Group items tagged

As Brazil prepares to host both the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, gang violence and police murders overshadow the progress the cities Sao Paulo and Rio De Janiero are making. This year, 95 officers have been murdered in the Sao Paulo area alone, mostly by members of the PCC retaliating against the police. The situation in Rio is being somewhat improved in Rio as the police attempt to regain control of the cities many favelas.

Bigger cities are always going to have higher homicide rates. I do wonder if it will die down for the world cup. I imagine the world cup would be captivating enough to a Brazilian city to stop violence for a few weeks.

I don't think the issue is that the world cup is not a big enough event to stop the violence. The homicide rate in Sao Paulo is so high because the police to not have control of much of the city. The extremely poverty stricken areas (favelas) are run by criminal gangs. Corruption and economic disparity keep the gangs in power. In fact, in some areas the police's attempts to "clean up" the city have further angered the gangs which is why police officers are being targeted more than ever. The situation is unfortunately complicated and severe.

Rosling is a global public health expert, and is passionate about how statistical data should inform our understanding of global regions, individual nations in comparison with each other, and he challenges the possibly erroneous conventional wisdom about differences between "first world" and "third world" nations in terms of social markers that exist. This item is also useful background for understanding the foundational aspects of any area of the globe, and it also points you to relevant data sources.

This animated data software is available at http://www.gapminder.org/ It could make a great format for your final project in lieu of a more conventional paper -- something to think about?

Another article on the war on drugs. This article explains that the Guatemalan president suggested drug decriminalization in front of the UN General assembly, and said that it should coincide with increasing military pressure on drug violence. Legal drug use would be state controlled, much like the use of tobacco and alcohol in the United States.

It certainly seems like decriminalization would take the money and violence out of the equation (or at least, a great deal of it). Certainly, Prohibition in the US re alcohol was a big mistake in regard to criminal activity, and even with the problems alcohol currently causes, there are still forms of control (laws, public attitudes, health advisories)...Would it help if we put more effort into scientific studies on addiction? Do we know enough in that regard to circulate public information that would be relevant? Why don't we have conferences about this topic where the issues are debated? I'd like to see something like that at OU, with input from the law school, and the sociologists, psychologists, law enforcement, Latin Americanists, etc. etc. It could be very enlightening. Too dangerous a topic, though? But we should be able to talk about anything at an education of higher learning...

This article describes a mining mountain in Bolivia, Cerro Rico, that is on the verge of collapse. This mountain has been mined for centuries by quechua slaves and although the people that toil in its bowels today are not technically enslaved, the harsh conditions and meager living workers make can still be equated to slavery. Unless something is done to stabilize the mountain, all the minors lives are in immediate danger. This article is very sad as it shows the ways in which colonial class stratification still exists today in Latin America.

an excellent piece, Josie, that reminds us that although we live in the shiny new hi-tech world of the 21st century that the 20th and even the 19thc are still with us literally in some parts of the world. We need to remember that fact. This situation also recalled one closer to home, in Picher Oklahoma. This wikipedia article notes that: "Picher is one of only a few locations in the world (along with others such as Gilman, Colorado and Wittenoom, Western Australia) to be evacuated and declared uninhabitable due to environmental and health damage caused by the mines the town once serviced." The cross-cultural comparisons would be interesting.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picher,_Oklahoma

Brazil's government enacted one of the most sweeping affirmative action laws. This is just one example of the sort of democratic, humanitarian charge that Brazil is leading in South America. On one end of the spectrum we see Chavez's authoritarian-ruled Venezuela, with state-controlled sectors still on the rise. On the other end we see Brazil, enacting humanitarian changes such as this affirmative action law. Increasingly, we have seen Latin American countries follow the lead set by Brazil, with a shift away from the state-controlled policy championed by Venezuela. Economically, we also see that Brazil is in much better shape than Venezuela, regardless of the fact that Venezuela is oil-rich. This law just offers one example of the changes set in motion by Brazil that stand at odds with the state-controlled ideals that were previously indicative of Latin American politics.

Fascinating article -- this is a huge social engineering step, with 50% of university slots set aside for poor and minority students! While there is debate about the step, only one senator voted against it.... Since our focus here in the class and the diigo articles is science and technology, I'm wondering if anyone here is willing to venture any guesses about how this policy might affect science, technology, and medicine in Brazil. Would most of these students from poorer social worlds opt for sci/tech/med training? If so, how might this change society itself? Do the wealthier students now attending college select different sorts of majors? It would be interesting to do some digging... Of course, the influx of students from different backgrounds could affect the wealthier students' worldviews, also -- if they stay in the public university system, however, which might not happen...From the article: Dozens of other Brazilian universities, both public and private, have also adopted their own affirmative action policies in recent years, trying to curb the dominance of such institutions by middle- and upper-middle-class students who were educated at private elementary and secondary schools. Public universities in Brazil are largely free of charge and generally of better quality, with some exceptions, than private universities. Still, some education experts are already predicting a shift to the better private universities among some students. "With these quotas, these rich Brazilians who took up their spots will not be abandoned," argued Frei David Santos, 60, a Franciscan friar in São Paulo who directs Educafro, an organization preparing black and low-income students for university entrance exams. "Their parents who had money saved will spend it" on elite private universities.

An article that demonstrates the differences in health care between Argentina and other Latin American countries, such as Bolivia.

I found this article very interesting. I think it is fascinating to see other veiewpoints and norms around the world. Taking in to account the low life expectancy, it seems like a very intelligent decision to allow transgender surgeries as opposed to unsafe practices. I think it should be questioned how this will alter in the future, as well as what problems are going to arise. The surgery's expense must be taken in to account. Will other countries follow Argentina's lead?

wow -- I would never have come across this most likely if this hadn't been posted here. Thanks! It makes me wonder how much else I am missing about interesting shifts across the world. I've got to get access to streaming my news better....although having you smart students to help me with my learning curve is a big bonus!

This article analyzes claims by Sebastian Pinera, president of Chili in his article for the Economist. Economic potential in Latin America seems quite high recently, with the earnings of top bankers in Brazil moving past those in New York or London. If these claims are true, the influx of business capital in the Latin American region should be a harbinger of an information revolution, as Latin America tries to keep up with the US, Europe, and Asia in this increasingly wired world.

I felt that this article was interesting leading up to the election. It explains the varying differences between Romney and Obama's policy regarding Latin America. Romey's policy plan that he has adopted seems to be very agressive and confrontational regarding Latin America. Reading this article made me heavily question Romney's plans. I do not always feel agression grants the best results. After the ongoing violence that has risen from the insuing war on drugs, this approach seems harsh. Although it does point out Obama's hands off approach (for lack of a better term), the article does outline Romey's opinions and strategies.

I'd sure like to hear more about other parts of the world in terms of the issues in the presidential and senatorial/congressional elections. I know that the Middle East is incredibly important, but in this increasingly interconnected global world other regions are vital as well, given the global scope of issues such as climate change and the global ocean, not to mention the issue of adjusting to working together across cultures as a general issue. But I'm always surprised that we don't think more "hemispherically" when we think about international relations in terms of public debates. Perhaps as the percentage of US citizens with Hispanic ancestry increases this might change? Perhaps it is related as well to the fact that Americans don't put as much effort into learning foreign languages as other countries do...perhaps if more of us were fluent in Spanish there might be more awareness of what is going on elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere? Maybe more foreign exchange programs as well as a consequence would help?

This article explains a new road that has been built that is working to revitalize a road for farmers. This road creates a direct path to the super market in order to boost earnings for the farmers. It was funded by the United States supported "Millennium Challenge Cooperation."

More new stuff for me to learn about, thanks, Elizabeth! It's amazing that lack of reliable roads can be a stumbling block to development in the 21st century, but often this is the legacy of colonial regimes that in previous eras weren't interested in internal connections among the people, but in building only what was necessary in terms of transportation infrastructure to extract indigenous resources and get them exported (a problem in Africa as well). I didn't know anything about the Millennium Challenge Corporation, so began looking up some info. One interesting fact is that they are rated as the most "transparent" US agency and 9th most transparent out of 72 in the world by "Publish What You Fund: The Global Campaign for Aid Transparency" [one of 13 organizations marked "fair," the second highest category -- only two came in at the top category]. http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/index/2012-index/ The pressure for transparency: a consequence of the Internet, since the cost of "publishing" the information is minimal? It will be interesting to see how well the federal and state governments at home and abroad do on this score in the coming years.

This article is fascinating. It discusses the drug violence in Brazil, and what could be done to combat it. The police are working to recover slums in order to prepare for the 2016 Olympics and the World Cup. Here, it is questioned what will happen to the drug stricken areas.

It's interesting to think that drug violence or youth culture could be impacted in such a way. However, I wonder if this is a phenomena unique to Brazil, or if it could be applicable to countries like the United States.

Chavez is up for reelection, and the populations is inspired by his opponent, a former governor. If Chavez is defeated, this would have world-wide ramifications for the oil industry, but also make sweeping change in Venezuela. Though it could easily turn out to be the same as the recent Russian elections, plagued with fraud and a refusal to let go of power.

An interesting story discussing an enrichment program directed at Peru's underprivileged schools. The aim of the program was to put a laptop computer in the hands of every student. With the help of this technology, the hope was that young Peruvian's would be able to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of literacy, mathematics, technological aptitude, etc. However the results of the project were not exactly as planned. The rural areas, which are often the neediest, suffer the greatest complications when trying to implement the technology in the classroom. It appears that these communities are simply not equipped to maximize the potential of the laptop devices. Remote locations, lack of prior understanding, and poor electrification infrastructure all play a part. Still, the use of the laptops did seem to improve some aspects of the learning experience, and at the least provided some exposure from which future interests may be sparked. This article seems to shed a bit of light on the dramatic discrepancies across cultures. In the U.S. individuals are so completely surrounded with technological resources that the assimilation of new technologies is often seamless. For other countries, like Peru, their lack of technological immersion creates systemic and epistemic faults which greatly affect their ability to actually make good use of information technologies. I thought this piece was fascinating and seems to point toward other worthwhile cultural questions.

I wonder what the impact was in more urbanized areas, as opposed to Lacachi.

I found this article especially interesting after reading seasick. It is another example of how humans are impacting the ocean and these impacts are negative. In summary, due to pollution and waste from fishing shark attacks are becoming a serious problem in Brazil's coastal waters.

This article explains how poor educational standards in Brazil are holding the country back even while its economy is quickly growing. Because the education system is not capable of producing enough skilled professionals to meet the demands of the work force, Brazil is relying on immigrants to fill skilled labor positions. If Brazil is to sustain its growth, it clearly needs to improve the education system quickly.

See Michael Ray's article up above about affirmative action and Brazilian universities -- these two articles seem connected --

This article describes a recent update in the long standing battle with Chevron and the Ecuadorian State. Texaco, dumped a devastating amount of pollution into the Amazon basin between the 1960s and 1990s. The results of this pollution ranged from unheard of cancers among the local population and complete ruin of the natural resources that indigenous people relied on. Texaco/Chevron has fought against the accusations and have not apologized for their actions. There is a really good documentary available about this subject called Crude if anyone is interested.

This article describes the recent rise in films being produced in Ecuador. I see this as a very positive thing for the country so that their film industry is not dominated by Hollywood. Local filmmakers often give voice to those who are not typically heard such as Quechua speaking people. I hope that some of these films will be available in the U.S. as well.

Argentina's current president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is currently encouraging a change to the constitution that would allow her to be re-elected. This, as well as the economic downturn in the country have sparked vehement protests against her government. By going global, these protests have garnered international attention and are making the problems Argentina faces more well known.

This is a good article examining Latin America and its place within the foreign policy of the United States. Specifically it questions the reasons why Latin America did not come up in the final presidential debate on foreign policy.

This is a really good article. The United States often just doesn't seem to take Latin America seriously, and we have a somewhat tainted history of involvement in that area. This needs to change.

This is a pretty good article describing the tensions arising between Ecuador and countries such as Britain, Sweden, and the U.S. over the asylum granted to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks.

what a strange turn of events!