What Is El Derecho - Essay Example

In Spanish, as an adverb, the term when translated to English means straight, upright, or direct. Or if used in a sentence, Derechos could mean a straight path, as in “The children walked straightly to the room”

But as a noun, the term is no longer used to describe a direction, but rather it refers to the “right” of a person. Erichsen, Gerald, a Spanish Language Guide (n.d.), explains that the word, when used as a noun would mean another thing and not specific to direction, but more on the rights of a person such as morals, customs, principles, or according to law. The word can also come in a plural form such as “Derechos”, or derechas. So if one would refer to human rights, it is correct to call it “Derechos Humanos” for human rights.

When “Derecha” is used, Erichsen said it connotes political affinity, such as the opposite of the “left” political party, or ‘right wing’. Vernor Munoz Villalobos, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education (2010) used the term “derecho humano” in her paper to describe a human right to have an education. (UN General Assembly, New York, 2010).
The word has a clearer meaning when used as an adjective because it is specific such as right, opposite of left, straight or upward, or in brief, it gives a specific direction, like “linea Derecha”, which means a straight line.

In news reporting, El Derecho is used as a superstorm prediction and a criterion for severe wind gusts. It is a word coined by the NOAA-NWS-N CEP Storm Prediction Center that describes “derecho” as a long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms. This could be related to my above description of the word because of the straight damage directed in one direction. Thus the Storm Prediction Center calls it ‘a straight-line wind damage’ or Derecho (John, Roberts, et. al. 2012).

The word Derecho was created by a physics professor at Iowa University in 1888. Reportedly, it was said he chose this term to describe thunderstorm-induced straight-line winds as an analog to the tornado. The Center so far has used the word to classify storms according to their behavior and damaging winds. It has also become an important word used in meteorological forecasting. As such, “derecho’ has been an adapted term for storm news reporting, like D.C. Derecho, Maryland Derecho, Derecho Storm, etc. (Debonis, Mike. 29 June 2012); the Intense storm called Derecho as reported by Accuweather.com, July 2, 2012 (author not mentioned) and a rare Derecho storm reported by Aron Harris of ABC News, July 2, 2012

As to usage to signify a “right”, the United Nations used the word “Derecho al Desarollo” to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Declaration of the Right to Development (Naciones Unidas)
The usage of the word is limitless and some even used the word to name organizations, titles, etc. Take, for example, the international partners of Catholic for Choice in Latin America, a Catholic Organization that has named their organization “Catolicas por El Derecho a Decidir (CCD) in Latin America”( Catholics for Choice n.d.). I will not discuss here the purpose of the organization since it is beyond the scope of my topic.

A Spanish newspaper for European press has adapted the name El Derecho for its publication because it is mainly concerned with the legality and rights of people (El Derecho.n.d.) The newspaper carries legal articles and government announcements.
Therefore, “El Derecho’ is an interesting word that describes many facets of life: from grammar to directions both in life and directional ways, as a storm warning, rights of a person, legality, hierarchy, and the right to education. So now, the word “Derecho” is no longer owned by the Spanish language alone but becomes an international word used by everybody. Read More