LA Times
Amazing Articles of Latin America
Physical Features
Tijuca Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Tijuca Forest is claimed to be the largest urban forest, covering some 32kmsquared. No indigenous civilizations lived in the Forest but there is a city located in the middle of the Forest. Similar to the Amazon rainforest, it is having some deforestation going on but has been slowed down for sightseeing reasons. But the Tijuca Forest doesn’t have a river running through the middle of the forest. It is located in the mountain region, which includes the Tijuca Massif.
Fernando de Noronha, 200 miles of the northeastern coast of Brazil Fernando de Noronha is a Beautiful archipelago with pristine beaches, landscapes, and wildlife. The archipelago was found by Amerigo Vespucci in the year of 1503 and was temporarily occupied by the French and Dutch before Portugal established dominion. To this day only the largest of the 21 islands is inhabited with a population of about 3,500 people. The visibility is great for snorkelers’ and divers even 50 meters under sea level, especially at the Mecca islands that have warm waters year-round.
Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ on the peak of a 700 meter (2,300ft) mountain in Rio de Janeiro called Corvacado. Christ the Redeemer is looking down at the city of Rio de Janeiro providing a Panorama form the Interior of Guanabara bay to the north, to Logoa Rodrigo de Freitas to the south. Christ the Redeemer stands at 39.6 meters (130ft) tall, including its 9.5 meters (31ft) tall pedestal and has become a major icon for Rio and Brazil.
History
Aztec, Technochitlan, Mexico Montezuma II (1502-1520). The Aztecs were an ancient group of people who lived in Mexico on the middle of a lake which their capital was called Technochitlan. Their first leader was called Acamapichtli who started ruling in 1375-1392. Their ninth and last leader was Montezuma II who started ruling in 1466-1520. He was conquered by Hernan Cortes in the battle of Technochitlan. They brought diseases that the Aztecs were not immune called small pox and many more their population decreased by 10-50%. Cortes’s strategy for conquering the Aztecs was to trap them on their island (Technochitlan which had very little amount of exits) and then raid into the village capturing their people. Their culture was to sacrifice prisoners of war to the sun god Huitzilopochtli just for the sun to rise the next day.
Environmental Concerns
Water pollution/Over oil extraction/Oil spills, Northern Venezuela, Venezuela. The water pollution in Venezuela is getting out of control. The water pollution will soon be able to pollute all of Venezuela’s water/ocean. The reasoning for this pollution is that Venezuela is over extracting oil and is creating a government running on their income for so much oil. They are polluting their beaches what use to be a place to go swim is now a place polluted with oil. Many fish have died and many more will if this doesn’t stop. Solutions for this predicament is to stop over extracting oil and another is that many oil spills have been happening in those waters because it is very hard to navigate through the waters. So if they were able to make better boats that wouldn’t spill as much oil would also help stop the pollution.
Government
Raὐl Castro, The length of term can be how many Castro would like it to be because he is a Dictator and chooses everything for his country, Dictatorship. The Cuban government is a dictatorship where Raul Castro is the current leader. He chooses everything for his country and his people. He has been leader of Cuba for 8 years when he over threw Fidel Castro (his brother) in 2008. Instead of Dictator Raul Castro he prefers to be called President Raul Castro, mainly because President sounds better to other countries instead of Dictator. Some of the issues with this government are that for one this government is a DICTATORSHIP, which means all the power of that country is in Castro’s hands. Another issue is that they have had an embargo with the United States ever since October 9th 1960. The embargo has been still used until October 9th 2015, Cuba had the embargo for exactly 55 years.
Economy
Argentina The top 3 trading partners for Argentina are Brazil, China, and the U.S. The exports to the U.S., China, and Brazil are soybean meals that come in at a 14% in the year 2013; soybean oil is 5.7% of their exports in the year 2013, and corn which is 7% of their exports. Argentina usually exports about $76.3 billion dollars a year. The imports are different; unlike the exports the imports are very high. From the United States they import 23% of refined petroleum in the year 2013, from China they import 16% of telephones in the year 2013, and from Brazil Argentina imports 24% cars in the year 2013. The Literacy Rate of Argentina is 97.9% of males and females over the age of 10 can read. Argentina’s GPD (Gross Domestic Product) is at a 609.9 billion US dollars in the year 2013.