Simon Bolivar’s “Letter from Jamaica”, definitely introduced me to new facts, and ideas regarding colonialism and independence. It was interesting for me to see how Bolivar called the Spaniards “destructors”. I had never read a historical excerpt where colonists were called out for their destructive behaviour. For some reason, I considered critiquing colonialism more of a modern day attitude. I did not like how Bolivar compared the elite in the New World to slaves. The elite had slaves, and so this remark was quite out of touch although I’m assuming he meant to exaggerate to accentuate the fact that the elite felt politically powerless.

It was interesting to me how the creole elite saw the Haitian revolution as an inspiration but also a threat. The creole elite found themselves in a position of wanting independence but also worried that this independence would shake up the social order already present in the new world. I never thought of this other side of the independence movement. Mistakenly, I always figured that everybody, no matter what class, would want independence wholeheartedly. To me, the fight for independence was a “no brainer” and I never thought someone would doubt it. I liked learning about Tupac Amaru II and his fight against colonialism. This was completely new to me and so I found it very interesting. Bolivar’s comment on governing Latin America being like ploughing the ocean made it clear how much conflict and divisiveness existed at the time. Politically, these were evidently tumultuous times. Currently, in Latin America, tumultuous political times in certain countries still exist. In Mexico, there is clearly a rift between the upper and lower class. This rift seems to have existed since colonial times and persisted even after independence. It is evident that when studying history, one is able to fully understand a country’s current state.

Personally, I found Martí’s writing very hard to understand because of the allegories and the metaphors. I think this extensive use of allegories and metaphors is tied to the crisis of representation in Latin America. When reading Martí’s work, I thought of Columbus’ journal entries because I found that a crisis of representation was noticeable in both. In class, I would like to discuss whether independence always is positive or not. Are all sovereign countries truly independent? I also wonder whether the slaves were better off living in colonial new world versus the post-colonial new world.

What particularly struck me of this week’s readings and lecture video was the discussion of casta paintings. I had never heard of the casta paintings and so this art was completely new to me. The intricacy in which each racial mix was analyzed and named was shocking to me. I find it puzzling that the colonizers would be this keen on making paintings of and naming racial mixes. At the same time, these casta paintings explain a lot of attitudes towards race that still exist in Latin America. The colonizers brought racism to Latin America. Growing up, I have visited Mexico often. I have always noticed the sly racial remarks, or the outright racism that still exists in Mexican society. Of course, these attitudes take root in history and so it is interesting to link the ideas behind the casta paintings to the present day attitudes in many parts of Latin America. Another thing I noticed in the casta paintings, was the violence against women. Again, I connected these images to what is lived in present day Latin America. Unfortunately, violence against women continues to be a major issue in Latin American countries. It is evident that these misogynistic attitudes have been passed down through history.

I also found it interesting when the video discussed that Latin America has an identity crisis. Since it is such a mixed area/idea, people are left confused as to what they really are. I totally agree with this statement. I have witnessed it when talking to Latin Americans that are mixed race. Some identify with their Indigenous side and completely ignore their European side. While others identify with their European side and completely ignore their Indigenous side. There are many Mexicans that do not want anything to do with their Spanish ancestry because of the atrocities the Spaniards committed against the Indigenous people. It was also very intriguing to real about Catalina De Erauso. I had no idea about this story and it is shocking that she was able to become a colonizer without anyone discovering her true identity. I have conflicting feelings towards her action. On one hand, she challenged gender norms by showing that women could engage in military activity as well. On the other hand, she participated in brutal violence in the Americas. For these reasons, I see Catalina in a positive and a negative light. In class, I would be interested in discussing the links between casta paintings and modern day Latin American society. Do we think that art such as the casta paintings had profound effects on Latin American society?

I had my preconceptions about Columbus before reading his journal entries, and listening to the lecture videos. The literature and the lecture video made me reflect on how Columbus was presented to me in school. Looking back, my elementary and high school did not talk about Columbus in a negative way. They presented Columbus as a courageous explorer who discovered America. I only started thinking and talking about Columbus in a critical way when I started university. I am annoyed when people refer to Columbus as the one who “discovered America”. To me, this is forgetting the large, developed indigenous populations that already existed in the Americas.

It was interesting to read Columbus’ journal entries because I got to experience different sides of him through literature. It particularly struck me when he said that the people of the island would be more easily converted through kindness rather than through coercion. This remark of his definitely added more depth to my understanding of Columbus. I saw more a humane side of him. While reading his journals, I sensed how focused this voyage was on resource extraction. The colonizers seemed to have no appreciation for the new culture they were interacting with. It was disheartening to read about how the indigenous people were so naïve to weapons and how they cut themselves on the blades when being handed a weapon. This particular phrase really impacted me because it emphasized how naïve the indigenous were to the violence and vices of the colonizers.

In the lecture video, it was interesting to discuss how Columbus used signs, metaphors, and similes to describe what he saw in Latin America. He would write that he could not explain what he says. In many ways, I relate to this feeling when I think about describing Mexican society to people. I am half Mexican and so I have grown up visiting the country a couple of times every year. It is a country with complex social problems, racial tensions, diversity, cultural richness, extreme poverty, and extreme wealth. There are people that only have one image of Mexico, and they fail to understand that there are many “different Mexicos”. There is the Mexico of the upper class, and the Mexico of the lower class. People also tend to forget that Mexico is also a country of immigrants and therefore Mexicans can look very different. I find that I can explain social complexities of the country only to a certain extent and that people must visit different parts of the country in order to truly understand it. For discussion, I would like to ask what image did people have of Columbus growing up? Was he portrayed as a hero or a villain and has your perspective on him changed throughout the years?

Hello! I am Lourdes Kletas, a 4^th year student studying commerce. I recently came back from an exchange semester in Barcelona and so this is my semester back at UBC after a while abroad. I am very excited for this course because of my interest in Latin America. I have travelled to Mexico many times but I have not explored any of the rest of Latin America. I would definitely like to travel around Latin America. I’m very excited to learn about such a diverse, complex, culturally rich, and interesting region!

Video Analysis:

The Meeting of Two Worlds III

This was one of my favourite videos because I felt they were telling a story. I found the use of images, videos, and music quite effective as it fit the information they were giving the audience. There were certain points throughout the video that made me feel quite angry. Listening to the narrator speak about how Columbus thought the indigenous people would be good slaves, made me feel a lot of anger towards the colonizers. Furthermore, hearing about how colonizers raped indigenous women, made me even angrier towards colonizers and the idea of colonization. Most of the facts shared throughout this video reinforced my negative sentiments towards Columbus and colonization. I also thought this video was clear and easy to follow. I enjoyed how the narrators explained the meeting of two worlds in an easy to follow sequential fashion.

Citizenship and Rights in the New Republics

I think this video was well done because of how effectively they split the information into different time periods. It was interesting to see how rights and citizenship changed from time period to time period. I was particularly intrigued when they spoke about the encomienda system and how haciendas were established through the encomienda system. I had never heard of the encomienda system and never thought haciendas were related to colonialism in any way. I also liked this video because of how it compared citizenship and rights in different time periods. It was interesting when the narrator compared women’s rights in pre-colonial times to women’s rights in colonial times. I also liked how they spoke about rights in modern day Latin America. I find at times people tend to focus on history and forget to include present day facts and so I was glad they spoke about current citizenship and rights in Latin America.

Caudillos versus the Nation State

This was one of my least favourite videos because of the way the information was presented. The video was hard to follow because the students read the information off a sheet of paper and this made the video monotonous. I would have preferred this video if it had pictures and music. This video did have a lot of valuable and interesting information but it was hard to absorb because it was read so quickly.

Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire II

Of the videos I watched, this one was one of my least favourites mostly because of the sound quality. The video was very muffled and so I could barely hear what the students were saying. I also thought the information was read too quickly and so I did not get a chance to fully understand the material.