"Disparate Diasporas": Identity and Politics in An African-Nicaraguan Community:
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A 6 page discussion of the book by Edmund Gordon. Provides a brief history of Nicaragua and examines the downfall of the Sandinista regime. Discusses the role of blacks in Nicaraguan history. Concludes that although blacks were very much a part of modernizing Nicaragua from a structural point but they had little influence either ideologically or politically until recent years. No additional sources are listed.
Filename: PPdiaspo.wps

An Overview of the Honduras
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A 3 page description of the history, geography, political structure, population and culture of the Honduras. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: PPhondur.rtf

Carrasco/Religions of Mesoamerica
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A 6 page research paper that addresses David Carrasco's book Religions of Mesoamerica. The writer looks at how the author describes and uses the framework of worldmaking, worldcentering and worldrenewing to explain Mesoamerican religious practice. No additional sources cited.
Filename: khmeso.rtf

Colonial Latin America: Social Networks, Identity, and Consensus
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This is a 6 page paper discussing colonial Latin America in relations to the patron-client relationship and social classes. While colonial Latin America was segregated into a hierarchy of social and class systems with the Spanish elite at the top, the maintenance of the system was possible by the textured social networks within communities which existed before the introduction of the Spaniards but nevertheless added the elite Spaniards as the ruling class. The Spaniards did their best to degrade the culture of the Native Indians by introducing Spanish customs and religion and separating the communities into barrios however although the Indians observed these new customs in a public sense, their private identity still contained traditional cultural, familial and social elements. Largely the Spanish elite ruled with stability based on the belief in the class system which expected them to manage the communities with justice. When that expectation failed however, consensus among the lower classes was obtained and riots ensued which led the way to eventual independence. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Filename: TJLatam1.rtf

Comparing the Development of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic:
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This 4 page report discusses the ways in which the countries (and territory) of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico have developed in the past few decades. Each has seen a remarkable shift in its economic, political, and social base. Each of the three governments has dealt with issues in the past decade that it would have never considered possible only a few decades earlier. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Filename: BWcubapr.wps

Diversity and Unity in Panama;
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This 5 page paper argues the hypothesis that resource diversity and philosophical multiplicity covary directly with voluntary unity in Panama. The paper uses modern times and looks at each of these aspects in order to test the idea. The bibliography cites 3 sources.
Filename: TEpanama.wps

El Salvador : A Comprehensive Study
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10 pages on the population, economy, and political problems in the history of modern El Salvador. Plenty of statistical data is provided and cited. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Filename: Elsalvad.wps

El Salvador/12 Years of Civil War
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A 3 page research paper/essay that discusses the lingering effects of civil war on El Salvador, which includes entrenched poverty and a continuing climate of violence. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Filename: khelsal.rtf

How Violence is Used to Express the Theme of Isolation and Solitude in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
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This is a 5 page paper discussing how the motif of violence is used to express the theme of solitude in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude”. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude” written in 1967, he uses various themes throughout to help highlight the theme of isolation and solitude experienced by the community of Macondo in the book. One motif used is that of violence which reoccurs throughout the history of the community. The violent cycles within the work increase in their destructive nature but after each occurrence, the community suppresses the memories of the violence. This suppression of memories further isolates the community from reality and the outside world and they eventually create a society based on their own fantasies. Although violence is not meant to be a central focus of the book Marquez is very explicit in the details of the violence which does occur partly to awaken the reader to events which actually have occurred in the history of Columbia and which have been rewritten and suppressed in their own account but also to show to what extent the suppression of such violence can add to the solitude of a community and its characters. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: TJMarqu1.rtf