Brazil

Between August 2018 to July 2019, Amazon has lost much of its vegetation and President Jair Bolsonaro isn’t putting his priorities on fixing the issue or implementing any remedies for the restoration of the Amazon.  For years, Amazon has been considered to be the largest tropical rainforest in the world and its famous for its biodiversity. Almost 60% of the Amazon is located in Brazil, which becomes the responsibility of President Bolsonaro. In this article, many environmentalists have been concerned with Bolsonaro’s lack of response towards Amazon’s deforestation and his lack of effort against illegal mining, logging, and ranching. Previous governments had implemented efforts and strategy’s in order to preserve the rainforest but now Brazil is possibly making it worse.

(Jair Bolsonaro, right, with environment minister.)

Two trends have been happening that are concerning to researchers; the increase in deforestation and the increased reluctance to confront illegal activity that causes the deforestation of the Amazon. Once Bolsonaro took office, “his administration cut main environmental

agency’s budget by 24 percent”. His explanation was that “Brazil’s vast protected lands were an obstacle to economic growth and promised to open them up to commercial exploitation.” (Casado and Londoño 2019) While campaigning for president, it had become clear that Bolsonaro believed the Amazon was an obstacle for Brazil to make profits and flourish. One thing I found interesting in articles related to the Amazon, is that lack of incentive for amazon and its victims. The indigenous people of Brazil, forest residents, and environmental agents are being targeted by loggers who see them as obstacles to their efforts to dismantle the Amazon. (Phillips 2019) President Bolsonaro doesn’t seem concerned with his people and its responsibility to the rainforest.

This is similar to some of the themes presented in class. Although this is not like the revolutions of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua; there is a rebellion from the government against the Amazon, that could potentially affect global warming. Germany’s minister has described the consequences of deforestation saying, “protecting the Amazon is a global imperative, especially given the rain forest’s vital role in absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, essential to the effort to slow global warming.”(Casado and Londoño 2019) Through DeFronco’s theory, this kind of revolutions is by reform, there is a mass frustration concerning Bolsonaro’s lack of effort, there has been international intervention by neighboring countries as well as the US and Europe. It also relates to the abuse and neglect many indigenous people receive. There is a necessity to be more inclusive of how the government treats people. He is letting his people down and allies. Bolsonaro has to reevaluate his priorities concerning deforestation and its negative effect on global warming as well as looking into the victims affecting by illegal activity.

Links to Articles:

1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/brazil-amazon-deforestation-soars-11-year-high-bolsonaro-191118140604466.html
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/world/americas/brazil-deforestation-amazon-bolsonaro.html?action=click&module=inline&pgtype=Article
   1. (Main Article)
3. Hehttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/amazon-deforestation-brazil-crime-report-human-rights-watch

The Miami-Dade commission rejected the Democratic bill to help reunite Cuban families. The bill would expedite travel applications from Cuban relatives of U.S. citizens. Even though the democrats hold a slim majority on the commission, they still could not get the bill passed. Cuban Americans no longer hold a majority on the commission. Republicans claim that the bill was a way for Democrats to use the “pain of Cuban people” for politics. The bill was proposed by Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

This bill seeks to revive a program launched under George W. Bush. The bill allows Cuban-American families to apple for “parole” for relatives living in Cuba. The status allows family members to bypass some U.S. immigration delays and come to the United States while waiting for visas to be approved. The program was put on pause when the U.S. embassy in Havana.

In this article, Latin America is discussed in multiple ways. The main point is about Cuba. The article talks about Cuba as a place where people need to escape communism and socialism. The bill is trying to get people to escape the horrors that go on in Cuba. This is not a good look for Latin America in this article. Cuba is portrayed as a bad place to be in and live in.

This bill and article relates to what we learned about Cuba. We learned how Cuba was in revolution and how Castro lead the revolution, but we did not learn about what happened after. My grandparents are both from Cuba. They experienced the entire rise of Castro and what happened after. In Cuba, Castro began to take people’s land and homes. He then did not let them worship their own religion. Many people were in poverty and being oppressed. My grandparents were some of these people. This bill and article talks about the effects of everything Castro did to the country. The bill basically allows people who escaped to be able to bring their family members who are still in Cuba to America even while their Visa is still being approved. This article is directly talking about one of the places we learned about.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article237555054.html

Evo Morales announces his resignation on November 10th.

On November 10^th, 2019, Bolivia’s three-term president stepped down after weeks of widespread protests and violence due to the results of the October 20^th election, in which Morales achieved a surprise victory over his opponent Carlos de Mesa. In Bolivian elections, a candidate requires either 50 percent of the vote, or at least 40 percent with a 10 percentage point lead over the next candidate (CEPR). If a candidate doesn’t reach either of these, the top two candidates are placed into a runoff election against one another. In Bolivia, there are also two vote-counting systems. The first is the “quick count”, a system which gives a count of the votes received on election night for use by the media. The second is the official count, which usually takes longer to count, includes all votes, and is the only system that is legally binding (CEPR). The quick count gave Morales a lead over de Mesa, but not the 10 percentage point lead he needed to avoid a runoff election. A few days later, the final election results through the official count were delivered, and Morales won with just over a 10 percentage point lead.

Subsequently, the opposition to Morales denounced him and his results and took to the streets in protest. The opposition cites his decision to run for a fourth term despite his promise that he wouldn’t, his successful removal of term limits through the constitutional court declaring them a human rights violation, his decision to build a luxury presidential palace and a museum dedicated to himself, and the fact that the votes he needed to win coming in at the last minute as justification for their belief that the election was illegitimate (CNN). After weeks of protest and calls to resign, Morales offered to hold a second election. However, the opposition and Bolivian protestors were not placated by this, and with the military joining in against Morales, him and much of his cabinet stepped down in an attempt to “stop the bloodshed” (NYT), and stating that what was occurring was a coup.

Carlos de Mesa speaking to the media.

Morales’s supporters agree that a coup occurred. They cite widespread right-wing violence in the weeks after the election for calling this a coup, with terror tactics such as Carlos de Mesa’s party paying youths to cause chaos as primary examples (teleSUR). Racism is also said to be a motivation behind this alleged coup. Morales is the first indigenous president of Bolivia and is immensely popular with the indigenous people of the country due to his major reforms. Much violence has been specifically targeted towards indigenous women, such as when a mayor of Morales’s party “was beaten, dragged through the dirt and doused with red paint in ritual fashion” (teleSUR). Furthermore, many of the votes which gave Morales his belated lead were from rural areas with a high indigenous population, areas which historically report late and heavily favor Morales.

What I found highly interesting was how the event has been portrayed in United States media outlets versus Telesur, a Latin American news network sponsored by Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Bolivia. The New York Times portrays Morales as a leader desperately trying to hold on to power, but does make note of his accomplishments of lifting many out of poverty. Both the New York Times and CNN describe the response to Morales as an “rebellion” (NYT) of the people against an oppressive ruler, both portray the delayed votes as the votes being delayed without any known reason, and cite the OAS as evidence that the election results were highly irregular. Telesur takes a diametrically opposed viewpoint. It, unlike the other articles, mentions that Morales’s party asked the OAS to recount the results, and characterizes the opposition as seeking to seize power in any way possible, not caring about the results of the election. Telesur does not mention Morales successfully petitioning to have term limits removed, or any criticisms of his actions as president. It should be noted that the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), a think-tank based in Washington D.C., has examined the results of the election and found nothing out of line in this election when compared to previous elections, calling the OAS’s decision to question the election results without providing any evidence as “very unusual, and highly questionably” (CEPR).

Jeanine Áñez, the current president of Bolivia. She was 5th in the line of succession as Second Vice President of the Senate.

In the context of our class themes, I see these events as indicative of a counterrevolution, most similar to what occurred in Chile in 1973. Morales as president was a popular leftist leader, who was forced out of office by the actions of the military, an event very obviously reminiscent of Allende’s fall (do note that the New York Times clarifies that this is not an “old-school coup in which the military aims to take power itself”). Furthermore, this comes after Bolivia’s cancelling of an agreement with a foreign firm to mine lithium in the country (Common Dreams), much like how the Chilean nationalization of copper in 1971 under Allende prompted the military coup there and then. The OAS is also a major player in these recent events, hearkening back to our class examination of Fidel Castro’s denouncement of the OAS, and adding in themes of imperialism and neocolonialism. Finally, US support of dictatorship can be seen in the portrayal of these events, as the New York Times article ends with a quote from far-right President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, an authoritarian leader who has on numerous occasions praised Brazil’s oppressive military dictatorship—quite literally giving him the last word in this matter.

Works Cited:

Beeton, Dan. “No Evidence That Bolivian Election Results Were Affected by Irregularities or Fraud, Statistical Analysis Shows: Press Releases.” CEPR, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 8 Nov. 2019, http://cepr.net/press-center/press-releases/no-evidence-that-bolivian-election-results-were-affected-by-irregularities-or-fraud-statistical-analysis-shows.

Forster, Cindy. “Bolivia in Crosshairs of US Counter-Revolution.” TeleSUR English, TeleSUR, 11 Nov. 2019, https://www.telesurenglish.net/opinion/Bolivia-in-Crosshairs-of-US-Counter-revolution-20191111-0004.html.

Ghitis, Frida. “Bolivia’s Blunt Message to Leaders Drunk on Power.” CNN, Cable News Network, 11 Nov. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/11/opinions/bolivia-evo-morales-ghitis/index.html.

Higgins, Eoin. “Bolivian Coup Comes Less Than a Week After Morales Stopped Multinational Firm’s Lithium Deal.” Common Dreams, Common Dreams, 11 Nov. 2019, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/bolivian-coup-comes-less-week-after-morales-stopped-multinational-firms-lithium-deal.

Londoño, Ernesto. “Bolivian Leader Evo Morales Steps Down.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/world/americas/evo-morales-bolivia.html.

More and more of the Amazonian rainforest has been cut, logged and replaced with pastoral lands. Although we know much about the way Bolsonaro has sold off large chunks of the Amazon purposefully instead of protecting the area. The Araribóia indigenous reserve is home to 5,300 indigenous Brazilians of the Guajajara tribe and the Awá and covers an area of 1,595 sq miles in the heartland of the Amazon. While many of the lands surrounding the area have been cut down, the tribal lands have remained relatively intact directly due to the efforts of the indigenous “forest guardians” who ward off logging gangs. 

These articles are about the death of one of those guardians, Paulo Paulino Guajajara, at the hands of illegal loggers. Within Bolsonaro’s rule, attacks and invasions of indigenous lands have skyrocketed, with 160 reported cases of land invasions, doubling last year’s numbers. This is in tandem with his government actively dropping support of indigenous and environmental support groups by cutting their budgets and thereby cutting off any possibility for support from agencies meant to maintain the reserve. Effectively, leaving them to fend for themselves against the extreme violence used by the loggers and the brush fires that have plagued the region. Showing how Bolsonaro has essentially targeted indigenous people and their lands to be logged and specifically withheld support to sustain that aim. 

Both of the articles specifically critique Bolsonaro’s government and his lack of support of indigenous people but through entirely different means. While Amazon Watch critiques the government through the use of the leaders of agencies within the government calling out it’s actions, the Guardian article subtly solely uses the indigenous people as their sources. This is significant because the Guardian use it to articulate the support of Bolsonaro through the entirety of government, along with the concept that these killings are regular occurrences that started as far back as 2015. Linking the idea to a sustained campaign rather than linking it specifically to Bolsonaro’s government. While the Amazon Watch article does it through the perspective of those in governance and the indigenous tribe, resulting in a seemingly coherent response against the atrocities from significant portions of the government. This therefore links the idea specifically to Bolsonaro rather than any other part of the government and placing the blame solely on him. 

Many of the themes prevalent in our article link back to those we have studied within the classroom. Particularly authoritarian governments and their consistent conflict over indigenous rights. European colonialism has left a legacy of racial based class dynamic, with indigenous people being the poorest and most exploitable because of the wealth extracted from them from European elites, which has meant that a key way indigenous rights have been maintained and grown is through conflict. As we saw with Tupac Amaru and his failed rebellion, the Mexican revolution or even the Cuban revolution, much of the understanding of the role of racial hierarchy and colonialism in the perpetuation of that abuse was created under the fermentation of revolt against European style elites. The quote that “Large numbers of Afro-Cuban professionals…attest to the ways revolutionary actions brought about change”(Benson, 24), supports the idea that conscious understanding of indigenous rights and rights for people of colour is brought about through newfound awareness during periods of violence. 

Work Cited:

Benson, Devyn Spence. “Not Blacks, but Citizens.” Antiracism in Cuba, 2016, 30–71.

Cowie, Sam. “Brazilian ‘Forest Guardian’ Killed by Illegal Loggers in Ambush.” The Guardian, November 2, 2019.

Rossi, Camila. “Indigenous Forest Guardian Murdered by Illegal Loggers in Brazilian Amazon.” Amazon Watch, November 1, 2019.

Parracho, Lunae. Ka’apor Indian Warriors Tie up Loggers during an Expedition to Search for and Expel Illegal Loggers, November 1, 2019. Photograph. Reuters.

LA in the News was presented by Gabby in which she highlighted the reaction of the Honduran people to the news that their presidents brother had been accepting bribes from the notorious drug lord, El Chapo. It reinforced the idea that the government was corrupt and with the further news that the money was meant for the president himself led to a far reaching protest movement against the government which has left as many as 23 dead. Furthermore, she articulated the fact that we can understand how this wasn’t a lone case of corruption, and that politicians had been taking money away from education and healthcare to line their own pockets, while as much as 60% of the Honduran population remained in poverty. 

Throughout this class we focused primarily on the Nicaraguan revolution and it’s far reaching effects across the South American continent. We learned about the FSLN, how they formed out of an independence movement led by Sandino and how by the 1980’s they had taken power away from the Somoza dictatorial family, who were supported by the US. A major part of the class was spent analyzing the Time’s cover of Daniel Ortega which had been captioned “the man who makes Reagan see red” against a red background. We went into depth in analysing how Cold War politics of complete hostility by the US towards leftist movements in South America had pushed them to align with dictators like the Somoza family. But also how they had supported terrorists against democratically elected governments, like the support of the Contras against the Nicaraguan government. The emphasis of each of these policies for the US was always to preserve its economic interests within their sphere of influence and maintain stability. 

Within the discussions we talked a lot about the nature of the FSLN and their divergence from traditional leftist groups in their inclusion of women, people of colour and religion directly in their manifesto. We understood how their inclusion of each of these elements allowed them to thrive, for example, through targeting people of faith, it allowed them to distance themselves from marxist anti-clerical revolutions and thus gain the support of much of the population or through their emphasis on bringing back exiled and asylum seekers in order to help the cause of the revolution. Furthermore, we discussed how the FSLN stressed literacy, not just to increase the general education of the population but also to indoctrinate them through specific concepts and ideas that directly supported the new government. 

Key Terms:

The Contras – The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to the early 1990s

Daniel Ortega – The leader of nicaragua, first took power in 1979 as Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction and then as President of the country from 1985. 

FSLN –  The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua which overthrew the dictatorial government of the Somoza family and installed a revolutionary government in 1979. 

Links:
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80T00942A001200040001-7.pdf

https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-11-09/new-somoza-nicaragua

https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/n-contras.php

Questions:
What are the potential ramifications of US support of right wing terrorist groups against democratically elected governments?How exactly did the US view the FSLN, especially due to their considerable emphasis on religion?

In what ways did the majority of the population react to the takeover of Nicaragua by the FSLN? How about the governments of the nations around it?

After the Bolivian presidential elections on October 20th, a dissatisfied and angered population has continuously protested against the results since results were released.

Morales, having served as the Bolivian president since 2006, has been announced the winner of the most recent presidential election with 47.08% of the vote, a very close victory compared to the results of his opponent, Mesa, who reportedly received 35.51% of the vote. In order to advance without a reelection, candidates must receive 10% or more of the popular vote; therefore, Morales led with only a 11.57% lead.

After the announcement of election results, Mesa argued publicly that there was a form of “fraud” through the Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s work through calculating votes after the Preliminary Electoral Results transmission was suspended when the received results that were reported stopped at 83.7%.

In response to Mesa’s claim, the Bolivian Supreme Electoral Tribune defended the pause in results stating that, “the remaining percentage corresponded to rural votes, over which immediate figures cannot be applied”.

Citizens who oppose the results have since been in protest as a way to express themselves throughout the country. Protesting methods from Mesa’s supporters have included barricading doors, windows but as well supporters of Morales have since blocked highways and set off fireworks.

The Vice President of Bolivia, Alvaro Garcia Linera, on Tuesday has announced that due to allegations and suspicions from Mesa and others, international sources including Perú, Paraguay, Organization of American States and other nations will be inspecting the voting results.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Govt-Says-Election-Results-To-Be-Audited-by-OAS-Mexico-Peru-Paraguay-20191029-0007.html

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Morales-Calls-on-Opposition-Groups-To-Respect-Electoral-Result-20191026-0005.html

https://www.telesurenglish.net//news/Bolivia-Invites-OAS-to-Audit-Electoral-Results-Almagro-Accepts-20191022-0009.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/bolivian-election-protests-santa-cruz-block-roads-la-paz

“We Live in a Narcostate”

Throughout this month much of Latin America has been filled with protests over the upcoming presidential elections due to the endless string of corruption within a variety of countries’ governments. Recently, it was established that the Honduran president’s brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, was found guilty of accepting $1 million by notorious drug trafficker El Chapo. Only confirming what the Honduran people already knew, that their government is corrupt and being run by drug traffickers.

Hernandez originally denied the allegations and stated that they were “false, absurd, and ridiculous”. He also claims that the allegations were “invented” by other convicted drug traffickers who were upset with his anti-crime policies. A few of these policies insisting that accused drug traffickers be extradited to the United States instead of being held in Honduran prisons due to the country’s corrupt prison system. However, during his trial, it was discovered that the money was meant to be used by the president himself. This sparked mass frustration that ultimately made many Hondurans question the president’s integrity and power. A former legislator for President Hernandez Hernandez’s National Party says the allegations “… won’t have an effect because because of his control over the attorney general, the judiciary, the armed forces and most of the media”.

As a result of the trial, people from Honduras along with several neighboring countries like El Salvador and Guatemala have either fled from their homes towards the U.S. or protested the corrupt government and local gangs (as seen above). Due to the constant protesting over the month, President Hernandez came to the decision to allow a panel of international prosecutors to investigate the case. So far, there have been many discoveries of how politicians have pocketed public funds thus confirming the Honduran people’s beliefs that the government is corrupt and does not have the people’s best interest in favor. Not only has money been pocketed, but budgets for health and education have dropped and as of late last year it was reported that over 60% of Hondurans live in poverty.

After much controversy President Hernandez was elected a second term but now, all the Honduran people want is for him to step down from his position and to end the gang violence and influence upon the government and everyday people. Protests have been going on all across Latin America (Chile, Argentina, Ecuador etc.) because of corrupt government and its gang affiliation, this is nothing new. Because of these ongoing problems in LA, the article stresses these are some of the main reasons why there is so much migration to the U.S. and why LA is believed to have the highest murder rates in the world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/world/americas/honduras-juan-orlando-hernandez.html

There are now 4.5 million Venezuelans abroad in their attempts to flee the Maduro presidency. However, the numbers are expected to exceed 5 million and has now drawn the attention of the United Nations. In Latin America, there are currently 3.7 million Venezuelan refugees with the majority of the Venezuelans fleeing to Peru, Colombia, and Chile. Three international entities, the EU, UNHCR, and the IOM, have all called for the acceptance of the Venezuelan refugees.

Since 2014, there has been a shocking 8000 percent increase in the amount of Venezuelans abroad and this has been quite worrisome. The main reasons for the cause in the increase of Venezuelan migrants has been because of severe inflation and internal conflicts between president and opposition as Venezuelan President Maduro desperately holds onto power. Ever since taking power, President Maduro has been plagued by this crisis along with severe inflation.

With such a severe refugee crisis breaking out in Venezuela, news sources are determined to bring this information to the world as it enters the international spotlight. Drawing attention from multiple UN committees and the EU, this crisis is requiring all nations of Latin America to rally and support the Venezuelan people. It is important to mention that all of the articles really focus on the humanitarian side of the issue. The articles are a way of building empathy from the readers in their understanding of the struggles of the Venezuelan people. Building empathy is effective as it draws attention to issues around the world where aid is needed most.

Yes, this these articles relate directly to what we have been discussing in class as Venezuela struggles towards its road to socialism. With the passing of socialist Hugo Chavez, the previous Venezuelan president, Maduro has led the nation into a steep decline. Maduro currently has the support of the military in Venezuela and does not seem to be losing power anytime soon as the opposition in Venezuela seems to be unable to make progress against Maduro.

Works Cited

“UN and Partners Call for Solidarity, as Venezuelans on the Move Reach 4.5 Million | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, Oct. 2019, news.un.org/en/story/2019/10/1049871.

Latin America Advisor. “Maduro Clings To Power As Venezuela’s Refugee Count Hits 5 Million.” OilPrice.com, 24 Oct. 2019, oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Maduro-Clings-To-Power-As-Venezuelas-Refugee-Count-Hits-5-Million.html%C2%A0.

Nebehay, Stephanie. “Venezuela Exodus Set to Top 5 Million as Long-Term Needs Grow, Officials Say.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 23 Oct. 2019, www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-security-un/venezuela-exodus-set-to-top-5-million-as-long-term-needs-grow-officials-say-idUSKBN1X21MM.

We’ve been talking a lot about Chile these past few weeks, as well as how historians can use popular art as a way to understand revolutionary struggles, so I wanted to share this new song/video from Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux.  (More links to class themes: Tijoux was born in France while her parents were exiles during the Pinochet Dictatorship.  She’s talking about cacerolazos, the style of “pots and pans” protests we’ll discuss in class on Friday. And we talked about how new media facilitates the spread of global protest movements.)

The lyrics (Courtesy of SpinLyrics):