Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) predicts the Senate will lift the U.S. travel ban to Cuba this congressional session.

Daniel W. Fisk looks at a Brookings Institution book on U.S.-Latin America policy.

Unfortunately, media and constituents at times misconstrue trips abroad as flamboyant travel by members of Congress at taxpayers’ expense.

Speaking at the 2009 Latin American Cities Conference in São Paulo, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Clifford Sobel outlined the advances in the U.S.-Brazil relations in recent years and how the Obama administration envisions future partnerships with its Brazilian counterparts.

At an AS/COA launch for The Portable Island: Cubans at Home in the World, the book's editors joined Cuban experts in discussing the Cuban diaspora and the implications of the U.S. embargo. This book will be reviewed in the Summer 2009 Americas Quarterly.

A São Paulo summit brought together heavyweights to talk about Brazil’s ethanol industry as well as related environmental concerns. Meanwhile, Colombia sees its own ethanol presence grow while the United States remains caught up in debate, tariffs, and subsidies.