Group items tagged

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.

This article discusses the dramatic change that has taken place in Latin America regarding the conversion from Catholicism to Evangelical Christianity. There has been a great rise of Pentecostal Christianity in Guatemala and Brazil, but Venezuela is quick to catch up. Some people believe that Evangelical Christianity is going to save Venezuela from the economic dismay the country is in, as well as the high crime rates. People believe that Evangelical Christianity brings people in touch with their natural emotions "through Jesus" and therefore enables people to help others in need, especially the poor. Some also believe that the rise is Pentecostal Christians is due to their new leftist president, Chavez.

This article talks about the religious changes in Latin America and especially the situation in Venezuela. With the rise of the evangelical Christian population, the article examines the affect that the political influence and in particular Hugo Chavez has had on this religious shift. As well, the article talks about the main demographic behind the religion and who choses to believe and why.

Here it is argued that evangelical Christianity is the "religion of the poor". Saying this, it explains why many people join the relgion: as a way to overcome hardships in life. This religion brings not only spiritual but also social renewal. We also are now aware that the majority of people converting are coming from the Catholic church.

In the first one hundred days of Barack Obama's presidency the issue between the US-Mexico border was being addressed. The discussions between President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón ranged on issues from global climate change and immigration reform. However, the issue that is most pressing is the use of assault weapons in correlation to the increase in organized crime. President Calderón has been trying to manage illegal immigration into the United States through attempts to increase employment rates in Mexico. To add to this initiative to crack down on the immigration issues between Mexico and the United States there has been an agreement between the United States, Mexico, and other Latin American countries which is a $1.4 million Merida joint security plan where the usage of United States equipment, technology and expertise are used toward combating drug trade. With the ban lifted in 2004 by the United States of assault weapons the organized crime has increased significantly; therefore, the drug trade has been gaining sufficient hold in towns.

This article focuses on the political tension between Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the US government. He remarked of his support for Obama but questioned whether there were 2 Obamas, since he believes that the US gov't knew about the situation in Honduras and supported it.

This article highlights the tension between government policies and indigenous populations in Ecuador. Due to the abundance of natural resources in the area, many indigenous communities are facing cultural and political instability.

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.

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 response to the murder of lawyer, Rodrigo Rosenburg Guatemalan authorities arrested seven men. The men apprehended all had ties to the military or police forces. Still, no one has stated the murderes' motives. Authorities have said however, that the president and his wife were in no way responsible. It is not clear whether these arrests are a political response by the government of President Colom or if there really does exist hard evidence that these men were responsible.

This article discusses the recent change in support of the Obama administration in terms of the current governmental situation in Honduras. It has been four months since the president of Honduras was ousted. Formerly an agreement was reached between the former and current leaders to form a government to control the country until an election to reinstate the former president could be planned, however the congress has planned an election for office before this time and going against what had originally been agreed on the United States has broken many allies and agreed to recognize the leader of this election

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 was written by a man who was actually stationed in Guatemala when the violence was occurring. The author focuses a lot on the guerrilla movements in the country during this time and their role in the war. Taking you through time, the article continues on with a history of the various stages through the war and his beliefs on the country's current post-war state.

The article highlights the degrading affect of pollution on Guatemala's natural resources. In particular Lake Atitlan which was once considered "the most beautiful lake in the world" has now begun to show signs of contamination and pollution. The article seeks to call attention to the lack of environmentally friendly procedures-but mentions some new conservation laws being implemented.

This article focuses on the negative affect that the financial crisis in Guatemala is having on children. As a result of remittences, families cannot afford to send their children to school. The percentage of children leaving school are increasing.

This article focuses on the newly found Ancient Maya site found in the city of EL MIrador. Although it is an amazing discovery-the land is not properly protected. It is highly contested by many groups including drug cartels.

This article discusses the marriage of a homosexual couple in Beunos Aires. On December 1st, a man will legally marry a man, for the first time in Latin American history. This article is especially important because it demonstrates a sense of social and political progress throughout Latin America.

This article examines the reasons behind the loss of Rigoberta Menchu as a presidential candidate. Embedded within the article are issues of identity and conspiracy as some are out rightly opposed to her as a candidate, while others cannot understand how she fared so poorly.