• Progress Towards Gender Parity in Politics. [Inter Press Service] Argentina was the first country in the region to set aside 30% of the seats in both the lower chamber and the Senate for women. Costa Rica, Mexico and Paraguay followed suit in 1996, Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru in 1997, Venezuela in 1998 (although later it abandoned the quota system), and finally Honduras in 2000.

• MicroCredit Enterprises Reaches Key Milestone. [CSRwire.com] MicroCredit Enterprises announced that the organization has now provided loans to 20,000 impoverished women in Cambodia, Bolivia and Ecuador. This significant milestone equates to more than $2.1 million in tiny business loans (average amount: $100.00) that fund women entrepreneurs to start home-based businesses and feed their families.

Argentina

• Volleyball Team Flies to Puerto Rico. [People's Daily Online, China] Argentina's female volleyball team headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday, to take part in the fifth Pan-American Cup volleyball tournament, which runs from June 29 to July 7.

• Sabatini Enshrined in Tennis Hall of Fame. [SLAM! Sports, Canada] Sabatini was enshrined into the Hall of Fame on Newport's grass courts. Sabatini, the first Argentine women elected to the Hall, defeated Graf to win the 1990 U.S. Open and her only Grand Slam singles title. Sabatini and Graf won the 1988 Wimbledon doubles title.

Bolivia

• Childbirth Still a Gamble, Despite Care Efforts. [Inter Press Services, Italy] Haiti and Bolivia have the highest pregnancy and birth risk levels in Latin America, according to the State of the World's Mothers 2006 report, published by the international Save the Children organization. The 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by Bolivia's National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed a rate of 229 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births.

• Brazilian Bikini 60 Years Young. [Honolulu Star-Bulletin] Not such little nothings these days are the bikinis themselves. While wishful thinking men might still associate the Brazilian bikini with a dental floss-size thong, today's Brazilian briefs incorporate much more fabric, measuring a comparatively modest 4 inches across the rear. Addressing active lifestyles, there are also boy-cut briefs and halter tops that offer support to surfer girls.

• Blueprint Sex Museum Plan Sparks Rio Row. [Guardian Unlimited] Telling your 71-year-old grandmother you plan to construct a gigantic replica of a uterus on her doorstep must be one of the least pleasant tasks for any grandson. That, however, is the bind of Igor de Vetyemy, a young Brazilian architect behind a controversial project to build a museum inspired entirely by sex on one of the world's most famous beaches.

Chile

• Female Immigrants Trapped Into Prostitution. [Santiago Times, Chile] These women uproot their lives and begin anew, in hopes of finding better opportunities and a better life than is offered in their own countries. But they usually learn that work and good pay are difficult to come by in Chile. After months at poorly-paying jobs that keep them in poverty, these women are ultimately forced to resort to prostitution to support their families and survive.

• Bachelet: No Prolonging Female Retirement. [Prensa Latina, Cuba] Chile´s President Michelle Bachelet ruled out the possibility of extending women´s retirement age to 65 on Thursday, an extension requested by the consultant council appointed to present Social Security reforms.

• Women Increasingly Tuning in to the Soccer World Cup. [Indiantelevision.com, India] If you thought that only men follow soccer think again! Soccer's governing body Infront's governing body Infront has announced the results of a study that show that women are increasingly following the football World Cup.

• Chile Targets Infant Care Reform. [Santiago Times] President Michelle Bachelet’s Advisory Commission on Infant Policies called last week for the large-scale reform of maternal and infant care in Chile. The proposals include extending maternal care leave to six months, universal access to pre-school, expanded day-care coverage and employer subsidies for the care of employees’ children.

• The Importance of Completing Chile's Beautiful Task. [Financial Times, UK] The women came from all over Chile on election night in January. Their message was very clear: with a female elected president leading Chile for the first time, all of them felt that they were part of the government.

Colombia

• Colombia Could Learn from Venezuela’s Social Policies. [Colombia Journal, Colombia] The social investment policies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez have not only benefited poor Venezuelans, but also many of the three million Colombian immigrants who have fled across the border. “Single, unemployed mothers have a place to go for help here. In Colombia we had nothing like that,” said one female immigrant from Colombia’s northern coast.

• Gaviria Sister's Killers Jailed. [BBC News] Liliana Gaviria was killed a month before presidential elections A Colombian court has sentenced two men to 36 years in prison for their role in the killing of the sister of former President Cesar Gaviria.

• Rotarian Helps Teach Women How to Sew. [Central Maine Morning Sentinel] A poverty-stricken area of northern Colombia -- a country still embroiled in drug wars, guerrilla fighting and kidnappings -- is not a tourist destination but that is where Al Feather traveled earlier this month to spread Maine good will and friendship.

• Another Guyanese Woman Murdered. [Propaganda press] A butcher accused of knifing his girlfriend to death in her North Ruimveldt home early Monday morning, appeared yesterday in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. Sooklall is accused of murdering Tricia Welch, a 29-year-old freelance photographer.

• Woman in Manitoba Has Surgery in Paraguay to Avoid Wait. [Yahoo! News] Rose Hildebrand grew tired of waiting for surgery in Canada, so she travelled to Paraguay about eight weeks ago to have her hip replaced.

• From Seed to Cup, This Organic Coffee is All About Women. [Emediawire] Female farmers in Peru unite to form their own coffee association as a way to earn more money and assert their independence in a historically male dominated country. Women in Peru are the subject of persistent discrimination in education, employment, and health. That’s why Café Femenino, a coffee growing cooperative managed solely by women, is turning heads—especially male heads.

• Canada Assists Drug Rehabilitation Center. [Living in Peru, Peru] A successful drug rehabilitation center in the Lima neighbourhood of Santa Beatriz will soon open its doors to women clients, thanks in part to support from Canada. Renovations include the construction of separate quarters for women, which will allow the center to begin receiving female residential clients.

• Garcia Plans to Appoint 6 Women for His Cabinet of Ministers. [Living in Peru, Peru] Garcia ministerial cabinet is taking shape after several weeks of consultation with his party members. Peru's president-elect and his new government will assume office on July 28. Even though he will not keep one of his electoral campaign promises - a 16-member cabinet consisting of half men and half women - the quota of 6 female ministers is a first for Peru.

• Female Police Officers at Risk. [Wilmington Morning Star] When traffic cop Maria Calderon ordered a taxi driver to move on, his reaction bordered on homicidal: He floored it, slamming her to the ground and ripping her face and ankle as he sped away. It was typical of a macho backlash on Lima's streets, where most male traffic officers were replaced by women in an effort to give law enforcement a kinder, gentler and less corrupt face.

• Flushing Public Gender Violence Out of the Shadows. [Inter Press Service, Italy] Their behavior is shifting almost imperceptibly, but as women grow increasingly fearful of their safety, their movement in the cities of South America has become ever more restricted -- especially at night. Unfortunately, media coverage only proves that their fears of being robbed, beaten, raped or having their children kidnapped are all too real, convincing many women to take cover in their homes.

• Step Back Renews Women's Drive to Move Forward. [Inter Press Service, Italy] A recent Supreme Court ruling that undermines the safety of domestic violence victims has galvanized activists in Venezuela, who vow to step up the fight against a scourge that the country's advanced gender-equality laws have so far failed to eradicate.

• Women Protest Court Decision to Annul Section of Law on Violence Against Women. [Venezuelanalysis.com, Venezuela] In May, the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled important sections of the Law on Violence against Women and Family. Shockwaves as a result of the ruling led to last Thursday’s protest in front of Venezuela’s Supreme Court and to a debate before the Venezuelan National Assembly on “domestic violence and violence against women.”