Revolution in Latin America

1. Revolution in Latin America Human Rights in Latin America Prof. Angelina Godoy

2. Cycles of reform and retrenchment • In Latin America, many countries experienced democratizing reforms in the mid-20th century • Extension of vote (to women, those without land) • Legalization of labor unions • Legalization of opposition parties, including socialists • Constitutions with guarantees of labor rights, social security • In many countries, populist or socialist parties elected to office • Reactions to such reforms varied by country; often violent • Cold War lens defined all reformists as Communists, justified intervention “in the name of democracy” • In reality, there was an enormous variation among reformists along both ideological and tactical lines

3. Qué triste se oye la lluvia en los techos de cartón Qué triste vive mi gente en las casas de cartón. Viene bajando el obrero casi arrastrando sus pasos por el peso del sufrir Mira que es mucho el sufrir mira que pesa el sufrir. Arriba deja la mujer preñada abajo esta la ciudad y se pierde en su maraña hoy es lo mismo que ayer es un mundo sin mañana. How sad the rain sounds On the cardboard roofs How sad my people live In the cardboard houses. The worker is coming down Almost dragging his feet From the weight of his suffering Look how much he suffers Look how much suffering weighs. Up the hill he leaves his pregnant wife Down the hill is the city below He loses himself in its tangles Today is the same as yesterday In a world without tomorrow. Los Guaraguao, “Casas de Cartón”

4. Qué triste se oye la lluvia en los techos de cartón que triste vive mi gente en las casas de cartón. Niños color de mi tierra con sus mismas cicatrices millonarios de lombrices y por eso que triste viven los niños en las casas de cartón. Qué triste se oye la lluvia en los techos de cartón que triste vive mi gente en las casas de cartón. How sad the rain sounds On the cardboard roofs How sad my people live In the cardboard houses. Children the color of earth With the same scars Millions of tapeworms That’s why the children live sadly In the cardboard houses. How sad the rain sounds On the cardboard roofs How sad my people live In the cardboard houses.

5. Qué alegre viven los perros en la casa del explotador Usted no lo va a creer pero hay escuelas de perros que les dan educación pa' que no muerdan los diarios. Pero el patrón, hace años, muchos años que esta mordiendo al obrero. Qué triste se oye la lluvia en los techos de cartón qué lejos pasa la esperanza en las casas de cartón. How happily the dogs live In the house of the exploiter You’re not going to believe it But there are schools for dogs Where they train them Not to bite the newspaper. But the boss, for years, many years He’s biting the worker. How sad the rain sounds On the cardboard roofs How far away is hope From the cardboard houses.

6. Social and intellectual movements for reform Many movements converged to support leftist platforms for change; these did not necessarily support armed struggle These theories were developed in, and centered on, Latin American reality, did not rely on theories developed in North 1. Dependency theory • “Underdevelopment” in global South not a consequence of backwardness but of unequal power relations between North/South • global economic structures privilege North at expense of South; wealth of North dependent on poverty of South

7. Social and intellectual movements for reform 2. Liberation theology • Christianity demands church involvement in liberating people from oppression both spiritual, economic, and political • Faith compels action, and action should be based on “preferential option for the poor” • Critique of church focusing on spiritual practices as if divorced from urgent human needs

8. Oscar Romero • “The word that bothers many, liberation, is a reality of the redemption of Christ. Liberation means the redemption of humankind, not only after death so that they are told to ‘resign yourselves in this life.’ No, liberation means that there is no exploitation in this world of human beings by other human beings. Liberation means redemption that wants to free humankind from so many kinds of slavery: the slavery of illiteracy, the slavery of being hungry because of not having enough to buy food; the slavery of not having a roof over your head, of not having anywhere to live.” November 25, 1977

9. Oscar Romero • “It scares me, brothers and sisters, when repressive laws or violent attitudes are denying the legitimate avenues [of expression] of a people that needs to be able to protest. What happens with the kettle that is boiling and has no escape valves? It can explode. There is still time to let our people express themselves as they wish. As long as, at the same time, justice rules. Because naturally, brothers and sisters, when we defend these aspirations we are not taking the side of terrorist demands. The church does not agree with any kind of violence, not that which springs forth as the fruit of repression, nor that which oppresses in such barbarous ways. It simply calls for understanding one another, for dialogue, for justice, for love.” March 19, 1978

10. Por el cerro de la Iguana, montaña adentro de la cegobia, se oyó un resplandor extraño como una aurora de media noche. Los maizales se prendieron, los quiebraplatas se estremecieron, llovió luz por Muyugalpa, por Telpaneca, por Chichigalpa. Near the Iguana Hill, beyond the cegovia (tree), there was a sudden flash of lightning, that lit up the midnight sky as if it were dawn. The cornfields were alight, The quiebraplatas (plant) trembled, Light rained down at Muyugalpa, at Telpaneca, at Chichigalpa (names of places) Carlos Mejia Godoy, “Cristo de Palacaguina”

11. Cristo ya nació en Palacaguina, de Chepe Pavón (Pavón) y una tal María, ella va a planchar muy humildemente, la ropa que goza la mujer hermosa del terrateniente. La gente para mirarlo se rejuntaron en un molote, y el indio Joaquin le trajo quesillo en trenza de nagarote, en vez de oro, incienso y mirra, le regalaron según yo supe, cajetita de diriomo y hasta buñuelos de Guadalupe. Christ was born in Palacaguina, To Joey Pavón and some girl named Mary. She works humbly, ironing the clothes that the beautiful wife of the landowner enjoys. In order to see him, the people gathered together in a crowd, And Joaquin the Indian brought him quesillo (traditional sweet) wrapped in a cornhusk braid. Instead of gold, incense and myrrh, I heard they brought him diriomo (indigenous perfume) and Guadalupe buns (traditional sweets).

12. Cristo ya nació en Palacaguina, de Chepe Pavón (Pavon) y una tal María, ella va a planchar muy humildemente, la ropa que goza la mujer hermosa del terrateniente. José pobre jornalero se mecateya todito el dia, lo tiene con reumatismo el tequio de la carpintería, Maria sueña que el hijo, igual que el tata sea carpintero, pero el Zipotillo piensa, “mañana quiero ser guerrillero”. Christ was born in Palacaguina, To Joey Pavón and some girl named Mary. She works humbly, ironing the clothes that the landowners’s beautiful wife enjoys. Joseph, the poor worker, he slaves away all day long. The banging work of carpentry has given him rheumatism. Mary dreams that her son might grow up to be a carpenter, just like his dad, But the kid thinks, “When I grow up I want to be a guerrilla.”

13. Guerrilla movements in Latin America • Some on the left supported armed struggle • The denial of political freedoms led many to join to guerrilla movements in Latin America in the 1970s/80s (why?) • Cold War logic conflated most social justice movements with communism/socialism • failed to perceive difference between moderate social reformers and radical revolutionaries, prohibiting both • this left violent revolution as the only means to promote change • Countries where those in power allowed some reform avoided violent guerrilla movements (Costa Rica, Mexico to a lesser extent)

14. Foquismo: -Marxist ideas applied to Latin America -Idea that a small group of revolutionaries could ally themselves with rural peasantry and overthrow wealthy elites -Guerrilla leaders often well-educated, from cities, recruited from universities Ernesto “Che” Guevara, 1964 speech at UN -Why do you think his message resonated with so many Latin Americans? “Che” Guevara

15. State terrorism Are we romanticizing the revolution? • Armed guerrillas responsible for violence, destruction, death; should the state have sat by and let them have their way? • No, states required to protect populations, provide stability. But the way guerrilla movements were combated is considered “state terrorism” for 2 reasons: • States cast the net too wide, targeted people who were not involved in armed insurrection • States used terror tactics against own population, including torture, disappearances, executions, and harassment to spread fear

16. The human rights movement Human rights campaigns spoke out on behalf of victims of state terror, regardless of who they were • AI: prisoner of conscience Routinely accused of defending “terrorists” (similar charges are made today)

17. Authoritarianism in perspective Greg Grandin, The Last Colonial Massacre (2004): • The authoritarian period in Latin America should be understood as a counterrevolution that reversed the democratic gains of mid-century • Why did dictatorships happen? To reverse the gains made by popular masses in first wave of democracy • Latin American democracies of mid-century included extensive provisions for social rights; today’s Latin American democracies are modeled on individual rights

18. Perdóneme Tío Juan pero se ve que no sabe nada las cosas que yo le digo se sienten en carne propia que en tierra venezolana el imperialismo yankee hace lo que le da la gana ¿es que usted no se ha paseado por un campo petrolero? ¿usted no ve que se llevan lo que es de nuestra tierra? y solo nos van dejando miseria y sudor de obrero y solo nos van dejando miseria y sudor de obrero Forgive me Uncle Juan But it´s clear you don´t know anything The things that I´m telling you about Can be felt in our own experience In Venezuela, Yankee imperialism Does whatever it pleases Haven´t you passed by The petroleum fields? Haven’t you seen how they take What is ours? They only leave behind Misery and workers’ sweat They only leave behind Misery and workers’ sweat Los Guaraguao, “Perdóneme Tío Juan/ Forgive me Uncle Juan”

19. Los niñitos macilentos que habitan allá en los cerros mas que vivir agonizan entreteniendo sus sueños mas que vivir agonizan entreteniendo sus sueños. Contésteme Tío Juan no se me quede callado. Conteste si no hay razón en que sigamos luchando por echar de nuestra Patria al yankee que nos la quita y al lacayo que lo tapa ¿es que usted no se ha fijado lo que pasa con el hierro? nos pagan la tonelada por menos de tres centavos ¡vamos a luchar, caramba! o nos quedamos sin cerro ¡vamos a luchar, caramba! o nos quedamos sin cerro The malnourished children That live there in the hills More than living, they’re agonizing As they entertain their dreams More than living, they’re agonizing As they entertain their dreams Answer me Uncle Juan Don’t just stay silent Answer me, isn’t there a reason For us to keep struggling To throw out of our country the yankee that takes it from us And the lackey that covers it up Haven’t you noticed What happens with the iron? They pay less than three cents For the ton Let’s fight, damn it! Or we’ll be left without our land Let’s fight, damn it! Or we’ll be left without our land

20. No te dejes engañar cuando te hablen de progreso por que tú te quedas flaco y ellos aumentan de peso por que tú te quedas flaco y ellos aumentan de peso. Contésteme Tío Juan no se me quede callado conteste si no hay razón en que sigamos luchando por echar de nuestra Patria al yankee que nos la quita y al lacayo que lo tapa Don’t be fooled When they talk about progress Because you’ll stay skinny While they gain weight Because you’ll stay skinny While they gain weight. Answer me, Uncle Juan, Don’t just stay silent Answer me, isn’t there a reason For us to keep struggling To throw out of our country the yankee that takes it from us And the lackey that covers it up

21. ¿Es que usted no se ha paseado por un campo petrolero? ¿Usted no ve que se llevan lo que es de nuestra tierra? y solo nos van dejando miseria y sudor de obrero y solo nos van dejando miseria y sudor de obrero. Los niñitos macilentos que habitan allá en los cerros mas que vivir agonizan entreteniendo sus sueños mas que vivir agonizan entreteniendo sus sueños Haven´t you passed by The petroleum fields? Haven’t you seen how they take What is ours? They only leave behind Misery and workers’ sweat They only leave behind Misery and workers’ sweat. The malnourished children That live there in the hills More than living, they’re agonizing As they entertain their dreams More than living, they’re agonizing As they entertain their dreams.

22. Communism vs. Capitalism: Different ways of dividing the pie Capitalism -individuals pursuing self-interest is key to productivity: Adam Smith -individual freedom is paramount; the law of supply and demand is the best way to distribute resources -perfectly compatible with socioeconomic inequality Communism -idea that capitalism is built on exploitation of working class (proletariat) by capitalist class (bourgeoisie) who own the means of production, and that capitalist society is inevitably exploitative -Communists seek to overthrow capitalist state through revolution and impose new communist order based on equality -In a communist society, social justice and equality more important than individual liberties Socialism -usually does not aim to overthrow state but to elect reformers through democratic channels and then impose reforms to more equally distribute resources among population -usually aims at balance between social justice and liberties