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The article discusses the discovery of Chileans on the payment of over the odds for toilet paper due to a cartel linking the dominant suppliers, CMPC, a Chilean multinational paper and pulp firm, and a smaller rival, in October 2015. The revelation has caused a stir in the country that involves CMPC's chairman Eliodoro Matte, the country's third-richest man. The role of the new breed of regulators in the capitalism in Latin America is also tackled.

The article reviews the exhibition "Latin American Works on Paper" at the Mayor Gallery in London, England from January 9-February 23, 2018, which features works by Latin American artists who were part of the revolutionary art movements of the 50s and 60s.

The article reports on the concerns over the impact of the economic growth and national security-focused policies of U.S. President Donald Trump administration on the growing energy investments opportunities of U.S. energy companies in Latin America (LatAm). Topics include the impact of the decline in the commodity prices on the natural resource investment, the implication of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the recommendations to support the countries' economic trends.

In this article the author discusses his views on watercolor painting and explains his method of working with the medium. He states that in his travels throughout the communist states, Latin America and the U.S., he rarely encounters portraits using watercolor. He claims that this is due to the fact that the medium is a challenging one, requiring tremendous control. When working with watercolor, he prefers to stand in order to change his vantage point easily, uses an English mounted watercolor board, and French watercolor paper.

Reports on the pressure on asset-backed bonds as Latin America copes with global recession, crisis in Argentina and Brazil as of December 2001. Vanilla bonds issued by Latin America since July to December 2001; Workers' remittances to selected Latin American countries from 2001-2002; Local markets that are developing commercial paper markets. INSET: Getting Off the Ground, by Maria O'Brien.

The article discusses the Panama President Juan Carlos Varela's efforts to convince the world that Panama is not a tax haven, responding to the leaking of the Panama Papers of documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonesca. An overview of the lawyer Eduardo Morgan Jr.'s perspective on business practices in Panama, including in regard to shell companies in the U.S., is provided.

The article focuses on reasons behind the success of asset-backed financing in Latin America. According to Kevin Kime, director of structured finance ratings from Standard & Poor's, conduits are, in many ways, a better source for Latin American issuers to get the funding they need. Banco Nacional de Mexico announced the launch of a new two-year program which will allow it to issue up to $500 million of U.S. commercial paper. Conduits attract a variety of investors and expand the scope to commercial paper investors as well as the emerging market securitization investors.

The article reviews articles "Partisanship, Ideology, and Representation in Latin America" by Sebastián M. Saiegh, "On the Credibility of Inflation Targeting Regimes in Latin America" by Rodrigo Mariscal, Andrew Powell and Pilar Tavella and "Uncertainty and Economic Activity: A Global Perspective."

The article reports on the prices of most paper stock grades in 2011. Higher prices reached earlier in 2011 are seen holding on for grades such as old corrugated containers (OCC), old newspapers, office grades, and deinking grades. One paper dealer sees OCC prices staying tight. One recycler cites strong order for coated book stock into Mexico and Latin America.

The article features several publications, including "Global Demographic Trends, Capital Mobility, Saving and Consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean," "Did You Get Your Shots? Experimental Evidence on the Role of Reminders" and "Global Liquidity, House Prices and the Macroeconomy: Evidence From Advanced and Emerging Economies."

Provides brief information on papers presented at the 13th Congress of the Latin American and Iberian Cosmetic Chemists. Host of the event; Agent presented to prevent early skin aging; Peroxidation in human skin and its prevention; Cationic-compatible rheology modifier and its usefulness in acidic systems; Approach to powder dispersions in liquid foundations.

Reviews of several articles published in 2014 are presented on topics including technology in schools by A. Czerwonko in "Journal of Applied Economics," organizations in Latin America by C. Scartascini in "Latin American Politics and Society," and policy making by E. Stein.

Having said its piece on China, the Department of State ought now to pass to the delicate problem of inter-American relations. There is great need for a White Paper on the good-neighbor countries, one that will, reject sentimentality, face facts and speak out in an unembarrassed voice. It would be desirable, too, to hasten the release of such a policy pronouncement. Washington D.C. is unfortunately ill prepared to undertake a realistic appraisal of the present state of affairs in South America. The purgative of the China White Paper has not yet taken effect and nervous officials are reminding themselves that the full story of Marshall Plan aid will soon have to be told.

The article focuses on several research and development (R&D) publications. The book "How Democracy Works: Political Institutions, Actors, and Arenas in Latin American Policymaking" focuses on policy making in Latin America. The paper "Innovation, R&D Investment and Productivity in Chile," checks the impact of technological innovation on manufacturers' productivity Furthermore, the publication "Macroeconomic effects of China's Fiscal Stimulus" analyzes the effect of fiscal stimulus in China.

An introduction is presented wherein the authors discuss reports within the issue on topics, including the 175th anniversary of Frederick Douglass' return to the U.S. following a successful tour of Great Britain and Ireland, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) role in Latin America.

Presents information on the commercial paper program issued by the Andean Development Corp. (CAF) in Latin America to the U.S. market in 2003. Value of the commercial paper program; Recognition given by the magazine "LatinFinance" to the program; Impact of the program on CAF; Compliment given by Jeff Cooley, international fixed income analyst at Principal Global Investors, to the commercial paper and longer-dated dollar bonds of CAF.

Reports that the loss of logging jobs in the Pacific Northwest due to reduced cultivation as a result of environmental concerns has meant an increase in logging jobs in Chile and other Latin American countries. American firms that are cultivating timber in Latin America including Champion International and Simpson Paper; Lower costs and faster tree growth in Latin America. INSET: Early on the scene, by P.B. (Simpson Paper Co. in Chile).

The article reports that the scarcity of corporate issuance out of Latin America ensured that the few credits in the market got investors' undivided attention and were warmly embraced by accounts looking for high yielding assets. It notes that strong demand allowed Globo, the B1 rated Brazilian media group, to price its $200 million 15 year non-call five bonds at 7.25%. Banco Mercantil do Brasil has launched a roadshow for its dollar Reg S five year amortizing bond.

Reports on Banco Continental de Panama and Petrobras's separate letters of credit-backed commercial paper deals in Latin America in May-June 2003. Structure of the deals; Credit ratings.

Explanatory theories of separatism emphasise three, non-mutually exclusive factors for the popular mobilization of separatist sentiment; rational self interest (greed), remedial justice (grievance) and collective consciousness (nationalism). A nuanced understanding of this plurality is one of multiple conjunctural causation where different features interact in a dymanic process to mobilize public sentiment behind alternative jurisdictions of state sovereignty. Nonetheless, problems with such an understanding abound; groups that appear to be prime candidates for separatism do not rebel whereas others that have comparatively little motive or chance of success engage in long, destructive campaigns for independent statehood. This paper argues that a reason for these problems is an undue focus on the separatist group or parent state as the relevant unit of analysis. Using the example of Latin America – which possesses many of the antecedent conditions for separatism but has experienced very few separatist movements – the paper argues that inclusion of processes of state formation and re-conceptualization of sovereignty as a non-binary, shared feature is necessary to explain why Latin America, despite meeting many of the preconditions for separatism, has escaped virtually free of separatist (but not politically motivated) violence. Moreover, inclusion of these additional features offers a more complete, and therefore accurate, account of why some groups attempt to secede but others do not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the growth of book piracy in several Latin American countries. How pirated versions of books are sold; Reason for buying pirated books; How to pirate books using technology; Attempts of publishers and governments to fight book piracy.

The article describes several achievements in the field of theoretical computer science (TCS) and computer research in Latin America. It discusses several areas of research that were developed by regional conferences including LATIN, LAGOS, and Latincrypt. The article discusses research including graph theory, pattern matching and information retrieval, and algorithms.

The article reports that the financial results for the world's 100 largest forest, paper and fiber-based packaging products companies showed distinct differences in the major producing regions. The is according to the 10th annual global forest, paper and packaging industry Survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The top three regions in terms of return capital employed (ROCE) were Latin America, China and South Africa. Overall, the sector's global ROCE improved slightly.

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The article presents abstracts on business topics which include entrepreneurship in Latin America, preschool education in Brazil, and tax reforms in Latin America.

Reports on the impact of the JP Morgan Emerging Bond Market trading on Latin American bonds. Information on the restructuring of the securities industry in Argentina; Real-denominated global bond of Brazil; Information on the emerging market bonds of several Latin American companies.

The article discusses the paper released by industry trade association 5G Americas regarding the tele-education in Latin America in 2016. The paper includes information on the increasing penetration of smartphone in different markets in the region, the importance of joint work between public and private sectors to enhance tele-education and economic outlook in the region relative to the existence of tele-education plans.

Reports that Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) has launched issues valued at German marks in the Latin American bond market. Challenges of the deal due to investors' indifference to CAF's viability; Analysts' remarks.

Offers updates on various issues such as stock, inspiration for a movie title and the antics of the U.S. as of October 11, 1941. Percentage of holders that own common stocks of fifty leading U.S. Corporations; Use of an ornate clock without hands in front of the Utter-McKinley undertaking parlors on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California as an inspiration for the movie title "No Hands on the Clock"; Decision of Benjamin Claro Velasco, a leader of the Radical Party in Chile, to tell Frances R. Grant, a U.S. woman interviewer, that Latin America is displeased on the good-neighbor antics of the U.S.

The article focuses on the discussion among Roman Catholic bishops in Latin America on the working paper which highlights liberation theology, the subject of the Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM) in Pueblo, Mexico in October 1978. It cites the incident in Medellin, Colombia wherein several clerics were jailed, kidnapped, or killed after the pursuit of liberation theology. It states that the paper was rejected by the conservative bishops of Panama and Brazil, adding that it was mostly prepared by radical individuals similar to the evicted Peruvian Priest Gustavo Gutierrez, who wrote the book "A Theology of Liberation." It also asserts that the conference will be a struggle as they expect that several individuals may press the Vatican for more social and political approaches.

The article presents the comment of Edward H. Rott, a reader from Bogota, Colombia on students exchange programs as a means to further relations with Latin America. It also presents his letter on the promotion of Latin American goods in U.S. and the increased U.S. investment in the Latin American industries. It also discusses the effort of Charles K. Blandin to operate the paper mill of Blandin Paper Co. in Grand Rapids, Minnesota for the benefit of the locals there.

The author argues that the "credit crunch" in the U.S. is nonexistent and recommends several Latin American stocks to buy. Macro Bansud Bank is dominant in markets outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Votorantim Pulp & Paper is the world leader in producing eucalyptus pulp. Brazilian wireless firm Vivo Holdings is experiencing rapid growth.

The article discusses Hueck Folien's presentation at the High Security Printing Latin America conference, where they showcased holographic threads and stripes for banknotes, emphasizing their innovations and applications in banknote design. Topics include the company's holographic features on various currencies, their unique TRILUMIC technology, and the potential for engaging public interaction with banknote features for counterfeit detection.

This paper presents the position of the Latin American working group of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC). The working group brings together various Latin American actors and organizations in support of actions that facilitate the transformation of health systems in the region towards integrated systems that focus on people not as isolated individuals but as subjects of law in the complex social and environmental contexts where they live and interact. The working group proposes nine pillars of integrated care to be used as a conceptual framework for policy development and changes in practices: 1) shared vision and values; 2) population health; 3) people and communities as partners; 4) resilient communities; 5) capacities of human resources for health; 6) governance and leadership; 7) digital solutions; 8) aligned payment systems; and 9) public transparency. Based on these pillars, lines of work are proposed to strengthen alliances and networks, advocacy, research, and capacity-building, in order to help develop health and social systems that are effectively integrated and focused not only on people but also on communities in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the issue of informality in Latin America, with a focus on non-enforcement, fintech, and digital payments. The author analyzes how governments respond to the informal economy and the expansion of fintech-based payment services, raising questions about regulation and financial inclusion. The article provides an overview of labor informality in Argentina and Brazil, discussing large marketplaces that operate outside formal regulations. It argues that governments may promote informality by not enforcing regulations and explores the conflicting relationship between financial inclusion and preventing illegal transactions. The article highlights challenges faced by governments in balancing accessibility to financial services with monitoring and controlling informal economic enterprises. It also emphasizes the fiscal problem of tax evasion facilitated by digital wallets and the political challenges of regulating digital platforms. The article concludes that while digital payment services can facilitate economic transactions and inclusion, they can also strain the relationship between disadvantaged populations and governments. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents information on various developments relating to the U.S. politics and government. The State Department has sent White Papers to the newspaper The New York Times announcing plans to exterminate peasants in Latin America and elsewhere. Untroubled by the thought that it may be encouraging murderers, The Times has routinely published these White Papers, and the U.S. government has promptly pressed forward with the promised exterminations. Soon logging trucks will be rumbling through the ancient forests and the worn hillsides of public lands will see more overgrazing. These defeats came in the budget rescission bill, which U.S. President Bill Clinton has pledged to sign.

The article reports on the sullen market situations in different Latin American countries due to the general downward trend of commodities and metal prices like copper, tin and cotton, as well as the substantial decline of South American bonds.

The article discusses the growth of Bruce Payne & Associates Inc. (BP&A), a management consulting firm based in the U.S. Owner Bruce Payne has grown his Latin American business to serve a multinational clientele. Some factors attributed to the success of the Latin American business of BP&A are cited, including salesmanship and good service. Across-the-board services provided by BP&A are discussed, including manufacturing methods, labor relations and marketing.

This article reports that Coldelco, Chile's state-owned copper producer, has reopened the Latin American corporate bond market during the week of January 23, 2009. Coldelco's $600 million (m) global bond issuance reflects investor demand for high-quality paper with juicy yields. Particular focus is given to the price structure of the issuance, along with the allocations of the paper. Both HSBC and JPMorgan played important roles in the deal.

The article provides information on the strategic alliance between OPKO Health Inc. and ChromaDex Corp. The alliance offers OPKO the distribution and business development rights throughout Latin America for all of ChromaDex's new product offerings and health care technologies including Bl_Science (™), ChromaDex's line of dietary supplements and its proprietary pterostilbene. OPKO also recently made a 1,000,000 U.S. dollar investment in ChromaDex.

The author asserts that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), created by President Harry S. Truman to gather and collate intelligence, has veered far from its purpose by becoming a non-accountable secretive organization. Topics include a brief history of CIA's formation, the reasons for the difficulty of documenting its covert operations and its activities in Latin America such as its role in the removal of elected President Salvador Allende in Chile in favour of Augusto Pinochet.

The Republic of Panama has the second most unequally distributed wealth in Central America, has recently entered the list of countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has one of the largest testing rate per inhabitant in the region and consequently the highest incidence rate of COVID-19, making it an ideal location to discuss potential scenarios for assessing epidemic preparedness, and to outline research opportunities in the Region of the Americas. We address two timely important questions: What are the unique risks of COVID-19 in Panama that could help other countries in the Region be better prepared? And what kind of scientific knowledge can Panama contribute to the regional and global study of COVID-19? This paper provides suggestions about how the research community could support local health authorities plan for different scenarios and decrease public anxiety. It also presents basic scientific opportunities about emerging pandemic pathogens towards promoting global health from the perspective of a middle income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the issue of inequality and wealth in Latin America, noting that the region has a long history of high levels of inequality. It also highlights that inequality is increasing in developed countries as well. The article emphasizes the importance of studying both poverty and wealth to fully understand and address inequality. It discusses the challenges of studying wealth in Latin America, such as limited data and unique characteristics of the upper classes. The article concludes by introducing two approaches to studying inequality and wealth in the region. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the relationship between wealth and whiteness in Latin America. It discusses how perceptions of race and skin color vary among elementary school students in Guadalajara, Mexico, and how socioeconomic factors influence these perceptions. The article compares the United States' history of racial division based on wealth to Latin America's emphasis on racial mixture and celebration of diversity. It emphasizes the importance of studying the privileged and powerful to understand the dynamics of wealth and racialized notions in Latin America. The text also explores the connection between wealth, whiteness, and social distinction in Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico, highlighting how whiteness is associated with economic success, social status, and morality. It argues that capitalism is closely tied to a white racial identity, but also suggests that non-white individuals can attain whiteness through capitalist practices. The article challenges the idea of mestizaje as an inclusive system and calls for a deeper understanding of racial hierarchies and their connection to class structures in Latin America. [Extracted from the article]

This article presents an abstract of the NBER Working Paper "Macroeconomic stabilization in Latin America: Recent experience and some sequencing issues," by Sebastian Edwards.

This paper analyzes whether south-south cooperation is legitimately a recent practice or merely an improved version of previous regional integration processes in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors reviewed and systematized the historic development of subregional integration processes in Latin America and the Caribbean and focused on health cooperation in the following contexts: the Central American Integration System, the Andean Community of Nations, the Caribbean Community, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, the Southern Common Market, and the Union of South American Nations. The study concludes that the conceptual and methodologic foundations of south-south cooperation in health were born from and nurtured by the processes of regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper posits that regional political and economic integration initiatives bring potential benefits to the health sector and act as an important mechanism to develop south-south cooperation in this domain. The study recommends furthering this type of research to provide information that will allow national and multilateral agencies, or other stakeholders, to formulate and implement better policies for international health cooperation that target reducing inequities and promoting health and wellbeing for all people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To compare the usefulness for surveillance of the peer-reviewed literature on the prevalence of hypertension in Latin America and the Caribbean published from 2001 to 2010 with a previous study of the published literature from 1962 to 2000. Methods. A bibliographic search was conducted of publications from 2001 to 2010 that examined the prevalence of hypertension using MEDLINE and LILACS databases. The methodology of each paper was evaluated with the same critical appraisal tool used in the previous study. Results. A total of 81 papers were published from 2001 to 2010 on the prevalence of hypertension in Latin America and the Caribbean. Only 24 of these studies met the minimum methodologic criteria for evaluation. While the total number of studies published in the past 10 years exceeds the number published from 1962 to 2000, the percentage of studies that met the minimum methodologic criteria has not substantially increased. In addition to major methodologic shortcomings, less than 46% of the published studies reported rates of awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension. The hypertension prevalence estimates from the peer-reviewed literature range from 7% to 49%. These studies were primarily done in urban centers and are not evenly distributed throughout the region. Conclusions. The quality and geographic distribution of the published literature on the prevalence of hypertension in Latin America and the Caribbean are inadequate. Research resources and efforts should be directed in the future toward closing this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the principal concepts of social class, occupation, and social stratification, and their contribution to the analysis of the social determinants of health (SDH), and reviews empirical studies conducted in Latin America that use employment relations as an SDH. The review focuses on studies of the relationship between health and social class based on neo-Weberian or neo-Marxist perspectives. A search of the BIREME Virtual Health Library and the SciELO database found 28 articles meeting these characteristics. This relative dearth contrasts with the profusion of papers that use these approaches written in Europe and in the United States, with a long tradition in the analysis of SDH. In this regard, the political and programmatic implications of research on social class and employment relations are different from and complementary to studies of health gradients associated with income and education. Globalization of employment relations requires the development of new concepts to explain and measure the mechanisms of action of the SDH going beyond what is strictly labor related; in particular, the importance in the current Latin American reality of the impact of informal work on health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]