"I have a regret that the entire discussion about this article ignores its purpose, which was to try to contribute to this discussion about the policy in the war on drugs," Penn told "60 Minutes" correspondent Charlie Rose.
The Peace Corps has suspended its half-century-old program in El Salvador, highlighting the violence that has wracked the Central American nation and helped propel a wave of migration to the United States.
Jimmy Morales, a former TV comic elected Guatemala's new president on a wave of public revulsion against widespread graft, took office Thursday in a ceremony attended by leaders from the Americas.
U.S. Marine Gen. John Kelly stepped down as the chief of U.S. Southern Command on Thursday, marking the end of a 45-year career that included commanding Marines during the invasion of Iraq, overseeing the military's controversial prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and becoming a high-profile Gold Star parent after his son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.
Advocacy groups in the U.S. are advising Central American immigrants who have entered the country illegally in recent years on how to avoid deportation.
