Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post covers November 25 to December 1.

Petro’s latest scandal could reenergize Colombia’s lackluster conservative opposition; foreign direct investment in Latin America defies global downturn.

Hot winters in the Andes and Southern Cone threaten Latin America’s advantages; Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico aim to ride U.S. semiconductor industrial policy coattails; Colombia’s new ceasefire agreeme…

Escalating inter-Korean tensions might turn the Korean Peninsula into another international security flashpoint and a possible breaking point for global stability.

Latin America’s anti-incumbency wave rolls through Argentina; Governments look to lithium to spur industrialization; assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate reveals state capture by organi…

BRICS becomes BRICS+, though not all may join; Latin America looks West, not East, for its technology; more frequent droughts promise more slow downs in the Panama Canal.

At 32 years old, Mercosur faces an existential crisis; Petro signals a big shift on drug policy; Massa’s last-ditch election spending will hobble the next government.

Walking on eggshells with South Africa only obscures an increasingly discordant U.S.-South Africa relationship.