With Cuba facing another round of austerity measures, its population is pinning its hopes on vast quantities of oil being found in the drilling operations going on off the country's coast. However, the president of its national assembly remains cautious about any potential oil boom, and stresses that the country cannot neglect its agriculture and business sectors.
With an economy on the rise and an influx of new foreign investment, Panama's businessman-turned-president Ricardo Martinelli is planning to push on with taking advantage of the country's location and expanding the Panama Canal, as more ships look to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Lithuania's president, Dalia Grybauskaite, tells The Banker of the importance for governments to balance their books, her prediction on the future of the euro and her country's commitment to common, coordinated governance with its partners and neighbours.
Bolivia is barely recognisable from the state it was in 20 years ago - it now has a budget surplus and a store of foreign currency, and there are even plans to make the country an export hub for electric power and natural gas. Hugh O'Shaughnessy met Bolivia's vice-president Álvaro García Linera to discuss the country's prospects.
David Thompson - Barbados' prime ministerUnimpressed by the lack of representation for the world's smaller nations at the G-20 summit in London in April, Barbados' prime minister David Thompson took it upon himself to visit the city and tell the world of the plight of his country and others in the Caribbean. Writer Hugh O' Shaughnessy