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

On Monday in Buenos Aires, Argentina two men were bestowed a marriage license and are planning on what appears to be the first legal homosexual wedding in Latin America. The couple obtained the authority to marry last week when a judge declared that a prohibition on same-sex marriage violated Argentina's Constitution. Mauricio Marci, mayor of Buenos Aires revealed that the city would not appeal the court order, thus prompting other homosexual couples to address their rights in court. However, the mayor did not appear to be an enthusiastic advocate for the endorsement of same sex marriage license as he said, " We have to live with and accept this reality: the world is moving in this direction." No other country in Latin America permits same-sex marriage, although some jurisdictions warrant same-sex partners to configure civil unions with many similar rights.

This photomontage depicts El Salvador's remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the Jesuit Massacre of 1989, when six distinguished priests; their housekeeper and her daughter were murdered by the government's troops. Students have joined together to create traditional street carpets, honoring the lives of those innocently destroyed in one of the many brutal chapters of El Salvador's twelve-year civil war. In accordance with the Jesuit philosophy, El Salvadorians have decided to display the blood stained clothing of the victims in a memorial room, so the event does not dissipate in individual's memories but rather directly confronts the viewer so they are incapable of ignoring the stark realities of the massacre. Thousands gathered for a candlelight vigil amongst members of the victim's families, and Jesuit priests from around the world assembled to organize an evening mass in which their sermons assailed social injustice and inequalities held in front of the thousands gathered.

Magnum photographer, Christopher Anderson's new book Capitolio explores a poignant visual insight into the degeneration of Caracas, which was once Latin America's most economically advanced cities and is now plagued with chaos and despair. Murders in Caracas have grown so dramatically that they have become accepted as ordinary, and thus looking at the homicide statistics has become mundane. His images of blood and trash serve to highlight their omnipresence in the daily lives of Venezuelans. He opens with action scenes, and then moves to rural areas where the seeds of the infrastructure where set, before submerging into the hysteria of President Chavez. The book's name derives from a metaphor of an old city-center government building that exports revolution while the city itself like the building deteriorates. Anderson traveled into the countries interior to depict the polluted Lake Maracaibo in order to exemplify the interdependence between the United States, the main consumer of Venezuela's oil, and President Chavez. Anderson photographs a sugar harvester in Barinas, the town where Chavez was born into poverty and now transformed into a laboratory for revolutionary projects. When asked about the future of Venezuela, Mr. Anderson said his book is not a source for answers, but an insight for strangers.

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.

In the past decades, HIV infections are on the rise in Latin America and the Caribbean, however, Haiti, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic is witnessing falling infection rates. 2.2% about 190,000 Haitians are suffering from HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS. Infection rates are more slowly to decline in rural areas than in urban areas, but progress for battling the disease has been significant for a country with such high poverty levels. The percentage of pregnant women who have tested HIV positive has declined by half over the last ten years. The majority of the population, however, lacks proper sexual education. In countries where the prevalence rates are lower, the epidemic is concentrated among socially marginalized populations, such as gay males. Currently, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Mexico have the largest epidemic due partly to the fact that they have larger populations. Since Latin American and Caribbean nations are not a singular culture, attention to the HIV epidemic has not been homogeneous.

In most of the region of Latin America abortions are a crime, but criminalizing abortion doesn't decrease abortion rates and only endangers the lives of women. The abortion rate is far higher than in Western Europe or the United States. In Columbia, abortions are illegal even if a woman's life is in jeopardy. There is little sex education and social taboos keep unmarried women from exploring the options of contraception. Up to 5,000 women die each year from abortions in Latin America, and thousands more are hospitalized. In Cuba, however, abortion is legal on request. Latin Americans are looking at abortion as an issue of maternal mortality.

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.