Latin American Studies Resources

This article (actually written by my brother-in-law), discusses Hilary Clinton's recent withdrawal of millions of dollars and assistance from Honduras. The removal of this assistance is a response to the coup d'etat that took place in Honduras on June 28th. The U.S. government is hoping to show Latin America that it supports the effort to keep the military out of politics.

This section of the Los Angeles Times deals directly with and reports daily on Latin American current events. It provides articles concerning Latin American politics, Latin American economics, Latin American art, etc. The page also includes video interviews, podcasts and an interactive map and multimedia gallery in regards to the Mexican drug wars.

This article discusses the "maras" of El Salvador and how they have grown throughout both Latin America and the United States. The "maras" have been responsible for countless murders and are continuing to grow today. The concept and existence of such gangs come into direct conversation with the concepts of both machismo and masculinity in Latin American and American culture.

The region including Latin America and the Caribbean is the area with the most homophobic crimes committed in recent years. Countries including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia have had an unfortunate recent history of homophobic crimes. This article, from ipsnews.net., describes how IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia Committee) is asking for an international day against homophobia. They chose May 17th as the day of recognition, because on May 17, 1990, homosexuality was removed from the World Health Organization's list of mental disorders. In the past few years, many Latin American countries have developed slogans and media campaigns against homophobia and the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Many activist groups in Latin America (and worldwide) are vying for political action and equal rights laws.

in many countries hardest hit by HIV, the stigma of this disease is at least as powerful, if not more so, than in wealthy nations. Through the discussion of social and gender inequality, this article discusses the stigmas that are associated with AIDS and the anticipated harships that it creates. Also, I could not add a sticky note to this because it was a PDF

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.

Because they do not have healthcare, illegal immigrants go to the emergency rooms and clinics when they get sick. Since it is an "emergency," the cost of treatment, seeing them, x-rays, etc is at least 3 times more expensive than it would be to have the same things done in a doctor's office. Therefore, illegal immigrants are costing the government more money now than they would if we provided them with healthcare.

This article from the LAtimes.com demonstrates an interesting outlook on drug possession throughout Latin America. Issues such as drug trafficking and recreational drug use throughout countries such as Mexico and Columbia have increased over the years. However, many proposed laws aimed at decriminalizing drug use have not been approved...This article discusses specific drug-related situations in Argentina, Brazil, and Columbia.

In many countries throughout Latin America, bullfighting is one of the most historical, most attractive activities. However, its cruel abuse to the bulls is a very controversial topic. According to this article, "approximately 250,000 bulls die each year" in Latin America and Europe combined. Some people argue that bullfighting should be abolished and tagged as illegal because of its cruelty to the animals. But others believe that it is unfair to deprive one of his own culture. This article provides a brief look into the complicated debate.

This webpage, although short and succinct has a lot to offer about the basic principles of Human Rights in Latin America. Many of the links at the bottom of the page are also valuable in shaping our understanding of the peoples' rights throughout different countries. The United States grants freedom to the people and allows its citizens many rights and privileges that other countries do not. This website is especially interesting because it discusses the different levels of crime and punishment for each Latin American country.

The article discusses the rise in political power in people from Mexico City to Quito, Ecuador. They have begun using their political power to protest, in order to get what is wanted of the people. It is proving to be a very effective polital tool by the people of Latin America.

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 articles talks about how many women living in Latin America are beginning to migrate to neigboring countries in order to find better jobs. The number of women migrants has rose and almost equaled that of migrant men of Latin America. The women are described as trying to create a new life, although many remain connected to their families back home.

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.

This article discusses the recent homicide of french filmmaker, Christian Poveda, who was killed by a gang/mara in El Salvador. Gang violence in El Salvador commits one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America. This article draws attention to the reasons why boys join gangs; which we can discuss in relation to men and violence in Latin America and the growing violence in El Salvador after its civil war.

This article discusses about a group of mothers/grandmothers and their attempt to reconstruct their lives during and after living in Argentina's "Dirty War". They protested to be reunited with their children/grandchildren who were kidnapped by the military. We see here a group of women trying to strengthen a post-conflict society. Through passive activism, "Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo" confronted the government and voiced for those who were silenced; restoring what was lost during the war.

According to this article, on August 27, 2009, lawmakers in Uruguay voted to legalize to allow homosexual couples to adopt. This makes Uruguay the first Latin American country to do so. The Roman Catholic Church in Uruguay opposed the bill, but it was passed 40-13 in favor. Uruguay has also legalized homosexual civil unions and has ended a ban on homosexuals in the armed forces.

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.

Eco Del Sur was founded nine years ago with the idea to preserve the traditional music and culture from different countries in Latin America. In this way, the indigenous groups that have been integrated with the rest of society can still keep their past alive. The audience is taught about the origins of the music, so that they can know where it all came from.