Three months into her administration, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is steering an independent course at the United Nations, while maintaining her predecessor’s guiding principles.

The president’s tour of Latin America was too important to postpone, writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in The Huffington Post.

In his first trip to Central and South America, U.S. President Barack Obama hoped to set a new tone in U.S.-Latin American ties.

The president’s message was well received in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador but his regional speech may have fallen on deaf ears outside those countries.

U.S. President Barack Obama told an audience in Rio that Brazil is a “thriving democracy” and a model for movements rising against authoritarian governments in the Middle East and North Africa.

President Barack Obama made the case for his first trip to South America before arriving by saying economic partnerships with the region will help secure U.S. jobs. In Brasilia, Obama met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who called for a more multilateral world.

"The United States faces a new moment in the Americas: no longer can we take economic partnership or political influence for granted," writes COA's Eric Farnsworth for The Huffington Post.