http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41305735

     This week I read an article entitled Venezuelans Cross Into Colombia as Crisis Deepens. As the title suggests, the article was about the citizens of Venezuela that cross the country’s border into Colombia. These travelers cost the border for a multitude of reasons. First, a little background, Venezuela, and Colombia are at a political and economic opposition. In addition to this, Venezuela “is suffering from acute shortages of medicines, hospitals struggle to treat patients and staple goods have become scares and unaffordable”. This is what causes the very large number of Venezuelans that made the trip across Simón Bolivar International bridge. The article explains that many Venezuelan families take family trips across the bridge with empty suitcases so they could fill them up will food and supplies. The churches in Colombia prepare meals for 600 to 2,000 meals a day. As well, the Scalabrini International Migration Network provides shelter in the center of Cúcuta for victims who ended up living on the streets of Venezuela.The article discussed border mobility cards which “allow Venezuelans to go back and forth across the border without the need for a passport”.

Hurricane Maria is the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico since 1928, it has destroyed 80% of its crop value and downed 80% on the islands power lines which could take 6 months to repair leaving 3.4 million people without power, that is the entire population off Puerto Rico. Numbers in the millions are often hard for the human brain to grasp so to put this into perspective this is approximately the equivalent of the entire city of Los Angeles being without power. On top of the island wide power outage the manufacturing of medication accounts for roughly 90,000 jobs on the island of Puerto Rico, the storm has completely destroyed the medication business there which means a major loss of jobs and revenue for Puerto Rico where 40% of the population already lived in poverty and 10% of the Island before the storms were already unemployed. The island only has $15 million in its emergency fund hurricane irma alone caused $1 billion in damages after hurricane Maria Puerto Rico is $74 billion in debt.https://goo.gl/images/SZBQZW

In this article research has been conducted on the virus that took the world by surprise, this virus being Zika which has been devastating Latin America for the past few months. What this article deals with is why Zika has such diverse effects in Latin America, but the birth defects commonly caused by Zika in South America are not seen in other places at least to this degree.

This is because Zika is not a completely new virus that has just been discovered. Zika has been around in Asia for a long time, but the effects it had on newborns were never this drastic. Scientists proposed that their was a mutation in the virus. This mutation was called S139N. This specific mutation was seen first in French Polynesia and was the first case where chidlren displayed microcephaly in large numbers.

This is a problem for many Latin American countries whose economy relies on tourism. Mainly because the fear of infection could drive people away from affected areas. This could lead to problems for countries who are already struggling with trade embargo or recessions. Also this virus poses a problem for expecting mothers already in the country. As every second of the day poses a danger to their child.

In the article I chose for this week, Mexico’s Indigenous Congress: Decolonizing Politics, the authors discuss The First Nations of Mexico’s attempt at a political campaign, and the response it has received. The political initiative is putting forward a candidate, Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez, in the next election for president.

There was outcry from the already established political parties, including racist and misogynist attacks on Martinez, to calls for including their proposals in already existing political processes. The ideas behind the Indigenous Council of Government (CIG) are not Western in practice according the the authors, and have drawn a lot of criticism.

The criticisms are largely due to two main misunderstandings according to the authors. The first is the fact that one of the groups that make up the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), has refused to participate in the electoral process and national government system for the past twenty three years. The second misunderstanding is that Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez is like any other candidate representing any other political party. According to the authors, these are fundamental misunderstandings about the First Nations. Their political ideologies aren’t based on the Greek style we’re familiar with, or even other European styles we typically think of. The authors argue that the CNI is “[appropriating] the tools of the modern/colonial state to advance their own project” to form a government modeled on their seven principles listed in the article, which are primarily based on being public servants and serving the interests of the people rather than furthering their own political goals. This seeks to decolonize the political process and put the needs of disenfranchised people first, primarily people of indigenous descent and women. The authors argue that the fact that Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez is not accepted shows how underrepresented groups are not listened to or supported in the current political climate of Mexico. The CNI seeks to unite disenfranchised groups across Mexico as their base of support and markets itself as a political platform for the people.

Yanez, Claudio. “It Took Me 20 Years to Talk About My Childhood.” BBC News, 2 October 2017

WARNING!!! This article talks about sexual violence

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-41246340

This article does not have an author because it is from an interview over the radio that someone later wrote what was said. This article is about Claudio Yanez, a man who was put into a public care center in Chile when he was ten. The idea behind the public care center is comparable to an orphanage. One day a public care center official took him to a public care center, but his life would have been better on the streets. At these places the children are physically and sexually abused. Corporal punishment is used quite fondly. The children at public care centers do not go to school. The day to day life at the public care centers causes the children loose sympathy. If the boys complain to their social workers they are only treated worse, so they do not complain. Luckily for Yanez he was recommended for a psychological test and was discovered to have a high IQ, so he was permitted to go to school. Yanez ran away and a kind family “took [him] under their wing.” At this time, he started working at a hotel where he eventually told his story to a family. This family took him in and he considers them family to this day. He decided to speak out because a report came out last year that 1,300 children died in the custody of these public care centers.

Yanez explains that he also decided to speak out because he is currently a civil engineer and is therefore considered a high ranking official. He expected his friends and colleagues to be unaccepting, but was pleasantly surprised in their support. He explains that Chile is a much more accepting place then he was a kid.

Yanez is speaking out, so more people realized how horrible the public care system is in Chile. Yanez’s goal is having reform in the Chilean system. This article is written in the first person (because Yanez said it) and this makes the article devastating to read. The effect of having it be in the first person is overwhelming when Yanez describes how alone he felt and how emotionally stinted he and the other boys became. The mindset these children have is something I’ve only read about in the Nazis’ death camps. In the death camps the survivors eventually stopped feeling emotional pain because it became a part of their everyday life and if not the victim then it would be them.

It is safe to say this is an experience Yanez will never forget and it is now a part of his identity. Like Cabeza de Vaca, Yanez went through a traumatic experience and he figured out who he was. He mentions how he learned to only rely on himself because he could not trust the other children or his social worker. Yanez also threw himself into his school-work because it was his only escape he had and this lead him to be the civil engineer he is today. Yanez now has a nonprofit charity that advocates for children in the system. Without being in the system he would not have a charity trying to help the children. Having the experience of being in the public care center has shaped his identity. He is a civil engineer, he is self-reliant, and he has a charity, all because being in the public care center shaped who he is as a person. Like Cabeza de Vaca, Yanez learned from his horrible experience and without it he wouldn’t be who he is today, therefore being in a public care center is a part of his identity, for better or for worse.

Images copyright Claudio Yanez Image caption Claudio’s new family: He is the boy with the big smile at the right of the middle row

In the article ‘The Social Contract Is Broken’: Inequality Becomes Deadly in Mexico, the author states out that the Mexican society is largely ruined and divided by the huge gap between the poor and rich, which then creates enormous violence against the citizens of the country. A study suggests that this year is said to be the most violent year of the Mexican history. However, despite the increasing violence rates in the country, for those who live in a more affluent area where the police department is more responsive and the crime rate is low, the violence does not bother them at all. One of the reasons for this scenario is that because of the state police is not trustworthy anymore, more and more advantaged families decide to hire their own armed force to protect their family. In addition, one study estimates that more than 70 percent of Mexican city’s policemen only works for those private interests, such as guarding the banks. For those who cannot afford to hire the protective service, in response to the increasing violence in the country, most of them would form the militia to guard their interests because of the lack of the faith in the police force. 

The increasing crime rate in the Latin American countries is so serious that most outsiders, including me, to feel the seriousness of the problem there. It is undeniable that there are some parts of the countries that are so well-preserved, away from the crime and relatively safe, but, I still feel an urgency not to step in those countries. This is one of the biggest encounters that Latin America is facing right now. The economic inequality is the main driving force for the social chaos, there is more to be done from the government to address these domestic social issues.

Not only Mexican people are facing the serious economic equality issues, but also the whole Latin America. It is said that the bigger the difference between the rich and poor in one area, it is more often for the individuals, militia and gangsters to commit crimes. That is to say, the social inequality is the driving force for the serious crimes and probably this could shed a light on the government forces to combat the drug-related crimes and women discrimination issues.

Darlington, Shasta. “In São Paulo, Iconic Building Helps Revive a Blighted Downtown.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2017.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/01/world/americas/brazil-sao-paulo-edificio-copan.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Famericas&action=click&contentCollection=americas&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

This article titled, “In São Paulo, Iconic Building Helps Revive a Blighted Downtown” describes a piece of architecture in downtown Brazil that has undergone a remarkable transformation. The building is called Edifício Copan and has a distinctive shape that resembles the shape of the tilde on the “a” in the city’s name. The building as the designer Oscar Niemeyer had envisioned was not completed in the 1950s and was housed by drug dealers and prostitutes. Now, the building attracts artists, students, and business men and women, and contains over 70 stores and restaurants.

This current state of the building however was not achieved miraculously. In fact, the building faced decades of decline during the second half of the 20th century. The so-called mayor of the building, Affonso Celso Prazeres de Oliveria greatly contributed to the vitalization of the building. He evicted the prostitutes, the illegal drug dealers, and any uncooperative tenants. He also added security cameras and fixed many of the decaying aspects of the building. Brazil also faced a boom period at the turn of the 21st century which has helped the building reach such success. Only six apartments currently remain vacant! In the face of such success, a few skeptics wonder how long-lasting this success will be. A tour guide by the name of Paula Lacerda, states that there is more crime in São Paulo than ever before and that the the building could easily become “abandoned again.” Moreover, the city is facing a recession at the moment, which has contributed to less financial flexibility for Oliveria, but he believes that “Now, we’re at an exceptional moment.” The major turnaround of this building has been revolutionary for the city.

The people of Latin America are portrayed in a more positive light in which they are revitalizing a building that represents a part of their culture. The building can now be claimed as a tourist attraction and has gained so much success in the restaurants and stores within the building and the surrounding city. As readers, we can see the people involved in this project as successful entrepreneurs. Although the more negative aspects that relate to any city, such as drug dealers, still exist, we can see another group of people that this city beholds who have made an impact both for the city and their country, In fact, this impact can be recognized as a global success as it included as a story for the New York Times.

Architecture, like fashion and cinema, is a unique form of cultural expression. It can be assumed that the owner, the people involved in the project, and the residents of São Paulo take great pride with this newly revitalized building. It is a milestone that has contributed to their identity. Additionally, as it is now a tourist attraction, different people from various cultures will encounter the building and gain an understanding for what this structure means for São Paulo residents and the country. The building has a unique history and serves as a notable form of identity and cross-cultural engagement.