Students gathered in the Latin American Student Union (LASU) lounge on Thursday, Feb. 23. to learn about issues facing South America.

The event, titled “Triflin’ USA: The Conquest is Not Over,” was held by LASU to educate interested students on the problems facing many South and Central American countries.

Among the countries discussed were Panama, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Argentina.

Issues debated included Ecuador’s current state of emergency, caused by the destruction of a pipeline by protesters; Puerto Rico’s upcoming vote on the future of its future (country or state?) and Argentina’s submersion in a great economic depression.

Focusing on the Dominican Republic, Henry Fernandez, a senior political science major and LASU political correspondent, presented information on the Dominican Republic to the group, highlighting what he called the disparity between the people’s needs and the government’s actions.

“The Dominican Republic is trying to build a railroad for $720 million [that] the people don’t want,” he said.

Another pressing issue discussed by the group was the current state of Brazil’s economy.

“Brazil is one of the most prosperous Latino countries,” said sophomore human development major Patricia Patista. “The increase in prosperity is starting to concern the people.”

According to Patista, the recent increase in prosperity is due to the increased value of the country’s currency.

Each issue stimulated questions and comments from the participating LASU board members, as well as the student participants.

The workshop, just one of a series of similar events held by LASU throughout the year, provided what event organizers described as an enjoyable atmosphere with an informative purpose.

Elaina Emerick, chair of LASU, stated the event’s objective to be informing and empowering the BU Latino student body with valuable knowledge about their unifying culture.

“If you feel you need to defend where you come from, [you] need to familiarize [yourself with] everything that is going on and offer intelligent input,” she said.