Group items tagged

This article dicusses the murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg, a famous lawyer in Guatemala in May 2009. A few days before he was shot, Mr. Rosenberg made in a video in which he predicted his death and blamed President Álvaro Colom. Rosenberg also blamed the President for the death of his wife, the president's secretary, and other bankers and businessmen. The article goes into a description of the crime and poverty that have hit Guatemala since the civil war.

Although this article does not directly discuss the civil war that Guatemala has experienced and has yet to fully recover from, here you can see some the direct results of the civil war. What occurred in Guatemala definitely prepared it for the condition that it is in now. Not only is the country facing political issues, dealing with issues regarding the past civil war, the land which was once inhabited by indigenous peoples has not turned into a complete battlefield, even after the war.

In this New York Times article, dated May 22, 2009, the conspiracy surrounding the death of Rodrigo Rosenberg, a prominent lawyer in Guatemala, was discussed. Even though there was a peace accord signed in 1996 to end the civil war, violence and corruption still exists in the society. In a video shot days before Rosenberg's death, he not only predicted that he would be next to be killed, but also pointed out the president and his wife, who is also his secretary, as the main figures involved in this corruption. Rosenberg said that the scandal involved the Rural Development Bank and had already resulted in the death of one of his clients and his client's daughter. The president and his wife have publicly stated they had nothing to do with the murders, but Rosenberg predicting his death is a chilling aspect to the accusations.

This article discusses the recent homicide of french filmmaker, Christian Poveda, who was killed by a gang/mara in El Salvador. Gang violence in El Salvador commits one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America. This article draws attention to the reasons why boys join gangs; which we can discuss in relation to men and violence in Latin America and the growing violence in El Salvador after its civil war.

This article focuses on the history of the civil war in El Salvador from 1980-1992. Starting with discussing the increase of violence in the Nation following the death of the Archbishop to the reason for involvement by the United States and the negative effects that had on the country. From there it describes the involvement of the United Nations and leads up to the end of the dispute bringing us to the stage of reconstruction that El Salvador is currently in.

This short video clip talks about an organization, The Forensic Anthropology Foundation, that is working to uncover the mass graves from the civil war in Guatemala and put names to each of the bodies. They will hopefully be able to identify each body by DNA testing and return the corpses to their surviving family members to have a proper burial. This relates to our class because it is an account of what anthropologists are doing now to try to heal from the Guatemalan Civil War that we are studying.

Guatemalan authorities work towards moving Guatemala away from its dark past. They want to ensure that people who are found guilty of having anything to do with the persecution of many indigenous people during the civil war are punished in some way.

In Guatemala the rate of violent deaths of women is outrageously hight and is still growing rapidly. The murdering of women usually involves torture, rape, or mutilation. Norma Cruz,co-founder of the NGO Survivors Foundation, has helped to provide many victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse and the families of murdered women with emotional and social support. According to Cruz, the "increasing number of killings of women in Guatemala is tied to the poverty that is the aftermath of Guatemala's civil war..." Even though her position in the foundation has many risks and harms, it has given voice to many victims and inspired other foundations in Guatemala to help this on-going issue of violence.

This site offers a number of links pertaining to post-war society in Guatemala. Interesting here is the comparison and grouping of post-war Guatemala and post-war Camboia together, two countries with a recent civil war.

This article discusses the civil unrest in the country of Venezuela between Governor César Pérez and President Chávez. The governor claims that the government is not doing anything to prevent the rebels from Colombia from crossing the border and only wished to keep out those supporting right-wing agendas. Not only has the President allowed leftist groups to cross the border unchecked but he has limited the access to weapons of local police to keep them from taking action against the guerillas. The constant dispute between the government, local government, and the leftist Colombian rebels has caused violence in the region along the border including deaths.

This BBC article contains a timeline of political, social, economical, and cultural changes in Guatemala from the 1500's to the present day. It marks from 1970 up until the end of the civil war as a time when human rights were violated. The postwar years mainly focus on political reform.

This webpage includes a basic timeline of Guatemala's history from the beginning of the Spanish colonization to the present. It outlines social-democratic reforms, violations of human rights, the end of the civil war, storm related deaths, murders, etc. This relates to our class because it provides an easy to read outline of Guatemala's history.

The United Nations commission issued a summary in 1999 summarizing the claim made by the Guatemalan government that the atrocities committed during the Guatemalan civil wars were carried out by subordinate soldiers; this claim was without foundation. The statements made in the commission's conclusion advocates for a restructuring of the Guatemalan military system as well as the establishment of a commission that is under the president's authority for the purpose of maintaining a just military and observational component that monitors military officials conduct during periods of armed conflict. According to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan the restructuring of the Guatemalan government and military systems is a milestone for Guatemala. Annan further emphasizes the usage of Guatemala as an example for the world as it highlights the importance of nations and governments to recognize history plagued with violence and flagrant violations of human rights because in doing so it will guarantees a smoother path towards peace and stability.

This is an article from earlier this year about the murder of a prominent lawyer in Guatemala. This is a high-profile case because the lawyer had predicted his own murder, claiming that President Alvaro Colom was going to have him killed because he knew too much about a corruption scandal. The case is unsolved as of now, and some people believe it was indeed the president's doing, while others believe that he was set up by political opponents. This case is important for our understanding of post-Civil War Guatemala because it shows that people still fear their leaders and don't know who to trust.

The military's efforts to exercise power through terrorizing during the civil war in Guatemala (1960-1966), resurfaces today through the acts of gender-based violence, committed by gangs in Guatemala. This exemplifies how war and violence shapes society and how it has influenced gender equality. There is as much terror and torturing of women as there was during the war. However, now this reality is being reinforced by members of society-since such crimes go unnoticed/unpunished-, normalizing terror and fear in Guatemala.

This article talks about violence against women in Guatemala and how it is not only happening more these days, but the crimes are also seeming to get worse. It also talks about the difference between the murders of both men and women and possible reasons for why they were caused. Recently however, there have been marches in the streets and increased awareness domestically and internationally of the problems facing the country regarding violence.

This article discusses how many Latin American countries would benefit from government reforms. It also talks about how the United States should help these nations to fix their own problems rather than doing it for them. I think this relates to the course because we will be talking about reform after civil wars, and here reform was thought to be necessary to improve the Latin American nations.

According to this article, on August 27, 2009, lawmakers in Uruguay voted to legalize to allow homosexual couples to adopt. This makes Uruguay the first Latin American country to do so. The Roman Catholic Church in Uruguay opposed the bill, but it was passed 40-13 in favor. Uruguay has also legalized homosexual civil unions and has ended a ban on homosexuals in the armed forces.

On Wednesday, September 9, 2009, the legislative branch in Uruguay passed a bill allowing for gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. This law had major support from the Senators in a 17 out of 23 vote and is unlike any other gay rights movement bill in Latin America. Liberal activists hope this is just the first step in a very long line of the liberation of not only gay rights, but human rights. Uruguay is also noted to be the first Latin American country to approve divorce and women's right to vote.

This article talks about El Salvador and the gang that originated there, MS-13, which was spread north by immigrants escaping the civil war.

Venezuela has decided to ban "war porn" video games, which are held accountable for 10,000 deaths. Since Hugo Chavez came to power, civil violence has increased in Venezuela. Video Games are responsible for youth violence and alcohol fueled violence. Although the Government does not want to acknowledge the violence, they implemented a pedestrian 08 limit which they hope will control alcohol related violence and help consumers to think before they act.

This blog discusses how Evangelicalism works as a frame for civil society in Venezuela due to the restrictions that the church enforces. This particular blog post also happens to be written by David Smilde, the author of the current book we are reading.

Written in 1989 during the Guatemalan civil war, this article presented the growing influence of Evangelical organizations and converts in response to the violent conflict occurring in Guatemala.

The article entitled "Guatemala's 'Femicide' Crisis" seeks to explain the implications of the unnecessary and brutal mass killings occurring amongst women in Guatemala mostly by male gangs. Because the killings have exceeded such an unusual extent, it has been deemed a "Femicide", otherwise known as a "Gendercide" or a genocide directed mainly against females. The ages of girls or women discussed in this article being raped, beaten, and murdered range from three year old toddlers to middle aged women. Not only do gangs of men perform these acts for no reason other to establish masculinity within their affinity groups. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are so corrupt that it was said, "justice imposed by the state is non-existent" and "only two per cent of crimes against women are solved." This article seeks to establish the problem that is still going on even after the forty-year civil war while other chosen articles are determined to look for solutions.