January 31: Mexico

Tens of thousands of Mexican farmers protest in Mexico City against the lifting of corn tariffs, which took place on January 1 under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Protesters claim the elimination of trade barriers, as well as unfair government subsidies for farmers in Canada and the United States, will put many Mexican farmers out of business. The farmers and some opposition leaders call for renegotiation of some NAFTA provisions.

February 4: Colombia

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians protest against kidnappings and killings by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a leftist rebel group. Protests also take place in cities around the world. Along with drug profits, the FARC uses kidnapping ransoms to fund its long-running war with the Colombian government. Along with Colombia, both the European Union and the United States list the FARC as a terrorist group.

February 12: Bolivia

Bolivian President Evo Morales declares a national disaster after severe floods caused by weeks of rain kill at least 60 people and leave about 60,000 families homeless. The floods have also swept away crops and communication lines. It is the second year in a row that Bolivia has seen devastating floods.

February 19: Cuba

Cuba’s president, Fidel Castro, announces his retirement at age 81, ending his 49-year rule of Cuba. Fidel’s brother and the world’s longest-serving minister of defense, 76-year old Raúl Castro, is designated as the communist island state’s next president.

March 1: Colombia/Ecuador/Venezuela

Colombian forces enter Ecuador to raid a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp, killing senior rebel leader Raúl Reyes. The incursion provokes a regional diplomatic crisis as Ecuador and Venezuela sever diplomatic relations with Colombia and send troops to their respective Colombian borders. Meanwhile, Colombia accuses its neighboring governments of providing financial and other support to the FARC, based on information from computers seized in the raid.

March 31: Argentina

Farmers in Argentina resume a three-week-long protest against hikes in export taxes on farm products imposed by Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on March 11. The massive protests, including strikes and roadblocks, have created food shortages around the country. The farmers had suspended the protests on March 28, but say that talks with the government failed to address their grievances.

April 9: Venezuela

The Venezuelan government announces plans to nationalize the country’s biggest steel producer, Sidor, just days after the nationalization of all cement companies. Sidor, as well as Venezuela’s three largest cement companies, are owned by foreign companies. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says private companies are exporting too much cement and steel, both of which are needed in the country to solve severe housing problems.

April 12: Haiti

Haiti’s parliament dismisses Prime Minister Jacques-Édouard Alexis following widespread violent rioting over the soaring prices of food, which led to the deaths of at least six people. Haiti’s president, René Préval, responds to the violent protests by announcing a plan to cut prices of rice by 15 percent. Rising global rice prices have particularly affected Haiti, which is one of the world’s poorest countries and relies on food imports.

April 20: Paraguay

Former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo wins Paraguay’s presidential election, ending six decades of rule by the conservative Colorado Party, one of the longest-ruling parties in the world. Standing for a center-left coalition, Lugo distanced himself from the region’s more radical leftist leaders, such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. Known as “bishop of the poor,” he promises to continue to reduce poverty and corruption.

May 9: Mexico

The commander of Mexico City’s investigative police force, Esteban Robles Espinosa, is shot and killed a day after Mexico’s federal police chief Edgar Eusebio Millan Gomez was shot dead in Mexico City. Their murders are the latest in a string of attacks against police and military personnel in Mexico. It is believed that the slayings are in retaliation for Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón’s crackdown on the country’s drug smugglers and organized crime. An estimated 200 police officers have been killed since Calderón first deployed troops to fight the cartels in December 2006.

May 28: Argentina

Hundreds of thousands of Argentina’s farmers resume a strike, blocking roads and suspending grain exports and meat sales, after negotiations with the government on increased export taxes fail. Previous rounds of negotiations also failed. The dispute began in March when President Cristina Fernandez’s government raised export taxes on farm products, triggering weeks of strikes and roadblocks that generated food shortages and protests nationwide. The farmers say they are being unfairly taxed, while the government argues an increase of export taxes is necessary to fight poverty and inflation.

June 20: Cuba

The European Union lifts the diplomatic sanctions it imposed on Cuba in 2003. The largely symbolic measures were imposed in protest of the imprisonment of more than 70 Cuban dissidents. According to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, there are still about 230 political detainees in Cuban prisons. The EU says that by removing the sanctions it wants to encourage the new Cuban government of Raul Castro to implement more reforms.

June 22: Bolivia

Tarija, a gas-rich province in Bolivia, becomes the country’s fourth province to vote in favor of autonomy. In recent weeks the provinces of Beni, Pando, and Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s richest province, also voted overwhelmingly for autonomy. The referenda are in response to the push for land redistribution and wealth-sharing measures by the government of President Evo Morales. The Morales government does not recognize the referenda, which would divide the gas and oil-rich eastern half of Bolivia from the poorer, predominantly indigenous western half.

July 2: Colombia

Colombian troops rescue Ingrid Betancourt, three American military contractors, and 11 other hostages who were being held by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas. With the help of U.S. intelligence, equipment, and training advice, Colombian military agents, in a carefully planned ruse, trick the rebels into handing over the captives without a shot being fired. Betancourt, a Colombian politician who was kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency, was the most prominent of hundreds of hostages held by FARC.

July 17: Argentina

After months of protests, Argentina’s senate narrowly rejects an increase in taxes on farm exports, which has been violently opposed by farmers since it was proposed by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in March. Vice President Julio Cobos casts the deciding vote with senators tied 36 to 36. The lower house had approved the measure earlier this month.

August 7: Venezuela

Demonstrators in Venezuela protest against the government’s ban on hundreds of candidates from November’s regional and local elections, including some key opposition politicians. Protestors also rally against a package of decrees issued by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez that increase government powers, many of which resemble constitutional changes rejected in a referendum last December.

September 16: Mexico

Eight people are killed and more than 100 injured in an explosion caused by grenades as crowds celebrate Independence Day in the city of Morelia, Mexico. The attack is shocking, as it appears to target civilians. (Sept. 27): The Mexican authorities arrest three people suspected of causing the blast and say the men are members of a unit of the Gulf Cartel, known as the Zetas. So far this year, the number of victims of drug-related violence has exceeded 2,700.

September 22: Venezuela

Russian warships leave for Venezuela to take part in joint military exercises scheduled for November. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that Latin America needs a strong friendship with Russia to counter the influence of the United States in the region. (Sept. 26): Russia and Venezuela sign an energy accord that broadens cooperation on oil and gas production between the two countries. Russia is also one of Venezuela’s largest arms suppliers.

September 22: Venezuela

Russian warships leave for Venezuela to take part in joint military exercises scheduled for November. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that Latin America needs a strong friendship with Russia to counter the influence of the United States in the region. (Sept. 26): Russia and Venezuela sign an energy accord that broadens cooperation on oil and gas production between the two countries. Russia is also one of Venezuela’s largest arms suppliers.

September 23: Columbia

Colombian Forces kill a FARC rebel commander, Aicardo de Jesus Agudelo, known as El Paisa. He was responsible for hundreds of killings and kidnappings. His victims included a former defense minister and the governor of one of the country’s provinces. FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has waged war with the Colombian government for the last 44 years and still holds hundreds of hostages.

November 11: Colombia/Mexico

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe meets with his counterpart President Felipe Calderon in Mexico, where they agree to join forces to battle powerful drug cartels in both countries. While Colombia is the world’s top producer of cocaine, the drug cartels use Mexican territory as the main transit point. So far this year, more than 4,000 people have fallen victims of drug-related violence.

November 20: China/Peru

Chinese President Hu Jintao pays an official visit to Peru, where he signs a free trade agreement with his counterpart, Peruvian President Alan Garcia. The two countries also sign other deals, such as opening regular commercial flights between China and Peru. After entering into a free trade agreement with Chile in 2005, Peru is China’s second Latin American country to extend this kind of a deal.

November 28: Cuba/Brazil/Venezuela

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev meets with Cuban President Raul Castro to boost the mutual relations. Russia is especially interested in drilling for oil in Cuban waters and in Cuban nickel industry. Cuba is the last leg of Medvedev’s Latin American tour, where he wants to increase Russia’s presence. In Venezuela, Medvedev discussed building a nuclear energy plant, gas projects, and military cooperation. In Brazil, President Medvedev and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed ways to boost trade. He also visited Peru.

December 2: Brazil

Brazil unveils a plan to reduce deforestation by 50 percent of the current annual rate, which amounts to more than 2,300 square miles. The plan is in response to the formation of the Amazon fund to conserve the Amazon region financed by foreign contributions.