Meanwhile, ALBA houses have proliferated in Peru's southern highlands, serving as dissemination points for chavismo.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Chavez moves into Peru

Ollanta Humala's popularity remains robust in some parts of Peru, especially in the southern highlands.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Chavez moves into Peru

Last month two people were killed and buildings set alight in Espinar, in the southern highlands, in a protest against Xstrata, an Anglo-Swiss company that owns a copper mine at Tintaya and is building another nearby.

ECONOMIST: The president and the protesters fall out

In some parts of Africa, such as the highlands of eastern Africa, the Sahel and the deserts of southern Africa, malaria is not a constant threat, but comes in sudden epidemics.

ECONOMIST: Malaria: Four horsemen of the Apocalypse? | The

Some areas of the Highlands and Islands have largely escaped the snowfalls that have caused chaos in several more southern and eastern areas of Scotland since last Friday.

BBC: Spate of Highland wildfires tackled