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    Comparative Studies of the "Japanese Peace Corps" and U.S. Peace Corps: Program Terminations in El Salvador and Colombia
    (2013-02-09) Kawachi, Kumiko
    Since the 1960s, sending young volunteers to developing countries became a prominent trend among the developed countries, whose leaders were influenced by the idea of “universalism,” which also manifested in such advancements as the establishment of the United Nations.1 The Peace Corps, founded in the United States in 1961, was a key player in the design of this international trend, which the Japanese government followed. In 1965, the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (hereafter, JOCV), the “Japanese Peace Corps,” was founded; and the first JOCV program in Latin America began in 1968. The Peace Corps and the JOCV have operated under similar systems; for example, they both train and place ordinary citizens as volunteers who serve for two years in foreign countries, particularly “underdeveloped” countries. This paper compares the JOCV and Peace Corps in terms of program terminations. In the case of the Peace Corps in Latin America, twelve countries stopped receiving volunteers during the 1970s and the early 1980s.2 An analysis of Peace Corps official annual reports from 1961 to 2010,3 and scholarly writings reveals four major factors relevant to the Peace Corps’ withdrawal: (1) increased development, (2) political unrest in the host country, (3) expulsion from the host country, and (4) U.S. budget cuts. On the other hand, the JOCV program in Latin America experienced significantly fewer terminations of its operations than did the Peace Corps and JOCV in Latin America has never experienced expulsion of volunteers. An analysis of JOCV’s official documents, mainly Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) annual reports,4 and scholarly writings reveal that there is one principal factor affecting JOCV’s withdrawal in Latin America: political unrest in the host country.5 This situation is the primary cause behind these program terminations for both JOCV and the Peace Corps. JOCV programs in both Colombia and El Salvador were terminated due to this, and the Peace Corps also terminated programs in both countries. So in this paper, I focus on exploring the JOCV and Peace Corps terminations due to ‘political unrest,’ in the El Salvadoran and Colombian cases in comparison to those of the Peace Corps.
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    Narco Violence in Mexico: A Spatial Analysis of Drug-Related Bloodshed
    (2012-02-04) Medel, Mónica
    Drug-related violence in Mexico has increased exponentially in the last five years, killing more than 40,000 people. Even though the country has been a producer of marijuana and opium poppy for nearly a century, over the last decade it has also become the main route for smuggling cocaine onto American soil. In the last few years, meanwhile, Mexico has also transformed into a major producer of synthetic drugs, including methamphetamines. All of these factors have combined to make the country the perfect one-stop shop for American consumers, who constitute the largest market for narcotics in the world. The main production areas for marijuana and opium, located along Mexico’s Pacific Coast, have historically been more violent than the rest of the country. But the introduction of cocaine and synthetic drugs has altered the patterns of violence and coincided with the rise of a rash of new and ruthless drug gangs that have begun battling traditional Mexican cartels for a share of the smuggling business. Into this already volatile mix came a major crackdown on drug production and smuggling launched in December 2006 by President Felipe Calderon. Given the new, and ever-shifting reality, what parts of the country are now hardest-hit by drug violence? What do these areas have in common? Why have seemingly similar regions suffered different patterns of violence? Traditionally, zones along Mexico’s northern border have been the most-coveted by drug gangs looking to establish their headquarters and dominate corridors for moving narcotics into the U.S. Killings there are constant. But proximity to American territory is no long the only determining factor. Any city that is a hub for smuggling and/or producing drugs now suffers more murders and violence than others. Many of these also are in areas with low population density, and high or very high levels of marginalization, or concentrations of people with low incomes and limited access to basic services. This study focuses on the period between January 2007 and December 2010, when the largest number and most-gruesome drug-related killings were committed. Time series analysis of crime data sheds light on the spatial trends these killings have followed by determining the drug-related homicide rate for each municipality, each year. The results cast doubt on the overall intentional homicide figures that Mexico reports to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, of about 11 per 100,000 people each year between 2001 and 2007, and under 22 per 100,000 people during the subsequent three, drug-war torn, years. Querying spatial data using Boolean algebra also shows that the areas which have become producers of and/or smuggling corridors for two and three different types of drugs have expanded greatly over the four years in question; and that drug-related killings are highly spatially correlated to these areas.
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