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Illustrating how the Bank's role in Latin America and the Caribbean has evolved in recent decades, countries in the region now turn increasingly to the institution for more than direct lending, including such services as risk insurance, commodity swaps, and climate adaptation finance.

The region is doing worse. "Latin America and the Caribbean finds itself in the fifth year of an economic slowdown and the second consecutive year of GDP contraction. Worsening external conditions coupled with domestic challenges have reduced expectations for regional growth to -0.7 percent in 2015, with economic activity projected to drop to -1.3 percent in 2016." But also, Mexico and the Caribbean are experiencing 2% growth, while South America is declining 1.7% or more. Why?

I think it is because (and this is just a theory, I do not know for certain) Mexico and the Caribbean have a direct relationship with the USA, which gives them extra economical assistance outside the World Bank.

It's really cool that the women referred to in the article (Dilma Rousseff, Michelle Bachelet, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Keiko Fujimori) are taking their countries by storm. These countries are obviously very forward-thinking, and I admire them for it.

It's amazing how much power women can have in countries that Americans often think of as less developed than the US. These women are really taking control, when here in America we have yet to elect a female president or vice-president.

I want to echo Shalina's point. It's surprising that in the United States we still have not had a female President or Vice President, whereas countries that we often consider inferior to ours, such as Argentina and Peru, have already had female leaders. Though not mentioned in the article, another influential country that has already had a female leader is England- which first had a female Prime Minister over thirty years ago!

This is video evidence on the toxic pollution caused by Texaco, bought by Chevron, which now refuses to take responsibility to clean it up. A family friend used to be a geologist and work examining soil quality. The company she worked at got most of their business from (I think) Chevron. Chevron (or some other company) would finish with well sites and then neglect to clean them up/ make them safe. When environmental agencies requested that Chevron examine and clean up their left over sites, Chevron made our friend's company file a report saying that they were "monitoring" the site to see what happens. Basically, instead of working to help the environment, they were helping a big petroleum company squirm out of taking responsibility. She eventually quit her job because 1) it wasn't what she had hoped it would be, and 2) there was nothing to do all day, since one of their only jobs was to report that sites were being "monitored" and meanwhile do nothing. NOTE: take this story with a grain of salt, because I don't remember the conversation perfectly, nor do I know the details of her job, the company, the situation, etc... this is just my general recollection.

Yeah I sort of feel ignorant right now because i honestly had no idea that that was going on. I am shocked at how blatant that is. When i first saw the oil on the ground i was like wow that horrible but then i was even further horrified with i realized that it was so blatant they even put a pipe connecting it to the rest of the forest for drainage purposes. It is unbelievable what huge corporations do to the world and make a huge profit by polluting someone else's backyard. :( awesome video though Heather. Thank you for educating me

Last year Latino Club went to see "Crude" (Heather, I think you went too) and it only built off of what you see in this video here. The rivers that he was saying would get contaminated are used by different villages and many people developed cancer and other health problems from the oil in their water. It's appalling what Chevron did and, as you all said, how few people know about it.

An interesting article on the Chilean election. This theme reflects on our study of economic approaches, in particular the aftermath of the shock therapy first instituted in Latin America to combat inflation in Chile. This policy was so painful for so many people that, in the 2000s, South America experienced a sharp political left turn, one of whose leaders is Chavez. He has ruled Venezuela with an almost autocratic grip, but seems at his weakest in years for this year's election.

I was shocked (and horrified) to see that such a small group of men could harass and rape over 200 women, including an 80 year old, with UN peacekeepers located up the street. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

This spring I watched a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival called "Ruined". It was about women in the Congo: a "ruined" or raped woman runs a bar for soldiers and hires girls to show them a "good time". It was a really heart-wrenching play. I assume that "demolished", the word the woman uses, is, like "ruined", just another translation for "raped". It's interesting that they use a word that signifies total destruction, but also fitting. "Ruined" women often cannot find husbands, or are beaten or killed by their families out of shame. It is so bizarre and disgusting that rape has become such a common side-effect in the Congo. I wonder how accepted it is among the soldiers, or if they receive any punishment for their actions (I'm leaning towards no). I feel as though rape has by now become integrated into the military culture in the Congo. It's not just catching individuals, it's trying to thwart a whole mentality. Which will be very difficult to do, since they have much greater force than the UN presence. The description of how people try to stay as close to UN escort trucks as possible and camp outside the UN houses really illustrates the fear and feeling of defenselessness they must feel. It must be terrifying to live in the Congo right now, both as a villager and a UN worker. I understand why there are no women soldiers stationed there.

Now that Nigeria has been declared ebola free, there is a sense of relief that the virus can be contained; however, with over 9,000 people having been infected (and growing) the epidemic still has enormous potential to grow and the response should remain aggressive. It is a blessing and a curse that Nigeria is ebola free, though, because now more infected people will be sent there in hopes of being treated with Nigeria's so called "better care", increasing the chances of the ebola virus being reintroduced into the country.

WASHINGTON - Defying Western efforts to confront the Islamic State on the battlefield, the group has evolved in its reach and organizational ability, with increasingly dangerous hubs outside Iraq and Syria and strategies that call for using spectacular acts of violence against civilians.

The downing of the Russian airplane last week and the attacks in Paris, are these game changers? This is a very interesting g article. Thanks, Sawyer.

This article is an example of economic globalization. Chinese investments in Southern Africa are becoming more strained as reforms and regulations changes the economic outlook of South Africa.

While developed, western countries are trying to eradicate the actual virus, lockdown measures and global trade disruptions is more dangerous to less developed countries

good find, Cole! I really appreciate that you are looking further than US news outlets!

Karzai and corruption

Somalia pirates and politics and a failed state

over $1 million of laptops given by US taxpayers to Iraqi children fail to reach their destination. . .

An interesting article from the International Herald Tribune about an area not often covered in the papers. 

Comparing immigration issues in two Advanced industrial countries; France and the US