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Complex post-cold war politics, depoliticizing and Human Rights – week 12
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As we get closer to the modern day in our learning on the politics of Latin America, it seems the issues seemingly become more complex. Perhaps it is the lack of temporal distance; these events are discussions are not clarified by historical distance. Also, as the polarizing and binarizing tendencies of cold war ‘camps’ dissolve, so our compartmentalizing of stakeholders becomes unstructured. Perhaps this dissolution leaves bare these political events, which can no longer be reduced to capitalist versus communist. As these structures lift, we can only wonder how much...read more read full post >>
Week Twelve
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This week’s reading centered on the fall of the terror states in Latin America. The way I interpreted the events... read full post >>
Week 12 – Truth to Power
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This week we looked at the various forms of protest and “speaking truth to power” that took place in Latin America in the later half of the twentieth century and the early 2000s. I was particularly interested in two components of this weeks reading: the effect of media and modern technology on protests and reformation […] read full post >>
Week 12 – Truth to Power
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week we looked at the various forms of protest and “speaking truth to power” that took place in Latin America in the later half of the twentieth century and the early 2000s. I was particularly interested in two components of this weeks reading: the effect of media and modern technology on protests and reformation […] read full post >>
Week Twelve
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Violence is yet again present in week 12 and Dawson can’t help but agree that there has always been violence in Latin America. This time however, drugs become a major part of the multitude of issues. I found it really … Continue reading read full post >>
Week Twelve
Posted by: feedwordpress
Violence is yet again present in week 12 and Dawson can’t help but agree that there has always been violence in Latin America. This time however, drugs become a major part of the multitude of issues. I found it really … Continue reading read full post >>
Week 12 – Speaking Truth to Power
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week, Dawson delves into some of the ways Latin Americans have resisted oppression and violence, particularly in the way they have worked to garner attention from the international community (especially the U.S.) as a tool for making a change in their reality. One of the examples the author discusses is the Madres de la […] read full post >>
Week 12 – Speaking Truth to Power
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week, Dawson delves into some of the ways Latin Americans have resisted oppression and violence, particularly in the way they have worked to garner attention from the international community (especially the U.S.) as a tool for making a change in their reality. One of the examples the author discusses is the Madres de la […] read full post >>
Speaking Truth to Power: Week 12
Posted by: feedwordpress
Today when we bring up the idea of Latin America, it is almost always associated to immigrates and drugs. The drug war is not a stereotype of Latin America, but after watching the lecture videos I realised that it is in fact a part of life, it has happened, it happens even today, and may even continue to happen in future. The military, businesses and people are all trying to extract as much money as they can- and thus causing corruption. Coming from a highly corrupt country Kenya, I know that changing the foundation of this and trying to put an end to drug cartels is extremely difficult and will probably take a while for such measures to be implemented.
The War on Drugs is my favourite video so far! It showed us how drugs are brought into countries and the extent through which people will go through just to bring in these drug- like hiding it in coffee bags, or having people swallow and eat packets of cocaine. Infamous people like Pablo Escobar had been depicted in the video for being the most powerful man in Latin America when he had been trafficking cocaine. It was really shocking to see how powerful this man really was.
The Madres de la Plaza de Mayo really spoke to me and evoked so much sympathy. It had been disheartening to read about this group of mothers that lost their children.
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an association of Argentine mothers whose children "disappeared" during the dictatorship. This era represents families being torn apart and several human rights atrocities that had been carried out by the corrupt military. They had their children “taken” from them with no explanations.
During this “Dirty War” in Argentina from 1976 to 1983, the military government did more than just kidnap children but they went to extents of torturing people and anyone that they saw as submissive in the military they would expel them. It was truly sad to read about this- and I can only imagine how many families had to suffer as they watched their loved ones being taken from them one by one and not receiving clarifications as to what happened to them. It seemed like everyday life was a struggle in Latin America and just being able to survive seemed like a mission on it’s own.
My question for this week was: Do you think the drug cartels was beneficial in some way for Latin America?
My question for this week was: Do you think the drug cartels was beneficial in some way for Latin America?
Week 10 Reflections
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One interesting aspect of this week’s chapter is the role of technology, especially when looked at in a wider context. Earlier in the semester, we read about how the telegraph, alongside barbed wire, railroads, and machine guns, ultimately found itself used as a tool of political repression. Although this is not the entire picture, we […] read full post >>
