Towards an uncertain future

Document 11.1 consists of court documents about the company Chevron, who had dumped a vast amount of wastes in Ecuador. This had happened  between 1972 and 1990, and the waste was water which had contained extremely hazardous chemicals. While working in Ecuador, the company, which at this time was called Texaco,  had left an environmental catastrophe behind them, leaving toxic waters in the lands pits, which poisoned the soil and made it unsuitable for any type of farming, leaving the region's agriculture industry impaired. While workers for the company argued that this was a common practice at the times, and  though this  may be true, it still left the land extremely damaged and was overall irresponsible by the company, as displayed by the line "Texaco had the means, but not the w, to employ safer but perhaps more expensive methods"(pg 379). This was not the only issue between Texaco and Ecuador, as Texaco had apparently also broken a multitude of codes, though Texaco argued in the court that they had been not made aware of these laws, which was later explained to be false "The court found that Chevron was well aware that its operations fell short of legal mandates" (pg 378) The environmental damages that this pollution had an unfortunately large amount of side effects, and not just lack of ability to farm. These effects included cultural impacts, cancer, and other damages. The damages affected cultural activities that involved the usage of rivers an soils, which caused damage to the indigenous peoples ways of life. The chemicals caused many people to develop cancer, and even die from it. Document 11.2 again accuses on the company Chevron and it's damages towards the environment of Ecuador, more descriptively the pollution towards the rainforests, an event which occurred in 1992.

Research Assignment- Export Boom

Labors Appropriate to Their Sex: Gender, Labour,

and Politics in Urban Chile, 1900-1930

In the nineteenth century, women in Chile worked hard, however this work was commonly done in their homes and was not for pay or seen by the public. A drastic change to this occurred when the exportation business rapidly grew, and in the early twentieth century, an enormous amount of people moved from their rural homes to urban cities in search of jobs. With so many men moving to these cities, women went as well, and could either depend on men to survive, or depend on themselves obtain one of the many jobs that the export boom had made possible. With countless of these jobs taking place in factories, this is here most of the woman went to work, as employers usually preferred to hire them as woman and children would work for a considerably lower pay than men. Though there were numerous jobs, and to be employed was not extremely difficult, the poor conditions and low wages caused many woman to constantly be looking for new jobs, creating an unstable work environment. Another factor which effected the jobs women had was their limited hours of availability, as many had families, creating domestic duties which they needed to make time for as well as work in factories’ in order to help provide for their families. Though the workforce was changing expeditiously, the differences between the role of men and women remained uncompromising, and these differences in roles remained steadfast. These gender divisions remained, and included the unspoken lesser value of women’s labor over men’s, and therefore the phrase “Labour appropriate to their sex” unfortunately became commonly used when discussing the jobs of women. The fact that most of these women had domestic duties as well illuminates on this phrase, as they were participating in the workforce, but they still were completing their traditional duties.

This low value attached to the work which women performed was challenged by Laura Rose Zelada, who also went by the name of Honorio Cortes. This was a woman in the early twentieth century who disguised herself as a man with the intention of creating a better life for herself as she was fully aware that men obtained higher paying jobs then women. Though she was arrested when caught for her actions, she was released quite quickly, as she had committed no crime. This created heavy press and attention, which was more positive than it was negative. It caused people all throughout Chile to sympathize with the burdens women in the workforce had to overcome, especially when a woman had managed to dress as man and perform jobs to same ability as any other man.

Women disguising themselves as men is not a new phenomenon, as this has happened numerous times in history, with a certain case being Catalina de Erauso, who disguised herself as a man and then became transgender. The fact that women have felt so trapped in their traditional roles that they have had to make the drastic actions of changing who they are to the public is concerning, especially when it has been over such a large time period as well as all over the world. 

Hutchison, Elizabeth Quay. (2001) Labours Appropriate to Their Sex: Gender, Labours, and Politics in Urban Chile, 1900-1930. Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books: 19-36

Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men and Women in Colombia's Industrial Experiment, 1905-1960

Strikes in Colombia in the 1930’s were a result of the dramatic social crisis, and these strikes were occurring in such an abundant amount, as well as places one would not typically expect a workers strike to occur. Owners of companies often believed these strikes to be caused by outside influences hoping to cause trouble, or even by the president at the time, Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo, as he had been wanting change. However, the actual workers complaints had little to do with any political parties. These strikes affected every worker differently, as well as meant different things to each person.    

There were many changes in the politics of Colombia in this time, a reason for this may possibly have been a result of the country being slower to make political changes in the twentieth century, and took up until the 1930’s for major changes to occur in the political party which controlled Colombia. Another reason may have been the enormous debt they found themselves in, since after the growing exportation business brought the country so much money, they lost control and borrowed more than they could actually afford. This expansion of the economy allowed the works to be more demanding, with the main requirement being receiving increase of pay, as well as more job stability, and even paid vacation time. When wishes were not granted, huge amounts of strikes began, one of the most concerning being the banana workers strike whom worked for the United Fruit Company. Some of these strikes managed to look past gender, and the men from all male union actually relied on women, which allowed these women to voice their demands in the strikes. These strikes affected every worker differently, as well as meant different things to each person.    

Maria Elisa was a textile worker at this time who had actually left a previous job due to low pay, and therefore understood the 1935 strike, as the people were insisting on receiving higher pay. However, the acts of violence made the strike a bitter memory for her. The women strikers effected Maria Elisa heavily, as the chaos they created included throwing rocks at other women who were not participating in the strike. In her opinion, a person who had little economic blessings would have the most success by having a positive relationship for the company in which they work for and remain loyal to it.

Workers strikes can insure better condition for workers themselves of they feel they are being treated unfairly, but strikes can not only cause a broken relationship between the workers and the company, but they also greatly impact those not involved in the companies or businesses. When the two sides are being equally stubborn, the workers refusing to work and the greater power refusing to give the worker what they want, strikes can last much longer than they need to, which negatively impacts the public. This was seen recently here in British Columbia in the B.C. teachers strike, where students lost a great deal of the time which would normally be dedicated to their studies.

Farnworth-Alvear, Ann. (2000). Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men and Women in Colombia's Industrial Experiment, 1905-1960. Duke University Press :123-148

Speaking Truth to Power

One of the most interesting parts of this weeks chapter for me was about the "Madres de la Plaza de Mayo", who were women whose children had gone missing  because they were the enemies of authoritarian states, causing them to "disappear". Although I had heard of this before, I have never studied Latin American history and my knowledge of it is admittedly quite limited. Because of this,  I was quite surprised that this was happening in the late 70's, and normally when I hear about this type of occurrence  I automatically think of quite a long time ago, and not as recent as the 70's, which is a bit disturbing. This reminded me of a film I watched in my Spanish class called "La Lengua de las Mariposas" which is set in Spain,  and at the end of the film many men were kidnapped at night because they were Republicans, but this movie was set in 1936, and I didn't think people would still be "disappearing" as late as the 70's. It was really interesting to read about how the media brought light onto this topic and this shows the power that media has. Once a topic as big as this is discovered, the awareness of it grows extremely quickly, and soldiers could not continue with how they were treating the women out of fear of the world finding out, and extremely quickly as well.I thought reading 10.2 was quite interesting, as it was "arguably the first rebellion of the digital age" and that the Mexican army could not do what they had done in the past, which was to get rid of them, which gave the Zapatistas more power and time than they would have in previous years.

The Terror

Document 9.1 was taken from the New York Times magazine, and focuses on the investigation on the event in the Southern Peruvian Highlands in which eight journalists were murdered. The people who killed the journalists, the Iquichanos, were accustomed to the amount of violence that was seen in the photos that were found, "That violence is the atmosphere they live in from the time they are born until the time they die" (page 304) While this obviously does not make what they did okay, it makes it more understandable. As evident form the photographs, words were exchanged between an attacker and a victim, and even though the victim was not armed, he was still killed. As the text said, this was due to the fact that they believed the journalists were enemies. The main reason for the attack is unclear, as it was suggested that the reason for the murders was the carrying of the communist flag, but there is actually no photographic proof of this actually happening. It is clearly stated that it was not the peasants who killed the eight men, it is the higher class citizens who were born in cities, who have so much support from peasants. Document 9.2 is an interview President Gonzalo where his idea  of violence is discussed. He appears to have no negative feelings towards violence, and believes it is necessary for things to run smoothly. "The need for revolutionary violence is a universal law with no exception" (page 306) and he also talks about how the two aspects of war are construction and destruction, and destruction must occur for construction to happen. Document 9.3  is the declaration of Fujimori. This begins with the opportunities that the democratic government offered, but they are being held back by other government branches. The goal is to move forward, towards "national reconstruction". This text is different from the previous two because it is much more focused on the people, and aware that they are the ones who make up the nation.

Power to the People

The importance of the radio proved to be very important way to connect people, and it "made the crowd into the people" (pg 208). It made a sense of community amongst the people, not matter what differentiated them, people could listen to the radio wherever they were, and whoever they were. I thought that "The Hora do Brazil" was really interesting. Since the radio was so popular and widely listened to, Getulio Vargas made all the radio stations in Brazil broadcast on hour of political information in the form of speeches, announcements and more. However, no one listened to it, and some stations refused to play it.  This is something that I think would still happen today, because when people like politics and free time to be separate events, something I would compare to ads online, which I think everyone skips because they don't want government messages or advertisements to interfere with leisure time. What I found interesting was that the only time that Vargas really had the attention of the radio was in his suicide note.
Document 7.1 was very skeptical, as it says in the textbook  that critics have said for a long time the The Times have purposefully chosen less attractive events in Latin America, and specifically written in negative ways.  This brings up the question of how realistic the the report of the event was. the reporter shows her biased view by stating "The Presidents acceptance was unqualified" and also when judging about how long it took Senora Peron to make a decision, and then not making an appearance on the radio. The reporter overall seems unprofessional, as I think reporters are normally supposed to be unbiased and just state the fats as they happen without expressing their own personal opinion.
Document 7.2 and 7.3  are different versions of the speech made by Peron, and Dawson explains that 7.2 was the version that was never actually said, likely because it was the speech that was written but not said, maybe because of the reactions of the crowd. In 7.3 the crowd is very involved, and the speech had to be taken in another direction to calm the crowd and please them.

Chapter 6

    I found it interesting that the chapter began with discussing the separation of cultures between the North and the South, and that America is " is often represented in simple terms, as a violent oppressor or noble saviour" (pg 181-182), and then is described "The United States has been a violent and often unwelcome presence in Latin America" (pg 182). This attitude of looking at the United States with both a positive and negative light is carried on in many aspects. For example, the discussion of Carmen Miranda, and how she became widely well-known in Brazil, and when she had the opportunity to go to the United States she gladly went and as a result left her home country behind. This showed the fact that the United States is so dominant, and draws upon the attitude that one is not truly successful until they have  "made it" in the USA, However, there were positive factors as well, as tourism in Brazil greatly increased, as well as attention to Latin America as a whole.

Document 6.4. I found this reading especially interesting, as it focused on Disney and the heavy stereotypes that are not only used in cartoons, but also comics and Disneyland itself. Starting from the stereotype of Mexico in "Aztec land" showing all the prototypes of Mexico, without showing the actual facts about the country itself. " Disney did not, of course, invent the inhabitants of these lands; he merely forced them into the proper mold" (pg 201). This reading also goes into detail about specific cartoons and dialogues  which show stereotypes of underdeveloped countries, and the feeling of prestige by the United States. The example that stood out the most for me personally was the very first one, in which Donald Duck is speaking to a witch doctor in Africa. This dialogue translates to the fact that Africa may have many goods (telephones in this example) but few are useful, as well as putting Africa into the mold of continuously being in debt. Luckily these types of cartoons do not appear to be produced anymore.

Chapter 5

This Chapter began by discussing the negative findings which can often be found even in the most seemingly positive things. "One persons boom was always another persons crisis" (141) is a quote that shows this outlook. This attitude is heavily drawn upon during the export boom, specifically the construction of the railroad in Mexico in rural areas, as people were not as obedient as was hoped by the people in charge. Though a change as dramatic as a railroad, which would bring many positive effects such as the ability to trade and communicate throughout the country,  there were also the negative effects which came with it, drawing back to the theme of the good being equally distributed with the bad.  People with seemingly more power began to take advantage of the citizens in rural areas by not only forcing them to do work, but also to give up their land, which actually resulted in violent uprising by these citizens. I found it interesting when it drew back to he interview with President Diaz, and that after he declared Mexico was ready for Democracy, and that people became extremely exited. However, he also contradicted himself by saying that the people are not educated enough to make informed to make important political decisions, which would make Mexico not ready for Democracy. The first reading, 5.1, is a poem from Ruben Dario about the United States of America. This poem starts off with explaining the attitude of the country, stating that they are dominant in terms of power, but finishes by sating that the one thing they lack is God. He also points out the lack f culture they have, and gives the impression that all the USA has is power and they are only driven by it, weather they have earned the right to it or not. "you are the United States, future invader of our naïve America with it Indian blood, an America that still prays to Christ and still speaks Spanish."(153) Though this my come across as admitting to being inferior and perhaps even shameful, it is also showing the value to tradition and heritage in Latin America, which their Northern neighbors have lost in the power ride.