Honduras reporting

To often reporters on Latin America are reluctant to call things as they see them, even when they work for such a prestigious newspaper as the NY Times.  Too often, however, we specialists fail to recognize reporting that cuts through the "official story" to get closer to the truth.  Such is the case with a recent story by Elizabeth Malkin on land disputes in Honduras. 

You won't be able to see the story if you don't have an account, or if you have exceeded the 20 stories per week you are allowed to see free.  Here's the URL, though: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/world/americas/honduras-land-conflicts-highlight-polarization.html?ref=honduras.

You can also find it by going to the Times, clicking on "world", then going to "Honduras" page.  You will find it on Sept. 16.

In this story, Malkin recognizes outright that what took place in Honduras in 1999 was a coup. She goes on to report on the killings of peasants involved in a land dispute.  Unfortunately, a story like this appears once and tends to disappear without follow-up. That is why it is so important to cultivate alternative sources of news.

I hope you will read the story and think about the kind of "news" more often reported, or think about all the significant events that are not covered by the mainstream media. The Times is a great newspaper, but it's just not enough.

911 in Latin America

September 11 -- 911. A date full of meaning for anyone who lives in the United States, but its also a compelling date in the history of Latin America.  As discussed in the chapter on the breakdown of democracy, it was on September 11, 1973 that Chilean air force planes bombed the presidential palace, and President Salvador Allende died (probably suicide, some think not) inside.

I remember the time well because all through high school and part of my undergraduate career, I thought that the United States was devoted to democracy, fighting the threat of communism.  I began to change my views in my junior year (1968-69), and Chile had more to do with it than Vietnam.  Make no mistake about it; it was the Chilean armed forces  that overthrew Allende and ushered in 16 years of brutal dictatorship, but the Nixon administration did all in its power to encourage the polarization of Chilean politics and society in that time.

911 will be a day of reflection, as well as it should be. It will be a day to remember those killed on that day and the heroism of the responders, many of who also died that day or have subsequently succumbed to its consequences.  But we also need to reflect on what followed. Though the worst consequences were borne by millions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and by thousands of American military personnel, the "war on terror," also known as the "endless war," has had consequences for Latin Americans as well.  And may I suggest that some reflection on the causes and consequences of 911 in Chile might be called-for as well.

Cuba -- revising a country and a textbook!

Cuba is going through some big changes.  If Raul Castro follows through on announced plans, 500,000 government employees will have to find work in the private sector soon.  They are to be absorbed, the government hopes, by new small businesses that will be permitted, albeit with government regulation. On the other hand, the government has no intention of moving simultaneously to a more pluralist political system.  Still, things are changing with Cubans, and it is clear that for many of them, including some in the party, more openness and competitive politics would be healthy.

However, many of these same Cubans will also tell you that they resent the continuation of the embargo/blockade and had hoped for more from the Obama administration. Even some of the steps that would allow teachers and students to visit Cuba more regularly are threatened with roll back because of the increased power of the most militant anti-Castro elements in the U.S. congress.  In the House, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee is in the hands of Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and its Western Hemisphere subcommittee in now chaired Rep. Connie Mack. Not even most of their own Republican members want to continue isolating Cuba, but few representatives of either party want to hand their opponents a juicy stick to hit them with.  But Ros-Lehtinen and Mack now have a grandstand and some additional ability to attach riders to bills as a strategy to reverse the timid new policies of Obama.

The next edition of CPLA is probably going to have to significantly revise the sections on Cuba.  I tried to write the sections in a way that did not whitewash democratic shortcomings but also did not play into the dominant stereotype of Cuba as some kind of totalitarian dungeon. If you have comments, I'd welcome them.

Students and protests in Chile

Today I saw two posts with some of the same information but very different slants about student protests in Chile.  The one from the New York Times presents the movement as a kind of love-in, while the one from Al-Jazeera presents a much more conflictful image.  Warning:  the Times limits the number of articles you can read without a description to 20 per month, so if you go to the Times's link you use up one of your chits. 

Take a look, and perhaps you want to discuss or comment on how the articles differ.  Can you imagine a similar kind of student movement in the U.S., or are there things about Chilean history and politics that make it more understandable why it is happening there?

With Kiss-Ins and Dances, Young Chileans Push for Reform
Violent student protests rock Chile's capital

Following news from Latin America

To follow Latin American news in English language sources I recommend that you subscribe to the news summary (4 to 5 days per week) of the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.  This is a liberal-left think-tank that will send you regular digests, organized by region, with direct links to the articles.  Here is the link:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/967/t/9788/signUp.jsp?key=1013

Welcome to my blog about Latin American politics

A warm welcome to students using my text, Comparative Politics of Latin America, Democracy at Last? (CPLA), and many thanks to professors who have chosen to use this book.  

Events move faster than authors and publishers can write and print.  Already, in the few months since CPLA appeared, Latin America has seen the election of a controversial new president, Ollanta Humala, in Peru, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s fight for life against cancer, and vote of a House Committee to deny all U.S. dues to the Organization of American States (OAS) – half of its total budget.  

So this blog will be an attempt to bring you up to date on important developments through links to news and analysis elsewhere, plus my own commentary and questions.  Sometimes I will offer opinion; sometimes I’ll ask you what you think.

I hope there will be more editions of CPLA, and if this blog is successful it will become increasingly a product not just of my but your views and suggestions.  Feel free to contact me directly, off the blog, with any comments and suggestions about how to make CPLA better.

DH