All Latin America Monitor

Venezuela's long-stalled plan to build an oil refinery in Nicaragua is revitalized with Chávez's reelection. The refinery would give Venezuelan oil a Pacific gateway to China.

Heriberto Lazcano, a Zetas drug cartel leader, was killed in a northern Mexico gunfight on Sunday, according to the Mexican Navy. If true, it could be a major drug war victory for Mexico.

Chávez accepted his victory with grace on Sunday, and both candidates’ acceptance of the results suggest it’s time for Washington to rethink its approach on Venezuela.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes swept yesterday's municipal election. But some say his opponent could play a watchdog role as Rio prepares for the World Cup and Olympics.

Venezuelan voters, who are electing a president today, will either keep Hugo Chavez in power or give a chance to his challenger Henrique Capriles.

There are close to 2 million newly registered voters, mostly under 20 years old, so a grassroots art collective is giving Chávez a fresh look for election day with murals depicting him boxing and popping wheelies.

A new farmers cooperative in El Salvador allows small farmers to get their food to market and boost their earnings.

Capriles’s campaign comes off as very well run and professional, but without the sort of grassroots element seen in Chávez's, writes a guest blogger.

Mexican and Colombian criminal groups could start battling for control of drug trafficking routes in Ecuador, something that could further threaten the country's precarious security situation.

On the eve of the first US presidential debate, Mexicans weigh in on where President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney stand on immigration – and offer policy proposals of their own.

Cuba released many political prisoners and expanded personal economic rights this year. But everything won't change at once: The socialist country has a bloated state bureaucracy that moves slowly.

As politically-charged Venezuela heads into elections, objective analysis is hard to come by. A new report from two think tanks is an exception, writes WOLA.

Violence perpetrated by criminal groups led to 5.6 million Latin Americans living in displacement in 2011, mainly in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru, according to a displacement monitoring center.

Ballots are already printed for Sunday's election in Venezuela, but the opposition candidate's photo is shown in at least four places where, if marked, the vote will not be counted for his party.

At a Harvard University event, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner responded with gusto to a question about her government's strict currency controls.

A new São Paulo think tank is urging Brazilians to rethink the country's drug policy. Brazil's drug law changed in 2006, but many say it has backfired as the drug-related prison population has boomed.

Mexico arrested 'El Taliban,' one of its most wanted drug traffickers, on the same day that the country's president urged the UN to reassess narcotics prohibition.

Unlike other countries where an arrest like this might be considered an intimidation tactic by the president, this arrest was ordered by a judge who is relatively independent of the Brazilian government.

Ecuador says it will host Assange in its London embassy indefinitely, but the decision to continue supporting the Wikileaks founder could have negative repercussions for the Andean nation.

Though growth for Central America's smallest economy is good news, some economists say it is still insufficient to reduce poverty in Nicaragua.