The Dominican Republic's struggling tourism sector is getting a boost from aid workers passing through on their way to neighboring Haiti.

Haydee Kuret is president of a Dominican hotel association. She says hotels in Santo Domingo have been full since an earthquake devastated Haiti's capital on Jan. 12.

The association said Monday that hotel occupancy in the city is up 18 percent compared with the first three months of last year.

The country also hosted more flights following the quake to accommodate travelers trying to work around bottlenecks at Haiti's main airport. [Read the full article]

* Greece deal seen easing risk aversion in Latin America (Recasts, adds comment, stock movements and background)

Mexico's peso firmed on Monday and stocks rose as U.S. manufacturing, consumer spending and construction data backed hopes in the economic recovery of the United States, Mexico's top trading partner.

The peso MXN=MEX01 strengthened 0.51 percent to 12.253 per U.S. dollar while the benchmark IPC stock index .MXX closed up 0.44 percent to 32,832.45 points.

U.S. consumer spending increased in March for a sixth straight month while a separate survey showed the U.S. manufacturing sector grew in April at its fastest pace in almost six years, according to data on Monday.

The United States buys around 80 percent of Mexican exports and the two countries' closely linked factories operate in lock step. Mexico is counting on a solid rebound in U.S. consumer demand to fuel a recovery from a deep recession last year. [Read the full article]