If the price of oil drops much further, pumping oil will become a losing investment for Caracas.

But the Northwestern University professor says that doesn’t mean Venezuela’s chavistas are giving up the presidency.

“There's no lack of excitement from U.S. firms, but they realize that this is going to be a longer process," explains AS/COA’s Alana Tummino.

Corruption, commodity price drops, and game-changing elections. What do Latin America’s biggest events of 2015 mean for the year to come?

"Almost nobody believes in Brazil right now. That's a scary situation to be in," says AS/COA’s Brian Winter on Brazil’s third consecutive quarter of contraction.