Having never learned or heard of Porfirio Diaz before last week’s reading, I genuinely thought he was a good leader and human being. In some respects, Diaz was a good leader, he was able to “modernize” Mexico and stabilize the economy. However, his government was anything but a democracy, it was a dictatorship with its …
The link that Dawson makes between photography and modernity is very interesting to me. Growing up in an era where cellphones and taking pictures or “selfies” is not uncommon, thinking of having your picture taken and have the many aspects about it define who you are, is very intriguing. The way you dress, the way …
I find it very interesting how different histories of abuse towards the indigenous peoples can be so closely compared. There are always the explorers or people who have settled on native land taking advantage of their indigenous counterparts; In the case of nineteenth century Argentina, they “clear[ed] indigenous lands” to create “new territory for white …
It is interesting to me, how the peg leg of a former Mexican president is still held in an American museum. If this were the other way around, I wouldn’t imagine the Americans being all too pleased about it. Or do the Mexicans not want it back because it’s a reminder of the terrible national …
To learn that Haiti was one of the first countries to win their independence was a surprise to me. If I was ever asked which countries in Latin America I would have thought won their independence first, I would have responded with countries like Chile, Peru or maybe even Argentina. I remember being part of …