News stories by Analysis by Humberto Márquez

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sought to freshen up his international image on a tour of Latin America and demonstrate that his country does have friends in the world, while almost every day events place him at the epicentre of fraught geopolitical tensions.

The combination of a leader in power for 42 years, underground political forces bursting on the scene with violence, fractured armed forces and a fast-developing civil war would appear to be a specifically Libyan phenomenon that is unlikely to expand to the rest of OPEC.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez began the new year with special powers to implement his '21st century socialism', while the opposition returned to the legislature Wednesday after a five-year absence.