Group items tagged

This discussion talks about the "never say no" attitude of the macho Latin American culture. It also talks about the risks involved in this type of culture. In this article, Gonzales discusses the possibility of men taking on this macho attitude in order to be socially accepted by other men.

This article discusses how the Machismo culture in Latin America is causing health problems and cutting life expectancies. Being macho means to attract lots of women and to never show any weakness. This need to be tough is causing problems for men.

In this article from The New York Times in January 1993, the rise of AIDS in women in Latin America is discussed. Similarly to in Gutmann's findings, the fidelity of husbands is questioned as the reason for the rise in women's infections. With men having sexual affairs, they are contributing to the rise of AIDS in females.

This article proposes the idea that an increasing number of Latin American countries have become more acceptive of gay and lesbian ideals. Due to regime changes, the once "closeted macho" countries now welcome such legislation as protections against sexual discrimination; the decriminalization of same-sex intercourse; grants to health benefits, parenting, and so on in countries like Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and NIcaragua.

La Familia in 2006 emerged as the largest force in organized crime in Mexico, and had a brutal attack in a nightclub in Uruapan to showcase their power. There latest target is the federal police, and in their pursuit they have succeeded in the largest single assault on the federal government since Felipe Calderon assumed office in 2006 and declared war on drug gangs. The agenda of La Familia differs from rival gangs who focus on smuggling and selling drugs. La Familia wishes to develop itself into a malignant institution that extorts taxes from businesses, controls petty crime, and funds community projects. Michoacán, the hometown of Mr. Calderon has become the center of the drug trade as trafficking for the American and local markets grew. La Familia gives loans to farmers, businesses, schools and churches, and they advertise their benevolence in local newspapers. La Familia is recognized as Mexico's largest producer of methamphetamines, as well as controlling the import, transport and sale of cocaine in the state. Surprisingly drugs only account for half of their revenue. Although the government applauses itself for its increase in arrests, most of the people they detain are never charged, and the recession and rising unemployment will provide the mobs with a larger possibility of recruits. Retaking Michoacán back from La Familia is a battle that has just begun.

In March 1999, President Clinton apologized for the US's support and training of Guatemalan military officers, which contributed to the bloody civil war. He said the the US must "remember the past, but never repeat it" and vowed to support Guatemala in the peace-building and reconciliation process.

In an effort to tie the three bookmarked articles together, this piece also discusses relevant material to Nelson's "Reckoning" alongside the movie, "When the Mountains Tremble". This article too discuses the idea and reality of Femicide or the genocide against women in Guatemala that still occurs to date. While the other readings set up an outline of what acts occur against women and the lack of influence police powers have, this article flashes numbers at the reader as a shock value to paint a picture of the immense number of women who have experienced brutality. While the other articles have mentioned the extent to which corruption influences the lack of punishment, this author seeks punishment in a different way. While doing research in Guatemala, he took victims who have been harmed themselves or have lost close ones to the war to the mountains to confront the militia men as a form of satisfaction or justice since the impunity rate is 97% in Guatemala. He explained that the gratitude of victims explaining their feelings to murderers would be far more reaching than formal punishment from the criminal justice system ever could be.

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.