This article talks about the poverty in Guatemala. 75 percent of Guatemalans are below the poverty line, and 58 percent are below the extreme poverty line. Although it is not specifically stated, the extreme level of poverty may be a reason for the violence plaguing Guatemala today, and may be preventing the improvement of society from the civil war era.

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 article discusses the violence that remains in Guatemala currently, even though the war ended over a decade ago. President Álvaro Colom hoped to increase security in Guatemala; however with increasing gang violence, Guatemala is considered the second most dangerous country in Latin America. Voters in Guatemala are calling on Colom to not only create feelings of security but also to inspire what the country has been lacking for so long: peace.

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 blog discusses how Evangelicalism works as a frame for civil society in Venezuela due to the restrictions that the church enforces. This particular blog post also happens to be written by David Smilde, the author of the current book we are reading.

This article talks about the growing Evangelical community in Venezuela. It discusses how it seems to be the "religion of the poor" and how Evangelicalism has a way of pulling people in that Catholisism does not.

This article is from 2006, when Maria Teresa Fernandez was allowed to become a judge, which Spanish Law had previously banned. I think it relates to the course because, even though it is in Spain, the machismo culture still exists, and this demonstrates how women's rights are threatening the strength of the machismo culture.

This article discusses how the Machismo culture in Latin America is causing health problems and cutting life expectancies. Being macho means to attract lots of women and to never show any weakness. This need to be tough is causing problems for men.

This article discusses the use of birth control in Mexico and how it plays a role in the population. Different programs, such as on for family planning, are trying to help in controlling population by encouraging different forms of contraceptives.

This discussion talks about the "never say no" attitude of the macho Latin American culture. It also talks about the risks involved in this type of culture. In this article, Gonzales discusses the possibility of men taking on this macho attitude in order to be socially accepted by other men.

This article discusses man's desire to be "separated" from traits associated with women in Mexico. Mexican men tend to be stereotyped as "Machismo" and want to be sexually dominant in all that they do.

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.