This week focuses on slavery and the shift of rights & politics in Latin America.

I decided to look at the Political Program of the Partido Independiente de Color since we didn’t really discuss it in class.

I was curious so I did a little research on the Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) and I learned that this Cuban political party was formed in 1908 and it consisted mostly of former African slaves as well as veterans of the Cuban War of Independence against Spain (1895–1898). The text outlines the beliefs of the PIC which include things such as equality among all races, free education, and abolition of the death penalty.

Pertaining to the week’s topic of citizenship and rights in the “New Republics”, this particular reading shines attention on the shift from colonialism and slavery to  more left-leaning politics in the wake of liberation and independence in Latin America.

I had no prior knowledge of the Caudillos before this week’s readings.

It was interesting to learn that despite being brutal and corrupt that people were attracted to them. The peasant understandable favoured the Caudillos as they weren’t distant like the Spanish crown or government officials in the big cities, and the Caudillos promised to help them in exchange for their loyalty; the people wanted someone to make their voices heard and give them respect, and the Caudillos provided that. They were brutal and corrupt but they gained support by helping the dissatisfied peasantry, and because of their impact on political development it is hard to say whether or not they can truly be labelled as bad.

I found the speech by Hugo Chávez to be the most interesting of the the reading this week as it highlighted how many countries in Latin America struggled against the lingering grasp of colonialism. In his speech, he refers to the Simón Bolívar and the Letter from Jamaica (which was written a century ago at the time); though a hundred years had passed, the hopes that Bolívar had for Latin American hadn’t been fulfilled.

Observing the all the readings as a whole, they demonstrate the diversity of Latin American – each countries history and subsequent views/ideologies differing from one another. It’s fascinating how the different the views are throughout the region and how even in one country that ideologies are contested.