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This article identifies the analytic and public opinion perspectives of corruption and victimization in Latin American countries. As these countries seek to reform themselves, corruption keeps a haunting eye on all peoples of authority.

This article deals with steps to help contain corruption in Guatemala. They are trying to pass a law for free access to public information and transparency in public institutions. This law needs to be passed to show improvement when it comes to corruption in Guatemala and if the republican congress really cares then they will have to pass this law.

This article is about Gen. Sergio Aponte Polito of Mexico, who accused his colleagues of corruption. Aponte heads the anti-drug offensive in Baja California, a state in Mexico. He offered details of specific cases to a local newspaper and named more than one dozen officers, some of them high-ranking officials. The article suggest that there are a countless number of corruptions taking place in Mexico.

Brazil's current Senate president, José Sarney, has been the center of many controversial newspaper reports of corruption for using nepotism. This recent scandal has been the launching point for many Latin American government's to speak out against the media and their dislike for free press, believing that their should be more censorship.

This web source aims to educate the public about the ongoing gay and lesbian themes found in Latin American writing. Through writing, Latin Americans have been able to express the political corruption and oppression gay communities face. Also, there are many sources on this website that lead to further evaluation!

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.

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 is an article from earlier this year about the murder of a prominent lawyer in Guatemala. This is a high-profile case because the lawyer had predicted his own murder, claiming that President Alvaro Colom was going to have him killed because he knew too much about a corruption scandal. The case is unsolved as of now, and some people believe it was indeed the president's doing, while others believe that he was set up by political opponents. This case is important for our understanding of post-Civil War Guatemala because it shows that people still fear their leaders and don't know who to trust.

This website documents photographs and written accounts of how Argentine people were affected by the dictatorship which took many political prisoners, los desaparecidos. It offers a look into how people have dealt, and continue to deal, with such a tragedy arising from corrupt government action.

The United States Department of State summarizes the international recognition of the problem of narcotics trafficking. In the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report Argentina has become the transit for cocaine and heroin being produced in Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. Although Argentina itself is not a large producer of narcotics it has advanced chemical production facilities that produce the precursor chemicals used in the production of illicit drugs. Since 2005, there has been an increase in seizures, by the Argentinean government, of heroin, coca leaf, chemicals for cocaine production and a drop in marijuana seizures. Political turmoil is brewing at the border of Brazil and Argentina, which threatens the efforts of the international community to combat narcotics trafficking. In addition to the conflict, Argentina is fighting corruption within their government, which enables the large drug cartels mobility to avoid investigation by law enforcement officials.

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 talks about the crime going on in Guatemala and how if you commit a murder in Guatemala you will most likely get away with it. Guatemala's conviction rate is in the single digits. It talks about the lack of resources the police have which in turn results in more crime and murders. Guatemala has a very weak and corrupt judicial system and system where it is bad to rat someone out by telling on them. Crime and gangs are huge in Guatemala, there is said to be more gang members then police officers.

This article article talks about the uncertain future adoptions from Guatemala have. Nowadays the adoption system is very corrupt and in many cases mothers are forced and bribed to give up her children, rather than needing to give them up. Guatemala is the second largest popular country for adoption, just below China. So, if Guatemala were to discontinue adoptions from the U.S., it would change the structure of the U.S. as well. So, although adoption is not yet closed, officials are advising people to be cautious when planning to adopt from Guatemala.

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 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.

Latin America is notorious for some of the worst prisons in the world, and large levels of HIV/AIDS cases have resulted from drug use and sexual relationships inside these institutions. This article notes the poor quality healthcare available in prison, and the issue of HIV/AIDS elevated by prison inmate interaction (drug use, sex) and poor healthcare.

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.

The number of escapes at the Zacatecas prison in Mexico has increased over the past few years to an astronomical number thanks to the escape plans of Zetas, a paramilitary group. By paying off the prison guards, the inmates have been able to smuggle everything from cell phones and designer clothes to prostitutes in and bribe their way to larger cell blocks. The close knit relationship the drug cartel have formed with prison guards and federal officers begs the question: who in Mexico is actually fulfilling their duty to serve the public and protect?