. refrain from providing non-humanitarian aid to the worst offenders.