It's in its seventh year of recession – one of the steepest ever recorded in the world. Its economy is partially sanctioned by the U.S. and it's also had to contend with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The last 12 months have been exceptionally tough for citizens of Venezuela.

 
Many tho...

She flew in two space shuttle missions and spent more than 100 days on the international space station. What did she do “up” there besides science experiments? She painted. John Zarrella met with astronaut painter Nicole Stott.

Panama, with a population of 3 million, has acquired 5.5 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. It's become the first in the region to start a mass vaccination campaign that could make them the first country to achieve herd immunity. 
The early negotiations with the pharmaceutical companie...

In the middle of the Ecuadorian Andes, a group of farmers realized that unity creates strength. Harris Whitbeck brings us the story of a very particular town that turned rural agriculture into successful entrepreneurship.

The economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic has hit Brazil's favelas (slums) hard. 
But they've emerged from the crisis with a plan for the future: launching their own bank. 
The "G10 Bank," offers micro-loans to small business owners and debit cards to favela dwellers excluded from the traditi...

It’s a highway that connects Alaska with Tierra del Fuego, in the Southern Cone. "Americas Now" follows a family on a two year-long road trip along the longest road in the world. 

In 2016, the Rodriguez family packed up their bags and placed them in their 1981 Volkswagen Westphalia to take a lif...

When it comes to Olympic swimming, she's a living legend. In a career of 24 years, she's won 12 medals. That career ended when she reached the age of 41. Correspondent Dan Williams paid a visit to Hall of Famer Dara Torres.

He discovered karate when he was a little boy, imitating his father's movements as he trained. That preparation helped him grow up to become a master and a champion. Just as he was about to retire, he decided to chase the Olympic dream. Stephen Gibbs introduces us to an exceptional Venezuelan ath...

First it was the Volcan de Fuego, violently erupting in June of 20-18 and leaving over 430 dead. In 2021 it's the Pacaya volcano, erupting for days and, fortunately, with no fatalities. Harris Whitbeck reports on the lessons Guatemalans have learned from volcanic eruptions.

It's one of the most challenging sports in the Olympics. The Pentathlon comprises five different events: fencing, horseback riding, swimming, shooting and cross-country running. Stephen Gibbs met with a Brazilian Pentathlon Olympian preparing to compete in Tokyo.

Crime is on the rise in the U.S. According to data collected by the CDC, between 2019 and 2020 the murder rate in the country went up by 30%, the largest increase in more than a century. Out of the 10 most dangerous neighborhoods in the country, 7 are in or around Los Angeles. Two veteran police ...

Over the past decades, human trafficking across the Mexico-US border has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. An elaborate scheme of bad actors with networks stretching over multiple countries, including El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, controls the illegal passage of people, preying on th...

Four decades ago, war broke out between Argentina and England. The conflict erupted because of a territorial dispute over the Malvinas, or as they are known in England, The Falkland Islands. Hundreds of soldiers died on both sides of the confrontation, which lasted over ten weeks. Joel Richards b...

The San Isidro port of entry lies between Tijuana and San Diego. It's one of the busiest land-border crossings in the world. But on the Mexican side, large flows of migrants cannot cross. And that's led to a fast-growing homeless population. Franc Contreras reports on a housing project for migran...

Two decades ago Colombian presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt, was abducted by FARC guerillas. She was held captive for six years in the rainforest until she was rescued. She moved to France and stayed far away from politics. But now she's back and running for the highest political position...

A town in Ecuador, aspiring to become a United Nations World Heritage Site, is slowly being destroyed by illegal gold mining. 
Zaruma, in the country’s south, is collapsing. Huge sinkholes, created by mine shafts below, have swallowed the local school and brought down homes. 
No one has been able...

It's well-known that Mexican drug cartels are heavily armed. What's, not as well known, is their firearms are made in the United States. Mexico is suing weapon manufacturers in the U.S. for what has become an out of control crisis within its borders. Alasdair Baverstock reports.   

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Española in the Caribbean. According to the World Bank, Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its increasingly dire economic situation has caused a rise in migration to the Dominican Republic.

As the migration crisis continues along the U.S. southern border, the dangers facing those seeking to enter the United States aren't only in Mexico. Some of the most perilous parts of the journey are on the U.S. side of the border. The crackdown by migration authorities over the years has forced ...

Illegal migration to the United States was on the rise during the pandemic. Migrants coming from South America normally fly to Mexico or other surrounding countries and continue on foot. But others walk through the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle that connects South America with Central America. P...

Mexico's COVID death toll was one of the world's highest. And according to official data, roughly 1.5 million children lost at least one parent since March of 2020. Alasdair Baverstock reports on Mexico's pandemic orphans. 

He was born in California but his parents are from China. So qualifying for the Winter Olympics in Beijing was particularly personal for U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou. His longtime dream? To win a medal in front of his grandparents from both sides of his family. All of them live in Beijing. But...

Ecuador was left reeling when at least 120 inmates were killed in a Guayaquil jail. Local gangs linked with Mexican drug cartels were behind the slaughter in what is believed to be a fight over territory. The riot was the worst prison massacre in Ecuador’s history. Some of the images in this repo...

During Colombia's internal armed conflict more than 6,000 people were murdered, that's according to the country's Justice Department. The dead were categorized as rebel fighters to inflate the number of combat kills. It's a case that is still under investigation. It has left thousands searching ...