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In 2007, President Hugo Chavez made the sale of alcohol illegal during Holy Week. He blamed alcohol for the "degeneration of society" as well as the high number of car accidents and drownings during the previous year's Holy Week. Many Venezuelans responded by stocking up on alcohol the week before, or by buying or selling alcohol illegally.

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.

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.

Venezuela was just approved for a 1.4 billion dollar 12-month stand-by credit by the International Monetary Fund to support the nations 1996-97 economic program. This article gives background the economic stressors that Venezuela experienced in the late 1980s followed by a vigorous growth in the early 1990s in association with an increase of international oil prices during the Middle East War of 1990. As the oil prices fell, the economy significantly decreased in productivity and was further weakened in 1994 with a string of major banking crisis' involving the introduction of exchange and price controls. It analyzes the economic program of 1996-97 as well as addressing the social issues and structural reforms that resulted from this difficult economic period.

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.

Though it is not focused on Latin America, this source examines how involvement in religion inhibits criminal activity.

This is an interesting article about how evangelical churches in Brazil are finding ways to connect with younger people. From fight nights to reggae music to video games and on-site tattoo parlors, the churches have helped make evangelicalism the fastest-growing spiritual movement in Brazil and they function as a social community.

At this years UN meeting in New York the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias, explains the rise in violence against the Honduran people. this violence has grown because of the return of the de facto regime and the return of president Manuel Zelaya.

This article from CNN explains the clash between police and indigenous protestors who were blocking a highway in Macas. Three people were killed and ten were injured. The protest was for the new mining and water law that is being proposed since it will cut off some of the people water sources and, therefore, hurt their crops.

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."

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sao Paulo for a five-day visit to the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation. This article discusses what the Pope considers to be the main threat for the Roman Catholic church in the area: evangelical churches.

This article is a broad overview of Venezuela. It includes key facts about the media and government leaders.

This article shows the spread of Evangelical Protestantism through the eyes of a devoted Catholic. His views, although different from what we have read so far in Smilde's ethnography, provide a new look into what could be causing the decreasing of Catholisism in Latin America.

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.

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.

Venezuela, under the rule of Hugo Chavez, expelled the U.S. Evangelical group "New Tribes Mission" in 2005. The group was active in indigenous communities in Latin America for over fifty years. The Venezuelan government believed that they were westernizing indigenous people by force, and blaming them of things, but disguising it as preaching the gospel.

In 2005, President Hugo Chavez accused New Tribes Mission, an Evangelical group from the US, of being "agents of imperialist penetration" and expelled them from Venezuela. The group had lived and worked in indigenous communities in Venezuela for many years, translating the Bible into indigenous languages to convert people. Their expulsion came soon after American televangelist Pat Robertson declared that the US government should have President Chavez assassinated.

Los Angeles police arrested over forty-five people in a gang "suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and murdering rivals". Among them were a corrections officer who was accused of involvement and assisting imprisoned members as well as those directly affiliated with the gang. The search to incarcerate the L.A. gang began when they opened fire on police and one man by the name of Daniel Leon was shot to death. In return, the gang members shot Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Jun Escalante in front of his parent's home. The inditement is a huge step in the right direction considering the level of fright the gang and its values and violent actions have instilled in the community.