Contributions from Carin Zissis
With the recent death of a Cuban hunger striker and harassment of the Ladies in White dissident group in Havana, U.S. President Barack Obama criticized human rights conditions on the island. His March 24 statement came ahead of a large Miami-based rally supporting dissidents.
The Colombian elections are off at a gallop, with former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos the current frontrunner. But Noemí Sanín clinched the Conservative Party nomination on March 19 and could serve as a strong contender at the first round of polls on March 30. They face a number of other candidates.
In the wake of the murder of three people with U.S. consular links in Ciudad Juarez, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed up a cabinet-level delegation to Mexico on March 23. The bilateral summit built on the Merida Initiative with an eye to improved security, but also strengthened communities and institutions.