As President-elect Obama prepares to take office, our neighbors to the south have a few suggestions for the incoming president. A new report from the Brookings Institution documents several of them: expanding free trade, changing the rhetoric on the war on drugs, even normalizing relations with Cuba. The director of the Latin America Institute at Brookings joins the Takeaway to discuss the possibility of new approaches to Latin American relations.

Ten years ago, Hugo Chavez became the president of Venezuela, and he's been working to increase his influence and profile ever since. The Venezuelan leader is the subject of a new PBS/FRONTLINE documentary which chronicles Chavez’s rise to power and how he uses his leadership style to hold on to the presidency.

"Moments later, Jones pulled out vats of Flavor-Aid (not Kool-Aid, as the urban legend goes) containing valium, cyanide and more -- a deadly cocktail. And he urged members to commit 'Revolutionary Suicide.'"
--Adaora Udoji on the Jonestown Massacre

The year was 1968, and political unrest was proliferating around the world. As Mexico City was preparing to host the Olympic Games, a political demonstration turned into a bloodbath. London Evening News sports reporter Bob Trevor was in Mexico covering the Games, but found himself in the middle of a very different story.

In the Amazon, some native tribes are burying their babies alive if they are born with birth defects — defects that can often be treated with modern medicine. Evangelical Christian missionaries have launched a campaign against the practice, and Brazilian politicians are getting caught in the middle. ABC Correspondent Dan Harris has been deep in the Amazon investigating the debate.

This past weekend Venezuela conducted military exercises with fighter jets dropping bombs and commandos resisting a mock invasion. The maneuvers featured Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets, ground troops, patrol boats and helicopters that fired rockets at targets. The socialist president says the show of force shouldn't be considered "an aggression against anyone," but Chavez has accused the U.S. of trying to overthrow him and has said the military must be prepared. Chavez also told U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy he had 72 hours to leave the country on Thursday, suggesting that he "go to hell 100 times."

Two and a half years ago, newly elected Chilean President Michelle Bachelet vowed to rid Chile of the divisions and mistrust that had captured the nation. These problems come from a decades-old dark past that involved the U.S. government. New documents released this week reveal private conversations between Nixon and Kissinger about attempts to stop Salvador Allende from taking office and thwarting him once he did.

The lust that once lured prospectors to California is today drawing countless thousands to remote tropical rainforests on a quest for gold. It’s a valuable source of income in developing nations. But Smithsonian scientist William Laurance says the thirst for gold and other metals is fueled by both illegal and legal trade that carries heavy social, environmental and public health costs.

Guest: Americo Martins, a BBC Editor for the Americas Region

Guest: Ollie Williams, BBC Sports reporter, in London

Farmers in Argentina have been protesting in the streets for months after President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner implemented a soybean export tax increase without congressional consent. The decision has led to plummeting approval ratings, strife within the Argentine government, and civic unrest in a country previously dominated by the Executive. With Argentina's congress close to a vote on the tax hike, The Takeaway talks with Paul Scheltus, a blogger and reporter covering the situation from Buenos Aires.

Guest: Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times

U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay James Cason has recorded a 16-track album in Guaraní, the official indigenous language of Paraguay, turning the foreign-serviceman into a national sensation.

Guest: Americo Martins, BBC Americas Region editor

View a gallery of images of the tribe from Survival International.