This chapters was about the different stories of how each country in Latin America got its independence. For me, the documents of Bolivar and Marti are the ones I found most interesting in this chapter.

Bolivar had big dreams and wanted a great future for Latin America.  In his letter, he writes about what he hopes for in the future and what is at stake. Dawson calls this the “Bolivarian dream”.  Further, Bolivar wanted Latin America to improve, prosper and have more freedom. Though Bolivar supported dictatorship, he was against slavery.

On the other hand, there is Marti. In his document, he talks about what the nation’s government should be comprised of. He argues that the country should be led by its locals and its natural elements. In the words of Marti 1891); “The government must be born from the country. The spirit of the government must be the spirit of the country” (as cited in Dawson, 2015, p. 26). He basically gives the message that the country should not be led by colonizers. The nation can gain its independence if it is led by people naturally born in that country.

“As a rule, Latin American States are weak” (Dawson, p. 323). This sentence is the hook of the chapter.  Ch. 10 continues the terrors that happened in Latin America.

One of the things emphasized in this chapter is the movement of  las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. Women, particularly mothers, were looking for their children. During the dirty wars in Argentina, many people disappeared because they were taken by the military. The disappearance of these people led to Mothers protesting and demanding the government to give back their children. Most of the women involved were working class. Initially, the government was fine with the Madres movement, however they eventually thought the women would be a threat to their country which led the soldiers to capturing and/or killing them.

Other events brought up in this chapter was the Human Rights groups and drug traffickers.  Overall, this chapter further elaborated on more violence in Latin America during the 1970s-1980s, what caused these conflicting events to happen, etc. Just like the previous chapter, I’m somewhat overwhelmed from hearing all these events. During the lecture, they said that until today the movement of las Madres is still an issue today.