Profits at the Expense of Ecology

Document 11.1 is a summary of the court proceedings of Aguinda v, ChevronTexaco in 2011. The report mentions that Texaco dumped production water into Equadorian surface water between 1972-1990 near indigenous territory (378). Texaco, a part of Chevron since 2001, defended their actions by claiming that it was "common practice" during that period of time (378). To say that something is "common practice" as a legal defense says nothing more than 'because my friends are all doing it, I also jumped off the cliff'. However, in convincing the audience it is an argument to try to naturalize their actions, rid them of being spectacular and instead reducing them to the ordinary, every day actions of many. This defense is used every day. It is repeated multiple times until it is widely considered to be common sense. Once it becomes common sense, people do little to try to challenge, prosecute, or even acknowledge their true significance. Texaco then admits that they know the damage unlined pits have on the environment but decided not to improve their methods because unlined pits are profitable. Do they not understand that without the environment they profit from, there will be no resources for them to build their business? Capitalism holds profits as the most esteemed value. But it results in short-sighted actions. Texaco prefers to spend less money now in order to maximize their profits. But if they continue in this direction, there will be nothing for them to profit from! Our parent's generation consistently blames our generation for being lazy, for being anti-social, for being the 'me generation'. I beg to differ! If there is one generation we can call the 'me generation', it would be the generation in current control of transnational corporations, such as Texaco!

Should it be a crime to damage the environment for personal gain and exploitation? Would it be possible to pass a law that criminalizes this kind of behavior when liberal democracy is founded on the principles of the free market and de(un)regulated practices?

Document 11.2 report on Chevron Corporation v. Steven Donziger presents two claims one presented by Chevron and one presented by the Lago Agrio Plaintiffs. The LAP representatives claimed that the poor, indigenous people of the rain forest cannot be properly represented nor sued in New York. Chevron claims that Ecuador's judiciary system is corrupt, thus it cannot provide adequate forum for the trial (388). The report then goes on to explore these claims. It addresess LAP's claim in a few sentences and then devotes 5 1/2 pages to giving context for Chevron's claim. It concludes that Ecuador's judicial system should be deemed as inadequate due to its corrupt nature. He states that the judges who do not rule in favor of the president are at risk of being met with "public condemnation, removal from office, and even criminal prosecution" (393), He also mentions the factoid, "Ecuador was ranked in the lowest eight percent of the economies studied with respect to 'Rule of law'".

Has the author sufficiently addressed the indigenous concerns? Was he right to end the conversation of the LAP's claim on the fact that indigenous people of Ecuador sued in the United States in the past? Is the report obscuring evidence that could back up their claim?

Further Readings on Dawson, Chapter 1: "Independence Narratives, Past and Present"

The independence narratives of Simón Bolívar and José Martí are crucial to the understanding of modern politics in Latin America. Their visions of independent nations in solidarity against Spanish imperial control is reflected in Hugo Chávez's and Fidel Castro's struggle for autonomy from the United States and domestic dictators. These populist leaders call on independence heroes to strengthen their narratives and maintain their power. By way of this process, the legacies of Bolívar and Martí are kept alive. All four of these individuals are highly controversial, therefore the framing of the media's perspective of them is essential to criticize.

Source 1: Post, Jerrold M. "“El Fenomeno Chavez:” Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Modern Day Bolivar."The Counterproliferation Papers 39 (2007): ii-38. Print.

            "El Fenomeno Chavez" is a report by Jerrold Post, a professor of political psychology at the George Washington University in the United States. It is a fifty page document analyzing Hugo Chávez's invocation of Simón Bolívar as the president of Venezuela. It is heavily bias towards the American media's representation of Chávez as a dictator of a non-democratic nation from the far left. However, the document gives an enlightening analysis of the psychological manipulation Chávez arguably subjected the Venezuelan public by calling on Latin America's most esteemed independence war hero, Simón Bolívar.

            Chávez is framed by Post as a manipulative political mastermind. One who knew very well the popular support he would receive by channeling Bolívar. He is painted as a unilateral leader that silenced opposition parties by revising the constitution and creating his personal media mediums, such as his own TV show. Post argues that Chávez managed to manipulate the public, violate the constitution, pass undemocratic laws, and maintain presidency by masking his actions with his charismatic personality and his advocacy for the poor. Post makes a direct attack at this "myth" by diagnosing him as having a narcissistic personality. He sharply states:

Chavez is an authoritarian narcissistic leader who has dreams of glory, and can be overly sensitive to criticism. The arrogant certainty conveyed in his public pronouncements is very appealing to his followers. But under this grandiose facade, as is typical with    narcissistic personalities, is extreme insecurity. (12)

Therefore, due to Chávez's psychological condition, he blames others for his own mal-doing. By stating the above not only does Post undermine Chávez's charm, but he undermines his political stance against the United States, the significance of the Bolivarian Revolution and his competency as a leader. He frames Chávez's position as a symptom of his psychological problem; a consequence of his mental capacity and not a validated revolutionary struggle against imperial powers. Chávez is, thus, rendered as an inadequate leader and his criticisms of the States as ludicrous.   

            At the general assembly of the United Nations in 2007, Chávez “ [referred] to President George W. Bush who had addressed the U.N. general assembly the day before, stated, 'The devil came here yesterday [. . .] And it smells of sulfur still today.' [. . .] He also stated that the United States was “the first enemy” of its people” (26-27). There is a resemblance between Chávez's passage and the following passage from Bolíva's popular “Jamaican Letter” written in 1815. Bolívar writes, “We have already seen the light, and it is not our desire to be thrust back into darkness. The chains have been broken; we have been freed, and now our enemies [Spain] seek to enslave us anew” (doc 1.1 in Dawson, 22). They both use powerful allusions, they demonize the hegemonic power and Other it as the enemy of the state. Post captures Chavez's use of rhetoric as a strategy to embezzle and awe to increase enthusiasm: “Chavez has cultivated a larger-than-life self-image, approaching messianic proportions, yet is not out of touch with political reality. However, at times he seems to become captive of his own inflammatory rhetoric” (12).  

            Chávez's success is due to his crafting of his self as an image, an ideal, an idea backed by military action and supported by populist legacy. He is able to do this by channeling the idea of Bolívar. Hugo Chávez intentionally embodied Simón Bolívar's personality and ideologies to help him rise to and maintain power for 14 years (2). Jerrold Post puts it in harsher terms:

Hugo Chavez is a skilled political manipulator, who is adroitly Machiavellian. His continual emphasis of his mission of championing of Bolivarian ideals, his oft stated pride in his being a mestizo, and his continuing emphasis on his own roots in poverty is employed to maintain his hold on power. (15)

It is predominately Chávez's active adoption of Bolívar's personable personality traits, political ambitions and ideologies, deft ability to entertain, and legacy that wielded Chávez's popularity among the members of the Bolivarian cult. Chávez's  invocation of Bolívar is not Bolívar as a man in his exclusivity, but as an idea that can be used as a political tool for ulterior motives.

Source 2: Castro, Fidel. "Excerpts from "History Will Absolve Me"" Trans. Richard Slatta. (n.d.): n. pag. College Cengage. Web. <http://college.cengage.com/history/world/keen/latin_america/8e/assets/students/sources/pdfs/87_fidel_castro.pdf>.

            In October 1953, Fidel Castro gave a four hour speech in his own defense after the attacks on the Moncada Barracks. Castro’s defense was an attempt to attach his name to the great independence hero of his country, José Martí. It was arguably successful given that he became the Prime Minister of Cuba and remained so until his health deemed him incapable. This speech makes it clear that he is against the Batista dictatorship and their neglect of the poor agricultural inhabitants of Cuba. Castro stresses the importance of equal access to education and land rights. It reads like a manifesto for the revolution he advocates and the rights of the people. But, most importantly, he stresses the required solidarity of all citizens of Cuba, and the locked potential of the country (nature and state).  

            In the sixth enumerated revolutionary law, Castro states:

Furthermore, it was to be declared that Cuban policy in the Americas would be one of close solidarity with the democratic peoples of this continent, and that those politically persecuted by bloody tyrants opposing our sister nations would find generous asylum, brotherhood and bread in the land of Martí; not the persecution and treason they find today. Cuba should be the bulwark of liberty and not a shameful link in the chain of despotism. (5)

Castro is advocating for Cuba's rightful place to be that of the liberators and upholders of democracy for Latin American nations. He is drawing upon Martí's more succinct and poetical call from "Our America", "Let the world be grafted onto our republics, but we must be the trunk" (doc 1.2 in Dawson, 27).  Castro speaks to Cuba as the "land of Martí". While Martí referred to Cuba as the land of those who inhabit it and as the spirit of the nation, Castro has taken Martí and made him into the embodiment of his ideas. Thus, the "the land of Martí" refers to the independent, fully flourished, and local perseverance of the land and its people. Castro continues, "The greatness and prosperity of our country depends on the healthy and vigorous rural population that loves the land and knows how to till it, within the framework of a State that protects and guides them" (5). This echoes Marti's powerful phrase, "Let the heart’s fires unfreeze all that is motionless in America, and let the country’s natural blood surge and throb through its veins!" (Dawson, 29). Martí, here, is summoning the local, national potential of the land and those who are most intimitate with it, the farmers, to rise and become active in their own production, as Castro does in his words.

            Castro has a sincere devotion to Martí revolutionary struggle and has channeled in his own revolution. He perceives his efforts as a fulfillment of Martí's cause. The attack on Batista of which he is being charged were valiant acts of heroism in his name and wishes to be commemorated as such. Castro ends his speech with “Condemn me, it does not matter. History will absolve me!” (6). This speech is more than just a defense, it his successful attempt to win over the people by channeling a national independence hero from Cuban history. 

Hear Our Cries

The first video 10.1 "Madres" was heart wrenching for me to watch. Las Madres de Playa de Mayo have stood in front of La Casa Rosada (the equivalent of the white house in Argentina) from 1977 to 2006 demanding to know where their children are and the status of their lives. My parents missed being taken themselves by a slim margin given their age during the dictatorship that held the nation in terror from 1976 to 1983. Both of them have told me of horrific stories. When my mother was in school, it was locked down because men carrying guns had entered and demanded everyone to stand silently in a straight line. She observed that these men moved like trained military of the state. My father was detained while on his way to a nightclub. He was frightened because he had forgotten his ID. Thankfully, something more important came up and they let them go before they checked asked my dad for his identification. In the period of the dictatorship, everyone was forced to bring their identification everywhere they went. This was a time of high surveillance and the country still wreaks of it. In my parents home-city, Córdoba, they have tried remodeling the buildings the military used to occupy. Turning their head quarters to a museum, turning the women's prison into a luxurious dinning and art center. However, when you walk those streets the terror still lingers. And it lingers across generations. I, who wasn't even born at the time, feel the terror when I see not police officers in their everyday attire, but when they assume their protest management outfits, with their helmets and guards, I become petrified. My grandparents were the lucky ones, many mothers were robbed of their children. 

How can the people of a nation trust their government after having been terrorized by those who vouch to keep them safe? How can mothers forget the pain that the nation they are taught to love took away their children? 

The dirty wars foresaken the lives of these children and the cries of their mothers.  The absence of their bodies, crucial to the process of mourning, has left them in despair, and in a traumatic state where progress is impossible. Mourning creates a spiral in which time does not seem to pass and their lives come to a halt. The mothers in 10.1 and the citizens of Mexico (10.8) cry for solidarity "to unite to create an agenda that unites the nation and believes in a state of real governability". (10.8). Because when the lives of those under a dictatorship that exercises ruthless violence based on color, race, ethnicity, religion, political opinion, it renders all citizens bare life. The nation becomes one where law is suspended and everyone is exposed to death. It is through solidarity that one's voice can be heard. 

A similar cry has been made in Ferguson,United States this weekend. Michael Brown's family and those who have stood in solidarity Michael and for other young black lives that have unjustly taken away by police men attacked the media once more with powerful images. The problem with using the media for justice is that technology has a way of letting things die too quickly. In the rapid times of the internet, it is hard to keep peoples attention. The following link is a pictorial narrative of the protest showing people laying down with chalk outlines around their bodies to remind the world that they have not forgotten and nor should we. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiakoerner/protesters-stage-a-die-in-to-mark-100-days-since-michael-bro 

How can we compare the militarization on American soil in response to the protests in Fergusan, the media's spin on the shooting, and the response of the mourners of Brown's death to this weeks readings?

Terror, Violence and the Nation in "Peru in an Age of Terror"

The key words in these documents is terror and violence. Through the terror created by decentralized violence, people can be manipulated, and changes can take place. "The Massacre" by Mario Vargas Llosa reports on how the massacre of 8 journalists in 1983 were conceived through the fear that they were enemies. Terror makes people erratic. It distorts their judgement and makes it harder to trust others. El Diario's interview of Chairman Gonzalo in "The Interview of the Century" tells his conviction that violence is the only means one can achieve total revolution and complete change. He says, "With regard to violence we start from the principle established by Chairman Mao Tsetung: violence, that is the need for revolutionary violence, is a universal law with no exception. Revolutionary violence is what allows us to resolve fundamental contradictions by means of an army, through people's war" (240). His use of "people's war" poses the question, 'who is included in the word people?'. He strategically using the word people when speaking about revolution to imply that the revolution is for the betterment of the nation and the people within it. However, the first document (9.1) shows how the "people", typically assumed to be the peasant, general population are scared of the Senderistas (the party of which he supports). It is interesting to read this in light of Llosa's cautionary statement in the last paragraph of the excerpt in which she states, "The story of the eight journalists reveals how vulnerable democracy is in Latin America and how easily it dies under military or Marxist-Leninist dictatorship"(240). Additionally, Gonzalo's interview justifies upholding power through violent "terrorism".

Gonzalo goes on to say that "Lenin taught us that the times had changed, that the bomb had become a weapon of combat for our class, for the people, that we're talking about is no longer a conspiracy, an isolated individual act, but the actions of a Party, with a plan, with a system, with an army. So, where is the imputed terrorism? It's pure slander" (241). It is unclear to whom he is referring to as 'us' and to whom he is referring to as 'them'. However, it is clear that Gonzalo has been accused of being a terrorist and thus he argues in his defense that how can he be a terrorist when the bombs they use are not individual acts but are planned, systematic, and backed by armies, thus they are actions of the state. This distinction has been made by the United States in its relentless War on Terror. When an individual acts in an "anarchic" fashion by bombing people or a place it is terrorism. But, when a state does the same but through the army and backed by a party it is in the name of securing the nation and protecting its citizens. Another layer of hypocrisy has been added when the US, has accused Peru under his regime to be terrorists.

Does this added layer have to do with the fact that these actions were committed on internal soil (within the nation and not on other nations) or that they were a leftist government or perhaps it's something else?

The use of Language in the Media

Sometimes it isn't about what is said but how it is said. The language used when shaping a story is consequently shapes our world view. We often refer to this as how a media source spins a story. The four documents in the 7th chapter of Dawson's text are exemplary of how the media's spin on an event/story can radically change people's perception of said event/story. The first document threads in conspiracy theories and critiques of the authenticity of Argentine's democratic government under peronistas. The New York Times subtly tacks on the following statements at the end of their report, "Two members of the council were forced out a few days ago for having advocated the placing of Col. Domingo Mercante, Governor of Buenos Aires Province, in second place on the ticket. Colonel Mercante started an official trip through the province on Monday that would keep him out of the city through today"(179). These statements appear to be objective in their claims, however their purpose is to paint Peron and Evita as having conspired to be the only party present during this important day to ensure their reinstatement and public support. The New York Times strategically placed this at the end of the article so it is the last impression Evita and Peron have on their reader, thus shaping their perception of the two, at least leaving them with doubt of their support, if they had any.

Conversely, the second document spins the speech to look like Evita Peron is devoting herself to a life of servitude for the people, to raise them from poverty and aid them in their struggles against those who have put them there. It is thoughtfully phrased as to rule Peron and herself out of the group of elites who created the state of poverty in Argentina. The readers are left with an image of the Peron duo as political Robin Hoods, as the saviors of the people. The language in the Peronista report is such that all that is said is read as if it were common sense. For example, "They fully understand that prior to the arrival of General Perón, they lived in slavery, and above all, they had lost all hope for a better future. They know it was General Perón who gave them social, moral, and spiritual dignity" (179). So it is blatantly obvious that before General Perón the people were enslaved and it is also common knowledge that they are free now because of him. The language used in this document is very different to that used in the first document. Despite common assumption, reporting is not an objective act meant to only spew out the facts. These two documents comes to show that the way the media uses language is political, it has an agenda, and its purpose is to persuade the reader to take a specific perception of a person, party, or event.

Donald Duck and American Hegemony

By far the most interesting reading/film this week is Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, “From the Noble Savage to the Third World”. Disney movies have long been on my radar for American hegemonic agendas. Disney has reached all corners of the world. Whenever I visit my relatives in Argentina, they ask me if life in America is like in the Disney movies. These movies send messages around the world of what it looks like to live the American Dream and perpetuates the American mission to bring freedom and democracy to uncivilized, undeveloped nations around the world. It also instills ideas of the "undeveloped" world in the American population. Themes of the exotic, the foreign, the stupid, and the uncivilized are consistently characteristics of the people living in the settings taking place abroad. Donald Duck is one of the most extreme examples. Donald is a racist capitalist, exhibiting characteristics of greed and imperial attitudes.

Dorfman and Mattelart quote the Polynesian natives who imitate Donald, “You save our lives. . . We be your servants for ever.” to which Donald responds, “They are natives too. But a little more civilized” (159). This quote makes the direct connection between servitude and civilization. To be civilized means to be obedient, docile subjects of the foreign power. The natives are seen as being stupid, malleable people that could not understand the complexities of a modern civilization and are thus in eternal debt and dependent on foreign intervention. Their most convincing argument is on page 159. They  describe the time Donald went to "Outer Congolia" to save Scrouge's business because his stock was falling. This example eerily resembles how neoliberalism has been functioning for the past, say 50 years. Scrouge's business represents corporate interest in foreign countries for resources and labor to optimize profits. Donald represents military intervention to coerce the government to structurally change economically and politically. Donald gets rid of the king of "Outer Congolia", makes himself king, and rules until: "The king has learned that he must ally himself with foreigners if he wishes to stay in power, and that he cannot even impose taxes on the people, because this wealth must pass wholly out of the country to Duckburg through the agent of McDuck.". Donald's purpose was to assure the alliance of the foreign country of many riches in a unilateral relationship with the states that favors corporate interests. The relationship continues in a dependent trap in which the foreign nation gives monetary aid or resource, in this case, food. In return for their obedience. Disney may seem like innocent child entertainment taking place in imaginary locales. However, It perpetuates American interests and exacerbates the narratives used to colonize and degrade foreign nations.

Decolonization and the Fear of Re-colonization

Many of these articles try to formulate a tactic for unraveling colonialism. Rubén Darío in "To Roosevelt" denounces the Americans for their imperialist motives over Latin America. He makes it a point that Americans use violence to dominate and to dictate the path in which progress must take in Latin America. Rubén fights this imperialism by enumerating the greats of Latin America, suggesting that progress can come from places other than the United States. He also mentions that Latin America has yet to have finished decolonizing after independence from Spain when already they have the states breathing down their necks. He writes, "You are the United States, / future invader of our naive land / with its Indian blood, an America / that still prays to Christ and still speaks Spanish". José Vasconcelos tackles the race problem very differently. For Vasconcelos, rising above the imperial impact of colonization means rising above the race problem. His solution is to create the fifth race, the cosmic race (a mixed, interracial race in which the best qualities of every race create a superior being) by following three laws. He suggests that Latin America can be great, no, they can be the new imperial power if those who have abandoned their lower appetites (of material, physicality), elevated their interests to that of the higher appetites of intellect and politics (of the mind), then those fit will indulge naturally in procreation dictated by taste. Those who are to low and ugly will naturally be weeded out of the process since this framework is one based on aesthetic and not race. Vasconcelos attempts to rid Latin America of the race problem by creating an equally problematic issue based on aesthetics! He still uses the science he distastes in its use for race, condones eugenics, and believes in the manufacturing of a superior race.

Emiliano Zapata "The Plan of Ayala" and José Carlos Mariátegui in "The Problem of the Indian" take a different approach to decolonization. Their focus is driven by internal conflicts of colonization instead of the fear of an imperial Other. Zapata is angry in his piece because the promises of the 1910 revolution have not been met. He accuses Madero of manipulation of the rural class to gain popularity and rise to power and breaking his promises and turning his back on the principles of the revolution. Zapata finds his actions unacceptable because they enslave the campesina population and reduce them to a state of poverty and displacement a the hands of modernity. Their support of Madero was given that he could overturn the damages of Díaz in his three decade reign over Mexico. His regime lead to the colonization of campesina land through privatization pushing the people out and into more impoverished areas. Mariátegui in many ways follows along this discussion by calling out every scholar and politician that has attempted to construct the Indian problem as purely a social and political problem. He makes clear that the Indian problem is an economic one that is deeply embedded in land tenure. The displacement of the people and the laws of the leadership have made Indian life impossible. It excludes them from legal and political participation and constructs their social disadvantages. All in all, these articles are in their own way a call for decolonization in order to better the state of Latin America. 

Silencing the Indigenous in Creelman's Document

James Creelman in the excerpts from “Porfirio Díaz, Hero of the Americas” speaks optimistically about the Díaz regime, his efforts and their results. Creelman mentions that Díaz is a hero that stabilized a once "divided and unprepared" country (132). There is constant references to the republic and the indigenous as ignorant. Creelman says with pride, "the nation is emerging from ignorance and revolutionary passion, and that it can choose and change presidents without weakness or war" (130). The idea of ignorance before modernization is tied to the idea of enlightenment. In order to be progressive and enlightened, to be with the times, etc. one had to modernize and move out of the backwards ways of the past and gain knowledge that will aid their future. However, this narrative in the context of Mexico exists because of the enormous silencing of history. Creelman mentions that Díaz sold a million acres of land. He says this as if it were the greatest indicator of progress and stability. However, he clearly neglects to ask where all of this land came from and what used to occupy this space. These lands were not uninhabited and they were not up for grabs. The indigenous had a complex agricultural system in which there were public lands used as the commons. Díaz followed the manual of modernization and broke up the commons, divided them into parcels, and sold them to Mexicans, but mostly foreigners. The indigenous were displaced and were forced to privatize or be marginalized. Another indicator that Díaz himself mentions to be a success was the drawing back of religion. He views this as an accomplishment, saying that it was a part of his plan in ensuring that the government would not be oppressive nor ruled by one entity (ironically he ruled for three decades). The church was the institution of government for campesinos. The modern state threatened their authority and, thusly, threatened their faith. A third example of the silencing occurring in this document is based on economic indicators. Creelman purely views success their economic terms and national ones at that. He enumerates the revenue the new government has conjured for the nation. However, he neglects to delve into how this revenue is spent and who benefits and how those recipients feel about their impacts. Namely, education. The education system clearly is a national project, a modernization project that aims to change the ways of the indigenous to fit the modern state. It is evident that this document is geared towards foreigners and the elite of Mexico. It focuses solely on the national level where the particularities and on the ground impacts of policies are obscured. It is easy to paint a heroic figure through this light.

The Female/Male Dualism

"Soft", "pure", "nature", "guardanship", "slave", "home", "family", "weak'", "emotional", "body" are words that are associated with the female body. Judith (Josephina Pelliza de Sagasta) uses all of these nouns and adjectives when referring to women's place and role in society in her piece "Women: Dedicated to Miss Maria Eugenia Echenique". The female is constructed and othered by its counterpart, the male in what is called a dualism. Judith uses this dualism to reinforce women's place in society and glorify our oppression. What makes me uneasy is her use of religion to justify women's role as emotional, soft bodies that are only good for gawking and for being daughters (owned by her father), wives (owned by her husband), and mother (slave to her children) (99). She denies women the right to be independent and self-defining by her own agency. Instead she characterizes her as only through her relationships with her male counterparts. In her own words, "She is a slave! you emancipated women will exclaim - and I in turn will reply to you: not a slave but a companion, man's other half, slave perhaps to her children, but how seductive and poetic is her beautiful sacrifice"(99-100). This notion of women as docile, body and emotion is still highly visible in Latin American culture today. I've witnessed my cousins and aunts disciplining their daughters when they act unladylike, threatening them with the idea that they will never be loved by a man if they behave assertively, play "like boys do", get dirty, or wear pants instead of dresses. The dualistic nature of gender is harmful to women because it forces them into a position of second-class citizen and denies them agency. 

Maria Eugenia Echenique briefly rants about the necessity for emancipation by the power of the pen in her piece "Brushstrokes". She is enraged by the denied access to a good and full education, and the dependence women are forced into due to the social institutions that impede her emancipation. She blames the centralized ambitions for gold and "prosaic shine of possessions". How can women progress along with men when they have been excluded from this progression? When they are possessed and cannot possess themselves needless to say objects? I believe that her approach to change in writing is a well intended one and throughout history has proven to make many changes societal changes. However, despite the number of feminist theories, papers, and speeches, this dualism that oppresses women and raises men to the status of superior master and owner of the objects of knowledge is still very much with us today. There is a missing link between what is written and what is done/thought. The key for full women emancipation is in finding out what that missing link is. 

"Slaughterhouse" as a Political Allegory and in Hindseight

It is made apparent that "The Slaughterhouse (El Matadero)" by Esteban Echeverría is a political allegory. The men of the slaughterhouse represent the federalists and Matasiete could be Rosas. The bull and the young man who is tortured represent Unitarian resistance. The slaughterhouse is set in the city drawing the line between city and rural, Federalist and Unitarian. The tale is one of resistance but also a mockery of the civilized/barbaric dualism. The federalist claimed to be civilized while the Unitarians were painted to be barbaric in need of civilization. However, Echevarría illustrates that the barbaric men fighting over whether the bull is a bull or a steer are the Federalist. They indulge in killing, making haste decisions on instinct or lust for blood, and skirting the law. An example of this is when Echevarría writes, "The rules of proper social practice dictated that the animal be thrown to the dogs; but there was such a lack of meat, and so many inhabitants were going hungry, that His Honor the Judge was forced to turn a blind eye" (67). Many theorize that the clash in Latin America since colonialism has been one of civilization vs barbarism, European vs "primitive and violent" American ways. Through this story, Echeverría hopes to denounce Rosas protection of thugs who murder innocent people at the Buenos Aires slaughterhouse as the barbaric ones.

What I found striking about this story is its similarity to that of the Nazi persecution of the Jews during WWII. The people of the slaughterhouse become angry that the assumed Unitarian is not wearing the ribbon on his tail coat that lets everyone know what they are. One of the men exclaims, "Can’t you see his U-shaped side whiskers? He doesn’t have a ribbon on his tail coat or a mourning band on his hat.” Similarly, the Jews were forced to wear a yellow star as a badge on their coats. The hatred against the Jews rose after the economic collapse of the German economy post-WWI. The Jews became the target, someone to blame for their forced steps backwards in the progress of civilization. "Slaughterhouse" explains that the church and the Federalist blamed the Unitarians for the flood. They exclaim, "This is Judgment Day . . . God’s wrath is overflowing and spilling forth as floodwaters. Woe unto you, sinners! Woe unto you, wicked Unitarians who mock the Church and its wise men, and fail to listen reverentially to the word of the Lord’s anointed! Woe unto you who do not beg for God’s mercy before the altars! The terrible hour approaches of useless gnashing of teeth and feverish cursing. Your wickedness, heresies, blasphemies, your horrendous crimes have caused the plagues of the Lord to veer towards our land. The Lord of the Federation’s just hand will damn you.” (60). The Unitarians become the target the scapegoat for ecological disasters and thus violence was brought onto them. Given that this story was written in 1838 and WWII happened in the early 1940s, "Slaughterhouse" is an interesting story to read in hindsight because a pattern between disaster, scapegoats, and persecution emerges.

Fragmentary Consciousness

In chapter one, Alexander Dawson makes a note that much of Latin American history is constructed by narratives in order to create a unifier among a vast variety of histories and regions. This single identity he speaks of is used today to gain popularity to rise to presidency, in creating alliances between nations, and to join forces against imperial powers. I liked how he mentioned that there are two types of narratives. The broad, overreaching narrative that spans across large chunks of time and space and refers to concepts such as capitalism and colonialism. The other type is particular narratives. These narratives isolate a single point in time and look at its particularities. Both types of narratives are problematic. The former generalizes and decontextualizes.  The latter makes history seem rigid and precise, instead of fluid and changing before, during, and after the range of dates chosen. Dawson refers to these split visions as fragmentary history. He explains that his goal for the textbook is give multiple narratives instead of a single one. I think that it is very important to look at history in this light. There is no one side to a person, no one side to a place, and no one side to a country or a point of time. The first example he uses is that of the neighborhood Polanco and its neighbor Ecatepec in Mexico City. Polanco is a wealthy neighborhood, in contrast Ecatepec which is a poor slum. Both live next to each other, two different realities in the same geographic region, both considered Latin American, and both of them claim the same historic heroes. Their consciousness of this situation is actively being suppressed and summoned when convenient resulting in a fragmentary consciousness. I'm wondering how fragmentary history plays a part in this split consciousness and how it effects the individual's psyche.  

In my experience, the fragmentary history results in conscious and unconscious blindness. My uncle in Córdoba, Argentina lives in a "country" (gated community). Right beside this community is a villa miseria (slum). The two polar opposite worlds living right beside each other. Each one ignoring the other for decades. However, over the past few years, I've noticed tensions have risen due to resentment and economic depression. The two sides are willingly bringing the presence of each other at the front of their consciousness. The violence has risen and so has the conversation. During my visit this summer, I learned that in the 1600s there was a large population of blacks in the city. Many of the buildings that still stand today were built by blacks and indigenous peoples. Today both populations have been utterly displaced from the city. While speaking with my relatives I learned that no one knew about this! However, the most ubiquitous term used to refer to the poor, uneducated people of the city is "negro" (black). This piece of history had been completely erased from the consciousness of the people and the history of the city. Yet, it is still unconsciously present today in the language used. I believe that this duality might be a result of the fragmentary history Dawson speaks of. Thoughts? 

Pure Race and Backwardness in the Casta Paintings

In "Casta Paintings", Susan Deans-Smith is concerned about what the paintings have to say about colonial society in the 18th century. I on the other hand am more concerned about what they have to say about the events to come afterwards. What I found interesting about the casta paintings was the concept of pure race. Miranda feels threatened by the paintings, because he believes that they confirm the Spaniards assumptions that the Creole - descendants of white colonizers - are inferior to the Spaniards born in Spain. He feared the loss of power and reputation he inherently possessed under the caste system for being pure blood and white. The more white you are, the higher you are on the social hierarchy. This notion  is what provided the basis for many colonial social conceptions that were used to justify colonization and the mass killings that came with it. It was then replicated in Argentinean immigration policies, and in Hitler's goal for a pure Aryan race. We also see it internalized among rifts between people of the same race. For example, in Trinidad and Tobago, the respect you receive is contingent on how light your black skin is.

Another conception one can draw from the paintings is that of backwardness. One of the titles of the casta series is "salta atrás", meaning "a jump backwards". Backwardness implies that the group being described is stuck in the past, they aren't  "progressing" with the civilized, but rather are living like barbarians. We hear Columbus address the indigenous along these lines. He references their absence of religion, their indifference to gold, and associates their nakedness to a new born child. The latter implies that their nakedness reminded him of a state of infancy. We regard children below the age of 18 as "little people". They are human, however they are not fully human. Humans acquire their full personhood when they reach the age of maturity, 18. The same logic is used with regards to the indigenous. Their "barbaric" way of life justifies their dehumanization. And thus they are not seen as equals in the eyes of Columbus and Spaniards alike.  

It is interesting to see how these notions of purity and the civilized versus the barbaric continue to be used as tools to dehumanize and have been internalized today. Terms such as "uncivilized", "backwards", "barbaric", "them", "other" can be heard among the discourse revolving around the war on terror. The narratives that accompany them paint Muslims and the Middle East as an unknown religion and place that does not require our understanding because we consider ourselves to be more "progressive". In putting distance between us and them, makes them easier to dehumanize, stereotype, Other, and defeat.  

At the Heart of Colonialism

As it is often taught, the colonial endeavor largely revolved around the thrill of exploring the unknown. What exists beyond the European continental limits? What biodiversity and what kinds of people makes up land masses that have yet to be discovered by Europeans?  However, the thrill of exploration in itself seems to be Columbus's weakest skill and motivation. Columbus is overtly inept in the fields that  would be required for proper exploration, namely botany, biology, ethnography, and geography. Additionally, he lacks interest in exploring these fields in depth. In describing the different plants, he manages to say, "I have seen many trees very unlike our own, many of them with a host of different branches emerging from the one trunk, one branch differing from another to such a degree that the variation is astonishing" (36). He reiterates several times in his journal entries that he does not have the time, the resources, nor the incentive to explore the islands thoroughly. He reinforces these comments by repeating the main objective, gold. This would strongly suggest that the true motivations of colonization have little to do with expanding the knowledge of humankind, but rather with producing subjects of the state, expanding Christendom, building stronger militaries, and, most importantly, enriching the Motherland.

Columbus describes the indigenous as intelligent because "they quickly repeat everything said to them (30). He continues, " I believe they would readily become Christians; it appeared to me that they have no religion" (30). Columbus's definition of intelligence is that of docile submission; someone who exhibits near to zero critical spirit and repeats what they are told. In order to make the indigenous colonial subjects, Columbus suggests converting them to Christianity. Once Christian, they could be controlled through faith. Those who resist will receive the wrath of the Spanish knights as expressed in Guaman Poma's excerpts.

Columbus was also motivated in searching for resources that could increase the might of the Spanish navy, such as pine wood for building ships. At the heart of the expedition was the search for gold and riches.  It is through this strong desire for gold that the myth that is seemingly alluded to in Guaman Poma's excerpts, El Dorado, is generated. 

Introduction

My name is Michelle Pérez. I am a fourth year Human Geography major minoring in Latin American

Studies. Since both of my parents are Argentinean, I have had the privilege of visiting Argentina at least once every two years. Every visit is drastically different. Latin America is constantly in a state of change and becoming. This is why it is so difficult to pin it down. This very nature of Latin America is what interests me the most. I hope that this course will enable us to explore Latin American identity from a historical, political and social perspective.