Contributions from Carin Zissis
The Green Party's Antanas Mockus and the U Party's Juan Manuel Santos are neck and neck in Colombia's presidential race, according to polls released ahead of May 30 elections. Neither is expected to win the needed absolute majority, making a June 20 runoff likely.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, opening speaker at the 40th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, talked about the primacy of hemispheric issues on the Obama administration's agenda. She stressed three priority areas for U.S.-Latin American cooperation: trade and energy partnerships, public security, and inequality and immigration.
A tough new Arizona immigration law relaunched debate about immigration reform this week. The Mexican government issued a travel warning against Arizona and critics say the law could lead to racial profiling as well an economic drain on the state.