Science and Global Politics: Focus on Latin America

This article lays out the reasons why Uruguay's government is considering legalization of marijuana. It has already been decriminalized and full legalization would allow the government to benefit economically from production. The profits could stimulate the economy and even be used to treat drug addicts and go towards drug education. Also, legalization would take power away from deadly cartels.

This article was very interesting. To me, it seems that Uruguay has been searching for a way to combat what the war on drugs has done to the cartels. This is vastly different to the approach the United States is taking in regards to marijuana. I wonder if we will see any of the affects here, in addition to how the U.S. government views government controlled marijuana. I feel that ong term, the different drug strategies could potentially change the U.S.'s current stance on drug policies if they prove their effectivness.

wow, great discussion! I've been working my way down from the top adding some comments and was wondering about decriminalization up above! This reminded me that there's a ballot initiative in Washington state this election year that could pass re legalization of marijuana, which would put the states vs the feds in an interesting position if so. I was looking for some info, and found this background on a site called ballotpedia -- which I didn't know existed and am definitely going to be using in the future! http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Washington_Marijuana_Legalization_and_Regulation,_Initiative_502_(2012)

Pay particular attention to the section under "The Region" which explains why Latin America is an interesting site to look at the intersection between science, politics, and culture.

Industrialisation, but at what price?

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?

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.

Here's another article regarding current drug policy in Latin America. In this article the author explains why this joint declaration (no pun intended) is particularly unique since it triggers an actual evaluative process within the UN.

In reading this article, it is clearly stated that the U.S.'s war on drugs was of little benefit to the whole of Latin America. It seems that the joint declaration is a last effort to relieve some of the violence and upset occuring from drug wars. Interestingly, I feel this evaluative process could be what is necessary to relieve some of the surrounding tensions. The U.S. and Latin American need to find a common goal from which to work, in order to improve the struggles are ongoing.

Venezuela will soon be holding Presidential elections. This is an interactive article which describes the two leading candidates, Henrique Capriles and Hugo Chavez (the incumbent), and their views on the important issues facing Venezuela.

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!

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.

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!

For those of you interested in ecological preservation.

another instance where contaminating the water with toxic waste is a culprit. It's rather remarkable that we've done so much intensive mining and agriculture and industrial animal raising (CAFOs) and somehow never stopped to worry too much about what happens when we pollute the water (groundwater, rivers, lakes, the ocean....) Just getting a grip on this kind of pollution would seem to me to go a long ways toward rectifying bad practices in a number of areas simultaneously.

Higher than average rainfall washed away some 84,000 acres of crops. As a result Ecuador's exports are expected to fall 10 percent resulting in higher prices for commodities like bananas, which are one of the countries main exports. This seems like a good example of the ways in which climate and abnormal weather patterns can affect market prices in the global economy.

Weather is one of the most unpredictable variables on world economy.

and one of the predictions of the ramifications of climate change is an increase in the number of severe weather events -- good for futures speculations but not for the rest of us?

Two south Texas city council persons wrote a book last year on the effect of the illegal drug trade out of Mexico and the effectiveness of US policy responses. Their conclusion: Legalization of marijuana the "least bad" option at this point, as the only way to effectively battle the criminal cartels that export drugs is economically. Here I think is an example of ways in which international black and grey markets, in this case the illegal drug trade, can affect policy.

Unfortunately, we won't know if legalization of a drug will have a net positive impact on society until we try it. Although history does provide some analogies that could help policy makers make a decision, such as prohibition.

Many Latin American countries seem to be considering drug legalization to be the "least bad" and necessary solution to the heinous drug trafficking problems present Mexico, Columbia, Bolivia and Peru for example. I believe legalization efforts are a step in the right direction. Sadly, wealthy countries such as the United States and Western Europe drive the demand for drugs from Latin America, but we do not suffer the consequences of trafficking or the war on drugs. Instead, people who have nothing, poor coca growers and drug mules who have no other options, are punished most harshly for rich people's cocaine. This is clearly unjust. Although legalization would be a complicated and messy process, I hope that in the future Latin American countries as well as the United States will come together and legalize drugs so that fewer people will suffer in the illegal trafficking process.

Chinese economic growth is set to decline according to forecasts, which alarms S. American analysts because Latin America provides many of the materials and commodities that China is buying. Note how China's long term goal of urbanization is cited as proof of hope for Latin American markets, since as more Chinese move into the cities they will have need for appliances and lifestyles powered by materials and commodities acquired from S. American countries.

Although the article is talking about long term vs short term analysis, China is still the fastest growing country in the world, even if its growth rate declines by a few percentage points. Seeing as the United States has been able to maintain post-industrial growth rates in GDP over the past few decades, I don't see why that wouldn't be the case with China.

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.

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 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.

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?

Large-scale study that demonstrates that indigenous Amazonian villagers can record professional level scientific data: "After all the data verification was done, the researchers found that on average, the indigenous technicians were every bit as able to systematically record accurate data as trained scientists.  They were also probably better than scientists at detecting animals and their signs." It's amazing what possibilities exist when you change your framework of "how things are" and explore alternatives....what if professionals and the laity had been working together for the last 100 years on recording environmental data? [info on link from hsci grad student James Burnes]

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