By Anna-Claire Bevan LatinaLista In few places are security guards as prevalent as in Guatemala. Analysts estimate that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 private security agents working in the country, which outnumber the 25,000 police officers by at least four to one. Although the exact number is unknown since many companies fail to register [...]
New bilingual initiative recognizes, reacts and attempts to resolve high school dropout crisis in Latin America
LatinaLista — The prospect of a future where 50 percent of the population have never graduated from high school sounds almost like a sci-fi thriller, except there’s no need to wait for the future — it’s happening now. In Latin America, nearly half of the students do not finish high school. It’s actually a trend [...]
Using solar energy to make sun-baked tortillas and chart a new energy course for Mexico’s poor
LatinaLista — After the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year when the world watched in horror as Japan battled nuclear meltdowns, the release of radioactive materials in their land, food and water supplies and tackled the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, some world leaders decided to chart a new energy future for their own countries by [...]
Mexico: Performing arts keep minors away from violence
By Daniel Higa Alquicira Infosurhoy.com MEXICO CITY – Since he was a child, Luis Alberto Ramos Hernández dreamed of singing and dancing on the world’s biggest stages. But coming from a low-income family in the Colonia Anáhuac of the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City, there was little opportunity for him to study performance arts. [...]
Mexico’s Inauguration Day: Two battles rage — one for social fairness, the other for justice
By José de la Isla LatinaLista MEXICO CITY — Elia Andrade Rojas and I sit down on a bench on Avenida Juárez. She was telling me about her collective’s mission to embroider handkerchiefs, (pañuelos), of the dead and missing of Mexico’s drug war. They exhibit them along two long city blocks, across the street from [...]
Calderón’s Presidency by the Numbers
By Shannon K. O’Neil LatIntelligence As President Calderón’s sexenio wraps up tomorrow, he will leave office with a mixed legacy. Many have presented interesting analyses of his policies, but this post looks at concrete numbers—development indicators and the like—to see how much did (or didn’t) change over the last six years. Life expectancy rose. Overall [...]
