http://news.yahoo.com/ex-ruling-party-wins-violence-scarred-mexican-race-143302399.html
This article examines the presidential race in Mexico. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Calderon might very well loose the upcomming election. His war on drugs was simply too brutal and badly planned out, and many are now loosing faith in hime. The PRI, Mexico's former ruling party of 71 years, is gaining momentum again. What I thought interesting about this is that almost all political discourse seems to be related in some way to the drug war and cartels. It's impregnated politics so completely that the best way to attack and opposition party is to blame them of being related to a cartel. In this climate, it's become difficult to differentiate between drug lords and politicians.
Another thing that is mentionned in the article is the fact that, apparently, the Indigenous Purepecha people of Cheran have refused to let poll workers into their town, demanding an election that would respect their traditions. Apparently, they have been actively guarding Cheran from illegal loggers and drug traffickers. Not much is said about them, but this is an interesting case of Indigenous people demanding the right to have their unique traditions respected as well as protecting themselves. I'm wondering in this kind of individualistic communal organization is the way of the future.
Author Archives: Syndicated User
Operation Fail: USA in Guatemala
The first part of this week’s reading was quite interesting,as we got to see how powerful companies/people infiltrate developing countriesand how easily dictators will sell out their own people. Its not much differentthan the history of the western Imperialism in China or even the very samehistory of an early developing America that came to be dominated by monopoliesand oligarchies by the same style of men and businesses as (?) and UnitedFront. We also begin to see the rise of American imperialism in the post-WWIIera; this politico-economic imperialism was quite different, in method, fromthe prior direct administration style of Colonial Imperialism, but the endgamewas the same – subjugation.
By page 164 (reading part 2), doesanyone else have to check they’re reading about Latin America and not a historyof America involvement in Iraq? Mixing concernsof Communism with economic control methods – we’re not trying to manipulate orcontrol your economy and commerce, we’re protecting the world from terrorists…er,Communists. That is not to say that simple Communist paranoia didn’t play arole in American decision-making and over-reaction of the situation, such asPeurifoy’s “reign of terror” assessment, but its pretty clear America was utilizing pretextsduring this time like they were going out of style.
As we progress through the article,we see the escalation of America’sinvolvement in the governing of Guatemalato a level of direct administration ala Colonial Imperialism, with Peurifoy asringmaster. Manipulation of the UN’s operating machinery, creation of conflictin Guatemala, installationof leadership, and resolution of conflict in Guatemala – so much for the UN’sCharter guaranteeing the sovereignty of nations. Much like UN and regionaltreaties concerning human rights, the reality is that human rights seem to be amatter of convenience; that is to say, if its convenient for human rights to beadapted, improved, or even exist in a country, is dependent on feasibilityrather than desires and promises because the latter are merely for publicconsumption. As so often is the case when immediate interests generateintervention, long-term concerns fall by the way side, and Guatemala suffered this fate asAmerican intervention ignored Guatemalan needs and requirements. The 1954 coup disregardedGuatemala’s need fordomestic development and national progression by trying to force changes thatits people were not comfortable with, essentially a gamble with an entirenation’s future with minimal stakes at risk for America.
November 14: Guatemala
This week’s readings focused on the human rights abuses in Guatemala. The United Fruit Company’s (UFC) outrageous history in the country is particularly striking. Started in the 1880’s, the UFC seems to me a bit of a newcomer in terms of colonizing companies. It coincided with America’s rise as an imperial country, however, so it makes sense that it began when it did. The UFC was interested in Guatemala not only because it was a great place to grow bananas but because it had a weak, corrupt and pliable government. The UFC was then able to get away with tons of horrendous and exploitive business practices such as exceptionally low wages, paying insignificant amounts of taxes and acquiring vast amounts of land for barely anything. The Guatemala government at the time believed that the land was unproductive so they were glad to get anything for it. By doing so they ignored the traditional farming practices of the peasants and indigenous people in favour of this foreign country. Consulting the actual people that used the land was not even a consideration.
Considering the ridiculous amounts of exploitation the UFC managed to get away with for so long, it is no wonder the country finally decided to fight back in the 1950’s under the Arbenz government. It is actually amazing that a more explicit socialist revolution didn’t take place, like in Cuba. Perhaps it would have if they had time to do so, but the social reforms that Arbenz had started to put in place were stopped in 1954 when he was deposed in a coup orchestrated by the CIA and the US Government. It is interesting how the US government often criticizes other governmnets for meddling in the marketplace but when American companies are somehow threatened (the UFC was not directly threatened in this situation, though. Unused land was just expropriated and was justly compensated) the US government almost always steps up to threaten the foreign country with force. Intervention in the marketplace is really only acceptable when the US deems it so, apparently. It was great how the Guatemalan government used the UFC’s dirty tactics against them during the land reform. The government decided to use the UFC’s own declared value of their land, which was vastly undervalued to escape taxes, to compensate the UFC. The UFC was horrified and demanded to be paid an extreme amount instead. It would have been interesting if the Guatemalan government then charged them for back taxes based on their new declared land value.
It is truly amazing what American companies have been able to get away with in the past and more than likely still get away with now. Instead of the war on socialism, however, the US government uses the “war on terror” as a justification for intervention in countries now.
Case Study: Guatemala
The readings for this week outline something that I never cease to be enraged about: U.S. imperialism in Latin America. The U.S. has a long and dirty history of treating Latin America as it's back yard, not as individual countries with rights to sovereignty. The history of the United Fruit Company is a flagrant example of this reality. For years, this company held Guatemala virtually under hostage. Their skills at making friends with the local disctators allowed them to treat the resources of this foreign country as their own, and their actions were backed by the U.S. government, who had large investments in the company (apparently, bribery and politicians being bought out by corporations is nothing new). What astounds me in all of this is the arrogance of the United Fruit Company in all their dealings with Guatemala and surrounding countries, even going as far as encouraging political coups! In Bitter Fruit, this sense of proprietorship of Latin America is laid out in greater details, talking about the many pressure tactics employed by the U.S.to keep it's neighbours in line.
One of my greatest difficulties when reading something like this is knowing that U.S. imperialist measures in Latin America are far from over. Though things have changed and improved somewhat, there is no doubt that perceived U.S. proprietorship of it's neighbours is healthy and well. If that wasn't the case, wouldn't things such as the profound (and, in my opinion, misplaced) involvement of the U.S. military in the "drug war" create more uproar in the international community? The truth is, all out economic rights morphed into security rights and are now threatening to morph into a strange drug war/war on terror hybrid. The real problem here is that the U.S., and, to some extent, the international community, still see Latin America as a weak, pliable place, easily meddled with.
One of my greatest difficulties when reading something like this is knowing that U.S. imperialist measures in Latin America are far from over. Though things have changed and improved somewhat, there is no doubt that perceived U.S. proprietorship of it's neighbours is healthy and well. If that wasn't the case, wouldn't things such as the profound (and, in my opinion, misplaced) involvement of the U.S. military in the "drug war" create more uproar in the international community? The truth is, all out economic rights morphed into security rights and are now threatening to morph into a strange drug war/war on terror hybrid. The real problem here is that the U.S., and, to some extent, the international community, still see Latin America as a weak, pliable place, easily meddled with.
Case Study: Guatemala
The readings for this week outline something that I never cease to be enraged about: U.S. imperialism in Latin America. The U.S. has a long and dirty history of treating Latin America as it's back yard, not as individual countries with rights to sovereignty. The history of the United Fruit Company is a flagrant example of this reality. For years, this company held Guatemala virtually under hostage. Their skills at making friends with the local disctators allowed them to treat the resources of this foreign country as their own, and their actions were backed by the U.S. government, who had large investments in the company (apparently, bribery and politicians being bought out by corporations is nothing new). What astounds me in all of this is the arrogance of the United Fruit Company in all their dealings with Guatemala and surrounding countries, even going as far as encouraging political coups! In Bitter Fruit, this sense of proprietorship of Latin America is laid out in greater details, talking about the many pressure tactics employed by the U.S.to keep it's neighbours in line.
One of my greatest difficulties when reading something like this is knowing that U.S. imperialist measures in Latin America are far from over. Though things have changed and improved somewhat, there is no doubt that perceived U.S. proprietorship of it's neighbours is healthy and well. If that wasn't the case, wouldn't things such as the profound (and, in my opinion, misplaced) involvement of the U.S. military in the "drug war" create more uproar in the international community? The truth is, all out economic rights morphed into security rights and are now threatening to morph into a strange drug war/war on terror hybrid. The real problem here is that the U.S., and, to some extent, the international community, still see Latin America as a weak, pliable place, easily meddled with.
One of my greatest difficulties when reading something like this is knowing that U.S. imperialist measures in Latin America are far from over. Though things have changed and improved somewhat, there is no doubt that perceived U.S. proprietorship of it's neighbours is healthy and well. If that wasn't the case, wouldn't things such as the profound (and, in my opinion, misplaced) involvement of the U.S. military in the "drug war" create more uproar in the international community? The truth is, all out economic rights morphed into security rights and are now threatening to morph into a strange drug war/war on terror hybrid. The real problem here is that the U.S., and, to some extent, the international community, still see Latin America as a weak, pliable place, easily meddled with.
Guatemala + America
“With its policy in supporting dictatorships, the United States has collaborated in the strengthening of these regimes and burdened our people with debt, often for the most superfluous programs. With its policy in police and military assistance, the United States has collaborated in the acts of repression, and consequently in the violation of human rights”
For me, this quote nicely summarizes the Guatemalan political history from the 1950s-1970s in a nutshell. It is a history heavily laden with unjustified American intervention, political corruption, massive military participation, and human rights abuses on a very large scale. Unfortunately for the Guatemalan people, their recent history is just as shockingly corrupt and murder-filled as Argentina’s, although for significantly different reasons. The most noticeable difference between these two Latin American countries is the significant involvement of the United States in Guatemala’s domestic affairs. With this understanding I think it is fair to insinuate, or blatantly state as the above quotation eloquently does so, that the US is responsible for facilitating the human rights abuses that have occurred in Guatemala because of the significantly large role the America government played in overthrowing the democratically elected President, Arbenz.
When democratically elected Arbenz became President of Guatemala, he began to enact significant reforms in an effort to modernize his poor country. Land reforms, a common Latin American initiative, angered the monopolistic, American United Fruit Company because land was taken; the owners and investors of this multinational refused to sit by and allow the Guatemalan President to expropriate “their” land. Thus a call to overthrow the government was conjured up and supported by many American officials, including Dulles of the CIA (who was an investor in the United Fruit Company). Dulles managed to gain support for this coup from the American government by framing it as anti-communist campaign, designed to rid Guatemala of its supposedly pro-communist President and stop the dreaded spread of communism in the Western Southern hemisphere. Through a series of ill-conceived political and military manipulations, the US managed to oust Arbenz (through shear luck if you ask me) and (eventually) replace him with a military dictator, Castillo Armas. From 1954 until the 1980s (or at least as far as this book was written), Guatemala suffered through a series of unstable military dictatorships, each more brutal than the next. Unfortunately, following Arbenz’s exit and as seems to be characteristic of dictatorships, human rights were the next things to leave the country.
One common goal shared by each junta was a desire to rid Guatemala of any political opposition, especially any right leaning revolutionaries. Through a series of disappearances, kidnappings, mass killings, and murders, thousands of students, intellectuals, professionals, professors and basically any minutely educated persons, with the ability to create dissent, were silenced. Just as we saw in Argentina, state sponsored terrorism against its own people was frequently and indiscriminately employed against any person who could pose the slightest threat to the government. And once again, American governmental intervention, this time in the form of police training and governmental support, collaborated with the Guatemalan government to abuse its people and deny them basic freedoms, freedoms the millions of American citizens living a few countries away would dismantle their government for depriving them of. And so the infuriating and almost unbelievable American hypocrisy continued to thrive, causing utter chaos and disaster in a country far away from the American government’s “caring” eyes. Therefore, while both Argentina and Guatemala are undeniably guilty for state sponsored terrorism that killed thousands of people, it could be argued that Guatemala was propelled down this path by an outside force, whereas Argentina managed to get there largely by itself. American intervention, causing the demise of democracy in Guatemala, is at the very least partly responsible for the ensuing decades of human rights abuses, as it paved the way for ferociously corrupt and violent dictators to gain power and strip their people of the rights granted to them under democracy.
Guatemala + America
“With its policy in supporting dictatorships, the United States has collaborated in the strengthening of these regimes and burdened our people with debt, often for the most superfluous programs. With its policy in police and military assistance, the United States has collaborated in the acts of repression, and consequently in the violation of human rights”
For me, this quote nicely summarizes the Guatemalan political history from the 1950s-1970s in a nutshell. It is a history heavily laden with unjustified American intervention, political corruption, massive military participation, and human rights abuses on a very large scale. Unfortunately for the Guatemalan people, their recent history is just as shockingly corrupt and murder-filled as Argentina’s, although for significantly different reasons. The most noticeable difference between these two Latin American countries is the significant involvement of the United States in Guatemala’s domestic affairs. With this understanding I think it is fair to insinuate, or blatantly state as the above quotation eloquently does so, that the US is responsible for facilitating the human rights abuses that have occurred in Guatemala because of the significantly large role the America government played in overthrowing the democratically elected President, Arbenz.
When democratically elected Arbenz became President of Guatemala, he began to enact significant reforms in an effort to modernize his poor country. Land reforms, a common Latin American initiative, angered the monopolistic, American United Fruit Company because land was taken; the owners and investors of this multinational refused to sit by and allow the Guatemalan President to expropriate “their” land. Thus a call to overthrow the government was conjured up and supported by many American officials, including Dulles of the CIA (who was an investor in the United Fruit Company). Dulles managed to gain support for this coup from the American government by framing it as anti-communist campaign, designed to rid Guatemala of its supposedly pro-communist President and stop the dreaded spread of communism in the Western Southern hemisphere. Through a series of ill-conceived political and military manipulations, the US managed to oust Arbenz (through shear luck if you ask me) and (eventually) replace him with a military dictator, Castillo Armas. From 1954 until the 1980s (or at least as far as this book was written), Guatemala suffered through a series of unstable military dictatorships, each more brutal than the next. Unfortunately, following Arbenz’s exit and as seems to be characteristic of dictatorships, human rights were the next things to leave the country.
One common goal shared by each junta was a desire to rid Guatemala of any political opposition, especially any right leaning revolutionaries. Through a series of disappearances, kidnappings, mass killings, and murders, thousands of students, intellectuals, professionals, professors and basically any minutely educated persons, with the ability to create dissent, were silenced. Just as we saw in Argentina, state sponsored terrorism against its own people was frequently and indiscriminately employed against any person who could pose the slightest threat to the government. And once again, American governmental intervention, this time in the form of police training and governmental support, collaborated with the Guatemalan government to abuse its people and deny them basic freedoms, freedoms the millions of American citizens living a few countries away would dismantle their government for depriving them of. And so the infuriating and almost unbelievable American hypocrisy continued to thrive, causing utter chaos and disaster in a country far away from the American government’s “caring” eyes. Therefore, while both Argentina and Guatemala are undeniably guilty for state sponsored terrorism that killed thousands of people, it could be argued that Guatemala was propelled down this path by an outside force, whereas Argentina managed to get there largely by itself. American intervention, causing the demise of democracy in Guatemala, is at the very least partly responsible for the ensuing decades of human rights abuses, as it paved the way for ferociously corrupt and violent dictators to gain power and strip their people of the rights granted to them under democracy.
Deporting an asylum seeker
An asylum seeker from China was caught in the U.K. when the police raided a gang that was participating in the trade of cannabis. In principle the news would not have much to do with the theme of this class, however, a Chinese citizen who had applied for asylum in the U.K. was caught in the raid. One of the arguments of the defense was that the conditions of his asylum in the U.K. did not allow him to work, so there was not much of an alternative for him to find money, other than to enter the illegal market.
Mr. Jiajie He, who acted as a curier for the gang will be deported to China once he serves his sentence in the U.K. Mr He’s lawyer argues that it is highly likely that his client will face cruel and unusual punishment because it is widely known that the Chinese government does not see with positive eyes Chinese nationals who apply for asylum. Moreover, another question that remains is the extent to which Mr. He has violated any law that prevents his case from being heard. The Convention of Refugees states that anyone who has committed a crime against humanity, against war, etc none of which could be indicted to Mr. He yet at end he is most likely to be deported.
Uruguay: Un ambiente regional
Not only has there been breakthroughs in Uruguay regarding the military-dictatorship, but there also have been waves of positive changes throughout the region. An Argentine military leader, Alfredo Astiz, involved in torture and other crimes against humanity was sentenced for life and Brazil has decided to create a Truth Commission to investigate the human rights violations committed in their recent past. Chile convicted 6 retired military officers of the kidnapping of three Uruguayans. Brazil's an interesting case because not one military officer has been tried since the 1964-1985 military regime. Overall it's an interesting article highlighting the changes sweeping the Southern Cone in terms of post-transition justice.
Un ambiente regional
Un ambiente regional
Truth commission in Brazil
Brazil to set up a truth commission
This is an article about a Brazilian bill that is about to be signed into law, setting up a commission to investigate the abuses which occurred under military rule. Unfortunately an amnesty law was upheld by Brazil’s supreme court last year making sure that any potential evidence that is uncovered will not be used to persecute human rights abuses.
Interventions in Guatemala
At the beginning of the this weeks reading, I was struck by the inovation and entrepreneurial spirt of Lorenzo Baker and Samuel Zemurry. Until it became clear that the resources and political independence of Guatemala had been overtaken by the United Fruit Company. The control over not only resources but also transport by the American company is an unfortunate part of central American history. The ensuing American support for the United Fruit Company against Arbenz and his land reforms was a tragic event the repercussions of which are still being felt in Guatemala today. The fact that America was willing to help take down a government on behalf of the United Fruit Company is appalling, yet sadly not surprising. Why a corporation is more important than the democratic choice of a people is a question that we are still asking ourselves today.
The Intervention and Árbenz
This is sad commentary of the United States in Latin America. No wonder they don’t teach us that in history class. From my own interest in Latin America, I learned about the many coupes that my country has supported and carried out throughout the world, and Americans wonder why the rest of the world aren’t fond of us.
The United Fruit Company was the Standard Oil of the tropics. Doing everything they could to make a profit. The title of the book, Bitter Fruit, makes perfect sense in the excerpts we read about the tumultuous times in Guatemala…how the intervention’s main focus was concerned about protecting American business interests abroad.
I found it interesting that Latin American revolutionaries were present in other places of the world during monumentous events. From the chapters, el Che was visiting Guatemala in 1954 at the time of the removal of Árbenz. Also Fidel Castro was in Colombia in 1948 at the time of the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán which sparked the Bogatazo and La Violencia. Did experiencing these events convince them to take up the armed struggle in Cuba?
Though not as obvious, there is still a cozy relationship that big business’ have with the government. It is just more discrete than the past destabilization efforts and interventions that took place south of the border for the past century protecting produce.
Various characters in the excerpt always seemed to be reappearing out of exile and back into the political sphere. If was as if there was this savior, who was going to change everything and the guys in power had forgotten about. And, like Ydígoras, they are just as inefficient and weak as the previous guy in power.
I felt bad for Árbenz. Everybody criticized him from the leftists to the pro-American businessman and military strongmen. He tried to stand up against foreign imperialism and tried to bring about change in his country and then was left on his own, jumping from country to country in exile. I find this odd because he was not a revolutionary nor a radical Marxist, but rather a bourgeoisie with good intentions for his people and his country. I wish he would’ve put up a fight and not let the Americans get their way. Ever since getting the boot out of office, his life unraveled before him. Was he really that much of a threat to other country’s politics? He ended up dying in his bathtub. I don’t buy that, but that does sound like a good way to completely demoralize the already beyond-damaged image of someone… to say that he drown in a couple inches of water in his tub.
It makes perfect sense why so many guerrilla groups arose after 1954. The US grip in Guatemala was immense. It is only logical that they sprung out of the woodwork. Some still believe that they will return someday from the jungles of Guatemala and Mexico. With the current president-elect Otto Pérez Molina, and the huge threat of Mexican traffickers, the future doesn’t look too promising for the country nor for any revolutionary presence.
Violence in Nicaragua after Ortega election victory
There have been violent clashes in Nicaragua between supporters and opponents of President Daniel Ortega, following his disputed reelection on Sunday. The main opposition candidate - Fabio Gadea - has denounced the election result as fraud and European Union election observers have questioned the transparency of the vote and the independence of the electoral authorities. As a result, at least four people have been shot dead in the north of the country.
Violence in Nicaragua after Ortega election victory
There have been violent clashes in Nicaragua between supporters and opponents of President Daniel Ortega, following his disputed reelection on Sunday. The main opposition candidate - Fabio Gadea - has denounced the election result as fraud and European Union election observers have questioned the transparency of the vote and the independence of the electoral authorities. As a result, at least four people have been shot dead in the north of the country.
Guatemala, the tale of an intervention
Although the purpose of the exercise is to write the first thing that comes to one’s mind after doing the readings I have waited a few days to see if that will allow the anger to settle and something else will come to light. Bu that anger has not receded. The readings about Guatemala are not necessarily different from Chile or countless other places where in the name of democracy and anti-communism, democratic regimes where brought down in allegiance with the military institutions and the Catholic Church. It did not matter that there was not evidence of links between the Soviets and the emergent democracies of –in this case- Central America. A good for nothing bunch of rifles from Cechoslovaquia were in themselves good reasons to intervene against a democratically elected government. The will of the people of Guatemala was of no use, because the people that mattered needed to get bananas at an affordable price. The will of the workers of United Fruit Company did not matter, because better working conditions was a legitimate demand for some people, but not for others. Perhaps Jose Saramago was right, when he argued that one of the problems with democracy was that people choose their political representatives, but those were simply “political commisars” of the economic power. Perhaps Ranciere is right when he argues that politics is the staging of a dissensus and that is precisely what continues to happen, the dissensus continues being staged.
Many times when people talk about the possibilities of development for Latin America, they go on and on about the rich natural resources of the region, but perhaps those natural resources have been a blessing, which became a curse.
Many other times when people talk about the corrupt governments of the region they make it sound like it is an incapacity of the people to differentiate the good from the bad apples, but too often, far too often, even when the sovereign will of the people have chosen the best that they can, it is the foreign intervention that brings back to power those who have been ousted by the people. The latter could be demonstrated in the case of Guatemala when the people that had worked under the Urbico government went back to power with the CIA backed government that ousted the Arbenz government.
Perhaps the most troubling fact is not so much what happened, as horrid as it was, but that the same trickeries are being used, the same grandiose words, are being invoked in order to subdue and oppress peoples, the same old and tired concepts like liberty, democracy and security continue being placed as masquerades for economic interests whose only concern is the maintenance of the status quo.
The greatest error of Arbenz and many others after him was to think that the people of Guatemala were being exploited by unequal political and economical arrangements, to thin that he could change that and that the populace followed him.
After readings like this week’s reading, it is so hard to continue believing that a better world is possible. Perhaps it will never be. The only alternative will be to become cynics, give up the idealism and comprehend that democracy is an idea that is rotten in its modern use.