Central and South America

Brazil is considering a bold plan to get water to its arid northeast by diverting one of the country's largest and most famous rivers. But many are protesting the plan, saying the water will mainly benefit business, not the rural poor who need it.

Sao Paulo Brazil has implemented a ban on outdoor advertising, calling it "visual pollution."

Greenpeace is claiming that a Brazilian scheme to settle tens of thousands of families has become little more than a "scam" to sell off logging rights in the Amazon.

Planners intended Ciudad Guayana to be the "Pittsburgh of the tropics". Today, the city has lost its former prosperity and is grappling with a array of urban epidemics.

Improvements in public services and rising wages are fostering the creation of a prosperous middle class in many Latin American countries.

Medellín, Colombia, has escaped from the bloody grips of the violent drug warfare that consumed its streets in the 1980s to become a vibrant and active city.

Residents of the Dominican capital are outraged by the government's move to cut down mature trees in the city's colonial areas.

As the Central American country moves forward with plans to expand the width of its heavily-used canal, locals and scientists question whether a reforestation plan along canal banks will affect the area's supply of drinking water.

The president of Brazil has pledged nearly $2 billion to improve basic services and infrastructure in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. He hopes that providing running water, schools, and better roads will counteract the high crime rate in the slums.

By ignoring the "spinoff" effects of urban growth and sprawl, planners in Jamaica have unwittingly encouraged the creation of slums and overcrowded urban centers, according to experts.

UCLA Professor Randall Crane blogs about his observations on the differences between Curitiba, Brazil and Bogotá, Colombia.

The public housing project where reggae legend Bob Marley lived is being re-envisioned as a historic site and tourist area. But high crime in the depressed neighborhood poses a challenge to dreams of a tourist-friendly shrine to Marley.

Migration of workers from Mexico to the U.S. is creating a drain of workers -- and a viable future -- from many Mexican towns.

Bogota, Colombia, has turned itself around by focusing on using the public realm to promote the greatest amount of happiness. First stop? Car-free days.

In exchange for a discount on oil for London's bus system, city transit officials will lend their expertise to the city of Caracas, Venezuela, in an effort to reduce the city's crippling congestion.

A Brazilian tribe is in talks with Google to use its satellite imaging program to monitor and prevent illegal logging in the tribal reservation of more than 600,000 acres in the Amazon rainforest.

Critics warn $11 billion hydroelectric dam project could cause environmental damage while supporters point to economic and infrastructure benefits.

With significant oil reserves in its rainforests and rampant poverty, Ecuador has a dilemma. The country's president is asking the international community to compensate the country for its plans to protect the rainforest by not drilling for the oil.

A look at how Sao Paulo's extensive bus system keeps the crowded Brazilian city's 18 million residents moving.

In Venezuela, small community councils funded by oil money are popping up all over the country, taking control over local decisions such as public education, infrastructure, and building plans.