Defringing Latin America

Five years ago, in spite of massive electoral fraud, democracy took a decisive step forward in Paraguay. Fernando Lugo, a party-less former Bishop, won the presidential election, dethroning the Colorado Party, which had ruled for 62 years, including during the brutal military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. The Colorado Party candidate, Blanca Ovelar, bravely acknowledged the victory of Lugo--in spite of pressure from the party elite--and demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to peace and democracy.

Today, Paraguay votes again. But this time, it's in the aftermath of the 2012 Impeachment of Lugo on trumped up charges, a move decried as a "constitutional coup" within Paraguay (even by non-Lugo supporters) and resoundingly denounced throughout the region. Paraguay has even been suspended from Mercosur as a result.

The two main contenders are Horacio Cartes, a Colorado Party candidate accused of not just major tobacco smuggling but narcotrafficking, and Efraín Alegre, a Liberal Party candidate accused of being instrumental in the closed-room planning that removed Lugo from office and brought the vice-president, Liberal Federico Franco, to the presidency.

The question today is between bitter choices.

And of just how much voter fraud there'll be. One negative sign is the discrepancy between these two polls conducted today (via UltimaHora):

The GEO survey lists Candidate Z with 25% of the vote, Candidate Y with 19% of the vote, and 50% having voted for "other." The ICA survey, on the other hand, has Candidate Z with 49% of the vote, Candidate Y with 32%, and "other" at a mere 6%. Candidate Z is likely Cartes and Y is Alegre--and notice just how wildly the numbers differ.

My most recent article has been published in American Anthropologist.  I'm very grateful to the anonymous and non-anonymous (read: colleagues) reviewers who gave feedback and especially to the former editor-in-chief Tom Boellstorff who gave such detailed and synthetic input. Writing, revising, and publishing this article in AA has been such an incredibly enjoyable experience. Interested in these archives, look here.

From the "Archive of Terror" aka Centro de Documentación y Archivo para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos in Paraguay.

Surveillance and State Violence in Stroessner's Paraguay: Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam, Archive of Terror

Abstract: Like other dictators, Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner staked his regime's claims to modernity on a massive hydroelectric project, Itaipú Dam. Critiques of dams tend to focus on environmental degradation caused by flooding, forced displacement of communities, and fiscal malfeasance. But Itaipú, the world's largest dam, also participated in the Stroessner regime's secret police terror apparatus. A series of formerly classified documents about Itaipú Dam show how the secret police used the dam in its security and intelligence apparatus to violently suppress any opposition. They also reveal how the opposition to the Stronato grew and mobilized around the dam. By interlacing these two threads, this historical ethnography explores “hydroelectric statecraft” in Itaipú Dam—that is, how the harnessing of the dam's resources has given rise to particular political practices and structures within Paraguay.

My Search for Viandas (A guide to what they are!)

Germania, my lovely grandmother, came to the States from the Dominican Republic in the '60s. She was an amazing cook and from her I learned how to make the Sancocho, a traditional Dominican stew featuring an assortment of viandas and meats. The thing about a Sancocho is that it's a dish meant to be shared with the family plus the neighbors plus the kid from down the block who always hangs out with the neighbor's son plus whoever else happens to be walking by. There's no such thing as a "four portion" Sancocho. Which is why I've decided to make one for some of my students.

Success?

Chicago is a mecca for tremendous Mexican cuisine (see New Rebozo—quite possibly the best Mexican food I've had outside of Mexico and certainly worlds better than anything one can find in New York—the chef/owner features 18 kinds of mole) but when it comes to the Spanish Caribbean, not so much. The real trick is the viandas, the starchy vegetables that form the base of the stew. And after six months of looking for these in various supermarkets, desperation has set in.

So, given the sad dearth of Dominican and Cuban ingredients in ordinary grocery stores, I set out on a quest (based on the recommendation of a Puerto Rican employee at Whole Foods) to find the famed Armitage Produce on the westside of Chicago…

Success! Behold, a surfeit of malanga!

Malanga

Ñame (the true yam)

As you can see, people have split the ñame in half—in this case, the employees themselves. This is to verify that the root is good (people also do that with the malanga and yuca). One elderly gentleman, who grumbled about the mediocre size of the batata we combed through, warned me against trusting the quality of the root from the outside.

Incredibly upsetting: For Many Poor Students, Leap to College Ends in a Hard Fall, a piece published yesterday by Jason DeParle in the New York Times, gives a glimpse into the lives of three Latinas who attempt college and don't make it.

Six Infuriating Morals to the Story:

1. Guys are the best way to sabotage your education, especially if they cheat on you, propose to you, break up with you, avoid college, get back together with you. But, hey, at least you're not alone!

2. Read the fine print of your financial aid package or else a school like Emory will find ways to saddle you with tens of thousands of undischargeable education debt. And then they'll wash their hands of it, "Hey, we were following standard procedure!"

3. Check your school email. Frequently.

4. Talking to professors and advisors when and even before things go badly is necessary. We're not mean, even if we seem gruff and when we say things that sound really hard, sometimes it's because we're upset for you.

5. Having a hard time? Non-traditional student? (Working class, minority, first generation college, veteran?) There's no structure that explicitly teaches you the hidden rules and hidden curriculum.

6. Why try? You'll still end up working retail for $8 an hour.

Catastro Hidrocarburos/Oil & Gas in Paraguay Map

This map, found at the Paraguayan Vice-Ministry of Mines and Energy (Viceministério de minas y energía) is dated November 30, 2012 and contains a listing of the Oil and Gas concessions granted various firms throughout the country, as well as noting critical "basins" (cuencas) where petroleum and natural gas reserves might be found.

Because the print is quite small, I'll list them out. Numbers 5 and 19 (President Energy and Crescent Global Oil in the Pirity Basin) have been getting lots of press recently.

Concessions Granted ("concesiones por ley"):
1    Primo Cano Martinez
2    Amerisur (Bloque San Pedro)
3    Amerisur (Bloque Curupayty)
4    Bohemia (Bloque Alto Parana - Canindeyu)
5    President Energy Paraguay S.A.
      Pirity Hidrocarburos
17  Aurora Petroleos
18  Boreal Petroleos
19  President Energy Paraguay S.A.
      Crescent Global Oil Paraguay S.A.

Concessions In Process ("concesiones por trámite"):
6    Riviera S.A.
7    Hidrocarburos Chaco S.A.
11  MB Energia S.A.
13  C.P.P. S.A.
20  Land Oil/Crescent Oil Paraguay (Bloque Alto Parana)

Contracts Under Revision ("contratos en revisión")
21  Paraguay Gas & Energy S.A. (Bloque Norte)

Permits To Be Determined ("permisos por resolución")
8    YPF S.A.
9    AET Paraguay S.A. (Bloque Alto Parana)
10  Kilwer S.A.
12  Petropar S.A.
14  Amerisur R. PLC (Bloque Coronillo)
15  Amerisur R. PLC (Bloque Espartillar)
16  Amerisur R. PLC (Bloque Las Palmas)
17  Quincy Energy S.A.

A few notes of interest:

• US-based Quincy Energy seems to have merged with Energy Metals Corporation of Canada, which then merged with Canadian/South African Uranium One in 2007. I wonder what this means for the undetermined permit in #17.

• YPF (#8), Kilwer (#10) are Argentine firms; Riviera S.A. (#6) has links with Grupo Cifel, which is Russian in origin. 

Pirity Basin (Oil/Gas region) circled

Correction: "focussed" is the British spelling. The rest of the info still stands.

President Energy, an oil and gas exploration company (that has spelling problems, but hopefully better attention to detail in the work they conduct), has recently announced that they plan to test for oil in the Pirity Basin in the Chaco of Paraguay (the western region). Reports are that they'll do 2-D and 3-D seismic testing beginning in March 2013 with assistance from Texas-based Global Geophysical Services. Exploration wells (3 according to this site, 6 according to this) will be drilled in early 2014.

The Paraguayan Vice Minister of Mines and Energy Hugo Cacace reacted to the news with measured confidence, saying that chances are very high that Paraguay has oil and/or gas reserves but that that could only be known once the exploration wells were dug. The Paraguayan President Federico Franco was much less cautious and promised that by May or June of 2013 Paraguay would be producing its first barrels of oil, almost a year before the initial exploration wells are even going to be dug by President Energy.

Patricia Macchi, a representative for President Energy, insisted that the wells would be dug in March 2014 and described President Franco's statements as "very optimistic" (i.e., not realistic).

Everyone in Paraguay realizes that:
a) 2013 is an election year and current President Franco is looking to ensure that his successor is a member of his own political party.

b) promises of oil are frequent in Paraguay and have yet to be delivered on.

President Energy is "Focussed" on South America

[Hispanics] should be a natural Republican constituency: striving immigrant community, religious, Catholic, family-oriented and socially conservative (on abortion, for example). The principal reason they go Democratic is the issue of illegal immigrants. (Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post)