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In December of 2005, a bus driving in Honduras was stopped by gunmen in the notorious street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and had chosen their victims at random. The attack was meant as a protest generated towards the government's crackdown on gang activities. As the United States shifts its focus to the Middle East, it is ignoring a dangerous problem close to home, and the gangs have grown in power and numbers.

Gangs that started in the slums of the United States slowly shifted back to the homelands of these Central American members without warning local governments. An explosive growth in youth populations with social problems like that of poverty and unemployment are resulting in the the rapid spread of gangs north into Mexico and even back to the United States. Gangs are bringing in rampant crime, partaking in drug trade, and committing murders on innocent civilians. These gangs are threatening the strength of their weak government, who no longer know what to do to solve this ongoing issue that only seems to be getting worse.

This article discusses the growing Gang problem in Central America and pertains to our class because the issues brought up in this article are similar to the ones we will be reading and talking about as a class.

This article discusses the current issues that Central America is facing in regard to the current disarray of the regional institution used to integrate the countries of the continent since the military removal of the president of Honduras in June and the resent request to leave the PARLACEN group by Panama.

This website has referances to different resources, publications, and museums all pertaining to the many aspects of the culture of latin america. It touches on the art and history of the latter, and has a link to a website for information on Central and South America.

This website is an organization called PADCA, which stands for "Programa de Atención al Desminado en CentroAmerica." This union helps the people with clearing the mines that are placed because of the turbulence in the Central American area. It also provides rehabilitation for the people that are affected by the mines.

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)

The article discusses how there are plans to re-open a military base in the town of Ixcán in order to build a highway that will stretch 330 km across north-central Guatemala to Honduras and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The purpose of the highway is to protect foreign investment. However, there is widespread resistance amongst the iindigenous peoples of Ixcán due to the 102 massacres committed between 1979 and 1988 in the area.

This is a blog written by one of my friends from Argentina. In this particular blog Aniko Villalba is funded by an Argentinean travel company to document her experiences in Guatemala. She is a well trained journalist and her colorful descriptions of everyday life in the places she visits are unmatched.

This section of the Los Angeles Times deals directly with and reports daily on Latin American current events. It provides articles concerning Latin American politics, Latin American economics, Latin American art, etc. The page also includes video interviews, podcasts and an interactive map and multimedia gallery in regards to the Mexican drug wars.

This article discusses the "maras" of El Salvador and how they have grown throughout both Latin America and the United States. The "maras" have been responsible for countless murders and are continuing to grow today. The concept and existence of such gangs come into direct conversation with the concepts of both machismo and masculinity in Latin American and American culture.

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 this video, the author of Reckoning makes a comparison between opening up a mass grave in Guatemala and charging 6 American Bush-era officials for torture. They are both ways of dealing with a recent violent past that and changing the possibilities for the futures of both countries. She also describes the snake dance that she wrote about in Chapter 1 of the book.

This article talks about women's or young teenage girl's involvement in gangs in Guatemala. It discusses how these girls become initiated into these gangs and how they have to keep up membership. Also, it addresses why these girls join these gangs to begin with and why they cannot get out of them. Some studies show that nearly 40% of gang membership is made of females. This finding contradicts our normal idea of gangs being comprised of mostly men.

This article discusses the experiences of several young women involved in large Guatemalan gangs. Studies have found that almost 40% of gangs are constituted of young women (ages 14-21). These youths are living on the streets, and their fellow gang members often coerce them into group sex and group beatings. They are forced to have sex with most members of the gang, and kill someone, just for initiation. Admist the violence in Guatemala, young children are being orphaned, and end up getting involved in street gangs and violence. The article mentions how sometimes children are beaten at home, and they join a gang to "escape" it, when in reality, they are being beaten by the gangs, "their adopted family", as well. Gang leaders hold intense social control on their members.

In 2003 when Goldman Sachs economists linked Brazil with Russia, India and China as the economies that would come to dominate the world, much contest aroused over the inclusion of Brazil. Many economists questioned how Brazil could participate amongst the ensemble since the country features a declining growth rate, victim to any outside financial crisis, and constant political instability does not make Brazil an appealing candidate as an arising force. China leads the world economy out of recession while Brazil was not far from behind. Brazil was unable to avoid the downturn, but was among the last to fall and among the first to recover with a growing economy again at an annual rate of 5%. With the development of new deep-sea oilfields over the next few years, Brazil's growth will rapidly escalate also a result of Asian countries heightened appetite for food and minerals from Brazil's ample land. Forecasts alternate but in the decades proceeding 2014 Brazil will emerge as the world's fifth largest-economy, excelling Britain and France, and in 2025 it is also speculated that Sao Paulo will be the fifth-wealthiest city. Brazil perhaps surpasses its competing members because unlike China, it is a democracy, unlike India; the country is not plagued with insurgents, or ethnic and religious conflicts, or hostile relationships with its neighbors like India has with Pakistan and Kashmir. In contrast to Russia, Brazil exports more than oil and arms, and has established more cordial relationships with foreign investors. Brazil's emergence has not been hasty but instead steady. Initiatives began in the 1990s when they established a coherent set of economic policies, and the Central Bank was granted autonomy, which stimulated development of new multinationals that may have previously been state-owned companies that are now prospering as a result of operating from a distance from the government. Weaknesses, however, still permeate throughout Brazil, so it is necessary to