Latin America is very angry. In Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, there are a plethora of protests for lack the of democracy; in Chile, Ecuador, and Haiti, there are protests due to the lack of opportunities and greater equality. Meanwhile, Argentina …
Latin America is very angry. In Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, there are a plethora of protests for lack the of democracy; in Chile, Ecuador, and Haiti, there are protests due to the lack of opportunities and greater equality. Meanwhile, Argentina returns to the Peronist-Kirchnerist left, and Mexico does not see the exit to the growing spiral of narco-violence.
Latin America’s rich and not-so-rich are very separated from its many poor and not-so-poor. The sad lesson is that democracy is necessary but not sufficient. From the Colonies to the present day, Latin American economies have been organized for the benefit of a few. After decades of dictatorships and authoritarian governments, many countries — in addition to electing their leaders with votes — expected a time of economic well-being for all. But this majority welfare has still not arrived. The future of Latin America is uncertain. It will always be like this until this changes.
Nevertheless, I am hopeful. I believe the new era of social organization will change the traditional attitude many civilians have towards the social contract. These protests that we are watching unfold are actually the product of the new spaces created by democracy; in the dictatorships of Pinochet, of Videla in Argentina or in Mexico of 1968, citizens were massacred for protesting. Today citizens are no longer afraid. These new spaces are the new forms of social organization that take place thanks to new technologies – from the internet and social networks to the use of cell phones – these tools will hopefully circumvent any attempt at control and censorship. Official press releases have to compete on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the fluidity of millions of videos, photos, and texts that contradict them. You can no longer govern if legitimacy and credibility are lost in networks. In my opinion, there is hope for our uncertain future due to an increase in certainty in the networks.
This week, we were able to explore some of the reasons as to why a large number of Latin American nations are subjects of extremely instability in cultural, social and political contexts. I found great joy in learning the content this week, as I myself hail from a country with similar recurrent issues, thus this […]
Latin-American could be understood as the multidimensionality created by a variety of complex societies that could be seen or not as failure. These nations of great divergence ensure the existence of elitism and oligarchies which have been historically opposed by the mases. During centuries literature has been a mean to harshly critique and present new […]
As the term draws to a close, I’ve been focusing on how my perspective of Latin America has changed. I always knew conflicts in Latin America were complicated, with many twists and turns. And although I have learned a lot over the past few weeks I am still more confused than ever. I am confused, […]
As the course comes to an end, we must wonder: where is Latin America going? Max Cameron’s video seems to propose that the region is headed towards a more egalitarian, prosperous and independent future, led by a plurality of leftist governments. He speaks about Evo Morales in Bolivia, who, rather than coming to power as […]
Posted in Blogs, Week 13 | Tagged with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chávez, Morales, Venezuela
The the title of this blog post suggests, the future of Latin America is uncertain. The term ‘Latin America’ itself encompasses a large region of culture, history, struggle, and ambiguity that has no real pattern as it attempts to figure out its role within itself and in the grander scheme of the world. As Max […]
As the course comes to an end, we must wonder: where is Latin America going? Max Cameron’s video seems to propose that the region is headed towards a more egalitarian, prosperous and independent future, led by a plurality of leftist governments. He speaks about Evo Morales in Bolivia, who, rather than coming to power as […]
Posted in Blogs, Week 13 | Tagged with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chávez, Morales, Venezuela
For this week’s content, I have some stuff I want to talk about but they don’t really go together so you will have to bear with me as I skip around different topics. First off, I moved from mexico about 14 years ago precisely for some of the reasons that the book outlined; or maybe […]
For this week’s content, I have some stuff I want to talk about but they don’t really go together so you will have to bear with me as I skip around different topics. First off, I moved from mexico about 14 years ago precisely for some of the reasons that the book outlined; or maybe […]
