Once again, another chapter filled with violence, corruption and injustices. Of course, it is very interesting to learn about, but as I read this week’s readings, I can’t help but wonder why this violence is so deeply engrained in Latin America. We’ve learned a general sense of Latin America’s history and founding, and what happened as the area was developed and became its own place with its own unique identity. Are all these wars and violence due to how Latin America came to be? From the very beginning in 1492 when Columbus came and just took things he wanted? When exploitation was rampant and many many people were taken advantage of for the good of another country? Has this pattern of corruption and injustice just trickled down, decade after decade, rearing its ugly head but in different environments and situations because of Latin America’s origin story? Of course, what we are reading absolutely does not encompass all that Latin America is, it is simply one small part of its history. I just can’t help but feel sad for the people that were stuck on the bad end of things. The mothers that had to deal with losing their children to the government, or all the people that have lost loved ones in the drug wars. The story of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo is so heartbreaking yet powerful in the way that it perfectly describes the innocent people that had done absolutely nothing, standing up and saying “enough is enough”. And the question comes up yet again in my mind, how and why is this kind of corruption and violence so deeply engrained in these countries?