"In the absence of passage of these bilateral agreements, a possible near-term alternative would be to welcome Colombia and Panama into ongoing negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership," writes AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth in an opinion letter to the Financial Times.

"With the positive economic headlines dominating the news cycles, there is also a renewed interest in the history and culture" of Latin America, writes AS/COA's Susan Segal for The Huffington Post. Join Americas Society for the final days of Art and Myth in Ancient Peru: The History of the Jequetepeque Valley, closing October 23.

"Chilean culture is steeped in poetry; poetry has become a life-blood of that country, ingrained in the bedrock as it were, over time," writes Americas Society's Daniel Shapiro for CNN. Two of the miners rescued from Chile's San José mine were identified as poets.

"Speculation is rampant in Washington that the November 2 mid-term elections will usher in a new phase of trade expansion for the United States," argues Eric Farnsworth in an op-ed for The Miami Herald.

To stem the flow of illegal drugs, the United States and Bolivia "need to find a more effective way to cooperate for mutual benefit," argues COA's Eric Farnsworth in The Houston Chronicle. "Rethinking the bilateral approach to coca is a promising place to start."

"Over a five week span, voters in Venezuela, Brazil, and the United States, respectively, will make choices that will reconfirm or redirect the Bolivarian revolution, support or soften the international course that President Lula has set, and continue or overturn the ongoing pause in the U.S. trade agenda with the hemisphere," writes COA's Eric Farnsworth.

"If done carefully, further reforms hold the promise of breaking the policy and human rights stasis that has gripped Cuba, and U.S. policy towards Cuba, for more than half a century. That is a prize worth grasping," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in the Financial Times.