ARGENTINA
Argentina Signals Willingness With Holdout Creditors

Former Spanish judge Baltazar Garzón is romancing Cristina Fernández (link in Spanish).

BRAZIL
Brazil Santa Maria nightclub fire death toll rises to 240
The death toll from Brazil’s deadliest fire in decades has risen to 240 with the death of a man in hospital, a month after the nightclub tragedy.

Social spending in Brazil
The end of poverty?

CHILE
Pinochet Tried Defying Defeat, Papers Show

COLOMBIA
Medellin is ‘most innovative city’
The Colombian city of Medellin is voted as the world’s most innovative for its modern transport system, environmental policies and cultural offerings.

Medellin – The Monotone City; The Truth About Living in Medellin, Colombia

Colombia’s economy
The black stuff
Disruption in key industries
The price of a cup of coffee
OIL may now be Colombia’s biggest export, but coal comes second and coffee, no longer paramount as it long was, is still the fifth-biggest foreign-exchange earner.

CUBA
How Cubans’ Travel Rattles the Regime
To persuade the world it is reforming, the regime lets more people travel. What they say isn’t reassuring.

Cuba’s leaders
The new man
The Castros unveil their successor

In Spain, the truth starts to come out about Paya ‘accident’

Breaking the Castro embargo, one tweet at a time

HAITI
Haiti’s ex-ruler ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier attends court

MEXICO
Mexican authorities participated in civilian disappearances, report says

¿Venganza o parteaguas?

Pena Nieto Pushes Mexico’s Ruling Party to End Pemex Monopoly

Power in Mexico
“The Teacher” in detention
Enrique Peña Nieto’s government has arrested a powerful union leader. Is this the start of something?

Oft-deported Mexican migrants keep trying to return to the United States
For Mexican men with wives, children and former jobs in the United States, the “Whisper Trail” across a rugged stretch of border heavily patrolled by U.S. officers remains their best hope of resuming their former lives.

PERU
Peru Sol Falls to Three-Month Low as Banks Buy Dollars

U.S. tourist who was missing in Peru sends greetings from military base

PUERTO RICO
New Push to Curb Puerto Rico’s Thriving Drug Trade
As Trafficking Hub Spurs Crime Wave, U.S., Local Authorities Step Up Action

VENEZUELA
Isla Presidencial: Venezuelan Internet spoof on presidents attracts serious fans
‘Isla Presidencial,’ an Internet cartoon that pillories politicos, may be at a crossroads now that Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez is out of view. Here’s their Harlem Shake episode:

Hugo’s Health

Venezuela: El imperio electrónico de Fidel – por Gral. Carlos Peñaloza

The Possibility of an Island

Speculation, Devaluation and Idiotic Policies In Venezuela

Back to court: multiple jeopardy for Leopoldo Lopez

Hugo Chavez, “battling for life”?

The week’s posts:
Separated at birth? Or is it all in the hair?

Update on Hugo Chavez

Melgen-Menendez-Noriega?

“Hugo Chavez is brain dead”

Podcast: US-Latin America : The latest from Cuba