Does the increased presence of Indigenous and Afro-descendant representatives in Latin American legislatures make a difference in policy outcomes and laws for those populations? This white paper presents findings across four countries in select national congresses and assemblies from 1986 to 2012.

"The FARC still has the capacity to kill; but its capacity to achieve anything of its supposed political agenda has ended," write AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini and Ryan Berger in an op-ed for CNN Global Public Square.

In February, the opposition will choose its candidate to compete against President Hugo Chávez in the October 2012 presidential election. AS/COA looks at the candidates and some of the top issues.