Latin America

Mexican Lawmakers Hope Private Investment Will Boost Oil Industry

Mexico's congress is set to pass a controversial plan to open up the country's vast and sluggish oil industry to private investment. The move requires a constitutional amendment since Mexico forbids foreign involvement in the oil industry. Opponents of the plan say the president is selling out the country, but many experts say that without foreign investment, Mexico won't be able to tap all its oil and won't modernize.

Swarming Thieves Wreak Havoc On Famed Rio Beaches

In a spate of robberies in Rio de Janeiro, young boys — some only 10 years old — descend on tourist beach areas, robbing and harassing people. The attacks come despite anti-crime efforts in the run-up to the World Cup and Olympics. It's a phenomenon that had not been widely seen since the country's crime-ridden 1990s.

Whoever Honduras Elects President Faces Tough Road, Broke Country

Hondurans went to the polls this Sunday to elect a new president. The Central American country has a whole host of problems to deal with, including the highest levels of violence in the world and increased drug cartel activity. Most pressing, though, the new leader will inherit a failing economy. Honduras is broke. It just borrowed, for the first time, $500 million on the international bond market, but that wasn't even enough to bail the country out of its devastating financial troubles.