This week’s material and discussions were ones that I held close to my heart personally. Politics aside, I have always believed in the right of every group of people to self-determination and have always believed in the principles of democracy and elections – the power of the majority. The interference of larger nations on the politics of smaller nations is inevitable, and more importantly, not necessarily immoral. In Latin America however, we learnt this week that it was a case of oppression and the colonizers had no regard for the wellbeing, human rights or resources of those indigenous to the lands, something I viewed as arrogant and vain as I could find no other explanation other than the colonizers feeling they were superior.

What we also learnt this week is that Latin American colonies were mostly not settler colonies, which were bad enough, but rather exploitation colonies. This means that they were colonizing Latin American territories merely to exploit resources that did not belong to them, or in other words, greed.

What this week symbolized for me was resistance, a human obligation to oppression. As Simon Bolivar said in the Jamaica Letter: “There is nothing we have not suffered at the hands of that unnatural stepmother – Spain”. Bolivar used this letter to preach Latin American unity against their dark history and what remained of it at the time in which the letter was written (1815). Another person who challenged the status-quo was Jose Marti, who also discussed the importance of a united Latin America, where those in control come from and understand the people of Latin America and their desires. Former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez discussed the modern form of enslavement, or rather control against the will of those being controlled. Chavez discussed the susceptibility of South America to the modern exploitation of South America.

In summary, this week I have learnt that, regardless of morality, true sovereignty is essential for the wellbeing of a people. On a sadder note, also that no one will strive for the benefit of a nation except if it is in their interest.