The news out of Latin America is seldom boring. There’s always something going on in this vast region worth talking about. Here are some of the more unusual or noteworthy tidbits from the recent news.

Toilet paper shortage in Venezuela
It’s one thing to hear about the effects of socialism on a country’s economy, quite another when price controls and inefficiency materialize in a concrete way. In this case it’s a big toilet paper shortage going on in Venezuela. They may be used to running out of milk, butter, cooking oil, and other staples, but one 70-year-old shopper said, “Even at my age I’ve never seen this.”

Yet another reason for them to head to Panama or Colombia I suppose. Plenty of TP in those places.

Former Guatemala leader convicted of genocide
Guatemala made history this month when it convicted a former president of genocide, the first time a head of state has been convicted of such in his own country. Rios Montt ruled brutally for 17 months during the civil war of the early 1980s. His troops attached Maya Ixil villages with full force, at least 1,771 deaths directly attributed to him at the trial. He got 80 years, so he’ll die in prison. This is on top of four soldiers getting convictions of more than 6,000 years in total a few years ago.

Goodbye to one of Argentina’s worst
In a related story, Argentina’s Disappearer-in-Chief just died at 87. Jorge Rafael Videla is said to be responsible for at some 20,000 deaths in the late 1970s and it was reportedly his idea to take the children from mothers, have then killed, and let the babies be raised by military families. Don’t rest in peace…

Belize road crew bulldozes Maya pyramid for road fill
In a story that prompted outrage in and outside of Belize, a road crew looking for fill materials took heavy equipment to an unexcavated pyramid in Belize that dated back several thousand years. They destroyed the structure and it gets worse: the company’s owner is (was?) a legislative candidate.

Brazil goes halfway to same-sex marriage
A supreme court ruling in Brazil effectively legalizes gay marriage in Latin America’s biggest country. While it could still potentially be overturned by legislation, this ends some confusion and brings Brazil closer to the policies of its neighbors Argentina and Uruguay.

Having a new pope come from Argentina should be good news when it comes to numbers. Canada and the USA combined have 86 million Catholics. South America has 339 million.

Tired of hearing Argentina’s politicians’ sabre-rattling about the Falkland Islands, the locals went to the polls to vote in a referendum. Only 3 out of 1,513 voted not to continue under British rule. Turnout was 92%.

Wholesale coffee prices have tumbled and it’s creating major headaches in Colombia. Though you haven’t seen it trickle down to your local Starbucks, prices are down 50% in two years.

United Airlines just began weekly year-round service between Washington-Dulles International Airport and both Guatemala City, Guatemala, and San Jose, Costa Rica. The airline also will begin weekly year-round service between its Chicago O’Hare hub and San Jose the same day. Check prices on international airline finder Vayama.com.

If you want to assign blame for Mexico’s border region violence to someone, U.S. gun dealers would be a good place to start. A new study found last month that some 250,000 guns a year are heading south from border states, spurred by lax gun sale laws. There are more than three gun dealers for every mile of the 1,969 mile border.

Chile is now leading the world in astronomy, at least in terms of equipment superiority. Scientists have completed the world’s largest radio telescope array, bigger than all existing ones added together, in the Atacama Desert region. The resolution of what it can see is 10X that of the Hubble telescope.

The Association of Brazilian Supermarkets announced that it would not sell beef from cattle raised on cleared rainforest land. Critics say it will be hard to enforce since no government agency is monitoring origin, but it’s hopefully a start in turning the tide of clearing rainforest land for farming. Cattle farming is the biggest driver of deforestation.

There’s a new strain of dengue fever hitting Brazil, with more than 200,000 people being infected just in the first two months of this year. There’s no immunity in place in the population for this new strain, so anyone traveling to areas with mosquitoes in Brazil needs to be super-diligent with the DEET and clothing using BugsAway or Insect Shield.

Bolivia can keep growing coca leaves for workers to chew. The country got a special dispensation from the UN to legalize unrefined coca within its borders only.

On this luxury travel blog we’re usually pointing to new hotel reviews, tour stories, or high-end real estate round-ups. Sometimes we’ll sip some tequila or rum. There’s always a lot going on under the radar in the tourism world though, so here’s an update on some travel news.

We’ve reviewed Mexico’s Interjet airline in the past and we’ve been impressed by their growth. The airline now has 25% of the Mexican market and after adding flights to Miami and San Antonio last year, in November they stated flights between Mexico City and Las Vegas. They also headed south to Costa Rica and Guatemala. What’s next? This year they’ll start flying to Colombia. Pull up Interjet.com.mx next time you’re heading to Mexico to check out the options.

Think Brazil is becoming an economic powerhouse? Yes, they’re now the 6th largest economy, but because of domestic deman, not globalization. Latin Business Chronicle released a survey rating it as last on the list in Latin America for globalization. Measuring imports and exports as a percentage of GDP and other factors such as tourism receipts, it ranked the lowest, after Venezuela and Colombia. Who’s at the top? If you’ve been there you can probably guess: Panama. (In preparation for the World Cup though, Brazil’s prostitutes are busy learning new languages.)

A few times before on this blog we’ve pointed to ugly warning signs that Argentina could be facing another big financial crisis similar to the one that brought the country to its knees a little more than a decade ago. The latest was the revelation that Argentina grounded the presidential plane, their equivalent of Air Force One. Long story short, the country still owes more to creditors than it can pay back and this plane is something that could easily be seized to repay debts. To travel abroad, president Kirchner now has to charter a jet from a private carrier. We assume they’re asking for payment in advance.

Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands will vote in March on whether to remain a British territory or not. Few outside of Argentina expect the vote to go their way. In the meantime, British cruise company P&O has suspended trips there because of hostilities.

What’s the story with American virus scan gazillionaire John McAfee and Belize, then Guatemala? We’re not sure and probably nobody is except the man himself. But one movie script has already been sold and another will probably surface soon, even though we don’t know the ending yet. Get what we know so far here: Mystery Follows McAfee to Miami.

As we watch the Americas—including the Caribbean—dominate all the track & field sprints in the Olympics, let’s take a break to check out some luxury travel news for the region.

In Brazil’s biggest city, a much-needed subway expansion is finally in motion. They’ve got a long way to go to really ease congestion though. Their metro has 71 kms of track for 19 million people compared to 200 kms for Mexico City. Even Santiago’s is 40% bigger. A planned Line 4 extension will add five more stations though to the recently opened stops. Alas, not in time for the 2014 World Cup though. See the full article from the Economist here: Not yet fit for a metropolis.

Mexico tourism is on track to set a record this year for both the number of visitors and overall revenues, based on how the first six months went.

Luxury retail spending was down 26% in the second quarter of this year, after a smaller decline in the first quarter. Affluent households have previously been the bright spot during this recession, but while they still seem to be traveling, they’re not plunking down as much on handbags and watches.

Magazine publishers are crying the blues as well. As more readers and advertisers gravitate to digital, paper is suffering. “Vogue, Vanity Fair, Lucky and Allure all experienced double-digit declines for Condé Nast” says this article and most others were lucky to have “only” a single-digit decline for the first half of the year.

Argentina’s import restrictions are hitting the Buenos Aires luxury market hard. All the red tape and bureaucracy have led to permanent or months-long closures of stores from Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Cartier, and Ermenegildo Zegna. We can only imagine the effect this is having on hotels as well if they’re trying to import French toiletries or the latest electronics.

We don’t cover troubled Venezuela on Luxury Latin America, but congrats to fencer Rubin Limardo who won the country its first gold Olympics medal in 44 years.

Pity the poor beer connoisseur heading to Latin America. In many countries, one brand dominates. In others there are several labels—all brewed by the same company. In general it’s a sea of light lagers meant to be served very cold on a hot day.

Mexico has long brewed some of the best beers around, but even there the multitude of brands are produced by just two companies. And now one of those companies is fully owned by the Anheuser-Busch/InBev conglomerate. The behemoth bought what it didn’t own of the brewer for $20.1 billion.

These monopolies or duopolies survive because friendly governments have put up lots of barriers to keep anyone else from spoiling things. Until a few decades ago, laws weren’t so loose in the U.S. either. Once local brewers were allowed to flourish, they did so in a hurry.

There are a few bright spots in the region that can give us hope:

Costa Rica – This country, formerly dominated by one brewer, is now home to five start-up microbreweries. That’s enough to justify a real Microbrewery Beer Festival this past April. Costa Rica’s Craft Brewing Company has the best distribution so far, though oddly enough they don’t have a website—just a Facebook page.

If you like a good beer or three, stay where it’s served and you won’t have to drive. Volcano Brewing Company on Lake Arenal is also a hotel! (Rates are great too.)

Chile – Lots of Germans settled here, so there must be good beer—right? A lot of them seemed to land in Valdivia, the epicenter for the craft beer movement in Chile. One brewery is even called Kuntzmann. I had the pleasure of trying a Svot amber ale while I was in Chile on a wine tour (shhhh, don’t tell), and it was divine.

Brazil – This could be the market that really makes it for the craft brew industry. A huge population, rising wealth, regional advantages because of distance, and a populace that drinks as much beer as soda. According to this article, “Some of the most popular brands that are all worth a try while in Brazil are Colorado, Coruja, Dado Bier, Bierland, Mistura Clássica and Bamberg.”

Mexico – It’s not that there aren’t any microbrews in Mexico: you’ll just have a really hard time finding any of them. I lived in Guanajuato for seven months before I even saw one in a restaurant or bar. Thankfully you’ve got Bohemia and Negra Modela from the big boys (two of the few with an alcohol content over 4.5%), but seek out the others in Mexico City or Guadalajara.

Have you found any craft beers in your travels in Latin America? Clue us in!