262 Latin American social issues violence In the 1990s a small minority of Salvadoran immigrants brought violence to the United States in the form of street gangs Many of these gang members were targeted by U.S immigration officials in Los Angeles, California, and sent back to El Salvador Not only are Latin Americans moving north, Latin America drugs are making the trip as well One of the largest social problems facing Latin America is drug trafficking, especially in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru The drug trade embodies simple supply and demand economics This multinational drug trade negatively affects U.S.– Latin American relations as many of the region’s leaders believe that the U.S war on drugs focuses unfairly on the supply side of the equation Unfortunately, in countries suffering from crushing poverty, drugs represent a viable economic option The debt crisis of the 1980s and the collapse of prices for tin and coffee on the international market fueled the Latin American drug trade In several Latin American countries, Peru and Bolivia in particular, the drug trade acted as an economic buffer, offering alternative sources of income when other options vanished The drug trade creates an atmosphere of violence Drug cartels breed corruption and threaten the integrity and stability of the state, democracy, security, public health, moral values, and international reputation groups organizing for a better life The sophistication and power of indigenous organizations forced many Latin American states to negotiate with Indian peoples and create new legislation that protected their rights The traditional relationship between the state and its native peoples is changing, with indigenismo policies that strove for assimilation abandoned in favor of embracing multiculturalism and pluriethnicity Despite claims of embracing multiculturalism, not all Latin American states have actually implemented policies aimed at improving the lives of indigenous peoples One of the best-known indigenous movements occurred in 1994 in Chiapas, Mexico Landless Maya formed the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) as an outlet for their struggle for rights and recognition in national life The EZLN briefly occupied several towns in Chiapas When negotiations with the Mexican state began, the first demands of the Zapatistas centered on Indian autonomy and rights The EZLN did not advocate a separation from the Mexican nation-state, but rather called for the state to implement the tenets of the constitution of 1917 regarding indigenous peoples The Zapatistas drew international attention to the plight of Mexico’s indigenous population and provided inspiration to other Indian groups in Latin America drug trade Poverty and unemployment in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia—along with the high prices Latin American cocaine fetched in the United States—fueled the drug trade and offered viable economic alternatives Colombia and Bolivia saw a significant boost to its national economy from drug revenues, but violence and corruption went hand-inhand with the economic boom In Peru, the world’s largest producer of coca leaves, the environmental destruction wrought by the drug trade is appalling Large tracks of rain forest have been clear-cut for cultivation, and the pesticides and herbicides used for growing coca have leached into forest water systems The involvement of guerrillas in the drug trade has further complicated the situation, and threats to the integrity of the state continue in these nations Despite billions of U.S dollars poured into curbing the Latin American drug trade, major traffickers have been affected very little The drug trade has impacted Latin American indigenous groups in remote rural areas, as they are often caught in the crossfire between traffickers and the government In Peru many have fled the countryside for shantytowns in the cities, hoping to escape the violence brought on by traffickers and guerrillas, especially the Shining Path Such issues have led to an explosion of indigenous OIL INDUSTRY The oil industry directly affects the quality of life for all Latin Americans; unpredictable oil prices have varying impacts on the economy as a whole Latin America has a few significant oil-producing countries: Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia In fact, Mexico and Venezuela have become key suppliers to the United States Latin America’s oil industry has undergone many transformations From the 1930s to the 1970s, foreign owners controlled significant portions of the Latin American oil economy, with the exception of Mexico, which nationalized its oil industry in 1938 By the 1970s Latin America’s oil industry was mostly nationalized, as foreign investors looked to the oil fields of the Middle East instead The Latin American oil industry has been subject to the volatile political, economic, and social history of Latin America, with varying degrees of success While some nations expected their large oil reserves to clear the way for economic development, the region’s major oil-exporting economies experienced obstacles in transforming oil revenues into a continuous source of funding High oil prices aided significant producers that were dependent on exports for revenue and foreign exchange, like Mexico, Venezuela, and Ecuador For oil-importing countries, such as Brazil, Peru and Chile, the price of