Items related to "Human Security Gateway: Central America". Fri, 16 May 2008 0:30:21 +0000 Fri, 16 May 2008 0:30:21 +0000 robert_hartfiel@sfu.ca (Robert Hartfiel) Wed, 14 May 2008 13:16:16 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24357 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24357 Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Amérique du Sud et Amérique centrale. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Wed, 14 May 2008 13:09:40 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24356 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24356 La prévalence du VIH atteint voire dépasse 1% aux Bahamas, à la Barbade, au Belize, au Guyana, en Haïti, en Jamaïque, au Suriname et à la Trinité-et- Tobago (ONUSIDA, 2006). La plupart des pays de la région montrent une baisse ou une stabilisation de la prévalence du VIH, particulièrement dans les zones urbaines, tandis que les changements intervenus dans les zones semi-urbaines et rurales ont été modérés. L’inadéquation des systèmes de surveillance du VIH dans plusieurs pays rend néanmoins difficile l’analyse des tendances récentes de ces épidémies. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Mon, 12 May 2008 13:01:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24297 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24297 The United Nations and other international agencies conducted three major post-conflict peacebuilding operations in central America in the 1990s: in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. Like the many other international peacebuilding missions that were deployed during the 1990s, the operations in Central America aimed to assist local actors in the implementation of peace settlements after civil wars, and more generally to create the conditions for what UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called a 'stable and lasting peace,' or a peace that is likely to endure for the foreseeable future. Peacebuilding, in other words, is more than merely the supervision of ceasefires among former combatants. According to both Annan and his predecessor, Boutros Boutros Ghali, the overarching goal of peacebuilding is to eliminate the underlying sources of conflict in a war-shattered state, in order to reduce the likelihood of renewed violence. SOURCE: University of Ottawa // Paris, Roland University of Ottawa // Paris, Roland Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:53:26 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23734 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23734 A relatively new concept has come to influence greatly the debates in development studies and political science: that of state failure. Latin American countries have been included in some lists of ‘failed states’. However, it is argued that Latin America’s plight is far better understood through the prism of a theory of the state that recognises the complex and ongoing, underlying process of transformation through which the region’s political institutions are passing. During the last two decades Latin American countries have implemented profound political and economic reforms. But, the region’s deeply unequal income distribution persists. The transition from authoritarianism to democracy implied important changes but has not brought about a solution to the uneven distribution of wealth. This is not, however, a feature of state failure. Rather, it should be seen as the result of historical development and the fact that state formation in Latin America is far from completed. In short, the conflicts and weaknesses besetting the Latin American state flow from a complex process of historical evolution. SOURCE: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:43:33 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23280 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23280 Small arms and gun violence present the most dramatic threat to public safety in Latin America and the Caribbean. After decades of uncontrolled proliferation, at least 45 million to 80 million small arms and light weapons—that is, weapons operated by an individual or small group, including handguns, assault rifles, grenades, grenade launchers, and even man portable surface to air missiles—are circulating throughout the region. Gunshots kill between 73,000 and 90,000 people each year in Latin America, and guns are the leading cause of death among Latin Americans between the ages of 15 and 44, according to World Health Organization estimates. SOURCE: Center for Defense Information Center for Defense Information Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:09:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23177 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23177 In November 2006, a local trial court in Guatemala’s capital ordered the arrest of the country’s ex-President, Oscar Mejía Víctores, along with ex-Defense Minister Anibal Guevara, ex-Police Chief German Chupina, and Pedro Arredondo, ex-head of the Secret Police, on charges of genocide, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and terrorism. The defendants, along with two others whose arrest warrants were not executed, were deeply implicated in the conceptualization and execution of a repressive state strategy that resulted in the deaths of 200,000 Guatemalans and the destruction of over 400 villages. Although the arrest order was carried out through a Guatemalan court, it was issued by a Spanish judge, Santiago Pedraz. Judge Pedraz of Spain’s Audiencia Nacional issued the warrants in July 2006, followed by formal extradition requests. He based Spanish jurisdiction over crimes committed by Guatemalans in Guatemala on a Spanish law which allows universal jurisdiction over certain international crimes. SOURCE: Annual Convention of the International Studies Association Annual Convention of the International Studies Association Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:40:02 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23104 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23104 Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the new world order did not bring about a closure of revolutionary warfare. In fact, the Soviet-inspired wars of liberation against imperialism have been eclipsed by reactionary, jihadist wars. By all indications in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia, and Iraq, Islamic militants have embraced revolutionary warfare, although not Mao’s People’s War model. Therefore, a study of revolutionary warfare is apt because the conflict between the West and radical jihadism will continue to take place in dysfunctional, collapsing, or failed states. The author examines the political-military lessons from these conflicts and suggests that the United States should minimize the level and type of assistance to states fighting in an insurgency because these states possess greater advantages than previously supposed. SOURCE: Strategic Studies Institute // United States Army War College Strategic Studies Institute // United States Army War College Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:43:41 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23029 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23029 In the early 1980s, violence in El Salvador escalated into armed insurgency waged by a coalition of groups called the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). The resulting war killed at least 75,000 people before it was ended by a series of UN-mediated and verified agreements in 1992. The agreements addressed the war's root causes and introduced many constitutional reforms. A few years before, such an outcome was unthinkable. Intervention by the UN or Organization of American States (OAS) was discouraged as the US opposed any meddling in its 'backyard.' Conditions for a resolution improved markedly, however, at the end of the decade. Internally, the military conflict was at a stalemate and a new administration was in power. Externally, Cold War antagonisms were diffusing and regional diplomatic initiatives had established a framework for promoting peace in the region. SOURCE: Conciliation Resources Conciliation Resources Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:50:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23021 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23021 The policies of a decade or more to stop the flow of cocaine from the Andean source countries, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, to the two largest consumer markets, the U.S. and Europe, have proved insufficient and ineffective. Cocaine availability and demand have essentially remained stable in the U.S. and have been increasing in Europe. Use in Latin American transit countries, in particular Argentina, Brazil and Chile, is on the rise. Flawed counter-drug polices also are causing considerable collateral damage in Latin America, undermining support for democratic governments in some countries, distorting governance and social priorities in others, causing all too frequent human rights violations and fuelling armed and/or social conflicts in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. A comprehensive shared policy reassessment and a new consensus on the balance between approaches emphasising law enforcement and approaches emphasising alternative development and harm reduction are urgently required. SOURCE: International Crisis Group International Crisis Group Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:23:00 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22929 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22929 Coca leaf and cocaine production in the Andean region appear to have set new records in 2007. Cocaine trafficking and use are expanding across the Americas and Europe. Despite the expenditure of great effort and resources, the counter-drug policies of the U.S., the European Union (EU) and its member states and Latin American governments have proved ineffective and, in part, counterproductive, severely jeopardising democracy and stability in Latin America. The international community must rigorously assess its errors and adopt new approaches, starting with reduced reliance on the measures of aerial spraying and military-type forced eradication on the supply side and greater priority for alternative development and effective law enforcement that expands the positive presence of the state. On the demand reduction side, it should aim to incarcerate traffickers and use best treatment and harm reduction methods to avoid revolving and costly jail sentences for chronic users. SOURCE: International Crisis Group International Crisis Group Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:47:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22860 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22860 How does aid to transitional justice work? What are the patterns, types and causes of such aid? Research on transitional justice (TJ) has boomed in the last couple of decades. In recent years the policy world has also started assisting countries coming out of periods of massive violence. Yet even if this donor engagement emerged more than a decade ago, we still know little about the dynamics of external economic assistance to national transitional justice efforts. This study fills some of this gap. We examine the aid that was given to assist two countries that were “post-conflict”, in the sense of being in a process of transition from a past period of massive armed violence. The two cases, Rwanda and Guatemala from 1995 to 2005, are selected since they received considerable foreign aid to deal with their violent pasts. The failure of the international community to prevent and stop the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and the relative success of the efforts to negotiate a solution to Guatemala’s long civil war in the mid-1990s, were followed by considerable donor attention to these two countries’ post-conflict needs – including their need to deal with a past of violence. Yet although much aid was given to transitional justice, little research has been conducted on how this aid has worked, let alone on its scope and patterns. SOURCE: Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:29:39 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22216 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22216 Latin America is together with Sub-Saharan Africa the most unequal region of the world. This paper documents recent inequality trends in the Latin American region, going beyond traditional measures of income inequality. The paper also reviews some of the explanations that have been put forward to understand the current situation, and discusses why reducing income inequality should be an important policy priority. In particular, the authors discuss channels through which inequality can affect growth and output volatility. On the whole, the analysis suggests a two-pronged approach to reduce inequality in the region that combines policies aimed at improving the distribution of assets (especially education) with elements aimed at improving the capacity of the state to redistribute income through taxes and transfers. SOURCE: World Bank // Latin America and the Caribbean Region // Office of the Regional Chief Economist World Bank // Latin America and the Caribbean Region // Office of the Regional Chief Economist Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:07:10 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22202 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22202 Latin America is together with Sub-Saharan Africa the most unequal region of the world. This paper documents recent inequality trends in the Latin American region, going beyond traditional measures of income inequality. The paper also reviews some of the explanations that have been put forward to understand the current situation, and discusses why reducing income inequality should be an important policy priority. In particular, the authors discuss channels through which inequality can affect growth and output volatility. On the whole, the analysis suggests a two-pronged approach to reduce inequality in the region that combines policies aimed at improving the distribution of assets (especially education) with elements aimed at improving the capacity of the state to redistribute income through taxes and transfers. SOURCE: World Bank // Policy Research Working Papers World Bank // Policy Research Working Papers Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:59:13 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22078 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22078 This number of En la Mira intends to become an echo of one of the main problems related to the proliferation of firearms, one which clearly affects all of Latin America: youth and armed violence. This number of En la Mira sparks the debate that is occurring in Latin America on the levels of of involvement of young people in armed violence, as well as a discussion of which mechanisms and interventions should be applied. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:51:47 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22076 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22076 Latin America and the Caribbean are regions of the world with worrisome levels of firearm related violence. The ample availability of small arms and light weapons certainly plays a important role and without a doubt it has increased the level and the lethality of social violence. In this context, the statistics show that the most vulnerable stratum of society are children and adolescents SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:31:29 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21807 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21807 Another kind of war within the context of a “clash of civilizations” is being waged in various parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world today. Some of the main protagonists are those who have come to be designated as first-second-, and third-generation street gangs, as well as their various possible allies such as traditional Transnational Criminal Organizations. In this new type of war, national security and sovereignty of affected countries is being impinged every day, and gangs’ illicit commercial motives are, in fact, becoming an ominous political agenda. SOURCE: Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:01:40 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21577 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21577 It has become common to state that youth gangs and organized crime have seized Central America. For theories on contemporary Central American violence, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua present important test cases, demonstrating the need to differentiate the diagnosis. First, national discourses on violence differ from country to country, with varying threat levels, patterns of attention, and discursive leitmotivs. Second, there are border-crossing discursive nodes such as the mara paradigm, the perception of grand corruption, and gender-based violence tied to cross-national, national or sub-national publics. The paper explores the ambiguity and plurivocality of contemporary discourses on violence, emanting from a variety of hegemonic and less powerful publics. SOURCE: German Institute of Global and Area Studies German Institute of Global and Area Studies Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:16:52 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21443 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21443 The article attempts to briefly analyze state-building theories and methods, as applied to justice system reform in post-conflict scenarios. In this respect, the international authorities involved in the reconstruction process may traditionally chose between either a 'dirigiste' or a consent-based approach, which represent the essential terms of reference for past interventions. However, features common to most reconstruction missions and relatively poor results confirm the need for change in the overall strategy. This requires the international donors to focus more on the 'demand for justice' at local level than on the traditional supply of legal aid. In this respect, the articles stresses the need for effectively promoting the 'local ownership' of the reform process, without this expression being merely used by international actors as a political umbrella under which to protect themselves from potential failures. SOURCE: European Conference on International Relations European Conference on International Relations Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:16:46 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21416 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21416 Au Nicaragua, les attaques des contre-révolutionnaires sont repoussées par une armée mal préparée, avec l’aide des milices et d’une forte majorité de la population mobilisée derrière le gouvernement sandiniste. (Juin 1983.) SOURCE: Le Monde Diplomatique Le Monde Diplomatique Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:01:17 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21336 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21336 Money Matters: The Economic Dimension of Peace Mediation Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies, Graduate Institute of International Studies This paper provides an overview of four economic dimensions of peace mediation. Focusing on notions such as the "mediated state" and the "commitment gap", it emphasises the role of economic considerations in the implementation of peace processes. The Paper is part of an on-going project, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, that seeks to explore how the management of economic aspects in peace processes can foster sustainable peace. SOURCE: Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:31:13 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=5957 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=5957 To the extent that Horizontal Inequalities (HIs), or inequalities between groups in access to economic, social and political resources, are an important source of conflict, then correcting them should form a significant aspect of policy design in the post-conflict period. The paper reviews what this might mean in relation to policies towards group access to assets and incomes; to social services; and political participation. It argues that the types of policies aimed at correcting group inequalities, in fact are fairly common in ethnically divided societies, sometimes taking the form of corrections to unfair processes, and sometimes of quotas and targets. Moreover, in some cases (including Malaysia and N. Ireland) they seem to have been effective in sustaining or promoting peace. Yet, despite their importance in many post-conflict situations, they rarely form an explicit part of the post-conflict development agenda. This is illustrated in this paper by reviewing general statements about post-conflict policies, and through examining two case studies - Mozambique and Guatemala. In each of these cases, HIs were one of the sources of conflict. Yet in Mozambique these have been ignored in the post-war era, and in fact most policies have tended to accentuate them, while in Guatemala some of the peace protocols did contain provisions which would have helped correct the HIs but these mostly have not been put into effect. Political obstacles can prevent such policies being adopted, such as in Guatemala. Moreover, the policies need to be adopted with political sensitivity as they can become a source of conflict themselves, as arguably occurred in Sri Lanka. SOURCE: Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:47:36 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21102 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21102 This report seeks to address the question “what happens to protagonists for change once that change has been achieved?” by analysing the transformations of peace/human rights civil society organisations (CSOs) during peace processes and democratic transitions in South Africa and Guatemala. SOURCE: Berghof Research Center Berghof Research Center Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:29 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20816 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20816 Two major risks which originate in the inadequate management of state stockpile facilities of arms and ammunition for small arms and light weapons (SALW) make of this issue one of national and regional security: large explosions and misappropriation of arms and ammunition by illegal agents. These risks are crucial in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region afflicted by problems such as insufficient means, corruption, urban violence, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, transnational organized crime and, in Colombia's case, by an internal armed conflict with transnational ramifications in the areas of arms, ammunition and financial networks, which contribute to finance the activities of the groups involved in the conflict. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:29 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20896 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20896 Corruption charges against former state presidents continue in Central America. President Bush makes his first official visit to Canada. PRI takes governorships in Puebla, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas; PAN wins Tlaxcala governorship. OAS optimistic about possible paramilitary de-mobilization in Colombia. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) summit, in Chile is the first to involve all the Forum members' heads of state. The United States begins implementation of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Technology (US-VISIT) at its land borders with Canada and Mexico. The Brazilian economy continues to show solid macroeconomic indicators and growth. Bush administration officials highlight immigration reform as a priority during Bush's second term. SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies Center for Strategic and International Studies Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:29 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20912 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20912 Living in the shadows of cities and in the inaccessible highlands, the remaining internally displaced persons are in danger of becoming completely forgotten by the Guatemalan government and by the world beyond. Their neglect by the government reflects historic patterns of marginalization of the indigenous peoples of the country. International involvement waned with the signing of the peace accords, which signaled to international organizations and others who might be active in Guatemala that the conflict had been resolved and that vigilance and active support and solidarity were no longer needed as they were in the 1980s and early 1990s. Although the bitter 36-year civil war has come to an end, approximately 250,000 people remain internally displaced within Guatemala. SOURCE: Refugees International Refugees International Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:18 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20628 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20628 SOURCE: Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:18 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20635 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20635 SOURCE: Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:18 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20677 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20677 In order to design effective disarmament policies, one first needs a theory of small arms demand. Insights from the theory of polarization and rent-seeking may provide at least some terms in the demand equation. Disarmament programs that do not address the underlying sources of polarization and rent-seeking will provide only temporary reprieve at best. Broader development initiatives that ignore these sources do so at the peril of exacerbating small arms demand and leading to a deterioration of the overall security situation. This paper is divided into two parts. Part I provides a theoretical framework on the economics of small arms demand, with an elaboration of the concepts of polarization and rent-seeking and of their relevance to the small arms problem. Part II applies this framework in a case study of Haiti, followed by comparisons of Haiti to two, sometimes three, relevant reference countries, and then provides some econometric results with data from a cross-section of countries in Latin America. SOURCE: Bonn International Centre for Conversion Bonn International Centre for Conversion Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20426 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20426 SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies // Americas Program Center for Strategic and International Studies // Americas Program Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20427 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20427 SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies // Americas Program Center for Strategic and International Studies // Americas Program Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20428 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20428 SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies // Americas Program Center for Strategic and International Studies // Americas Program Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20438 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20438 Promoting a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20446 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20446 Between 1979 and 1990, two important transitions took place in Nicaragua. The first occurred after Anastasio Somoza's dictatorship came to an end. The second occurred after the Sandinista National Liberation Front's electoral defeat. Although both events took place under conditions of violence and war, elections and negotiations were key to the outcome. These two events determined Nicaragua's advance from being a State completely lacking established institutions to one of emerging institutionalism. Still, progress has not fully reached all of Nicaragua's institutions, namely, political parties and those that deal with justice or the resolution of such issues as poverty. Nicaragua continues to be a society where politics depend on "bosses." However, the great successes in the pacification of Nicaragua are due to the significant transformation in the nature of coercive power. The State now exercises the power the Army and police previously wielded. SOURCE: U.S. Army Combined Arms Center U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20319 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20319 In an effort to maintain peace within the country, in 1996 Guatemala became party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. During the mid-1990s, an estimated 1500 landmines were present in Guatemala, and in 1997 an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 pieces of UXO were present. Although it is not clear where all the mines originated from, some of the mines were planted by the guerillas of the UNRG. Despite this evidence of a landmine presence, a Guatemalan report states it has never produced, imported, stockpiled or used anti-personnel landmines and has no anti-personnel mines for training or development purposes. SOURCE: Journal of Mine Action Journal of Mine Action Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20320 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20320 In the 1980s, landmines were planted during the Nicaragua conflict on the Nicaragua/Honduras border. Although it is unclear how many were initially laid, more than 2,000 minesxe2x80x94both anti-personnel and anti-vehiclexe2x80x94 have been cleared and destroyed from the Honduras side since then. In 2001, Honduras identified four departments of contamination: Choluteca, Cortes, El Paraxc3xadso and Olancho. Honduras has never produced or exported anti-personnel landmines but received mines from Nicaragua. SOURCE: Journal of Mine Action Journal of Mine Action Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20321 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20321 The landmine problems in Nicaragua are a result of the intense internal fighting during the 1980s. By 1990, an estimated 135,000 landmines were laid throughout Nicaragua in addition to a significant amount of UXO. Despite much progress in mine clearance operations in Nicaragua, the threat of landmines is still a major hindrance to civilians' restoring their lives in several regions in Nicaragua. The most heavily impacted areas are along Nicaragua's northern border with Honduras. SOURCE: Journal of Mine Action Journal of Mine Action Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20348 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20348 The following report on the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean discusses changes that have ocurred at the centre since its founding in 1987. In particular, it discusses how the Centre has expanded its mandate from being a disarmament information centre to managing weapons stockpiling or destruction and providing training courses for law enforcement officials, politicians and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), SOURCE: United Nations // United Nations General Assembly United Nations // United Nations General Assembly Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20217 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20217 The end of the last millennium witnessed the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the demise of the Soviet Empire, and the termination of the Cold War. We are in a period characterized by the repudiation of totalitarianism, the resurgence of democracy and the geopolitics of the economic blocks. There have been many ruptures, clashes and changes resulting from fragmentation and globalism in the international environment. This paper focuses on the problem of narcoterrorism and its impact in the Western Hemisphere. It discusses broadly the illegal drug trade as it has evolved today and provides a view of narcoterrorist organizations. The situation in Colombia is addressed, and this is followed by a discussion of issues in the Tri-Border Area, where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet. A detailed description of Brazil's actions to face up to the challenge of narcoterrorism is provided. SOURCE: Joint Special Operations University Joint Special Operations University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20254 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20254 Having determined that the situation in Haiti continued to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region and acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council, by its resolution 1542 of 30 April 2004, decided to establish the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and requested that authority be transferred from the Multinational Interim Force (MIF), authorized by the Security Council in February 2004, to MINUSTAH on 1 June 2004. SOURCE: United Nations // United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations United Nations // United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19810 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19810 As the United States has become increasingly depenxc2xaddent on foreign oil and flooded by migrating populaxc2xadtions, troubles in Latin America take on greater importance. However, our engagement with this region has been unevenxe2x80x94that is, guided less by strategy than by tactical response. Perhaps Latin America is not as important as trade partners in Europe and Asia, or the problematic Middle East. But it is a close and populous neighbor, and one that teeters between stable self-suffixc2xadciency and chaotic menace. More significant, it is being drawn into the orbits of other global actors. To stave off future problems, the Unitxc2xaded States should have a comprehensive plan of engagement, practice hands-on diplomacy, and nurxc2xadture enduring partnerships. SOURCE: Heritage Foundation Heritage Foundation Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19827 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19827 Since 1997, the Polus Center for Social & Economic Development, Inc., has been supporting orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) services in Central America. In 1999, Polus expanded its effort and, in collaboration with local citizens of Leon, Nicaragua, opened Walking Unidos, an outreach O&P workshop. Since the success of Walking Unidos, the Polus Center has helped develop two other O&P programs: Vida Nueva in Choluteca, Honduras, and the other in Managua, Nicaragua, a venture made possible with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition, the Polus Center developed several other disability-related programs, including the Disability Leadership Center, an access project entitled "A City for Everyone" and the Ben Linder Café, an economic development project. These programs are based in Leon, Nicaragua, and were developed in response to needs identified through extensive planning processes, which included many individuals with disabilities and various disability organizations. All programs were implemented and are administered by local citizens. None of these programs relies on expatriate staff. SOURCE: Mine Action Information Centre Mine Action Information Centre Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19829 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19829 When the Peace Agreement in El Salvador was signed in January 1992, it was commonly said to be a consequence of the end of the Cold War. Conspiracy theorists went even further and said that the peace in Central America was the result of a direct agreement between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. However, this is belied by the fact that internal conflicts have since become more predominant. Harris and Belly's research suggests that of the 101 armed conflicts identified in the world between 1989 and 1996, 95 were internal disputes. The 'end of the Cold War' explanation of peace in Central America is therefore too superficial and mechanical. A conflict as bloody, long and complex as El Salvador's in the 1980s could not have been so abruptly and successfully solved by external factors. The external factors played a role, but were not as important as is thought. The crucial question about how peace was reached in El Salvador is how and why the protagonists of the conflict changed. SOURCE: Conciliation Resources Conciliation Resources Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:43 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19763 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19763 The South African Institute of International Affairs is an independent non-governmental organisation which aims to promote a wider and more informed understanding of international issues among South Africans. SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:35 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19684 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19684 Despite a recent all-out offensive on violent crime that involved the armed forces and targeted mainly slum neighbourhoods, the number of murders continues to rise in Honduras, which along with neighbouring El Salvador and Guatemala is among the countries in the world with the highest homicide rates per 100,000 population. SOURCE: Inter Press Service News Agency Inter Press Service News Agency Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:34 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19596 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19596 In Guatemala City's oldest residential areas, razor wires have appeared in the wake of the civil war to symbolize the new violence of everyday living. Entering the global search for an ever-elusive sense of security, Guatemalan homes, businesses and public plazas are adorned with fences, armed guards, and different arrangements of razor wiring. Adding to a long-standing socially accepted paranoia of outsiders disrupting the sanctity of the Spanish-American home, the razor wire and other modern security paraphernalia are shaping the landscape of residential areas in the city core. Fortress homes, razored rooftops and barren sidewalks walled by concrete, metal and a wall of noxious traffic dominate the residential areas remaining in the central core of what ladino nation builders once prized as their tacita de plata or "silver cup" for its faux renaissance architectural design and minimization of urban waste and poverty. SOURCE: Canadian Political Science Association Canadian Political Science Association Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:34 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19612 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19612 xe2x80x98Human security' is a promising but still underdeveloped paradigmatic approach to understanding contemporary security politics. We argue that tension between those embracing the politics of development and those supporting the human security paradigm has intensified because the transnational dimensions embodied within the latter approach have been underassessed. The idea of xe2x80x98threat' also needs to be identified with more precision for the human security concept to accrue analytical credibility. We focus on how transnational behaviour addresses the central human security problems of vulnerability and immediacy. Human security's utility for confronting crisis is also evaluated via the application of two case studies of humanitarian intervention: the 1994 multinational operation in Haiti and the 1999 intervention in East Timor. We conclude that, while general security politics includes both domestic and international issues, human security allows us to transcend sovereign prerogatives and to address emerging transregional threats more effectively. SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:34 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19627 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19627 Crime rates indicate that Latin American cities are the most unsafe in the world: in the 1990s, 74.5% of inhabitants of major Latin American cities were victims of some kind of criminal act. Despite having only 8% of the world's population, Latin America registered 75% of the kidnappings in the world in 2003. This has made public safety one of the top concerns of Latin Americans today, second only to the economic situation. What is worse is that organised crime is making a qualitative leap towards xe2x80x98colonizing' private initiative and subordinating it to the criminal hierarchy. In the most visible example of this phenomenon, there were five continuous days (May 10-14) of attacks against police stations and public buildings in the state of Sxc3xa3o Paulo, accompanied by prison riots and hostage taking which, according to the Folha de Sxc3xa3o Paulo newspaper, caused 272 deaths, including 91 police officers. The assaults were carried out by one of the largest criminal groups in the continent: the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), also known as the xe2x80x98Crime Party', which may have a xe2x80x98grassroots base' of half a million people. Brazil is now the world's second-largest consumer of cocaine and, according to WHO figures, has also become the country with the third-highest number of violent deaths, after Colombia and Russia, with an annual murder rate of 40 per 100,000 inhabitants, rising to 53 in the big cities. SOURCE: Elcano Royal Institute Elcano Royal Institute Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:34 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19642 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19642 Building a culture of peace is one of the most important - and most complicated - challenges facing the world today. Drawing on examples from Rwanda, Afghanistan, El Salvador, and East Timor, among others, this paper argues that equality between men and women is a prerequisite to achieving real peace, reconciliation and development. It challenges the common representation of women as helpless victims of violent conflict, by exposing the voices and perspectives of women who are making innovative contributions to peace building. For example, the Israeli Jerusalem Link for Women and the Palestinian Jerusalem Centre for Women work together to promote dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian women through their programme "Women making peace". In other cases, women have become involved in efforts to "demilitarise" men in post-conflict situations. In East Timor, for instance, training sessions held by the group "Men Against Violence" encourage men to improve the way they relate to women by raising questions such as: 'If you are locked up in prison for beating your wife, who will care for your children?' The paper ends by considering the role of religious groups in the solving of conflicts, and argues that there are many signs of hope in the field of inter-faith dialogue and cooperation. SOURCE: Catholic Institute for International Relations Catholic Institute for International Relations Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:27 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19556 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19556 The authors present an overview of gender-based violence (GBV) in Latin America, with special emphasis on good practice interventions to prevent GBV or offer services to its survivors or perpetrators. Intimate partner violence and sexual coercion are the most common forms of GBV and these are the types of GBV that they analyzes. GBV has serious consequences for women's health and well-being, ranging from fatal outcomes, such as homicide, suicide and AIDS-related deaths, to non-fatal outcomes, such as physical injuries, chronic pain syn#drome, gastrointestinal disorders, complications during pregnancy, miscarriage, and low birth-weight of children. SOURCE: World Bank World Bank Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:12 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19084 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19084 Because of their growing membership and globalization, urban youth gangs have become a public security threat that must be addressed. Gangs once provided outlets for marginalized youths to socialize, control territory, and release aggression. More recently, some have evolved into informally affiliated international criminal networks. Two predominantly Hispanic gangsxe2x80x94Calle 18 and Mara Salvatruchaxe2x80x94began to proliferate in Los Angexc2xadles during the 1960s and now have fraternal links to some 130,000 to 300,000 members in Mexico and Central America and have expanded across the United States to major cities and rural communities on the Eastern Seaboard. Gang activities range from defending neighborxc2xadhood turf to armed robbery, extortion, alien smugxc2xadgling, and arms and drug trafficking. Gangs provide a handy supply of young collaborators for organized crime. Their transnational nature is facilitated by fluid migration across porous national borders, incarceration with experienced criminals in U.S. prisons, and the weak rule of law in Mexico and Central America. Although no hard evidence links them with terrorist networks, transnational gangs are a potential menace to the stability of North Amerixc2xadcan neighbors of the United States. SOURCE: Heritage Foundation Heritage Foundation