Roundup: 10 major events of Latin America in 2015

Latin America is about to bid farewell to the eventful year of 2015. Following are the 10 most eye-catching events that influenced the political, economic and social landscape of the region this year.

CUBA, U.S. RESTORE DIPLOMATIC TIES

After 54 years of icy relations, Cuba and the United States reopened their respective embassies on July 20 as part of their decision to restore diplomatic ties.

Relations were severed in 1961 during the John F. Kennedy administration and remained in deep freeze until U.S. President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, announced on Dec. 17, 2014 that they agreed to work together to normalize ties. The U.S.-led trade embargo against Cuba remains one of the main obstacles to normalizing the bilateral relationship.

SUMMIT OF AMERICAS BOLSTERS LATIN AMERICAN UNITY

Latin American leaders gathered at the 7th Summit of the Americas, held on April 10-11 in Panama City, to show their support for Cuba, which was invited after years of being shut out, and Venezuela, which had recently been declared a "national security threat" by the United States.

In a historic speech, Cuban President Raul Castro alluded to the fact that Cuba has for years not been invited to the hemispheric gathering due to its severed ties with Washington.

"They tell me I have eight minutes. But since they owe me six summits, six times eight is 48," he said amid applause from the mostly Latin American leaders in attendance.

CHINESE PREMIER VISITS LATIN AMERICA, TIES STRENGTHENED

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's four-nation South American tour on May 18-26 marked a high point in bilateral relations.

In visits to Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile, Li expressed his country's commitment to expanding trade and cooperation with the region, signing some 70 accords in myriad fields and strengthening the bonds of friendship.

ELECTIONS IN ARGENTINA, GUATEMALA

In Argentina, conservative candidate Mauricio Macri, the former mayor of Buenos Aires, won the Nov. 22 elections, bringing an end to 12 years of left-leaning Peronist rule.

Guatemalans, fed up with rampant corruption, forced the president out of office in September and elected political outsider Jimmy Morales to replace him in October. A former comedian and actor, Morales won with a simple slogan: "Neither corrupt, nor a thief," a message that went to the heart of the problems convulsing the Central American nation.

BRAZIL ROCKED BY CORRUPTION, ECONOMIC WOES, POWER STRUGGLE

Latin America's largest economy struggles as an ongoing corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras sending seismic shockwaves through an already fragile economy.

Adding to the economic instability is a push by the opposition to oust President Dilma Rousseff from office with an impeachment. The political drama will continue in February after congress returns from recess.

U.S. BRANDS VENEZUELA "SECURITY THREAT"

Following an incendiary March 9 executive order out of Washington calling Venezuela "an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security," Venezuelans cried foul.

The strongly worded statement raised hackles throughout Latin America and other parts of the globe. It even sparked an emergency meeting of the Union of South American Nations, which called on Obama to rescind the decree.

Venezuela's No. 2 official, Diosdado Cabello, speaker of the National Assembly, retorted that it was the United States, and not Venezuela, that posed a threat to countries around the globe.

"They are the ones who represent a threat, not for Venezuela but for the entire world," Cabello said in a televised broadcast.

MEXICO CANCELS CHINESE HIGH-SPEED RAIL PROJECT, BUT SPURS COOPERATION

Beset by allegations of corruption and wrongdoing, Mexico's government was forced to cancel a high-speed rail project that had been won by a Chinese-led consortium.

The cancellation came after Mexican media reported the president and his wife appeared to have been gifted a multimillion-dollar mansion by a Mexican company that was part of the consortium.

Speculation that scrapping the rail project would throw a wrench into bilateral ties proved wrong, with trade and cooperation between Mexico and China moving ahead at a brisk clip.

LATIN AMERICAN CURRENCIES HIT BY GLOBAL FINANCIAL UNCERTAINTY

National currencies across the continent took a dive, battered by a strong U.S. dollar, the falling price of oil and minerals on the world market, and lower demand level.

The Mexican peso depreciated 27.5 percent between summer 2014 and summer 2015, and continues to slide. Brazil's real plummeted 70 percent in a year, and the Argentine peso dropped 25 percent.

8.4-MAGNITUDE QUAKE JOLTS CHILE

Northern Chile was shaken yet again by a powerful 8.4-magnitude earthquake on the morning of Sept. 16, with tremors felt in neighboring Argentina, Uruguay and even Brazil.

The government estimated 3,500 people were left homeless and at least 12 people were killed.

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION WINS MAJORITY IN CONGRESS

Venezuela's right-wing coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, garnered 112 of 167 seats in the National Assembly, gaining a super majority for the 2016-2021 period.

The elections were deemed exemplary by international observers, with some 75 percent of the country's 19.5 million eligible voters taking part.Endi