POS 316/416 Latin American Politics – 11/06/2006

1. POS 316/416 Latin American Politics – 11/06/2006 • Course status. • Midterm Exam: returned last week, make sure you have received exam. • Questions? • Paper Assignment 2. • Due, both hard copy in class and e-copy w/n 24 hours. • Paper Assignment 3. • Distributed next week, due 11/27. • Lecture/discussion. • Elections 2006. • Oaxaca 2006 – Limits of Democracy. • Mexican government seizes control of Oaxaca. • Up to 7 demonstrators killed. • Including one American journalist. • Presentations (Human trafficking – Human Rights NGOs Chile. • US Influence/Counter-narcotics/Counter-Terror and Militarization. • Addicted to Failure?: State failure, rebellion, and narcotics. • Video: FARC, Colombia.

2. Elections 2006. • Latin America. • Washington Post. • Election Map. • Ecuador 11/26/06; Venezuela 12/?/2006. • Nicaragua. • Washington Post. • Ortega in the lead. • Look at Latin American Leftist leaders. • BBC - Polls predict Ortega win. • CNN – Ortega headed for win. • Oaxaca, Mexico. • BBC – Rally against governor of Oaxaca. • CNN – Bombing in DF – Police Evacuate Oaxaca.

3. Vanden and Prevost, Chap. 10 - 1 • Latin American Revolutions. • Marxism – theoretical inspiration for many revolutionary movements. • Marxism, Leninism appealing to Latin American (and other revolutionaries). • Utopian ideology. • Resonant class analysis of limits of reform of capitalist oligarchy. • Lenin and subsequent Marxian critiques of imperialism, and hope that it was “highest stage of capitalism.” • Unfortunately – for Marxists – imperialism superseded by neo-liberalism/globalization. • Latin American adoption and “revisions” of Marxism. • Influence begins with first international. • Marxism, anarchism, socialism, compete for revolutionary allegiances. • European immigration = diffusion of ideology in 1890s. • Mexican Revolution – left ideologies competed for seizing of revolutionary imagination. • Soviet Revolution – initial inspiration, COMINTERN activities. • Peruvian Marxism – Maríategui (attempted independent path).

4. Vanden and Prevost, Chap. 10 - 2 • Latin American Revolutions. • Latin American adoption and “revisions” of Marxism (continued). • Soviet domination of COMINTERN and penetration and direction of Latin American communist parties may have stunted development of Latin American national Marxism. • Played role in “revolutionary moments” and labor organization in Argentina, 1932 uprising in El Salvador, Chile 1933. • Soviet influence may have created a non-revolutionary Marxism resting on urban labor. • Cuban Revolution worker-peasant-insurgent alliance. • Post-Cuban Revolution. • Ché Guevara and Regis Debray inspire urban guerilla and peasant worker guerrilla movements (foco theory). • Movements ultimately not successful. • Influence of Maoist success and revisions to Marxism-Leninism. • Nicaragua. • Successful united front with Marxian influences. • Hybrid of Sandino, Maríategui, Gramsci. • 1979 to 1990, then revolutionary exhaustion, contra war.

5. Vanden and Prevost, Chap. 10 - 3 • Latin American Revolutions. • El Salvador. • FMLN (front umbrella organization). • Conducted guerrilla insurgency 1970s and 1980s. • Massive US intervention (discussed next week). • La Matanza 1932. Aggressive, incredibly brutal counterinsurgency. • FMLN insurrection in January 1981. • Initiates 10 year civil war. • Counterinsurgency has major support from United States. • Designed to prevent another domino from falling. • Aggressive “rollback” in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada (discussed in more detail next week). • 1990-1 – Peace process (roughly simultaneous with Nicaragua – timing not coincidental – Soviet Empire breaks up). • FMLN converts in political party. • On going insurgencies. • Peru, Colombia, Mexico (protracted peace process and very low level counterinsurgency). • Left-Reformist, Center Left Governments: Chavez, Lula.

6. Smith, Chap. 10 - 1 • “Illeberal Democracy.” • Dictaduras vs. Dictablandas. • Killing of jounalists. • Fujimori’s “infotatorship”. • Killing of in Oaxaca. • Antidefamation laws. • Uneven rule of law. • Special courts. • Prison abuse. • Changing context. • Freedom House ratings/civil liberties “checklist.” • Striking findings, electoral democracies with “partial protection” for civil liberties (p. 280). • Table 10.4.

7. Smith, Chap. 10 - 2

8. Smith, Chap. 10 - 3

9. US Influence: Global and Regional (Latin American) Patterns in Narcotics Trafficking. • UN. • Office on Drugs and Crime. • 2006 World Drug Report. • OAS • Inter American Drug Abuse Control Commission. • United States. • DEA. • “Narco-Terrorism” Website. • Department of State. • Plan Colombia. • Dept. of Treasury • FINCEN. • Political Instability Task Force/State Failure Project. • Phase 5 Reports.

10. Political Instability Task Force/State Failure Project – Phase V.

11. Political Instability Task Force/State Failure Project – Phase V.

12. Next Week (11/13/2006). • Paper assignment 2 returned via e-mail. • Paper assignment 3 distributed, not due until Nov. 27. • Come to class having done assigned readings.