Group items tagged

This article focus's on war and nation states in Latin America. Some of the main concepts are on making war, the state, the nation, and on making the citizens. This article fully outlines the types of war Latin America is involved with, who precisely is involved, and what those people think about themselves and their actions. It also portrays the effects war has on Latin American countries-its advantages and disadvantages.

This site offers a number of links pertaining to post-war society in Guatemala. Interesting here is the comparison and grouping of post-war Guatemala and post-war Camboia together, two countries with a recent civil war.

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.

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.

The military's efforts to exercise power through terrorizing during the civil war in Guatemala (1960-1966), resurfaces today through the acts of gender-based violence, committed by gangs in Guatemala. This exemplifies how war and violence shapes society and how it has influenced gender equality. There is as much terror and torturing of women as there was during the war. However, now this reality is being reinforced by members of society-since such crimes go unnoticed/unpunished-, normalizing terror and fear in Guatemala.

This article talks about violence against women in Guatemala and how it is not only happening more these days, but the crimes are also seeming to get worse. It also talks about the difference between the murders of both men and women and possible reasons for why they were caused. Recently however, there have been marches in the streets and increased awareness domestically and internationally of the problems facing the country regarding violence.

This author of this article is a "travel writing" contest runner-up. This author went into Guatemala and wrote about their experiences there. They wrote this article with a series of pictures and personal stories sharing the life of Guatemala and the author's interactions with the lives of the people after the war. I thought this was an interesting resource because it not only had visuals of the idea of "life after war," but also because it shared a more personal look (instead of a reporter's interpretation).

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.

This article focuses on the history of the civil war in El Salvador from 1980-1992. Starting with discussing the increase of violence in the Nation following the death of the Archbishop to the reason for involvement by the United States and the negative effects that had on the country. From there it describes the involvement of the United Nations and leads up to the end of the dispute bringing us to the stage of reconstruction that El Salvador is currently in.

This article discusses about a group of mothers/grandmothers and their attempt to reconstruct their lives during and after living in Argentina's "Dirty War". They protested to be reunited with their children/grandchildren who were kidnapped by the military. We see here a group of women trying to strengthen a post-conflict society. Through passive activism, "Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo" confronted the government and voiced for those who were silenced; restoring what was lost during the war.

This article discusses the recent homicide of french filmmaker, Christian Poveda, who was killed by a gang/mara in El Salvador. Gang violence in El Salvador commits one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America. This article draws attention to the reasons why boys join gangs; which we can discuss in relation to men and violence in Latin America and the growing violence in El Salvador after its civil war.

Venezuela has decided to ban "war porn" video games, which are held accountable for 10,000 deaths. Since Hugo Chavez came to power, civil violence has increased in Venezuela. Video Games are responsible for youth violence and alcohol fueled violence. Although the Government does not want to acknowledge the violence, they implemented a pedestrian 08 limit which they hope will control alcohol related violence and help consumers to think before they act.

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.

Guatemalan authorities work towards moving Guatemala away from its dark past. They want to ensure that people who are found guilty of having anything to do with the persecution of many indigenous people during the civil war are punished in some way.

In an effort to tie the three bookmarked articles together, this piece also discusses relevant material to Nelson's "Reckoning" alongside the movie, "When the Mountains Tremble". This article too discuses the idea and reality of Femicide or the genocide against women in Guatemala that still occurs to date. While the other readings set up an outline of what acts occur against women and the lack of influence police powers have, this article flashes numbers at the reader as a shock value to paint a picture of the immense number of women who have experienced brutality. While the other articles have mentioned the extent to which corruption influences the lack of punishment, this author seeks punishment in a different way. While doing research in Guatemala, he took victims who have been harmed themselves or have lost close ones to the war to the mountains to confront the militia men as a form of satisfaction or justice since the impunity rate is 97% in Guatemala. He explained that the gratitude of victims explaining their feelings to murderers would be far more reaching than formal punishment from the criminal justice system ever could be.

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 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.

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."

The article entitled "Guatemala's 'Femicide' Crisis" seeks to explain the implications of the unnecessary and brutal mass killings occurring amongst women in Guatemala mostly by male gangs. Because the killings have exceeded such an unusual extent, it has been deemed a "Femicide", otherwise known as a "Gendercide" or a genocide directed mainly against females. The ages of girls or women discussed in this article being raped, beaten, and murdered range from three year old toddlers to middle aged women. Not only do gangs of men perform these acts for no reason other to establish masculinity within their affinity groups. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are so corrupt that it was said, "justice imposed by the state is non-existent" and "only two per cent of crimes against women are solved." This article seeks to establish the problem that is still going on even after the forty-year civil war while other chosen articles are determined to look for solutions.

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.

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.