Group items tagged

This article contains statistics about AIDS/HIV in the world but particularly focuses on the people of Latin America because of the high rates of the disease in these areas. It talks about how Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are all countries where it is well known that men are having sex with other men, and this increases the spread of the disease. In countries like Bolivia and Peru in particular, the spread of the disease is linked to the vast amounts of unprotected sex and the use of intravenous drugs. The article also mentions that there are many misconceptions with AIDS/HIV in regards to how it is spread and through whom and by whom, and that many people are prejudiced into a certain way of thinking.

This article gives an overview of the origins of the AIDS pandemic in Latin America. It also discusses the need to monitor the male prostitution ring based on fact that their bisexual male partners often spread the disease to their heterosexual female partners. There is also a number of cases related to the use of infected needles and unsterile drug intake.

Chagas--a deadly disease caused by an inch-long insect found in Mexico and South America has begun to spread to the United States. This article examines a disease long common in Latin America, but virtually unknown in the United States. There is little awareness around the disease, possibly due to the disparities in healthcare between Latin America and the United States--and the lack of recognition/communication about diseases between the two bordering countries of Mexico and the United States (e.g. the H1N1 virus).

Written in 2002, this article talks about improved changes made to children in Latin America in the way of health and education. However, these slight advancements have been met with many new challenges such as the spread of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. The UN has become very involved in this problem and working on its solution as in many of these developing countries, children make up a great part of the population.

In December of 2005, a bus driving in Honduras was stopped by gunmen in the notorious street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and had chosen their victims at random. The attack was meant as a protest generated towards the government's crackdown on gang activities. As the United States shifts its focus to the Middle East, it is ignoring a dangerous problem close to home, and the gangs have grown in power and numbers.

Gangs that started in the slums of the United States slowly shifted back to the homelands of these Central American members without warning local governments. An explosive growth in youth populations with social problems like that of poverty and unemployment are resulting in the the rapid spread of gangs north into Mexico and even back to the United States. Gangs are bringing in rampant crime, partaking in drug trade, and committing murders on innocent civilians. These gangs are threatening the strength of their weak government, who no longer know what to do to solve this ongoing issue that only seems to be getting worse.

This article talks about El Salvador and the gang that originated there, MS-13, which was spread north by immigrants escaping the civil war.

This article discusses the struggle to change women's roles in Latin American countries. The main portion of discussion addressing equality for women exist in a mainly academic atmosphere and there is a need to spread to a media more targeted in toward the general population. As long as the stereotypes of men and women remained unaddressed violence toward women and their expectations as only domestic beings will endure.

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.

This article discusses the anti-Semitic sentiments of both Honduras and Venezuela. It also discusses the spread of chavismo, which encourages hatred among groups within Venezuela, especially against Jews.

This article provides a current update of the state of the formation of Rigoberta Menchu's political party WINAQ. It also provides a link to a YouTube video that shows the political progress. In reality, the link also suggests an interesting connection between this Latin American political movement and new media and how new media is helping spread awareness around the world.

Many people in Latin America are living with HIV and although this region is often overlooked, it has a very high number of people living with the disease. Most levels of the infection in Latin America are found in men who have sex with men or MSM. This information, though, is often hidden due to the 'machismo' culture of men in Latin America.

this article talks about the prevelance of HIV/AIDS in latin america. It says that HIV is found mostley in "men who have sex with other men" and how not many people know this because of the machismo mentality in latin america.

More than half of Latin Americans living with HIV live in the regions four largest countries. The highest levels of HIV are found within men who have sex with men. Latin American countries make little effort to provide AID services that address the needs of men who are sexually active with other men. Drug use is also a major factor in the spread of HIV.

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.

The author of this blog uses such examples as international fast-food franchises and the massive memorial to Michael Jackson in Mexico City to declare that Latin American culture is becoming one with American culture. In the author's view, Mexico is losing its "foreignness" to Americans.