Atkinson 1

MacKinley Atkinson

English 2010 S.2

Jackie Burr, Instructor

April, 10, 2018

Report/Research Paper

Latin America holds nearly half a billion in the world’s population and at one point

held some fierce competitors in the global market. Throughout the last thirty years and

especially the last three years, Latin American countries are slowly going into anarchy

and almost all have failing economies. From deep research you get buried in all the

problems: Venezuela has spent nearly a year without proper food and water, Brazil is

advancing slowly with a recent arrest of ex- president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and

electing a new president, Argentina faces charges in large companies but the

government has shown improvements from recent corruption. As you look at all the

problems and look for a solution it is easy to get stuck where to even start. It’s as if you

are trying to save the world from everything at once. Every time a country takes a step

in the right direction it seems they are taking 3 steps back. The solutions that are worthy

of truly solving the problems involves global competitors help. This leads to a few plans

to make these advancements. The United States of America has money and stability,

members of the United Nations have ways to fight drugs and most importantly the

citizens living on this planet.

One key factor to solving the world’s problems is compassion. You can sit here

all day and look at studies such as Mexico making 26 billion dollars a year from drugs
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off of America and say there is nothing we can do because people are addicts. Rion

Franc once said, “There is nothing you can do. You tell an addict to stop using drugs,

he/she won’t because all they want is to get high.” To look at the world through such a

lens is selfish. People need help and only the people can change how their country is

run. Have compassion and help those who are put in worse situations whether it was

their choice or not.

The United States of America is a large country with a lot of power and a lot of

money. President Donald Trump is trying his best at running this country. Currently

there are many things going on that not even the government of the United States can

keep up with. It would be hard to add solving the problems of other countries at this

time. If you were to add more emphasis on helping other nations, the debt would rise

even more than it already is making it not worth the time.

This brings up an interesting point because there is a way to add this on the

plate and make things slowly better for everyone. On April 9th I was sitting in a lecture

given by Troy Jensen. He proposed the idea that if we want to lower the cost of social

services in the United States, a mind blowing 1.2 Trillion per year, we need to find a way

to cut the number of drugs coming into our country. Drugs are one of the main reasons

all the countries in Latin America are struggling. Cartels rule a section of the world in a

way. Jensen stated based on his own research that our country spends more money on

people who are drug addicts than anything else in the social services realm. So, if we

do something about keeping drugs out we will have more money on greater things. By

keeping drugs out, the Latin American countries will have less to worry about cartels

and in for once have a true opportunity to make advancements. This is not true.
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This is an ideal scenario that seems a little too perfect. It is impossible to keep

drugs out. People will be people and want drugs all the time. Where there is room for

money to be made, money will be made. In this case millions, off of drugs. The problem

is that we need to get people involved. It is hard to do it but the government needs to

allow people to vote on policies. They need to let people actually fight for what they

want. If you are going to fight the drugs, face the fact and fight it. Building a wall is not

going to combat the drug trade. Whether you live in America and are in a situation like

this or anywhere else in the world, you are the driving force towards a better world. The

government can step in and enforce laws, Trump can put the national guard on the

Mexican border but there will always be a way in and people will only bring drugs in if

there is a demand. You, the person buying the drugs need to realize that there are

better things in life. You can find joy, you do not have to fall back on drugs and alcohol

to make you happy and if we make policies to focus spending on rehab, more people

will have motivation to quit.

In recent news, “Seusis Hernández Solarte, a

former guerilla peace negotiator, was arrested on

drug trafficking charges.” (Casey) This is a primary

example of how the government cares at least a

little bit. In one of the drug capitals of the world,

Columbia, there was a peace document signed to

Diagram of Corruption rank as of 2014. The
Economist stop a large dealer from doing what he knows will

make him the most money. In Brazil, Lula was arrested on corruption which is another
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example. In these scenarios citizens of these countries cheer when a corrupt leader

gets justice served to him or her.

Brazil being the largest of all the countries faces less drug problems and

more corruption deals. Petrobras being a very large oil company has been feeding

money into the government for years. People have been caught and then impeached or

arrested, but once the next president gets into office they fall under all or similar

problems the last person faced. “The saying “rouba mas faz” — he steals, but he gets

things done — has been common for half a century.” (Fisher, Taub) This saying reflects

the government for the last 3 decades. If someone does not get impeached or arrested

they will only be in office because they are slightly better than extremists. Spoken from

the mouth of a citizen of Brazil, “There is so much to do and so many things going on at

the same time. I hate my government but you have to trust who you put in. I know there

is possibility for change, I want to help make it happen.” In general, people will continue

to remove each president in Brazil until they are satisfied with real reform and they are

aware of the possibilities. The judiciary in Brazil is amazing at this moment in history

with impeachments and arrests but once again that leaves a gap for concentrating on

lowering the amount of people living below the poverty line because it is impossible to

do everything at one time.

The countries of the world can do some good putting sanctions on companies. In

the U.S. monopolies are not allowed and Brazil would benefit greatly from some sort of

regulation. To finish off Brazil’s problems that are solvable comes with the new election.

Jair Bolsonaro is an extremist and he needs to not be voted for. He would only make

the next president’s term harder to bring back to what is considered normal or stable.
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The world is full of hatred, pride and constant turmoil. Latin America is only one

area of the world that is facing a lot of problems. People in Syria have their own

problems. Religions are still being used as a way of judging someone. If you are Muslim

you are a terrorist. This is a phrase still used in today’s world. If a large majority of

people can come to a common idea that we are all people, any problem is worth putting

money into and solving. There should be no need for half of the things that go on in the

world, but people always want to be better than the person to their right or left. To solve

the drug problem or at least lessen the influence of drugs on the earth is only one step

in the right direction. Solving corruption in the drug influenced regions of the world is

another step. But nobody is ever going to solve any problem unless you change

yourself. With the knowledge we have and a plan to solve it, maybe one day we can

have peace among each other.

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Works Cited

Andreoni, Manuela. “Michel Temer, Brazil’s Deeply Unpopular President, Signals Run
for a New Term.” EBSCOhost. 24 March. 2018. Web. April. 10. 2018.

Casey, Nicholas. “Former Columbian Rebel Commander Is Arrested on Drug Charges.”

The New York Times. Americas. 10 April. 2018. Web. April. 10. 2018.

Daz, Miguel. "Is the Venezuelan Government of Hugo Chávez Legitimate? Con."
International Debates, vol. 2, no. 8, Nov. 2004, p. 249. EBSCOhost. Web.
December. 12. 2017.

Hoag, Christina, et al. "Troubled Brazil: Can It Overcome Corruption, Inequality and
Recession?." CQ Researcher, vol. 27, no. 13, 07 Apr. 2017, p. 289. EBSCOhost.
Web. December.7.2017.

Pettit, Jenny. Starbird, Caroline. “Contemporary Issues in South America.” University of

Denver. CTIR, 2000. Print. 12 Dec. 2017.

Taub, Amanda. “Brazil’s Crisis: How Fighting Corruption Could Imperil Political
Stability.” The New York Times. 27 May. 2017. Web. April. 10. 2018.

Taub, Amanda. Fisher, Max. “Why Uprooting Corruption Has Plunged Brazil Into
Chaos.” The New York Times. The Interpreter. 14 July. 2017. Web. April. 10.
2018.