The pope's visit to Mexico and Cuba will draw worldwide attention to the dramatic progress Latin America has made in recent years, as well as the progress that yet remains to be made, writes COA's Eric Farnsworth for The Huffington Post.

The pope travels to Mexico and Cuba at the end of the month. As both countries prepare to welcome the pontiff, not everyone is happy with his agenda.

As the balance of global power shifts East, the Cuban economy appears to be heading less toward the free market policies of Washington DC and more toward the state capitalism of Beijing.

"It requires an act of Congress to change [The United States policies against Cuba], but that ain’t going to happen any time soon," said AS/COA Christopher Sabatini.

Cuba held its first party conference on January 28 and 29 to “update” the country’s ruling Communist Party, but some question if the reforms will go far enough.

An AS/COA panel explored the ramifications of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's January 2012 visit to Latin America, as well as Tehran's ties to the region.

Choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras, jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera, and Limón Artistic Director Carla Maxwell discussed the company’s new collaboration.