Abstract. Landscape ecology research relies on frameworks based on geographical information systems (GIS), geostatistics and spatial-feature relationships. With regard to health, the approach consists of systems analysis using a set of powerful tools aimed at the reduction of community vulnerability through improved public policies. The north-oriental malaria focus, one of five such foci in Venezuela, situated in the north-eastern part of the Estado Sucre state, unites several social and environmental features and functions as an epidemiological corridor, i.e. an endemic zone characterised by permanent interaction between the mosquito vector and the human host allowing a continuous persistence of the malaria lifecycle. A GIS was developed based on official cartography with thematic overlays depicting malaria distribution, socio-economic conditions, basic environmental information and specific features associated with the natural wetlands present in the area. Generally, malaria foci are continuously active but when the malaria situation was modelled in the north-oriental focus, a differential, spatio-temporal distribution pattern situation was found, i.e. a situation oscillating between very active and dormant transmission. This pattern was displayed by spatial and statistical analysis based on the model generated in this study and the results were confirmed by municipal and county malaria records. Control of malaria, keeping the incidence at a permanently low level within the regional population, should be possible if these results are taken into account when designing and implementing epidemiological surveillance policies.

The last decade has seen an unprecedented, worldwide acceleration of environmental and climate changes. These processes impact the dynamics of natural systems, which include components associated with human communities such as vector-borne diseases. The dynamics of environmental and climate variables, altered by global change as reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, affect the distribution of many tropical diseases. Complex systems, e.g. the El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), in which environmental variables operate synergistically, can provoke the reemergence and emergence of vector-borne diseases at new sites. This research investigated the influence of ENSO events on malaria incidence by determining the relationship between climate variations, expressed as warm, cold and neutral phases, and their relation to the number of malaria cases in some north-eastern municipalities of Venezuela (Estado Sucre) during the period 1990-2000. Significant differences in malaria incidence were found, particularly in the La Niña ENSO phases (cold) of moderate intensity. These findings should be taken into account for surveillance and control in the future as they shed light on important indicators that can lead to reduced vulnerability to malaria.

Most Latin American countries have no death penalty, but there is a general acceptance of individuals' or communities' right to kill under certain circumstances. This right is not stipulated in any law but it is present in the culture of these societies. To investigate it, a random sample study was carried out in seven Latin American cities. The general results reveal support for the right to kill to defend one's family, but the right to kill to defend one's property was lower. Killing someone who has raped a daughter was positive for all the Latin American cities, although killing an individual who attacks the community receives moderate support. The results for "social purge" killings are lower than the previous. The results are analyzed and presented by cities and social variables and show that there is a cultural pattern in which social norms are not always congruent with law.

Venezuela is currently in a difficult social, political, and economic situation that has exposed people to many factors, including socioeconomic disadvantages, food insecurity, and lack of access to healthy and nutritious foods. These factors are associated with low dietary diversity, especially for economically dependent university students. In this study, we aimed to identify the associations between socioeconomic status, food security, and dietary diversity among sociology students at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). This cross-sectional study was conducted between June and November 2016 on a simple random sample of 270 students. Indicators were calculated using data collected by the Mendez-Castellano socioeconomic questionnaire, the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Projects Scale of Food Security adapted and validated for Venezuelans (Cronbach's alpha = 0.898), and the validated dietary diversity scale for individuals. The rate response was 100%. It was observed that most of the sample is located between the socioeconomic status of the rich and middle class (82.6%), presents some degree of food insecurity (85.9%), and maintains a diet with low dietary diversity (54.8%). Our main finding is that the socioeconomic status in the households of those students is not associated with either their food security level or their dietary diversity, but these constructs are related in a significant statistical way. In particular, the odds of a student household having a diverse diet instead of a monotonous diet are 3.92 (95% CI: 2.91; 4.93) times greater for those in food security instead of moderate/severe food insecurity. It is concluded that these students have a multifactorial critical food situation, in which the food right is violated, which could affect their permanence and academic performance.

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