The Strength Of A State Exists On A Continuum

Guatemala, the most populous country in Central America, is a textbook example of a country firmly in stage 2 of the demographic transition model. A country steeped in rich culture, Guatemala still has a sizeable population of Mayans, the ethnic group that populated the geographical region pre-colonization. This minority is often the victim of marginalization, much like the Native Americans of the United States. This, combined with the pressures of a rapidly increasing population, create many complicated issues for the country to deal with as its next generation comes of age.

Imagine living in a country where you know you could die at any moment but don’t know how much longer till it happens. That was how much of the population of El Salvador used to feel when the government could not control the big coffee corporations. These out of control corporations, highly feared that the people would want to revolt against them so they hired murderers to kill innocent people to spread fear in the minds of the people of El Salvador. Fear, hate, and sorrow were the common feelings felt by the poor and innocent major population of El Salvador caused by the evil wrongdoings of the government during October 1979 – 16 January 1992. This is how the main character, Jose Luis, of the novel “Mother Tongue” by Demetria Martinez, felt before escaping his beautiful yet over constantly dangerous country, which depended on its cash crop, coffee beans to sell on a foreign market as the country’s main income. However, following the stock-market crash of 1929, a drop in coffee prices became apparent and affected everyone in El Salvador, but the poor especially. Making things worse, the glorious United States was funding the men whom were doing all the innocent killings with more weapons and money to increase their military power. So for Jose Luis the safe haven that he had escaped to was also blatantly funding the war that was killing so many innocent people he knew and had forced him to escape for his own safety. With nowhere else to go in order to find safety the United

El Salvador is a small and beautiful country in Central America bordered by Honduras, Guatemala, and the Pacific Ocean. During recent years, violence and poverty have plagued the country due to over-population and class struggles. “The civil war in El Salvador began in 1980 to 1992 due to discontent with social inequalities, a poor economy, and the repressive measures of dictatorship” (Wiarda, p. 213). There remains conflict between the rich and the poor, this has existed for more than a century and is still a big problem.

We can begin by talking about migration and its effects on a global scale. Migration is one of the main areas of focuses in Latin America and Latino Studies. It helps us understand the effects of globalization on Latin American countries, the global relationship between the United States and Latin America, and how this relationship affects the Latin American people. This article goes through explaining the push and pull factors of why Haitians are being both pushed into the United States and pulled away from their home country. With the 2010 earthquake that hit Haiti, economic as well as political factors pushed Haitians to migrate. They started with Brazil but as their economy worsen, Haitians looked furthered to the United States. And the United States allowed them to do so as a humanitarian provision that came as the result of the 2010 earthquake. This pulled further struggling Haitians with the promise of a better life to make the dangerous journey. But with the abrupt change in policy, this shatters the already struggling Latin American countries with several displacements. We can go even further, analyzing other areas of study such as how the displacement of these immigrants will affect Latin America itself. Or how, on a national scale, the displacement of the migrating Haitians will affect

Death squads and disappearances caused mental anguish to so many citizens of countries plagued with war all over Latin America, just like Lupe and her family. Gabriel Garcia Marquez poses the question, “why could social justice not be a goal for Latin America?” Countries in Latin America like Nicaragua, Guatemala, EL Salvador, Argentina, and Chile were striving for social justice. Some even had democratic elections and were on the right path but the fear of communism that plagued the United States since the beginning of the Cold War halted any of the progress Latin American countries could have even made. Any sort of progress, whether it was farmers and peasants like José forming unions and organizations fighting for human rights, or democratically elected presidents like Arbenz or Allende that fought for agrarian reform and nationalization of resources was completely shut down either directly or indirectly by the United States. Social justice was definitely a goal for Latin America. The region is not filled with savages that can’t grasp democracy; even Marquez “rejected the idea that ‘violence and pain’ was the natural condition of the region.” The United States halted and set aside any progress for social justice in Latin America because it feared losing its powerful influence in the

Today’s violence in El Salvador consists of ruthless gang members. According to CRS (Congressional Research Service) about 30,000 kids have joined the maras and it will continue to increase. Due to the gang violence, children are fleeing the country to prevent from becoming victims or recruited, furthermore families are streaming into the U.S to seek asylum. Alike today, El Salvador experienced the same immigration crisis back in 1980 when the civil war was the cause for Salvadorans to immigrate to the United Sates. Repression and violation of human rights was the root cause, now gang violence is the root cause striking a similar pattern of the effects of violence. In 1980, El Salvador’s right-wing government had death squads to kill citizens for suspicion of supporting a social reform. Military soldiers attacked many villages, including El Mozote in which men, women, and children were tortured and subjected to sexual violence.

U.S. history is a key structural determinant of why Latinos have faced hardship, but now making up over 33% of the nation’s population have found their voice. In the documentary, Harvest of Empire Journalist and author of the book Juan Gonzalez, “Harvest of Empire” discusses the controversial issue in America of Latino immigration. He examines U.S. intervention in each of the Latin countries which in turn caused them to migrate to North America. “People in the U.S. have no idea why we come to this country. No idea. And if they do, it’s probably the wrong one” says Mariana Cabrera a Guatemalan immigrant (Harvest, 18:51). Her country of Guatemala had many changes going on in terms of government structure. In 1951 Jacobo Arbenz was appointed as President of Guatemala and wanted to help alleviate poverty in the country by land reform. According the documentary 2% of the owners had control of the land and 75% were in the hands of the United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company was controlled by America and used the Guatemalan land to create an American powerhouse. With Arbenz in rule, Guatemalan government values did not match those of

Central America has been plagued in the past with drugs, violence and poverty. This is a concerning issue because it have affected the lives of many people who now want to move away because of the death rates that has risen up because of the violence in the area. Due to the thousands corruption, poverty, and violence occurring in Central America, the Central American Government has allowed the immigration crisis to exceed in its country.

As Charles Bergquist observes, "Crises in Colombia tend to generate cycles of violence instead of mutations in the political regime." The reason is simple: regime changes in Colombia tend to produce very little change in anything other than nominal rule. Since Colombia's independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has seen a series of civil wars and secessions (Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama the last coming rather conveniently at a time when the U.S. was prepared to pay millions for a canal through its nation preparation that later resulted in a multi-million dollar redress to Columbia). Colombia's political history, therefore, has been colored by outside influences pulling on the two dominant liberal and conservative parties, with violent exchanges, and long periods of instability being the consequences. While regime changes have occurred, they have not produced significant improvements. Rather, Colombia in the 20th century has become a nesting ground for paramilitary forces and drug traffickers, with U.S. Central Intelligence operatives contributing heavily to the violent conflict that has risen between regimes. This paper will examine the regime types that preceded the Rojas Pinilla regime in mid-20th century Colombia, analyze their similarities and differences, and discuss the extent to which Rojas Pinilla reached his goals and objectives.

The Guatemalan civil war began because the government and military were greatly abusing the citizen’s human rights. In result to this communist led gorillas began an active political war of terror in 1961. There underlying cause of this is the discontent both politically and economically between the people and the government. Economically the government supported the domination of an elite class in society. This

El Salvador is a war-torn country. Over the decades, this country has had to deal with political and economical disequilibrium. By the 1970’s, a savage and vicious civil war started. The government started to target citizens they believed were supportive of economical and political reform. One of the most preeminent examples was Archbishop Oscar Romero who was shot to death in 1980. A war erupted between the government and the rebels who were against the government’s ideas and ways of ruling. The U.S. continually provided the government with financial and military support, and they are believed to be the only reason why the government stayed in the war. The war ended around the early 2000’s, but it left El Salvador in a broken state. Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled between 1980 to 2000, and have resided in the United States ever since.

Located on the Pacific Coastline, El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, and the most populated. The United States of America foreign policy on El Salvador is best explained by President Obama’s approach on Latin America where the United States is focused on economic growth and equality, energy and climate control, and regional and citizen security (Foreign Policy, 2012). This is best explained using the international level of analysis and neo-liberalism where the global structure and economic interdependence provides the foundation of America’s foreign policy. To ensure that one can see the transparency in United States methodology I will provide the history of El Salvador, the creation of United States interest in El

Background information In 1523 Spaniards took over Guatemala; they had greater technological advantages to overtake the indigenous people and by 1540 governed the whole country. Guatemala becomes an independent country from Spain in 1821 by that time indigenous people had converted to Christianity and the country was divided into those people born in Spain on top and mixed race in the middle and the indigenous people on the bottom. during the 1960s and 1970s, Guatemala industry developed but poverty remained until this day, Guatemala is still one of the poorest countries according to statistics. Guatemala has a constitution just like the USA it was adopted in 1985; outlines the separation of powers among executive, legislative, and judicial

“Violence has been a prominent social response to the application of structural adjustment policies throughout Latin America. There are societies in which, things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Violence is a shared disease that seems to arise in all societies where there are profound social differences and exploitation…Many Latin American societies are condemned to bloodletting by the precedents of violence and gross injustice that characterize their culture and their history.”

La tierra mas hermosa. The most beautiful land. Latin America and the Caribbean maintain the humble beauty of many indigenous regions. The rugged mountains of Bolivia are scattered across graded lands. The Quechua people can be seen wearing richly decorated ponchos as they plant seeds for forming. Weathered volcanic lavas are stretched over the lands of Guatemala, and the heavily wooded forest trees can also be seen in the eastern slopes of the Andes. The azure blue oceans of Havana sparkle as the golden sun illuminates the sky. These humble lands have always been here; streams of people have flowed through these lands for centuries. It is only the globalización that is relatively new, and along with that comes the life one lives in these lands--pobreza y viviendo en el infierno [poverty and living in hell]. The impact of globalization in Latin America has caused a ripple in the lives of many individuals living in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although globalization is not a new concept, the process of globalization has drastically expanded and involved into social, political, and economic changes that weakens the sovereignty and power that helps create policies and reform government institutions.