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In April of 1991 the government of Puerto Rico proclaimed Spanish to be its sole official language. This new statute replaced the 1902 law which had declared Spanish and English to be the languages of government in this United States unincorporated territory. While the standard government line has been to justify the new law as a noble and valiant gesture in defense of the island's culture and language from the dual threats of Americanization and linguistic impoverishment, the fact is that this is an extremely controversial law which at present does not have the support of the majority of Puerto Ricans. This paper discusses the emotional debate that preceded passage of the legislation by focusing on the arguments typically put forth by defenders and detractors of the new policy. The analyses suggest that the real reason why the law was passed was to make statehood a less feasible political status option for Puerto Rico. Opposition to the law converged around two arguments: fear that the new policy might be perceived by Americans as a rejection of the United States, or as an expression of Puerto Rico's desire to separate from the United States; and/or suspicion that the law signaled the government's decreasing commitment to provide access to the English language to the population at large. The authors' assessment of the decisional process indicates that a small number of intellectuals who subscribe to a powerful hispanicist ideology, most of whom favor independence for Puerto Rico, were the driving force behind the signing of the law. Despite majority opposition, the new policy is seen as contributing positively to the eventual resolution of Puerto Rico's political status.The presentation and eventual passage of legislation to make Spanish the sole official language of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its signing into law on 5 April 1991 has proved to be a veritable Rorschach test for the island's population. It has led to a wide and fascinating range of readings between the lines as to the motives behind it and speculation as to what its implications are for the island's political, economic, and cultural future. A wide gamut of factors related to cultural identity, linguistic allegiance, colonial history, and political status have combined to make the Spanish-as-Official Language (SOL) legislation into an illusive, multifaceted symbol that has come to mean many things to its many interpreters.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that affect the creation of new firms in Latin American countries. We take into consideration economic, political, social and technological factors which should also help governments realize the areas that we found to have the greatest impact. The study relies on data from international organizations from which we construct an Ordered Probit model. The results indicate that credit and government effectiveness enhance the probability of generating new business but it depended of business density.

La configuración  de  los  espacios  en  sus  múltiples  expresiones  es  el resultado  de  las complejas  interacciones  del  sistema  terrestre , tanto  en sus escenarios físicos como sociales. En este sentido los procesos de urb an iz ac ión del territorio son la expresión de las complejas relaciones entre el medio ambiente físico y e l hombre. El articulo aborda la proble mática de los desastres y su relac ión con lapercepción del riesg o , para ello se u tilizan dos escalas de trabajo : la ciudad de Cali y el sector de Brisas del Cauca , (Comuna N O . 7 ) evidenciando en ellas elementos en el imaginario colectivo que coadyuvan en la ocurrencia de los desastres, finalmente , se presen tan algunas  ideas qu e pueden generar procesos comunitarios de prevención.

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