http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/south+america/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:39:01 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1445/camping_out/ Hundreds of indigenous people, environmentalists and activists set up a “Permanent International Camp for Social Justice and Dignity of the Peoples” in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, in mid-March to protest the effects of Plan Colombia and globalization on the small Andean nation. Protests and events were held in Lago Agrio on the Colombian border, at the U.S. military base in Manta and in other parts of the country, involving a slew of Ecuadorian indigenous and community groups as well as hundreds of activists from other parts of South America and the world. The mainly peaceful March actions, which included teach-ins, demonstrations and caravans, are the latest in a wave of periodic mass mobilizations that have gone on in the… south america Fred Weir Fri, 26 Apr 2002 09:23:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1461/venezuela_divided/ Caracas, Venezuela Culminating three days of a general strike and violence on the streets of Caracas that left scores of casualties, the Venezuelan military forced President Hugo Chávez from office. The action did not come as a surprise, given the increasing aggressiveness of the opposition, which includes Venezuela’s largest business and labor organizations, media outlets and political parties. But then a counter-coup, which ousted provisional President Pedro Carmona and invited Chávez back to power, surprised the entire nation and the world. Political satirists now call Carmona, who was in power less than 48 hours, “Pedro the Brief.” When the fiery Chávez returned to power, he might have been expected to come down hard on his adversaries, especially those who had… south america Fred Weir Fri, 02 Aug 2002 11:44:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1564/war_or_peace/ On the night of May 26, when Alvaro Uribe Velez won the Colombian presidential race in a landslide, his victory was perceived in Bogota and Washington as a resounding mandate from Colombian voters for escalating the war against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Uribe, who takes office on August 7, campaigned on a pledge to re-establish the government’s authority throughout Colombia. He proposes to raise taxes to triple defense spending, double the number of professional soldiers and police, give the army new powers to carry out preventive detentions and searches, and create a million-man civilian intelligence militia to gather information on guerrillas and their supporters. After years of frustration with President Andres Pastrana’s failed peace process, Uribe’s victory… south america Fred Weir Tue, 24 Feb 2004 11:37:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/399/cokes_killers/ Coca-Cola representatives told a fact-finding delegation that its employees may have collaborated with paramilitaries in the deaths and torture of Colombian union members. Despite the possible collaboration, Coca-Cola officials in Colombia have not undertaken any internal or external investigation into the assaults against its employees. The company’s Colombian representatives insist any contact with paramilitaries, widely blamed for killing seven Coke unionists and thousands of others in recent decades, was unauthorized, according to a report released by Hiram Monserrate. This New York councilmember led a January delegation of U.S. unionists and students to Colombia. In a written response to the delegation, Coca-Cola says it “does not anticipate supporting in any way any form of ‘independent fact-finding delegation to Colombia,’” and that… civil liberties corporations economy labor south america Fred Weir Tue, 09 Mar 2004 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/149/straight_out_of_gijon/ Spanish rock group Manta Ray hails from the city of Gijón, but the creatively ambitious quartet has little in common with such overtly Latin music acts as Plastilina Mosh, Shakira and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. While the group’s hometown on Spain’s northern coast in the province of Asturias is a long way culturally from Berlin or Chicago, this crew of musical adventurers shares more sonically with ’70s experimental progressive Krautrock groups Can and Amon Duul II and ’90s American post-rockers Tortoise and Trans Am. Manta Ray formed in 1993 and released its debut the following year. From the outset it was clear the group was more concerned with creating atmosphere and expanding the boundaries of the form than adhering to the… south america Fred Weir Sat, 13 Mar 2004 01:46:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/522/the_international_wrong/ The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) seems to be the only governmental body concerned about the Bush administration’s controversial role in the recent regime change in Haiti. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s duly elected president, charged he was the victim of a coup d’etat February 29 that was aided and abetted by U.S. forces. “One could say that it was a geo-political kidnapping,” he said, or “terrorism disguised as diplomacy.” Aristide made these charges in a statement broadcast on Pacifica Radio’s “Flashpoints News” magazine following his arrival in the Central African Republic, after being spirited away from Haiti by gunpoint. He said U.S. officials in Port-au-Prince told him that he and his family were unlikely to survive attacks by armed rebels and that… elections government: administration international affairs politics race social justice south america Fred Weir Sat, 13 Mar 2004 02:02:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/713/haiti_democracy_in_flames/ In the fall of 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide officially left his position as a parish priest to embark on an unanticipated political career. Within weeks he became the most popular president in Haiti’s 200-year history. Aristide’s Lavelas Party, meaning “flood,” referred both to the near-universal applause of Aristide’s fundamental tenets and the presumed cleansing effects it would have on remnants of the Duvalier dictatorship. Despite the country’s Provisional Electoral Council’s (CEP) approval of 11 presidential candidates for the 1990 elections, Aristide’s surge in polls was overwhelming. He won the first free and fair election in the country’s history with 67 percent of the vote. Despite Aristide’s exultant inauguration, threats remained in the form of the Duvaliers’ still-menacing band of supporters and… elections international affairs politics south america Fred Weir Tue, 16 Mar 2004 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/404/chavez_escapes_recall/ The petition drive to recall Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was stopped short March 2 when the Electoral Commission (CNE) invalidated more than 876,000 signatures. The commission accepted more than 1.8 million signatures collected in late November (see “Recall Fever Spreads South,” January 19), but the petition ended up 603,590 short of the 20 percent of registered voters required for recall. The CNE granted the opportunity to revalidate the signatures, but spokesmen for the opposition argued that any procedures violated were minor in nature and did not imply organized manipulation. Even before the CNE decision, opposition leaders initiated the “Guarimba Plan,” in which small groups blocked traffic and burned trash on key avenues in Caracas and other cities. Street damage in… elections politics south america Fred Weir Wed, 24 Mar 2004 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/405/smear_campaign/ San Salvador—The people of El Salvador will vote March 21 in the most polarized presidential election since the tiny Central American country’s 12-year civil war. In 1992, the Salvadoran government signed peace accords with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) that transformed the FMLN from a left-wing guerrilla movement into a legally recognized political party. The president who signed the Peace Accords and the two presidents in succession have belonged to the Republican Nationalist Alliance party (ARENA). This year’s election will be the first in which the FMLN has a real chance of capturing the required 50 percent of the vote. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger Noriega, has expressed concerns about an FMLN government.… elections politics south america Fred Weir Mon, 19 Apr 2004 08:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/414/in_sheeps_clothing/ Italian-owned Benetton Group became the largest landowner in Argentina in 1997 when it bought Compania Tierras del Sur Argentina S.A. and took over 2.2 million acres and 280,000 sheep to produce wool for its international clothing line. Despite advertisements promoting racial harmony and diversity, Benetton made enemies with the native Mapuche population—and this dispute has turned into a lawsuit over property. Atilio Curinanco and his wife Rosa Nahuelquir requested permission in early 2002 to start a family business on a seventeen acre plot called Santa Rosa in front of one of Benetton’s properties. Because Benetton’s land is well fenced in other areas and Santa Rosa was known among Mapuche to be unoccupied, the family believed the plot was available. As… corporations economy south america Fred Weir Tue, 27 Apr 2004 08:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/417/on_an_island_of_men/ Born in Port-au-Prince to a well-to-do family, Michele Montas’s lifelong passion for journalism led her in the 1970s to one of Haiti’s most outspoken pro-democracy advocates and broadcasters, Jean Dominique. Dominique founded Radio Haiti-Inter in the 1960s, when most media served up government propaganda. The station was the first to broadcast in Creole to a mostly illiterate population. After her husband Dominique’s assassination in 2000 by gunmen allegedly linked to Aristide’s Lavalas Party, Montas ran the station until her bodyguard’s murder in 2002 and subsequent threats forced her to flee to the U.S. Now working at the U.N., Montas recently talked with In These Times about Radio Haiti, Haitian men, and her homeland. Radio Haiti was incredibly popular—rightfully called the… activism media politics social justice south america Fred Weir Mon, 23 Aug 2004 07:01:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/976/chez_hits_a_home_run/ Caracas—Just minutes after the official results of Venezuela’s August 15 presidential recall election were announced at 4 a.m., a gathering of Hugo Chávez’s supporters outside the presidential palace chanted “home run.” Days before, President Chávez predicted he would hit a home run that soared over Cuba and landed on the White House. Speaking to the crowd from the balcony that morning, Chávez directed his words at Washington: “This election did not decide whether a man stays in power. Rather it was a triumph of a political model that is confronting savage neoliberalism.” Chávez, who favors a strong government role in the economy and is an ardent critic of the Bush-promoted Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), is clearly at… politics south america Fred Weir Fri, 26 Nov 2004 07:00:01 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1707/helping_themselves/ There may not be a more thoroughly ravaged national economy on the planet than Argentina’s—it’s a poster child for IMF wrack and ruin. As revealed in grueling, horrifying detail in Fernando Solanas’ 2004 documentary Memoria del Saqueo (shown here only in film festivals), the last 30 years or so have been a relentless litany of bureaucratic power grabs, political lies, privatization sell-offs and insidious opportunism, much of it at the International Monetary Fund’s insistence and due to President Carlos Menem’s bald-faced carpetbagging. In just a few decades a country that boasted South America’s most prosperous middle class was converted into a nation of scrambling beggars, saddled with an excess of 20 percent unemployment and a national bankruptcy that outscaled any… movies economy international affairs south america Fred Weir Thu, 09 Dec 2004 07:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1741/war_and_hope_in_colombia/ On his way home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit in Chile, President George Bush stopped off in the Caribbean city of Cartagena on November 22 to see Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez. Uribe is George Bush’s closest regional ally in the global anti-terrorism campaign. Known as “Bushito” (little Bush), he spared no efforts to provide suitable security for his guest. Cartagena became a ghost town. Alcohol was banned for 24 hours, businesses shut and workers were ordered to stay home. The airport, airspace and waters of Cartagena Bay were closed. Combat helicopters and fighter planes patrolled the sky, and naval submarines and armed patrol boats guarded the waters of the silent port. As sharpshooters crouched along rooftops, 15,000 army, navy… south america Fred Weir Tue, 14 Dec 2004 09:00:01 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1747/a_long_climb/ Buenos Aires—You will not read about Luis Bianchi’s views in mainstream Western press accounts of Argentina’s tough negotiations with global financial institutions. Luis Bianchi drives his battered black and yellow taxi here, for 12, 14, sometimes 16 hours a day, with an hour or so off for the early afternoon meal. He is 75 years old, but he is too poor to retire. “I hope to work for another five years, until I’m 80,” he says. “The government will then stop renewing my license. But by then we should be able to get by.” His wife, who is 62, has a low-paid government job. They are helping out his three children, one of whom is part of the estimated 19… economy international affairs politics south america Fred Weir Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2063/imf_on_the_ropes_in_brazil/ For the first time in six years, Brazil will not renew its accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The accord was up for renewal March 31. However, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, an international respected fiscal conservative, announced on March 28 that President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva’s wish to end Brazil’s conflict-laden relationship with the IMF would be granted. Since December 1998, Brazil has withdrawn $93 billion from their IMF credit line. In total, the country owes $24.6 billion by 2009. On balance, the country’s economy grew zero percent between 1998 and 2003, according to the Fund’s February Latin America report. Essentially, all the IMF did was keep foreign investors confident that if Brazil couldn’t pay its debtors, the… economy south america Fred Weir Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:51:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2158/revolution_in_bolivia/ Bolivian legislators abandoned a besieged La Paz on June 9 to convene in Sucre, nearly 500 miles to the southeast, in order to select a new president. But demonstrators had other ideas. Blockades were lifted so that truckloads of protesters could race to Sucre to prevent parliament from naming right-wing Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez as the successor to the ousted Carlos Mesa. Mayors of La Paz and El Alto announced hunger strikes to oppose Vaca Diez, who was supported by only 16 percent of Bolivians in a recent poll. Parliament's morning session was cancelled as miners, coca growers and other demonstrators battled police in the streets, leading to one death, labor leader Juan Coro, who was shot in the… war and peace south america Fred Weir Sun, 18 Dec 2005 17:11:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2438/evo_morales_has_plans_for_bolivia/ Evo Morales is a polarizing figure in Latin American politics: a proudly left-leaning indigenous activist who defends the traditional rights of peasants to grow coca and describes the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas as "colonization." While opponents have labelled him a "narco-trade unionist," the charismatic Morales enjoys widespread popular support. As In These Times went to press, he was expected to win the special December 18 Bolivian presidential election. His election would place him in power alongside other Latin American leaders who are critical of America's neoliberal economic agenda: Hugo Chavez of Venezula, Lula de Silva of Brazil and, of course, Fidel Castro in Cuba. Morales' upbringing shaped his political philosophy. The son of coca farmers, he was raised… politics south america Fred Weir Mon, 03 Apr 2006 04:00:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2565/pulp_non_fiction/ Stella Maris squeegees rain off International Route 136, a two-lane highway on the border of Argentina and Uruguay, currently blocked by tents, tractors, grain trailers and logs. "I have been here for 11 days straight," says the 46-year-old Argentine mother-turned-environmental activist, one of a handful of people camped among soybean fields, cow pastures, pine trees and eucalyptus stands. "I have had to leave behind everything, my job, my kids, everything. I didn't care at first but then I started listening and realized it was worth it." The cause of her new mission is located 10 miles up the road, on the banks of the River Uruguay, a natural border between the two countries. On the Uruguayan side, a Spanish and… labor south america Fred Weir Wed, 05 Apr 2006 04:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2564/political_upheaval/ The presidential palaces of Latin America are famous for their imposing Spanish colonial grandeur. Not long ago these marble edifices on grand plazas were inhabited mostly by military strongmen. That these leaders were elites of European descent went virtually without question. Today, Chile's presidential palace, La Moneda, is the home of a single mother and torture survivor. In Buenos Aires' famous Casa Rosada lives a man who is perhaps the biggest thorn in the side of the International Monetary Fund. In Bolivia it is an indigenous coca farmer, in Brazil a metalworker and in Uruguay a former leader of left social movements who call these palaces home. In election after election, Latin Americans are choosing leaders who promise a shift… elections international affairs politics south america Fred Weir