The Impact Of Latin American Culture On Latin America

Imagine being in an active war zone, living in Latin America would be much like that. The war being fought here is very different, instead of fighting another country, they are fighting drugs. Although war is generally a negative thing, this one is not. In this war there are negatives, but the positives far outweigh them. Latin American countries have witnessed the very noticeable benefits of the drug trade in many aspects of everyday life. The use and production of drugs is important to Latin American culture, brings communities together, and creates large amounts of revenue for the economy. Latin American countries have been using drugs for religious and cultural activities, and for hunger and discomfort relief dating back to 3000 BCE. The coca shrub first originated from the Andes and spread around 500 BCE to Panama. The leaves were collected and dried once the medical properties of them were discovered. During the Tiwanaku Empire, coca was used for religious and cultural activiti es. The widespread of coca chewing began during the Inca Empire where all social classes were using it. In pre-Colombian Mexico, hallucinogenic mushrooms were used greatly by the Aztecs, using them for human sacrifice ceremonies, entertainment, medicine, and even to give warriors courage to fight. â€Å"The amount of power that the Mexican drug cartels were achieving was enormous as the market for drugs was just in the border of their own country. The easily corrupted officials allowed the drugShow MoreRelatedLatin American Culture Essay examples1050 Words   |  5 PagesLatin American Culture Latin America represents 1/10 of the worlds population, and geographically can be located from the land extensions of Mexico, until the Patagonia at Argentina. 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