After months of political turmoil, Panama has a new president who pledges to tackle a lackluster economy and close down the Darien Gap migrant route.

Unusually dry weather has led to water rationing and even power cuts. Colombia's capital city of Bogotá is rationing water for the first time in decades.

Crossings of the dangerous Darién Gap have reached another record, as migrants seek protection or a better future in the United States but lack safer routes to get there.

Large numbers of migrants from Venezuela are traveling thousands of miles to the U.S.-Mexico border, as their nation experiences food shortages and high inflation.

What might the official re-opening of the border to trade between Colombia and Venezuela mean for the two countries - and for the record number of Venezuelans trying to leave their own country?

This month voters elected Gustavo Petro — the nation's first leftist president. His running mate Francia Marquez also broke barriers when she became South America's first Black vice president.