Group items tagged

Although the previously bookmarked article seeks to establish an outline of the human or women rights violations that occur within Guatemala, here, author Karim Velasco, sheds light upon newly distinguished laws and explains despite their hopeful goals, why they have ceased to work effectively. She argues that because of the "lack of effective investigation and prevention strategies of the Guatemalan authorities", women continue to be raped, tortured, and murdered at an increasing rate. Because of pressures from the European Parliament to abide by human rights laws, "on April 9, 2008, Guatemalan Congressed passed the 'Law Against Femicide and other Forms of Violence against Women Act' to severely punish any kind of gender-based violence..." However, because the violence stems from the power inequality between men and women in the first place, there is little belief or evidence that this Act will be implemented or strongly enforced by the men in power who seek to represent masculinity or display a constant idea of machismo.

This article talks about the relationship between violence and the political family ruling Venezuela, los Chávez. Kidnapping is the main concern of this article and how such violence is stemmed from the political family and the rate in which it is increasing over other countries.

The article highlights how President Funes of El Salvador decided to send 2,500 army troops to patrol the streets of the country in an effort to combat crime. The soldiers will patrol the streets of 19 municipalities that have the highest crime rates. El Salvador one of the three Central American countries that have the highest rates of non-political violence in the world. (Guatemala and Honduras are the other two countries)

This article was written by a man who was actually stationed in Guatemala when the violence was occurring. The author focuses a lot on the guerrilla movements in the country during this time and their role in the war. Taking you through time, the article continues on with a history of the various stages through the war and his beliefs on the country's current post-war state.

Criminal Organizations in Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, El Salvador, and Guatemala have increased their power over the last decade, weakening political stability and democracy of Latin America. Surprisingly, the journalists who cover the crimes are their targets. the number of killings, attacks, and disappearances have increased causing the government to become unable to assure safety from the paramilitary gangsters in Brazil, guerillas in Colombia, and street gangs in El Salvador and Guatemala. As revenge, journalists are taking on self-censorship. Although the crime rate has decreased, the fight against crime requires domestic and international support. Better legal structure and diminishing criminal groups will help create independent media outlets.

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.

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 article is about the possibility of the Vatican getting involved in the Honduran government crisis as a third-party negotiator between ex-Presiden Manuel Zelaya and the current ruling group. The Church in Honduras is seen as a powerful political entity, with graasroots support and a powerful media outlet.

This article highlights the tension between government policies and indigenous populations in Ecuador. Due to the abundance of natural resources in the area, many indigenous communities are facing cultural and political instability.

The region including Latin America and the Caribbean is the area with the most homophobic crimes committed in recent years. Countries including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia have had an unfortunate recent history of homophobic crimes. This article, from ipsnews.net., describes how IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia Committee) is asking for an international day against homophobia. They chose May 17th as the day of recognition, because on May 17, 1990, homosexuality was removed from the World Health Organization's list of mental disorders. In the past few years, many Latin American countries have developed slogans and media campaigns against homophobia and the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Many activist groups in Latin America (and worldwide) are vying for political action and equal rights laws.

This article talks about the role of alcohol and substance abuse and its affects on Latin America and the Caribbean. Social, political, religious beliefs are all topics of this article as it talks about the problems and solutions of this important issue.

The United States Department of State summarizes the international recognition of the problem of narcotics trafficking. In the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report Argentina has become the transit for cocaine and heroin being produced in Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. Although Argentina itself is not a large producer of narcotics it has advanced chemical production facilities that produce the precursor chemicals used in the production of illicit drugs. Since 2005, there has been an increase in seizures, by the Argentinean government, of heroin, coca leaf, chemicals for cocaine production and a drop in marijuana seizures. Political turmoil is brewing at the border of Brazil and Argentina, which threatens the efforts of the international community to combat narcotics trafficking. In addition to the conflict, Argentina is fighting corruption within their government, which enables the large drug cartels mobility to avoid investigation by law enforcement officials.

This article evaluates the current violent, political situation in Honduras. In order to regain the strength of the country, the Latin America and the Caribbean program department of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has been working to design programs that aim to bring justice and hope back the people of Honduras. This article demonstrates ways in which people can help pray for Honduras and show their support.

In the first one hundred days of Barack Obama's presidency the issue between the US-Mexico border was being addressed. The discussions between President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón ranged on issues from global climate change and immigration reform. However, the issue that is most pressing is the use of assault weapons in correlation to the increase in organized crime. President Calderón has been trying to manage illegal immigration into the United States through attempts to increase employment rates in Mexico. To add to this initiative to crack down on the immigration issues between Mexico and the United States there has been an agreement between the United States, Mexico, and other Latin American countries which is a $1.4 million Merida joint security plan where the usage of United States equipment, technology and expertise are used toward combating drug trade. With the ban lifted in 2004 by the United States of assault weapons the organized crime has increased significantly; therefore, the drug trade has been gaining sufficient hold in towns.

This article focuses on the political tension between Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the US government. He remarked of his support for Obama but questioned whether there were 2 Obamas, since he believes that the US gov't knew about the situation in Honduras and supported it.