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This article discusses how many Latin American countries would benefit from government reforms. It also talks about how the United States should help these nations to fix their own problems rather than doing it for them. I think this relates to the course because we will be talking about reform after civil wars, and here reform was thought to be necessary to improve the Latin American nations.

This article discusses family planning laws being enforced in Guatemala and the Catholic churches response to it. Birth control methods would be available to the public and sexual education would be incorporated into schools. Even though the Catholic Church is fighting against the law, many are happy because it will decrease abortion, poverty, and maternal mortality rates. As we continue to read Fixing Men, we can look at reproductive health reformations in other Latin American countries and see how people respond to them.

This BBC article contains a timeline of political, social, economical, and cultural changes in Guatemala from the 1500's to the present day. It marks from 1970 up until the end of the civil war as a time when human rights were violated. The postwar years mainly focus on political reform.

This webpage includes a basic timeline of Guatemala's history from the beginning of the Spanish colonization to the present. It outlines social-democratic reforms, violations of human rights, the end of the civil war, storm related deaths, murders, etc. This relates to our class because it provides an easy to read outline of Guatemala's history.

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 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"

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.

Debates around the history and composition of Ecuador's new constitution.

This article proposes the idea that an increasing number of Latin American countries have become more acceptive of gay and lesbian ideals. Due to regime changes, the once "closeted macho" countries now welcome such legislation as protections against sexual discrimination; the decriminalization of same-sex intercourse; grants to health benefits, parenting, and so on in countries like Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and NIcaragua.

This article is especially interesting because it discuses the notion of 'machismo' but it does so in a different way than 'machismo' is normally discussed. This article is an example of the initial steps towards a reform in the Latin American society because it describes the ways in which churches are beginning to educate about the dangers and threats of the machismo culture. Many people do not truly know who the 'machismo' are, what it means to be involved in their lifestyle, and the dangers that arise as a result.

In 2003 when Goldman Sachs economists linked Brazil with Russia, India and China as the economies that would come to dominate the world, much contest aroused over the inclusion of Brazil. Many economists questioned how Brazil could participate amongst the ensemble since the country features a declining growth rate, victim to any outside financial crisis, and constant political instability does not make Brazil an appealing candidate as an arising force. China leads the world economy out of recession while Brazil was not far from behind. Brazil was unable to avoid the downturn, but was among the last to fall and among the first to recover with a growing economy again at an annual rate of 5%. With the development of new deep-sea oilfields over the next few years, Brazil's growth will rapidly escalate also a result of Asian countries heightened appetite for food and minerals from Brazil's ample land. Forecasts alternate but in the decades proceeding 2014 Brazil will emerge as the world's fifth largest-economy, excelling Britain and France, and in 2025 it is also speculated that Sao Paulo will be the fifth-wealthiest city. Brazil perhaps surpasses its competing members because unlike China, it is a democracy, unlike India; the country is not plagued with insurgents, or ethnic and religious conflicts, or hostile relationships with its neighbors like India has with Pakistan and Kashmir. In contrast to Russia, Brazil exports more than oil and arms, and has established more cordial relationships with foreign investors. Brazil's emergence has not been hasty but instead steady. Initiatives began in the 1990s when they established a coherent set of economic policies, and the Central Bank was granted autonomy, which stimulated development of new multinationals that may have previously been state-owned companies that are now prospering as a result of operating from a distance from the government. Weaknesses, however, still permeate throughout Brazil, so it is necessary to