The article highlights how President Funes of El Salvador decided to send 2,500 army troops to patrol the streets of the country in an effort to combat crime. The soldiers will patrol the streets of 19 municipalities that have the highest crime rates. El Salvador one of the three Central American countries that have the highest rates of non-political violence in the world. (Guatemala and Honduras are the other two countries)

The article discusses how the Guatemalan government and different UN offices are launching a regional initiative called: "UNiTE to End Violence against Women." The initiative is a global action to end violence against women and girls in Guatemala. According to the article, violence against women has far-reaching consequences, harming families and communities, along with undermining economic growth.

The article discusses how there are plans to re-open a military base in the town of Ixcán in order to build a highway that will stretch 330 km across north-central Guatemala to Honduras and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The purpose of the highway is to protect foreign investment. However, there is widespread resistance amongst the iindigenous peoples of Ixcán due to the 102 massacres committed between 1979 and 1988 in the area.

This article discusses how in 2008, Chile declared October 31st to be a public holiday in honor of "the evangelical and Protestant churches," even though Chile is the only country in Latin America that still has a significant Christian Democratic party. The article also provides statistics for several countries and their religious affiliation. For example, 15% of Chileans said they were evangelicals, along with Brazilians and Guatemalans claiming to be 15% and 20% respectively. Furthermore, most Latin America Protestants are Pentecostals.

This site addresses how drug and alcohol abuse in Latin America is widespread among the urban poor, and how the two contribute to daily violence. In poor neighborhoods in the Colombian cities of Medellín and Bogotá, approximately half of the population uses drugs--mainly marijuana, followed by cocaine and amphetamines. It is believed that heavy drinking in Guatemala is associated with Mayans, indigenous people trapped in poverty by discrimination and armed conflict.

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.

This article addresses the issue of HIV/AIDS in Latin America is becoming feminized due to socio-economic and gender inequalities. The concept of machismo increases the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS when combined with other factors such as poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. There are roughly 1.8 million people in Latin America with HIV/AIDS, with women representing 25% of the infected population. The strong tradition of Catholicism stands in the way of education on sex and sexuality intended to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

This article discusses how Latin America has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, and how women's organizations continue to fight for the right to safe and legal abortion. It is believed that to a certain extent, religion has influenced the criminalization of abortion. However, the women's movement in the region has made progress towards attaining the right to legal abortion.

This article states how the costs of migration in Latin America outweigh the rewards concerning the lives of children. Many children in the region endure negative impacts from their parents' migration to generate remittances. UNICEF claims that migration laves children with feelings of abandonment and vulnerability; the children's role models (their parents) are absent from their lives.

This article addresses the impacts of domestic violence in Latin America. Is is estimated that between 30 and 45 percent of women in the region suffer from some form of physical, sexual of psychological abuse. Latin American women want domestic violence to become more visible to the public to show that everyone pays for it. Due to the efforts of women organizations, domestic abuse victims can now receive free psychological and legal assistance, along with have access to help-lines and shelters.