Group items tagged

This source looks at how issues of violence and crime have effected the development of Latin American societies.

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

Written in 2002, this article talks about improved changes made to children in Latin America in the way of health and education. However, these slight advancements have been met with many new challenges such as the spread of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. The UN has become very involved in this problem and working on its solution as in many of these developing countries, children make up a great part of the population.

This page demonstrates a World Bank policy to keep the fertility rate down in developing countries. Surprisingly, there is little attention given to specific countries, rather the policy prescribed here is uniform and enforced equally.

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.

Website of the national Latin American Studies Association. Provides information and details concerning developments, conferences, news and events.

I tagged this website because it can provide us with current up to date information that LAMA is currently focusing on. Also, it can provide information regarding conferences and events.

This aritcle discusses women in Latin American and how their education effects their fertility rate. Generally, poorer women who lack education have more children than richer women who had the chance of education. This is evidentally true for other cultures, but particularly for women in Latin America because men are very dominant and if a child is to be educated it is more likely to be the boy instead of a girl. The aritcle gives details about the essential need for women to have education, not only to break social bias against class, but also to promote development of countries and reducing fertility rates.

Mexican government made attempts to guarantee the General Health Law that mandated that the government was to enforce the right to health protection, making the law applicable in court cases. When entering into negotiations with neighboring countries in an attempt to enter the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican government could retained their reputation for its human rights violations; therefore, initiating a domino effect in Mexican government policies. In an attempt to address this issue developed human rights commissions and committees to enforce and tackle the barriers human rights violations presented to the government's involvement in foreign affairs. Although it can be argued that the enforcement of HIV/AIDS screenings at jobs, educational facilities, and the matrimonial sphere presented some violation of basic inalienable rights.

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.

This source talks about the policys thaa are being made to combat the crime in Mexico. It focuses on what the government is working on to deal with the issue.

Latin American leaders are trying to prevent HIV in Latin America and the Carribean through sexual education and health promotion programs in schools. Childhood and adolescent years are the most important years of developing, therefore it is imperative to provide education on sexuality. The Costa Rican Government signed an agreement allowing leaders to educate 15-25 year olds on HIV and how to use a condom.

Latin America Ministers pledged to provide broad sex education in schools. Having sexual education can give the children an accurate idea of how bad the issue of HIV/AIDS is, and how they could prevent it. The education will cover a broad range of issues such as how HIV is transmitted and how to use a condom. The governments in Latin America and Caribbean are showing huge leadership in this field to provide the children and adolescents will information that will help this growing epidemic.

This site addresses how drug and alcohol abuse in Latin America is widespread among the urban poor, and how the two contribute to daily violence. In poor neighborhoods in the Colombian cities of Medellín and Bogotá, approximately half of the population uses drugs--mainly marijuana, followed by cocaine and amphetamines. It is believed that heavy drinking in Guatemala is associated with Mayans, indigenous people trapped in poverty by discrimination and armed conflict.

Throughout the developing world, the post-Cold War era has seen the emergence of increasingly powerful and violent criminal organizations, often referred to as "third-generation gangs." These groups have exploited the major international trends of the past 20 years -- including economic and financial integration, innovations in communication technology, the prevalence of weak and failed states, and a thriving global arms trade -- to seize control over a myriad of illicit commercial networks. They now use violence and corruption to undermine the governments that oppose them.

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, in a way, connects to Escobar's text, as it talks about the negative externalities of shrimp farming in Ecuador, Brazil, and other countries. The argument this article is making, as apparent in the title, is that well-managed fisheries should catch wild shrimp and fish, in stead of cultivating them in the form of aquaculture.

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.