South+America



= = __South America__ South America is a continent situated in the mostly southern and west hemisphere of the globe with a small portion in the north hemisphere. It is mostly below the equator line and has an area of 6,890,000 sq mi or 3.5% of the earths surface. As of 2005, its population was estimated at more than 371,090,000. For a long time South America was under Spanish rule and between the years of 1808 until 1829 they fought against them finally winning there independence. Europeans also colonized south america.

__Pros and Cons of Globalization__ __Cons:__ __Pros:__
 * Globalization is making "the richer richer and the poor pooer."
 * Is bad to the environment • Is bad to workers
 * Lets big cooperations run free
 * Barriers between countries is broken down

This affects South America negatively because globalization does not help the countries out in the way that it is used now.

Website on the globalization of different countries in South America: http://www.localization-translation.com/globalization-guide/localization-countries/globalization-south-america.html

__Weekly Topics__ Week one: Migration Week two: politics, international law and organization s The UN (United Nations) is an organization that is comprised of five major countries, The United States of America, China, France, Russia, and the UK. They deal with international affairs between countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_South_American_Nations http://www.mapsofworld.com/south-america/politics/

http://newstrust.net/stories/838814/toolbar?go=edit

This article is about how the UK is not following an agreement that was arranged between themselves and Argentina in regards to the Argentinean "owned" Falkland Islands which is inhabited by british people. There is a long history between who actually owns the Falkland islands, whether it be the UK or Argentina and wars fought over it. Now Argentina wants the UN to help decide.

Week 3:  Environment and Energy

PERU: http://www.livinginperu.com/news-11365-environmentnature-peru-creates-another-natural-protected-area - The Peru government created another protected natural area called the Udima Reserve. This is to reserve some of the countries highlands, provide more clean water and fight erosion and deforestation that cause some natural disasters such as land slides.

Brazil: http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html This is a page from a website whose goal is to basically inform people about what's happening to the enviroment and this page is specifically on the deforestation in Brazil. 

http://newstrust.net/stories/36744/toolbar This article is about how the rainforest in Brazil are still being harmed even while the government is trying to protect it. Many of the things that are bad from deforestation include animals losing habitats, loss of fresh water, people having to be relocated and greenhouse gas emissions from the tools used to cut down the trees. Because the Amazon is so large and so much of it is being destroyed these problems are being seen on large scales.

An interesting article about science in South America. The article focuses on the fact that South America pays more attention to international news than local news, which poses a problem. Here is the link to the article: [|South America Science]

The cost of natural disasters are really adding up. Please read this article on the cost of a Chile Tsunami. [|Chile Tsunami]

Economy:

The Latin American economy is defined by its ties to the United States and China. None of the nations in Latin America have powerhouse economies, although Brazil does its best to try and get there, so they depend on trading relations with larger countries to keep them afloat. There has been an economic conflict lately as China tries to get a larger market share and encroach on territory that American corporations have held.

[|China in Latin America]

Health:

Latin America has an abundance of fresh water, in fact, more than most of the other countries. On the other hand, urban areas are suffering from water pollution in their groundwater, and with the increased migration of the population towards cities, it has become a serious threat to the public health. With the tropical climate prevalent in Latin America, and the increased unsanitary condition of the water, it is becoming an area ripe for various diseases to infect the lower class populace that inhabits the periphery of the cities.

 [|Source] <span style="color: #1b4afe; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: normal;">

Security and Terrorism: South America has a troubled boarder: []

South American nations, such as Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, are having a sort of arms race with each other as they all try to gain more advanced (and generally more) weaponry. This development threatens to further destabilize the already troubled region. The sources that are financing this arms race also bring a question as to how safe the borders are being kept in the region. Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/colombia/090919/latin-america-arms-race

Recently there have been problems with two countries in South America creating some turmoil between the two neighboring countries Columbia and Ecuador. Colombia is calming that Ecuador is harboring a guerrilla group in Colombia called Farc. It’s going to be interesting how the two countries handle the situation because their borders are so close. source: http://newstrust.net/stories/1242663/toolbar?ref=mp

Education:
Argentina__-overall Argentina and a lot of South Africa don't and aren't able to get education as easy as we are. But they try harder, and don't take advantage. The race to education fund is trying to help Argentina raise money to get people in school ,lower drop out rate, and improve the quality of the schools. news-trust article:http://newstrust.net/stories/1338798/toolbar?go=review
 * __General-

[] According to different sources, South America isn't doing that well with their education. Therefore they have different types of programs people can go to to get their education and peruse in what they want. They are still trying their best they can for their people so why are they getting bad marks? **

[] This is a good link that explains the different type of education in all of South America.

__Costa Rica -__

Last year i went to Costa Rica and we visited a school there. They were doing really well surprisingly for their type of circumstances that they are in. Their children love going to school and learning and their teachers are really devoted to teaching and their children. Since they are in a different culture and different country they were doing different/similar things that we do here. I found it interesting to visit there and compare it to the way that we do things here in school.

__Uruguay__



Uruguay has one of the best education systems in South America. The education system is very similar to the education system here in America in that it is free and that it is required for children from ages 6 to 14. Many of the children in Uruguay attend this schooling; which is why the literacy rate in Uruguay is incredibly high. The literacy rate is right around 96%. Recently Uruguay has been in the news for deciding to provide a laptop for every student in school. This country is dedicated to educating their children and they are one of the leaders in South America in terms of education.

__Guyana__ Guyana's educational quality differs on the geographic location. The country is divided into three main regions, one being the capital, and this region gets the most education funding. The average Guyanese first day of school starts at the 3 years 9 months. This is a two year program called Nursery school that is not compulsory, however many students still attend it. Students then go to primary school which is from grades one to six and then they venture off to high school which is a five year program. Until recently at the end of six grade students took an exam called CSEC and depending on the score they were assigned a school. Students started preparation for this exam in their fourth grade. However, things have changed and students are now taking a similar exam every two years to see how the student performs overtime rather than just on the day of the exam. At the end of high school most students take the CXC which is a Caribbean exam. Following the UK's educational system most Guyanese then go on to sixth form for two years or the University of Guyana.

__Brazil-__

[] []

__//**Development**//__

It looks like South America is partnering up with other countries to start their development. It's called **International Development Research Center (IDRC)** They're trying to work up their education, more jobs, buildings, houses, new knowledge, and different resources to be able to expand their work, and their own world. There are many development projects such as mining, and oil and gas explorations promoted by the Morales government. They had discussion that focused on the environmental destruction. They are really trying to get better and get the environmental issue under control. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/22/mesa_18_dissident_groups_host_alternative http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-8555-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44323

There are constantly numerous developmental programs taking place in South America. Specific countries are seeing different developments. Some of the common projects are increasing the use of technology to enhance learning, dealing with gender and race inequalities. Brazil being a member of BRIC for example is experiencing economic development. One popular project happening in multiple countries is the inclusion of technology. Some of teh countries involved are Uruguay, Brazil, and Peru. For more info: [] For general info: []

Development of Uruguay

Depending on the area of South America development can be looked at very differently. A large role in whether or not a country is really developed is what country originally colonized it. There are very developed countries, from Brazil and Argentina to the lesser developed countries of northern South America. One of the lesser known developed countries is Uruguay. Many people don't know about Uruguay and don't realize that it is a very developed country. Today there is still a lot of development going on in Uruguay, from education to government.

//__**Society and Culture**__//

[] [] not really topic wise but its something []

=__Capoeira__=

Capoeira is a sport that is a combination of martial arts, music and dance of the Black Brazilian culture. The dance originated in Congo but is mostly modernly practiced in Angola. To practice the sport people form a circle, thee is music on the outside and using kicks, and acrobatic play they perform. The dance/sport is mostly identified today as a Brazilian sport.



video to the dance/sport http://capoeirascience.com/capoeira%20tutorial/folha%20seca

__Culture of Uruguay__

Surprisingly the Culture of Uruguay is not that much different than the culture here in America. Both Uruguay and America are developed countries that appreciate the finer things in life. One major part of culture in Uruguay is different types of arts from actual pieces of art, to different types of writing, to different theatre performances. These arts are not knew to Uruguay, they have been around for an extended period of time and have always been part of the culture of Uruguay.

This link actually gives a simple overview of the culture in Uruguay, and says what I said in a different way.

http://www.discoveruruguay.com/about_uruguay_culture.htm

=Human Rights= Human rights do not seem to exist in South America, according to [|Derechos: Human Rights in Latin America]. In different countries there are different types of human rights issues that people have to deal with. For example the website said that in Columbia the issues being dealt with "disappearances, extra-judicial executions, and torture." In other areas such as Peru issues include imprisonment of innocent people.



Human rights are slowly drifting apart in South America. Especially in certain parts of Brazil. In one part of Brazil, 29 people were massacred for mining. In another part of Brazil, cops were killing innocent people and lying saying that the innocent people they were killing was "resisting arrest".

Human Rights: The essence of of human rights is showing solidarity with those whose experiences may be closely connected to yours but at the same time so very different. At the heart of human rights being able to connect across country lines. A story that demonstrates such a definition is http://peoplesworld.org/latin-america-condemns-arizona-s-anti-immigrant-law/

Women's' Rights: This is an article I found that I believe to be interesting. It is about abortion in Chile. The reason I thought this fit under the topic of women's rights is because abortion has been a debatable "women's right" for years and years to come.

http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_chile_abortion.htm

=Gender Rights=

In South America it seems to be that political agendas are moving towards the left when it comes to women's rights. An interesting article poses a lot of questions about how this shift has placed women in Latin America in new places and because of these news places what does it mean for the future? To read more about the topic here is an article that takes an in-depth look [|http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/the-struggle-for-womens-equality-in-latin-america/]

Women's Rights appear to vary from country to country according to graphic below: This [|article] goes into detail with the gender variations in Latin America.