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Populist leaders mobilize supporters to accomplish the political transformations they seek to achieve. However, once they are in office, populist leaders also encounter mobilizations against them because of their exclusionary rhetoric as well as their attack on existing democratic norms. These populists' practices represent an erosion of (or threat to) political rights and move oppositional groups into struggle. Therefore, an increase in mobilizations under a populist leader can be seen as resistance to populism. Based on panel data analysis across 18 Latin American countries between 1990-2018, we find that populist rhetoric triggers a higher level of pro-democratic protests when it is combined with a populist leader's rejection of democratic norms. The findings are discussed in line with the political consequences of populism in contemporary Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• To raise the costs of anti-mining resistance, state actors adopt violent and non-violent coercive responses. • Widespread variation in state coercive responses at the level of mine properties remains unexplored. • Indigenous involvement and the economic potential of mining properties increase the likelihood of state coercive responses. The expansion of mining and conflict violence are closely related phenomena, but there is widespread variation in the coercive responses state actors embrace to subdue resistance to mining. To explain this variation, we emphasize the interplay of motives (incentives) and opportunities (enabling conditions) available to state actors. Contrasting previous approaches, we provide a cross national analysis on the determinants of coercive responses for all Latin American countries. Our analysis also considers various forms of violent and non-violent coercive responses by the state. Our results support a motive-based explanation: state actors adopt coercive responses when the mobilizing capacity of communities as shown by indigenous involvement is the strongest, and when the economic potential of mining properties as indicated by their lootability is the highest. Our findings have implications for the expansion of extractive activities beyond mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is an endemic threat to health. Although research on the subject has advanced considerably, there are few studies that have considered the perspectives of the region. Objective: This study sought to analyze the research trends of CSA in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing on its productivity as well as the evolution of the conceptual structure. Method: For this study, a longitudinal bibliometric mapping of co-words in articles indexed in the Web of Science was conducted utilizing SciMAT. Results: Findings revealed an increase in the volume and impact of the articles published on this topic. The core corresponds to 35 articles, mostly quantitative, and published as part of international collaborations. The conceptual structure of the field addresses 19 topics with Maltreatment and Child Sexual Abuse; Risk Factors; and Family and Experiences considered as key themes; whereas Street Children and Emotional Abuse could be considered an emerging topic. Conclusions: Findings suggest that although research focusing on CSA has been continuous and steady, a process of diversification on the topics of study within this field is emerging. Lastly, the scientific community could use the research findings to identify thematic areas of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of changes in the international economy, Mexico is positioned currently as the first vehicle and auto parts producing country in Latin America, seventh producer of vehicles in the world. The automotive sector constitutes one of the strategic axes of the Mexican economy. Since the nineties it has shown a particular dynamism with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement and after 2009 presents a new stage of expansion with the opening of new plants, the arrival of more foreign direct investment, growth of production, an increase in international trade and exports. In recent decades a specific model of industrial organization and a new territorial organization has been configured, when productive decentralization is generalized, with a growing number of activities carried out in separate establishments that belong to various companies. The production of components and parts is externalized towards suppliers, tasks that used to be integrated get dissociated and are organized in company networks. The supplier companies acquire importance as they concentrate 90% of employment and 70% of the sector’s compensation. It is important to focus on the presence of this segment of the automotive industry, as in recent years it acquires a main role. Mexico is positioned as the fifth auto part exporter in the world. Considering the importance of the decentralization process and industry reorganization, the objective is to present a general outlook of the Mexican automotive sector, focusing on the supplier segment. The methodology that we utilize implies the review and following of statistical variables of production, export, foreign direct investment and employment. It is also based on results of research that implies review of literature about suppliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tropical fowl mite, Ornithonyssus bursa, is a common avian parasite found on diverse bird species worldwide. In the Neotropical region, O. bursa is present in wild birds, but it may also infect poultry and bite humans. Little is known about the ecology and epidemiology of this parasite. We conducted a thorough longitudinal study in passerine assemblages from central Argentina, gathering data from six reproductive seasons, with the aim of identifying factors that have a role in driving the occurrence and distribution of O. bursa in its natural hosts. We focused on the brood and microhabitat levels, accounting for potential confounders of higher levels. The results hereby presented contribute to our knowledge on the eco-epidemiology of O. bursa in natural hosts of the Neotropical region. Among the many variables assessed, nest material and host species appeared to be the most important correlates of O. bursa prevalence. Nonetheless, supplementary analyses showed that host species is a stronger predictor than nest material. Moreover, mite burden (parasite intensity) was found to depend on host species, but not on nest material. The association with species depended on nestling age, suggesting that resistance builds up as the nestling develop, but at a different pace depending on the bird species. Brood size was inversely correlated with intensity of parasitism, suggesting a dilution of the parasite burden on each nestling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I would like to contrast some of the premises proposed by the so-called postcolonial approach with what some Latin-Americans scholars identify as “epistemological Decolonization.” Colonialism is not something of the past; it has new forms. That is the challenge of the Latin American Theology. I wish to show how Moltmann's critique of and dialog with Latin-American Theology help us in the process of elaborating more clearly a “decolonial epistemology.” At the same time, I wish to show how Latin American liberation theology resonates with many of the insights that the decolonial approach offers. I argue that since its inception Latin American theology has displayed a decolonizing content and impetus, which becomes clearer in our present global climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to identify the main determinants of FDI in Latin America during the period 1990–2010. Evidence points to positive influences on FDI inflows of trade openness, maintaining low short-term debt levels and presenting a balance of payment deficit, government stability and low expropriation risk. Countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, in which the investment framework has become relatively less stable over the last decade, are finding it more difficult to attract foreign investors. From a risk-management perspective, both public solutions (such as sovereign guarantees) and private institutions have important roles to play in reducing the uncertainty involved in foreign investment decisions. Another result is that the DR CAFTA agreement does not seem to have played a significant role in the recent increase in investment directed towards Central America. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article is part of a research line on interculturality and education whose objective has been the re-elaboration of the concept of diversity as the construction of the world, and its main projection is to highlight the importance of diversity in teacher formation and to place it as a topic of interdisciplinary work in education and social anthropology. The article analyzes the concept of interculturality in the Latin American context and in national educative policies; it highlights substantive issues related to diversity which have not been considered so far in the implementation of the curricula or in teacher training in Chile, based on findings from comparative studies of primary socialization processes and schooling of middle-class children from Santiago and Mapuche children from rural communities of the south of the country, who were registered from birth until the third year in their homes, and then in their early schooling years in their respective classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies hold that Latin America’s market turn has had a demobilizing effect on collective political activity despite the presence of democracy. However, recent work has documented the revival of protest in the region, emphasizing the repoliticization of collective actors in the wake of economic liberalization, especially when democracy is present. This article expands the theoretical scope of the repoliticization perspective, providing the most comprehensive test of the demobilization and repoliticization hypotheses to date. Using time-series data from seventeen Latin American countries, the article confirms the repoliticization view by showing that protest increases with economic liberalization in democratic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prior research has shown that economic liberalization leads to greater levels of protest in the presence of open and democratic politics. Yet the meso-level political institutions that associate democratic political regimes with protest remain unknown. In this light, the article analyses the effects of political parties on the level of protest using cross-sectional time-series data from 17 Latin American countries beginning with the third wave of democratization in 1978. The results show that the quality of representation embodied in political parties structures the level of societal conflict. In particular, countries with low levels of party system institutionalization and high levels of legislative fragmentation experience greater levels of protest activity. Overall, the article highlights the importance of political institutions in countering the most recent wave of protest against economic liberalization across Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1990s, the choice of an appropriate exchange rate regime began to capture the attention of policy makers across Latin America. Several countries pegged their currency to the U.S. dollar or even officially substituted the dollar for their national currency. Although economists and political scientists have made piecemeal contributions to the understanding of such policy choices, the literature currently lacks an integrated theoretical framework and a comprehensive test of alternative hypotheses. This study seeks to rectify these gaps in the literature by arguing that policy makers see the implementation of fixed exchange rate regimes as a politically expedient commitment device that allows them to avoid adopting more difficult long-term adjustment policies designed to attain macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth. This hypothesis is tested with alternative hypotheses put forward in the burgeoning literature on exchange rate regime choice. Theoretical expectations are supported by the results of several logit models, which confirm some previous findings in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bolivia was the poster child for economic liberalization policies adopted throughout Latin America since the 1970s. The country is also currently viewed as a place where the neoliberal or market-oriented economic model has been exhausted, as indicated by high levels of societal protest and recent democratic instability. Using available subnational data from Bolivia, we examine the determinants of societal protest across the country's nine provinces for the 1995-2005 period. Consistent with recent literature, we find that provinces with higher levels of political competition have lower levels of societal protest. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, which suggests that neoliberal reforms depoliticize and demobilize collective actors, we find that economic liberalization increases the level of protest activity. Taken together, the article draws attention to the paradoxical effect of neoliberalism to simultaneously debilitate certain types of popular resistance and activate others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how market reform policies already in place affect social interests, and the feedback effects of those interests on reform processes. The variety of societal responses includes the creation of new societal organizations, reflecting the variable content and asymmetrical distribution of costs and benefits of the policies implemented. Because of this variety even in Peru, where the disorganizing effects of neoliberal reform appear to be strongest, it would seem that the societal impact of economic reform elsewhere in Latin America would also warrant more careful examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Point prevalence surveys (PPSs) on antibiotic use are useful for understanding different aspects related to prescription patterns in hospitals.Methods: An adaptation of the WHO methodology for a PPS on antibiotic use was applied. Hospital wards were divided into medical (MED), surgical (SUR), ICUs, gynaecology and obstetrics (GO), high-risk (HR) and mixed wards (MIX). A web application (RedCap©) through a mobile device was used for data collection.Results: Between December 2018 and August 2019, 5444 patients in 33 hospitals in five countries were included (10 hospitals in Cuba, 7 in Paraguay, 6 in El Salvador, 5 in Mexico and 5 in Peru). Of these patients, 54.6% received at least one antibiotic, with variations between and within hospitals and countries. Antibiotics were more frequently used in ICUs (67.2%), SUR (64.5%) and MED wards (54.2%), with 51.2% of antibiotics prescribed for community-acquired infections (CAIs), 22.9% for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), 11.1% for surgical prophylaxis and 6.1% for unknown reasons. Adherence to guidelines was observed in 68.6% of cases (72.8% for CAIs, 72.4% for HAIs and 44.3% for prophylaxis). Third-generation cephalosporins were the class of antibiotics most frequently used (26.8%), followed by carbapenems (10.3%) and fluoroquinolones (8%). Targeted treatments were achieved in 17.3% of cases.Conclusions: Antibiotic use was generally higher than that published in other studies. There is an urgent need to promote and strengthen the antimicrobial stewardship programmes in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psittaciformes (parrots, cockatoos) are among the most endangered birds, with 31% of Neotropical species under threat. The drivers of this situation appear to be manifold and mainly of anthropogenic origin. However, this assessment is based on the last extensive consultation about the conservation situation of parrots carried out in the 1990s. Given the rapid development of anthropogenic threats, updated data are needed to strategize conservation actions. Using a population approach, we addressed this need through a wide-ranging consultation involving biologists, wildlife managers, government agencies and non-governmental conservation organizations. We gathered up-to-date information on threats affecting 192 populations of 96 Neotropical parrot species across 21 countries. Moreover, we investigated associations among current threats and population trends. Many populations were affected by multiple threats. Agriculture, Capture for the Pet Trade, Logging, each of them affected > 55% of the populations, suggesting a higher degree of risk than previously thought. In contrast to previous studies at the species level, our study showed that the threat most closely associated with decreasing population trends is now Capture for the local Pet Trade. Other threats associated with decreasing populations include Small-holder Farming, Rural Population Pressure, Nest Destruction by Poachers, Agro-industry Grazing, Small-holder Grazing, and Capture for the international Pet Trade. Conservation actions have been implemented on < 20% of populations. Our results highlight the importance of a population-level approach in revealing the extent of threats to wild populations. It is critical to increase the scope of conservation actions to reduce the capture of wild parrots for pets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reported urban malaria cases are increasing in Latin America, however, evidence of such trend remains insufficient. Here, we propose an integrated approach that allows characterizing malaria transmission at the rural-to-urban interface by combining epidemiological, entomological, and parasite genotyping methods. Methods/Principal findings: A descriptive study that combines active (ACD), passive (PCD), and reactive (RCD) case detection was performed in urban and peri-urban neighborhoods of Quibdó, Colombia. Heads of households were interviewed and epidemiological surveys were conducted to assess malaria prevalence and identify potential risk factors. Sixteen primary cases, eight by ACD and eight by PCD were recruited for RCD. Using the RCD strategy, prevalence of 1% by microscopy (6/604) and 9% by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) (52/604) were found. A total of 73 houses and 289 volunteers were screened leading to 41 secondary cases, all of them in peri-urban settings (14% prevalence). Most secondary cases were genetically distinct from primary cases indicating that there were independent occurrences. Plasmodium vivax was the predominant species (76.3%, 71/93), most of them being asymptomatic (46/71). Urban and peri-urban neighborhoods had significant sociodemographic differences. Twenty-four potential breeding sites were identified, all in peri-urban areas. The predominant vectors for 1,305 adults were Anopheles nuneztovari (56,2%) and An. Darlingi (42,5%). One An. nuneztovari specimen was confirmed naturally infected with P. falciparum by ELISA. Conclusions: This study found no evidence supporting the existence of urban malaria transmission in Quibdó. RCD strategy was more efficient for identifying malaria cases than ACD alone in areas where malaria transmission is variable and unstable. Incorporating parasite genotyping allows discovering hidden patterns of malaria transmission that cannot be detected otherwise. We propose to use the term “focal case” for those primary cases that lead to discovery of secondary but genetically unrelated malaria cases indicating undetected malaria transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is primarily a vector disease endemic in 21 Latin American countries, including Mexico. Although many vector control programs have been implemented, T. cruzi has not been eradicated. The development of an anti-T. cruzi vaccine for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes may significantly contribute to the transmission control of Chagas disease. Immune protection against experimental infection with T. cruzi has been studied since the second decade of the last century, and many types of immunogens have been used subsequently, such as killed or attenuated parasites and new DNA vaccines. This primary prevention strategy appears feasible, effective, safe, and inexpensive, although problems remain. The objective of this review is to summarize the research efforts about the development of vaccines against Chagas disease worldwide. A thorough literature review was conducted by searching PubMed with the terms “Chagas disease” and “American trypanosomiasis” together with “vaccines” or “immunization”. In addition, reports and journals not cited in PubMed were identified. Publications in English, Spanish, and Portuguese were reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Chagas disease is a major health problem in Latin America that has been disseminated also into non-endemic countries. Currently, a vaccine against Chagas disease does not exist. In the present study, the gene encoding Trypanosoma cruzi enolase (TcENO) was amplified, cloned, and sequenced and the recombinant protein was purified. We used in silico and an experimental assay to investigate the immunological role of TcENO. The in silico assays showed that TcENO sequence contains characteristic motifs of enolase; additionally, a transmembranal region was identified, and this could indicate the potential membrane localization of TcENO. Moreover, both B lymphocyte and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) predicted epitopes were localized; these results suggest the possibility that TcENO can develop both humoral and cellular immune responses. Furthermore, the presence of antibodies was verified by western blot assays, showing that the purified recombinant protein was detected by sera from experimentally infected mice and sera of patients with Chagas disease. These results indicate that TcENO is immunogenic and could be used as a vaccine candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Chagas disease (ChD) has become one of the biggest public-health problems in Latin America due to its incapacitating effects and mortality rates. Therefore, it is important to detect cardiac involvement as early as possible in order to estimate the risk and prognosis before the patient becomes symptomatic. Development of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi vaccines could significantly contribute to the control of ChD. The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of echocardiography in determining the prophylactic effect of the DNA vaccines on heart damage using T. cruzi genes cloned into an expression vector, which was intramuscularly injected to beagle dogs. Structural and functional changes in the chagasic heart were monitored easily by echocardiography, and it was determined that plasmid DNA vaccination with T. cruzi genes induced moderate protection in immunized dogs avoiding enlargement of cardiac chambers, poor contractibility, and heart failure, especially with pBCSP plasmid (the construct with TcSP gene of T. cruzi, encoding trans-sialidase protein), as was reported previously. Chagas disease (ChD) is considered an emerging disease in the USA and Europe. Trypanosoma cruzi genes encoding a trans-sialidase protein and an amastigote-specific glycoprotein were tested as vaccines in canine model. The aim for this study was determining the prophylactic effect of these genes in experimentally infected dogs by echocardiography evaluation to compare with our findings obtained by other techniques published previously. Low fractional-shortening values of non-vaccinated dogs suggested an impairment in general cardiac function. Low left ventricular ejection fraction values found in infected dogs suggested myocardial injury regardless of whether they were vaccinated. Low left ventricular diastolic/systolic diameters suggested that progressive heart damage or heart dilation could be prevented by DNA vaccination. Systolic peak time was higher in non-vaccinated groups, increasing vulnerability to malignant arrhythmias and sudden death. High left ventricular volume suggested a decrease in wall thickness that might lead to increased size of the heart cavity, except in the pBCSP plasmid-vaccinated dogs. There was an echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular dilation and reduction in systolic function in experimental chagasic dogs. Echocardiography allowed a more complete follow-up of the pathological process in the living patient than with other techniques like electrocardiography, anatomopathology, and histopathology, being the method of choice for characterizing the clinical stages of ChD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]