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Aria Auerbach

Latin America moves to decriminalize drugs - 0 views

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    This article from the LAtimes.com demonstrates an interesting outlook on drug possession throughout Latin America. Issues such as drug trafficking and recreational drug use throughout countries such as Mexico and Columbia have increased over the years. However, many proposed laws aimed at decriminalizing drug use have not been approved...This article discusses specific drug-related situations in Argentina, Brazil, and Columbia.
Courtney Connors

Foreign Policy: Gays in Latin America: Is the Closet Half Empty? - 0 views

  • The region is becoming gayer. It's not that there are more gays and lesbians living in Latin America (we would never know)
  • he region is becoming more gay-friendly
  • Latin America was the land of the closet and the home of the macho
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  • In 1998, Ecuador's new constitution introduced protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 1999, Chile decriminalized same-sex intercourse. Rio de Janeiro's state legislature banned sexual-orientation discrimination in public and private establishments in 2000. In 2002, Buenos Aires guaranteed all couples, regardless of gender, the right to register civil unions. The policy changes just kept coming. In 2003, Mexico passed a federal antidiscrimination law that included sexual orientation. A year later, the government of Brazil initiated "Brasil sem homofobia" (Brazil without homophobia), a program with nongovernmental organizations to change social attitudes toward sexuality. In 2006, Mexico City approved the Societal Cohabitation Law, granting same-sex couples marital rights identical to those for common-law relationships between a man and a woman. Uruguay passed a 2007 law granting access to health benefits, inheritance, parenting, and pension rights to all couples who have cohabited for at least five years. In 2008, Nicaragua reformed its penal code to decriminalize same-sex relations. Even Cuba's authoritarian new president, Raúl Castro, has allowed free sex-change operations for qualifying citizen
  • regime change
  • homophobia
  • A recent survey in Brazil, the country with the largest gay-pride parades in the world, showed that 58 percent of respondents still agree with the statement, "Homosexuality is a sin against the laws of God," and 41 percent with "Homosexuality is an illness that should be treated."
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    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.
Courtney Connors

Latin America Weighs Less Punitive Path to Curb Drug Use - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • he Supreme Court of Argentina opened a path this week to decriminalizing the private consumption of illicit drugs, becoming the latest Latin American country to reject punitive policies toward drug use.
  • Latin
  • BRASÍLIA — T
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  • Mexico’s Congress voted to end the practice of prosecuting people found to be carrying small amounts of illicit drugs, including marijuana.
  • The new laws and court decisions in the region reflect an urgent desire to reject decades of American prescriptions for distinctly Latin American challenges
  • In February, a commission led by three former Latin American presidents issued a scathing report that condemned Washington’s “war on drugs” as a failure and urged the region to adopt drug policies found in some European countries that focus more on treatment than punishment
  • Latin America is a source of much of the cocaine and marijuana that is distributed throughout North America and Europe. Latin American leaders are struggling with the need to crack down on violent drug traffickers while also trying to stem consumption. Punishing users in Latin America has led to overcrowded prisons and has done little, if anything, to curb overall consumption
  • The need to resolve the inherent contradictions led to the formation of the commission on drug use
  • the “prohibitionist approach” to drug control had “wreaked havoc throughout the region, generating crime, violence and corruption on a scale that far exceeds what the United States experienced during alcohol prohibition in the 1920s.”
  • In Tuesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court in Argentina declared unanimously that the 2006 arrests for marijuana were unconstitutional under the concept of “personal autonomy” protected by the Constitution.
  • Argentina has a serious drug problem, but not especially with the use of marijuana. The country has one of the highest per-capita rates of cocaine use in the world and a growing problem with synthetic drugs like Ecstasy. Some parts of the country have also been afflicted by the rapid rise of “paco,” a cheap and highly addictive drug that combines small amounts of cocaine residue with toxic chemicals
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    This is an article from the NY Times that discusses the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court of Argentina's decision to decriminalize the private consumption of illicit drugs.
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    In August, the Supreme Court of Argentina decriminalized the private use of illicit drugs. Such inquiries as to whether to accept drug use, help those who are addicted, or maintain the prohibition have arisen internationally at an increased rate recently. The Argentine administration felt that the war on drugs has not succeeded as predicted and it should focus on "treatment (more than) punishment."
Kat Dunn

Latin America Weighs Less Punitive Path to Curb Drug Use - 0 views

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    This article talks about the changes in policies for certain Latin American countries towards drug consumption. Countries such as Argentina and Mexico are looking to decriminalize drugs as step towards a solution. Many Latin American governments see the United State's way of dealing with drug use as having major negative effects and causing more problems then it is fixing.
janegelb

CHILE: Activists Press Candidates to Take a Stance on Women's Rights - IPS ipsnews.net - 0 views

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    Women's rights activist groups in Chile are urging presidential candidates to support women's rights. They want to further the progress they made during the the current government, and are urging all women to vote and take a stand during the presidential elections in December. Some of their prominent issues include the decriminalization of abortion, availability of emergency contraception, and legislature to prevent and rid Chile of violence against women and gender-related murders of women.
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