January 18: Venezuela

Venezuelan President nationalizes the joint French-Colombian supermarket chain, Exito, accusing it of breaking the law by raising prices after the country’s recent currency devaluation. Chavez says the chain will become part of a planned Corporation of Socialist Markets, which will provide goods and services at subsidized prices.

January 12: Haiti

A massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake and a series of aftershocks strike Haiti about 16 miles west from the capital of Port-au-Prince, devastating this long-impoverished country. According to the Red Cross, about three million people are affected. More than 300,000 people are killed and hundreds of thousands are left homeless. The international community sends search and rescue teams as well as aid supplies to Haiti.

January 27: Honduras

Honduran President-elect Porfirio Lobo allows the ousted President Manuel Zelaya to leave the Brazilian Embassy, where he took refuge, and go into exile to Dominican Republic. At the same time, the country’s Supreme Court dismisses the charges against the military commanders who ousted Zelaya in June last year. These moves end a months-long political crisis in Honduras.

February 1: Haiti

The United Nations Mission to Haiti estimates that it will take several decades to rebuild Haiti after last month’s devastating earthquake. About 75 percent of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, has been destroyed and hundreds of thousands people now live in makeshift tents.

February 22: Argentina

The United Kingdom begins oil exploration in the waters off the Falkland Islands despite protests from Argentina, which has long claimed sovereignty over the territory it calls the Islas Malvinas. (February 24): During their second summit in Mexico, Latin American and the Caribbean states unanimously back Argentina’s claims to the Falkland Islands and condemn Britain for oil drilling in the waters of the archipelago. (February 25): Argentina officially asks the United Nations to mediate the talks with the United Kingdom on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

April 6: Brazil

Brazil and the United States reach an agreement that settles their long-lasting trade dispute over the U.S. government subsidies for cotton farmers. The settlement comes a day before Brazil’s plan to impose $830 million sanctions, including $591 million in tariffs on a hundred various goods. The sanctions were approved by the World Trade Organizations, which ruled in 2009 that the subsidies violated trade agreements and were illegal.

April 13: Cuba

In an attempt to introduce some reforms within the centralized system, Cuban President Raul Castro allows small barber shops and hairdresser salons to operate as private businesses in which employees will be allowed to rent their places of business and pay taxes. Other small businesses, such as taxi drivers, have been working for themselves for a while. It is hoped that the move is a beginning of a China- or a Vietnam-type of privatization.

June 20: Colombia

Colombia’s governing party candidate, Juan Manuel Santos, wins a decisive victory in the country’s presidential election. He vows to continue his predecessor’s policies, including the fight against drug trafficking and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, and maintaining close relations with the United States.

July 7: Cuba

Cuban President Raul Castro agrees to release 52 political prisoners under an agreement brokered by Spain and the Catholic Church in Cuba. At least 17 of the dissidents will go into exile to Spain.

July 19: Suriname

Suriname’s parliament elects former military leader Desi Bouterse to be the country’s next president. Bouterse is a controversial person who took power in a coup in 1980 and has been accused of political killings during his military rule. Also in 1999, the Dutch court sentenced him in absentia to 11 years in prison for drug trafficking.

July 23: Venezuela/Colombia

Venezuela breaks off diplomatic relations with Colombia over accusations that it provides bases for Colombian rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and another Marxist guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN). During a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, Colombia presented videos and pictures as a proof of its claims.

August 9: Mexico

Mexico’s former president, Vicente Fox, calls for legalization of drugs, saying that years of prohibition strategies have failed. Since 2006, when President Felipe Calderon took office, more than 28,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence. Fox argues that legalization would weaken the drug cartels. The opponents, however, say that cheaper drugs would lead to millions more addicts. President Calderon calls on the public debate on the legalization of drugs despite personally being against it.

August 10: Venezuela/Colombia

Venezuela and Colombia restore their diplomatic relations, vowing to cooperate despite their differences. Venezuela denies helping the Colombian leftist organizations, the accusation which caused the most recent break in diplomatic relations. Both countries depend on one another’s trade, which has been reduced by 70 percent due to the diplomatic row.

September 23: Colombia

Colombian forces kill one of the most senior leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist group, Jorge Briceno, known as Mono Jojoy. The news comes a few days after another FARC leader, Sixto Cabana, was killed. Both killings are hailed as a hard blow to the rebel group. The rebels say they are ready to enter talks with the government.

September 24: Cuba

The Cuban government announces a radical plan to lay off more than a million state employees and encourage them to become self-employed or get jobs in a private sector. At the same time, the government plans to issue a quarter of a million licenses to those who want to open their own businesses. For the first time since the 1959 revolution, Cuban business owners will be allowed to employ others rather than just family members. The proposal is hoped to revive the stagnated economy.

October 25: Haiti

A cholera outbreak in central Haiti kills more than 250 people and sickens more than 3,000 others. It is believed that the epidemic has spread from using the contaminated water of the Artibonite River. It is not clear how the cholera virus got into the river.

October 31: Brazil

Brazil elects its first female president, Dilma Rousseff of the governing Workers’ Party, who will replace highly popular Luiz Inacio Lula who leaves after completing two terms in office. Between 2003 and 2005, Rousseff was an energy minister and then became Lula’s chief of staff. She promises to continue her predecessor’s policies that resulted in Brazil’s strong economic growth over the last several years.

November 19: Haiti

Hundreds of Hatians attack United Nations vehicles, accusing the Nepalese peacekeepers of bringing cholera to Haiti from Nepal where it is endemic. So far, the disease has killed more than 1,400 people and affected 20,000 other. Doctors Without Borders criticizes the slow and inadequate response of the international community to the epidemics.

December 17: Venezuela

The outgoing Venezuelan parliament, which is dominated by President Hugo Chavez’s supporters, grants him powers to rule by decree for the next 18 months. The move is to counter the incoming parliament which will house many more members in opposition to Chavez. Although Chavez says his new powers are to streamline decision making in the face of recent devastating floods and landslides, they, in fact, extend beyond relief and reconstruction issues and include such areas as banking, finance, security, and defense. The critics say the move leads to a dictatorship.