All Latin America Monitor

From three former presidents under investigation for charges for money laundering to selling pardons, and over 90 percent of Peru's mayors accused of corruption, Peru is facing systemic corruption.

A bomb exploded in downtown Santiago Monday, the largest of 30 bombings so far this year. Prosecutors are uncertain about who is carrying out the attacks.

Nobody else has either. The Central Bank has failed to release certain economic indicators, like Venezuela's inflation rate, for months.

Prison overcrowding is widespread in Latin America, but Costa Rica has slowly started to implement politically sensitive, but needed, reforms. This includes vocational training programs and resisting tougher drug-sentencing laws.

Yes, homicides are increasing in the municipalities that surround Rio de Janeiro, but these areas have traditionally witnessed higher rates of violence than the city itself.

In order to kickstart El Salvador's economy, convincing local investors to keep their money at home could be critical first step.

The US Agency for International Development was alleged to have been using its programs as cover to undermine the Cuban government. It's far from the first recent claim of political meddling for the US aid arm.

A new label launched in the US and Colombia this week will certify products that were made without forced labor or trafficking victims.

Venezuela has faced increasingly tough economic and political times since the death in March 2013 of Hugo Chávez. President Maduro is promoting religious imagery related to the former leader and creating a 'civil religion' around his legacy.

From the inauguration of a politically charged favela cable car to the sacking of top newspaper O Globo's Rio editor, July was more than just soccer in Brazil.

Crime and the economy are motivating many Central Americans to leave the region, however, the link isn't straightforward. Murder rates, for example, improved slightly in El Salvador and Guatemala in recent years.

Buses carrying supporters home from the ruling party's 35th anniversary celebration were ambushed. Some point to rearmed anti-communist contras, but the government denies such groups exist.

US and Central American campaigns are deploying ominous cartoon characters and catchy tunes – not to mention some grandmotherly advice – to deter children from migrating north.

Both successful and unsuccessful migration to the US cause problems back in Central America, from inflation to broken families.

Really?

President Ortega and a mysterious businessman announced 'the biggest construction project in the history of mankind' has a green light. But many in Nicaragua remain skeptical.

When Brazil decided to host the World Cup there was hope that both rich and poor citizens could see games live on their home turf. That hasn't been the case.

The answer lies in the gang violence that impacts so many communities where these children live, found one researcher, who conducted hundreds of interviews in the Central American nation.

Luis Suárez's bite attack on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini yesterday could see him kicked out of the World Cup. But in his home country there's denial and finger-pointing - at the English of all people.