In July 2003, four Havana University engineering students made the 90 mile trip from Cuba to Florida, floating on a Buick they had fitted with an engine — they had built a car boat from scratch. Despite their talent and resourcefulness, they were sent back under the ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy: Cubans who reach dry land can stay, those who are intercepted in the water are sent back.

The Brazilian government has recorded the lowest annual deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in the past 21 years.

British mining company Monterrico is being taken to the United Kingdom's High Court in London in a multimillion pound claim for damages.

Around 70,000 women die every year and five million others develop complications as a result of unsafe abortions, according to a new report released yesterday.

A Costa Rican court has sentenced former President Rafael Calderon to five years in jail for corruption.

Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan is on a three day trip to Kenya to urge the government to carry out political reforms.

Colombia has started to build a new biofuel plant in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Human rights activists in Colombia are being persecuted by Government forces and guerrilla groups, the United Nations Special Rapporteur Margaret Sekaggya claims.

As Fidel Castro fades and Raul Castro attempts to reinvigorate an ailing economy, the future of Cuba and its government is uncertain. If the people of Cuba are to experience a real improvement in their living conditions, then much relies upon improving Cuba’s relationship with America and, particularly, ending the blockade.

The Democratic Security Policy set out by President Uribe has constructed the idea of Colombia being a democratic state seriously threatened mainly by organised terrorism (FARC and other guerrillas) and drug trafficking. For the ruling government, it is the duty of the state to fight these issues using every means of power. This approach to the conflict has also prevailed in international news coverage. However, this perspective is widely controversial within Colombian society. Other actors and factors, including the action of the state, are considered by the growing opposition to Uribe’s government.