Larry’s View

The country of Chile continues to be a major center of activity for Greenpeace International. Despite the country’s history of civil and political unrest, Greenpeace has found a haven there by which to expand its constituency throughout Latin America. Recently, Greenpeace led a major campaign from its base in Santiago, Chile to urge the new president of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega Saavedra to overturn the country’s policies toward whaling. In a great win for Greenpeace, President Saavedra agreed to the moratorium upheld by every other Central American and South American country to forbid all whaling practices. This came right before the International Whaling Commission was going to vote on whether to maintain the moratorium throughout Latin America. Massive rallies were planned all over the world, including in the capital of Chile to protest what might have become a major loss for anti-whaling agencies and Greenpeace. However, the moratorium was upheld, another major win for Greenpeace.

Chile has also become a headquarters for Greenpeace volunteers to congregate before setting out into the Pacific to confront Japanese whalers. Japan remains in violation of various international treaties that forbids whaling in international waters. Greenpeace boats often sail from Chile’s Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and toward the Corcovado Gulf where much of the Japanese whaling occurs. The Greenpeace ship La Esperanza is the central vessel that takes on these large whaling ships. According to a Greenpeace spokesmen from Chile, most of the whale product is served as a delicacy in Japanese restaurants despite insistence from the government that these are scientific expeditions to monitor the creatures. Greenpeace insists that La Esperanza seeks out the schools of whales and then will defend them against the whaling ships that attempt to capture and kill them. All of this is very important to Greenpeace activists in Chile because the Gulf of Corcovado remains a point of migration for nearly one hundred blue whales every January to April. Chilean scientists have been descended on the area for years to study the large mammal’s mating habits and ultrasonic communications. As of yet, Corcovado is not an officially protected area, however, and until a decree is handed down by the Chilean government, the whales remain in danger of being hunted. Greenpeace Chile is determined to protect these magnificent creatures at any cost and will continue to seek support through legislation and on the high seas to stop the brutal practice from continuing.

Futbol might surprise some of the readers who have not a very vast knowledge of the football. Futbol is basically the slang or word used for football in latin language. It is from romance language. Futbol is perhaps the most popular of all games in the world today. Be it any nation the craze for football or Futbol can never be matched with any other game in the world today. Futbol is also known as the soccer. People say that this games is so popular due to the interesting fact that you don’t have to wait for long to see the result, instead it finishes in around 2 hours approximately. Football craze has never gone down and it keeps on increasing. Futbol took its birth in china somewhere around 2nd B.C. this is the most surprising fact about this game. It stretches back to B.C. this is another factor for its popularity today. Futbol is not only a game for the youths but it is as much anticipating and enjoyed by the children and the adults as well. Since the television was invented, the football or the Futbol has gained more popularity. From then the tern about the Futbol has changed and it is a worldwide game. This is one of the games which includes player from other countries to play with the players of one country. Futbol is widely watched all across the world and the fan fever is always highest as compared with any other game in the world today. Futbol is more like a religion to the fans all over the world. they do not involve in any activity while a match is going on. No matter how far they are, they stick in front of their television sets throughout the day. There is always one person in the football world that gets his name in the house of fame or few years. He becomes the centre of attraction for millions of Futbol lovers. Few examples of such players include;
* Ronaldo
* Ronaldhino
* David Beckham
* Kaka

These are just the few of very popular Futbol player. Like any other country or region, Latin America has a great popularity for the Futbol, in act this is home to the football champions (Brazil). Futbol is played in majority of countries in Latin America.. There are many famous Futbol personalities living in this region. To mention a few would include Ronaldo, Ronaldhino and Roberto Carlos.

For a nature loving person, pictures play an important role. The pictures of beautiful and scenic places help you calm down and think for a moment how beautiful world God has made. Pictures are not just a good source of providing information to the people of other origin. They have more uses apart from this. A picture can say thousands of words is never a wrong statement. This is very close to reality. A picture can really tell you more then a thousand words. It is the best explanation source for anything. A picture can be the best medium for memory. When you want to go down the memory lane and undergo nostalgia, a picture is the best source for doing that. Picture does not only provide you with the detail or just the material of the thing but it makes you see all that happened in the past. Imagine that the year is 2007 and you are 54 years old. You have two grandsons now. You open your drawer and saw this snap from your honeymoon which was taken in 1980. This picture was taken at a village in Italy. You just don’t see you and your wife but in fact it makes you remember of everything that happened in those golden days.

Some of the people, in fact majority of them adore natural beauty of earth and enjoy the scenic places and the scenic pictures. Latin America is a region full of these qualities. It is one of the most scenic place ever existed on earth. Latin America is a land not only having the man built beauty (the sky scrappers and other inspiring buildings) but also the spot for perfect and most awesome natural beauty. Post cards from the Latin America containing the picture of different places are always adored by the nature lovers. There are some snaps Of Latin America which show us true beauty about this region.

Belize which is situated in south Mexico is the key tourist point for people visiting LATIN AMERICA. It has lush green mountains which surrounds a beautiful valley. This place is extremely scenic. This view presents nothing less then a heaven. This is just one of the many scenic places of Latin America. If you have love for the nature then Latin America is your destiny. This is the home to numerous mountain ranges and aspiring forests. You can easily hire a travel guide and enjoy your trip here. After you leave, the pictures will always be with you to remind of this beautiful heaven on earth.

Pain and sufferings are often related and rather connoted as the outcomes of slavery. Every one cries of slavery as it mutilates the social structure and of the deterioration that it brings in the society but according to one ratiocinative view it has transformed people and their cultures for there mere physical capabilities. And the same was what happened in Latin America. African slaves were the ones who helped to create the foundation of the development what we see now around Latin America. It drove Latin America to a more stable economic stance and Economic isolation present at that time was also disfavored. Stanley J. and Barbara H. Stein in a quotation by Joao Antonio Androni write, “Slaves are the hands and feet of the sugar mill owner, because without them, in Brazil it is not possible to found, maintain and increase a plantation, nor to operate a mill (1970, 39). This statement alone explains the importance of slaves in process of economic development in Latin America.

Plantation and agriculture, the most vital cadre for economic development is where the presence and use of slaves can not be denied. Salves are too crucial in this process. The very first colony of Latin America which introduced sugar agriculture on massive scale was Brazil. Dyewood was among their first major export which was then replaced by sugar cane because of its economic benefits. And it brought more benefits in the form of profits from sugar. In sixteenth century, Indian slaves were the first ones who were used in sugar production to enhance and establish the magnitude of sugar production. But then that labor force was completely abolished because of epidemic inducement in people.

However the main sugar plantations Pernambuco and Bahia were worked by slaves of African decent. Slavery manifested itself in Brazil as a crucial and necessary institution. Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson stated that (1994, 10 “the sugar plantation more than any other part of the colonial economy rested on slave labor.” Most sugar plantation was done by slaves, according to one research 40% of the Brazil’s slave population was involved in cultivating sugar cane. The major factor that made this labor resource vibrant and produced optimum output was low cost. Brazil could not afford expensive labor force at that time and also it reduced the over all cost of the projects. So ultimately it ended in a great economic development for Latin America based on slavery’s provided labor force that laddered up the country’s economic status with low cost and dedicated work force.

For anyone who has tried to learn Spanish without immersion, you know how difficult it is without daily practice. Total immersion offers so many lessons that cannot really be taught. You don’t get the body language clues or daily practice performing basic tasks. Imagine if you could learn Spanish in Latin America, the total immersion in the culture and practicing by daily repetitive tasks like ordering food or asking for directions.

There are study abroad programs that offer just that or you can take language courses inside Latin America at one of the many language programs offered. Not only do you get to see an interesting part of the world but you take home a second language. What a fruitful vacation. You can take a one week course or longer. Just one week with classroom time and plenty of real life situations to practice will allow you to get by and get basic tasks accomplished in Latin America. Spanishstudyholidays.com has many different programs to fit your budget and your time frame. Wouldn’t you rather learn in this setting that a semester of classroom time? You can sightsee and just be a tourist while you practice new phrases and communicate in different situations. For whatever reason, immersion seems to greatly speed up the acquisition of a new language. I suppose when you have no choice but to speak the language if you want something to eat you may surprise yourself with just how much Spanish you have learned. Enforex.com also offers year round opportunities to learn Spanish in Latin America. They have a summer camp as well. They have schools in ten countries and you can move around to these countries within the same program. Imagine one week you are learning Spanish in Mexico and the next week in Guatemala. They have up to five field trips per week to give you some real life training and a taste of the culture.

No matter what your vacation plans, take some time to explore your options to learn Spanish in Latin America. These classes offer fun and learning all in one. An extra side benefit is your kind of getting a free tour guide for several hours a week. You get a personal escort to activities all while learning Spanish in Latin America. Spend some time online and you will find hundreds of programs to choose from. Adios!

We all know about America. But most of us do not have strong grip on the subject of geography. This is especially the case with our youth today in America. Few days back I was watching Miss teen U.S.A for South Carolina and I was astonished to hear those words. In a question which asked that why can’t our youth pinpoint America on the world map, she answered that our youth have this problem because maps our not available to everyone. Her statement was so confusing that it triggered a nation wide reason of laughing. Locating America on the map is never a big deal and I guess it’s the easiest thing to do. You can easily know more about Latin and South America if you have a keen interest in the world map. Basically Latin and South America is almost one and the same thing. There is very little difference between them.

Latin America is regarded as that region of America where Spanish and Portuguese language is mainly spoken. There are a lot of countries which come under this definition. There is no perfect definition for Latin America but this one is regarded as the most precise one. Latin America normally includes the white people from European states of Spain whose ancestors migrated to America years ago. Since then they have settled here and are today living in Latin America.

On the other hand South America refers to that part of the American continent which is situated in the western hemisphere. This includes many countries and territories. Many of the famous countries are situated here. The main countries include;
* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Falkland islands
* French Guiana
* Guyana
* Paraguay
* Peru
* South Georgia and south sandwich islands
* Suriname
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

The most famous city of this part of the continent is Sao Paulo in Brazil. This is the fifth biggest city of world in regards to the metropolitan area. This is also a major country of world in regards to the entertainment business as well. Other races which live in this part of the continent are mainly the native Indians apart from the European settled people. This part of the American continent has always been unknown to most people but it is a very important and attracting place in regards to the beauty as well.

Latin American countries are flexing their muscles with the World Bank and causing quite a controversy. The World Bank was created to organize the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. It’s current responsibilities are to lend money at current commercial rates and provide assistance to poor countries. Their mission is to help build up economic development. They operate in more than one hundred developing countries and fill in the funding gaps left by the lack of private funds. It is owned by one hundred and eighty-one countries but its base is in Washington, D.C. The G8 countries, USA, Germany, France, Canada, Russia, Japan and Italy own the majority of the World Bank as ownership is directly proportional to economic size.

So, what is the controversy and what does it mean? The World Bank is mostly operated out of Washington so Latin American countries feel that any process within the World Bank pertaining to their debt is tainted. Also, when the World Bank gets involved in the economic development of any country they do not just write a check and walk away. For example, if any given country were to accept loans from the World Bank the bank has the right to ensure the country is doing the right thing economically to repay the loan. Meaning that if you give free water to your citizens they will require you to privatize it and try to make a profit. They have tried this in Latin American countries and it led to an uprising and the election of Socialist candidates which is the opposite of the desired effect. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has brought this issue to the front stage as he seems to have a particularly low opinion of the World Bank and in particular the power held by the US. Latin American leaders do not believe they get a fair shake in situations like arbitration concerning debt.

Another side to this issue I briefly mentioned is privatization. Due to the tense ideological hold that Conservatives in DC have on the bank, foreign investment can leave Latin American countries in a position of handing over the natural resources of their countries to private, often American corporations.

There is a delicate dance going on and as long as ideologies keep butting heads chances are more Socialist governments will arise in Latin America and not the desired democracies.

Let’s examine the countries that make up the region called Latin America. We will start with the independent countries and move on to the dependencies. There are US, French an Netherlands dependencies. The mix of culture, language and politics makes Latin American countries a fascinating study that could keep you studying for a lifetime and never get bored.

The largest Latin American countries according to population are Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela. Mexico has a population of almost one hundred and nine million people. The vast majority racially are Mestizo and the second largest racial group is white. Brazil has a population of one hundred and ninety million plus. Close to half of this population is white and the other half is mixed. There is a small black minority that populates Brazil as well. Venezuela is about forty percent white and fifty percent Mestizo. Most Latin American countries have Asian minorities. This mix of races and cultures makes for a fascinating mix of history, language and diversity.

The predominant language spoken in Latin American Countries is Spanish. Although Brazil’s national and official language is Portuguese there is a variety of languages spoken mostly dependent on the region. There are some there who even speak German in the southern Brazil and Southern Chile. In the Caribbean and French Guiana you may hear French or Dutch. Mexico has the largest population of indigenous languages out of any Latin American Countries.

The US dependencies are Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands have a predominantly African American population and along with Puerto Rico are the subject of territorial claims by the surrounding Latin American Countries. French dependencies are Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana. The Netherlands dependencies are Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Along with US dependencies not all in the Latin American Countries believe these should be dependencies.

The most predominant religion is Roman Catholic but just as the languages there is a variety of religiosity in Latin American Countries. Everything from Hindu to Judaism is practiced . In addition there are many different indigenous religions and a tribal voodoo denomination.

There has been promising economic growth in all Latin American Countries except Haiti. Venezuela saw the GDP climb 10% in just three years. Mexico maintains a growth rate of three to 4% per year. On average Latin American Countries are enjoying an average of four to 6% growth.