Group items tagged

Mexico City is banning stores from packaging goods in plastic non-biodegradable bags. They passed the law in March and signed it in August giving the remainder of retailers who haven't already responded to this new act a year to abide by it. Mexico city is striving for an ambitious recycling program in their fairly new act towards going green. Mexico city has joined other cities around the world by restricting what is said to be one of the most omnipresent types of ocean litter killing marine life. There is some talk by officials that the city may even elect a "bag fee" stating that people could still get the old plastic bag only is they pay for them. Mexico City is trying to make a huge effort to abide by this law of banning bags especially in restaurants, stores and dry cleaners.

Because they do not have healthcare, illegal immigrants go to the emergency rooms and clinics when they get sick. Since it is an "emergency," the cost of treatment, seeing them, x-rays, etc is at least 3 times more expensive than it would be to have the same things done in a doctor's office. Therefore, illegal immigrants are costing the government more money now than they would if we provided them with healthcare.

Homosexuality in Mexico is the main subject of this article. They go on to talk about masculinity and how that relates to being gay and whether it is accepted within society. The article also discusses HIV/AIDS and how it is connected to homosexuality and the various acts of men in Mexico.

This article presents the approximate levels of induced abortion in six Latin American countries- Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru. Through calculated data on the hospitalization of women's abortion complications, an estimated 550,000 women are hospitalized a year. To read more about the complications and calculations go here!

This article is about poorer women in Peru dealing with the conflicting issues of whether birth control is right or wrong. It gives a specific example of a woman who killed 2 of her 6 children because she could not afford to take care of them anymore. The poorer people who are also Catholic are having to deal with the large amounts of children and the small amount of money. Some women are up for going to non-natural birth control meathods, but some say their husbands are afraid this will make them more promiscuous.

Dalia Acosta's article addresses the gender equality issues throughout Latin America. Her interview of Julio César Gonzaléz presents an engaging, and possibly controversial, argument that women are not the only victims of Latin America's dominant and rigid patriarchal system and hierarchy: men also face an oppression, although different, due to the socially constructed concept of masculinity.

This article explains the issues of gender roles in Latin America. Julio César González, the Cuban General coordinator of the Ibero-American Masculinity Networkstates, "Until we scrutinise men's social roles and the concept of masculinity, we'll just be drawing circles around the women victims of the system." After completing 20 years of research in gender studies he tried to implement his findings in the real world, but faced resistance from people who only wanted to continue with the traditional stereotypes. Although the Cuban authorities have allowed women to be integrated into once all-male domains, there is still a long way for women to go to reach full equality.

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.

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.

Although the other bookmarks for this session have exemplified the positive transition that the gay rights movement has had over time within reference to liberating legislation and basic human rights, this article shows a negative impact that has also occurred. In Brazil, a gay pride parade was held with over three million participants and was going well until a bomb was thrown from a building and injured 21 people in the process. Such an act exemplifies that no matter how far the rights movement has come over the past twenty or so years, there will still be right wing conservative opposition in the near future.

This blog describes a Pentecostal movement called Charismatic, headed by the bishops in Guatemala. The movement is about deepening the spirituality in the lives of the church members and the priests. The blog also describes the dangers of the movement going beyond the control of the Church, and into "peculiar kinds of prayers, exclusive attitudes... and overemphasis on emotions".

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.

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 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.

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 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

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.

In this article from The New York Times in January 1993, the rise of AIDS in women in Latin America is discussed. Similarly to in Gutmann's findings, the fidelity of husbands is questioned as the reason for the rise in women's infections. With men having sexual affairs, they are contributing to the rise of AIDS in females.

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 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.

This article was published in 2001. Serrano Elias was elected President of Guatemala and he was a converted Protestant. Thirty percent of the Guatemalan population are Evangelical Protestants. The article discusses how the rise of Evangelicalism is weakening the Catholic Church in Latin American countries. Many have converted because Evangelicalism has assisted people who are in need better than the Catholic Church has.

This article discusses the large decrease in attendants for the Catholic Church and the huge increase of people joing the Protestant faith. It discusses the reasons that many are choosing to go Evangelical Protestant and the fears that a lot of the Catholics have about the newfound change in religion. Latin America being a predominately Catholic put Catholics in a akward position and makes them fear the changes that are to come as a result.

This article from the Time Magazine discusses the Protestant resurgence taking place in Latin America. For example, the Vatican is especially concerned about Brazil, supposedly the world's No. 1 Roman Catholic nation, with 126 million on church rolls. Protestants boast a minimum of 20 million churchgoers and are expanding twice as fast as the overall population.