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Guatemala has been struggling with a food shortage, which was declared "a state of calamity" on Tuesday. Thousands of families are extremely short of food due to the weather conditions. The government estimated about 400,000 families who are suffering, but hopefully with the 20 tons of nutritional cookies that the World Food Program distributes, the families will pull out of this calamity.

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.

This article discusses family planning laws being enforced in Guatemala and the Catholic churches response to it. Birth control methods would be available to the public and sexual education would be incorporated into schools. Even though the Catholic Church is fighting against the law, many are happy because it will decrease abortion, poverty, and maternal mortality rates. As we continue to read Fixing Men, we can look at reproductive health reformations in other Latin American countries and see how people respond to them.

This article discusses the steps that the government is taking currently to try to heal the population that was affected by the war, nearly everyone. The president is awarding compensation, in the form of money (check), to individuals who have lost family members and/or their homes because of the state military's past actions. Some say the most important thing that the president is doing is apologizing via letter that he signs or in person because it means that they recognize that they wronged many individuals and no amount of money can replace family members.

This is an article discussing the resent return of remains of a young woman who disappeared during Argentina's "Dirty War." Years after the end of the war this is an example of the ways in which the victims and the communities are dealing with the violence and terror that had become characteristic to their lifestyles. Thanks to a non-profit organization working to find and return loved ones to families affected by the violence people of this region and others around the war are beginning to be able to mourn the loss of their family members and acknowledge the violence that they were subjected to under their corrupt government.

Thousands of disappearances have occurred in Guatemala during the conflict. This article focuses on a woman who lost four family members in only a week, and has no idea where they are. This story is common among the Guatemalan peoples. An archive of documents has been found in an abandoned police building in Guatemala City. There are millions of documents, and once they are sorted through, might provide some sort of answers. Many people have not heard the whereabouts of their family members in over thirty years.

This article discusses how abortion has not only become an issue of "maternal morality, but maternal mortality". Since many women have denied permission to get abortions, they find others to give them the abortion or they will even do it themselves, putting their lives at risk. In this article, we see the consequences of the absence of sexual education, reproductive health resources, and family planning organizations for women.

This organization is an NGO based in Mexico and in this case Ecudor, specifically to work with street children and their families. When I used to live in Ecuador I worked for this group for six months as a sort-of social worker. Working there I encountered many people matching the descriptions of those found in "Reason to Believe" chapter 1.

This organization is an NGO based in Mexico and in this case Ecudor, specifically to work with street children and their families. When I used to live in Ecuador I worked for this group for six months as a sort-of social worker. Working there I encountered many people matching the descriptions of those found in "Reason to Believe" chapter 1.

This article discusses the use of birth control in Mexico and how it plays a role in the population. Different programs, such as on for family planning, are trying to help in controlling population by encouraging different forms of contraceptives.

This articles talks about how many women living in Latin America are beginning to migrate to neigboring countries in order to find better jobs. The number of women migrants has rose and almost equaled that of migrant men of Latin America. The women are described as trying to create a new life, although many remain connected to their families back home.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared "a state of public calamity" late Tuesday to help mobilize funds and resources to confront a food shortage that will affect thousands of families.

This source is a network of Latino males who seek to change the way men (specifically Latino men) are viewed as dominated by volatile sexuality. They work to educate male children and provide them with stable, male mentors, and in doing so seek to improve the lives of families and communities .

This article discusses the change that happens when Latino men convert to Evangelical Christianity, and the effects it has on women and family life. Because Evangelical beliefs consider drinking and partying is wrong, the man stays home with his family. Women also become more confidant of speaking out against their husbands to keep them in line, and not to fall back to their old ways. An interesting point that was made in the article was the relief that men felt when going away from their machismo ways- "In Colombia, machismo is, over the long run, very demanding and difficult for all under its sway, including the males who must perform this role"

This article discusses how many indigenous peoples throughout Latin America are experiencing a loss of cultural tradition, along with conflict and violence because of religion. Of the 40 million indigenous people who live in Latin America today, the most prevalent religion is still Roman Catholicism; however, over the years, other religions have surfaced such as Protestantism and Evangelicalism. The emergence of different religions have changed the collective behavior of indigenous people, along with breaking away their traditional nature.

Throughout Latin America, indigenous communities are losing their sense of tradition, stemmed from large established religious denominations and lesser known groups. While some churches focus on social concerns, others focus on spiritual concerns, creating a division between communities and families. The "sects" have taken on the role of dividing the people and lowering them to interests of the dominant powers. Anthropologists and religious leaders blame the sects for employing indigenous peoples with money and advertising beliefs that go against their way of life.

Illegal immigration into the United States from Mexico has increasing become a topic for debate. The Mexican government seeks Illegal-Alien Amnesty; however, the United States, under the Bush Administration, believed in building a 'guestworker' program, which in theory would address the educational deficits amongst the incoming immigrant workers. Immigrant workers who enter the United States are coming from areas of poverty which lack adequate educational facilities and due to the lack of financial prosperity young adults are frequently withdrawing from school to try and turn a profit for the family. The cheap labor that comes into the United States comes at a high cost to the natives as it increases the poor population and the amount of people relying on welfare programs. Analysis of the statistics show that the amount of households headed by immigrants make up the majority of the poor population on welfare and without health care insurance; therefore, the United States is seeking to establish policies that address both issues in the welfare system as well as the policies regarding hiring unskilled immigrant workers.

This short video clip talks about an organization, The Forensic Anthropology Foundation, that is working to uncover the mass graves from the civil war in Guatemala and put names to each of the bodies. They will hopefully be able to identify each body by DNA testing and return the corpses to their surviving family members to have a proper burial. This relates to our class because it is an account of what anthropologists are doing now to try to heal from the Guatemalan Civil War that we are studying.

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.

In Guatemala the rate of violent deaths of women is outrageously hight and is still growing rapidly. The murdering of women usually involves torture, rape, or mutilation. Norma Cruz,co-founder of the NGO Survivors Foundation, has helped to provide many victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse and the families of murdered women with emotional and social support. According to Cruz, the "increasing number of killings of women in Guatemala is tied to the poverty that is the aftermath of Guatemala's civil war..." Even though her position in the foundation has many risks and harms, it has given voice to many victims and inspired other foundations in Guatemala to help this on-going issue of violence.