Panama Canal's Big Moment: Article Analysis

Latin America
Latin America was a region that interested me the most, probably because it is the only region I have been to in person when I went on vacation to Mexico. My first article is about the Panama Canal in Central America, “Panama Canal’s Big Moment.” On June 26, 2016, there was an article in the Chicago Tribune about the Panama Canal being expanded to allow new trade opportunities. The original canal was opened for traffic in 1914, and has since then been a busy and vital pathway for ships from all over the world. At the time of our textbook’s publication in 2014, our book, Essentials of World Regional Geography, said this project was currently in progress and called “post-Panamax.” This was needed because there are many ships
Rio De Janiero is one of Brazil’s largest cities and selected for the Olympics this August, unfortunately, chosen over Chicago! It is a city that has a large population of poor people so hopefully the tourism will help this country economically. The article that was in the Chicago Tribune on June 30, 2016, “Olympic insecurity seeps into Rio: Brazil’s fiscal crisis prompts police units to call for handouts – even for toilet paper,” had information about the games and the city’s planned security. Given all the terrorist actions lately, security is a huge concern for both Rio and visitors. Brazil is counting on tourism to boost their economy and offset the enormous costs associated with hosting the Olympics. However, if there are any concerns about safety, it could affect the number of people traveling to see the event, and the economic outcome will have a negative affect on Brazil’s economy. The theme of geography would be world-wide security and the desire, or no desire, to travel to Brazil, along with political and government control. According to our textbook in Chapter 10, “the dramatic physical geography of Rio de Janeiro contributes to the strong pride Brazilians feel for their city.” However, the mix of beaches and marinas along with poor favelas create a different view for the tourist (White et al. 326). With the Olympics fast approaching, the government should be trying to clean up the city and add more security in the areas high in crime, like the favelas, but due to limited funds, they can’t. In the Chicago Tribune article, the writer reported that “Brazil is suffering the worst recession in decades and Rio’s acting governor has declared a state of financial disaster this month, largely to bolster spending on security as the world’s spotlight turns to the city” (Barchfield 2016, par. 2). In fact, it states that the