Violence has spiked and people are dying gruesome, preventable deaths in Central America, Mexico, and elsewhere as a result of U.S. consumer tastes. Blood diamonds? No, conflict drugs, writes COA's Eric Farnsworth for The Huffington Post.

The United States has moved beyond traditional diplomacy, writes former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela in the Summer 2011 issue of Americas Quarterly.

AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini writes in The Huffington Post that a new provision in the U.S. House appropriations bill limiting Cuban-Americans' ability to visit family on the island runs counter to U.S. interests and to those of the Cuban people.

The courts alone won’t beat new, regressive legislation in these two states. Without a broader response such copycat of Arizona’s SB 1070 will continue to spread.

"We are losing Central America. It's time to fight to win it back," writes COA's Eric Farnsworth in The Miami Herald.

The Obama administration announced it would require arms dealers in Southwest border states to report on multiple sales of certain assault rifles. The move, designed to help slow arms trafficking to Mexico, will likely face legal challenges.

After approving NAFTA in 1994, the United States continued to restrict Mexican truckers’ ability to cross the border. A bilateral agreement signed July 6 seeks to put the dispute to rest.