"Brazil's growing influence on the global stage means that leaders with whom the president of Brazil chooses to meet gain greater credibility and, indeed, legitimacy through those meetings," says COA's vice president, commenting on the Iranian president's November 23 trip to Brazil.

Leaders from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas met October 16 and 17 in Cochabamba, where they charted a course for implementing a virtual currency that could replace the dollar in commercial transactions. ALBA also imposed a blockade on Honduras.

As Canada's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Peter Kent visits Tegucigalpa this week with an OAS delegation, Canadian Senator Pamela Wallin comments on Ottawa's commitment to resolving the Honduran dispute.

A year and a half after cutting diplomatic relations, Bogota and Quito's efforts to repair ties are showing signs of progress. Foreign ministers from each country met Friday to continue talks.

The surprise return of deposed leader Manuel Zelaya to Honduras on September 21 sparked a tense—and at times violent—period in the Central American country. With the outcome in doubt inside the country, AS/COA takes a look at the roles of external actors seeking to resolve the crisis.

"If the United States is going to be a partner with Latin America—a healthy and laudable goal—the aspiring powers of the hemisphere need to shake off their timidity and worn-out rhetoric," write AS/COA's Senior Director of Policy Christopher Sabatini and Kissinger Associates' Stephanie Junger-Moat.

South American leaders met Monday in Quito for a UNASUR summit, where they debated action on a probable U.S.-Colombian military pact. Though not present at the summit, Colombia’s President Álvaro Uribe visited seven countries last week to clarify the deal’s terms.