Archive for April 2008

60hr Travel Fiasco + Suspicion-Arousing Fashion Statement

After a clerical error Sunday night left me stranded in Santiago de Chile’s airport for another 24 hours beyond my initial 9hr layover, I am happy to report that there’s free wireless throughout the international terminal on which you can easily skype your concerned mother and download pirated movies via such sites as Nabolister. The cappuccinos to be found therein don’t merit the appellation… the closest to adequate (and cheapest) can be found in the (!) Dunkin Donuts.

“Chile” comes from the Aymara for “snow” and during the night, the metal benches provided little comfort, so I took to putting on nearly all the clothes I’d brought for my time in Asunción, including the typical Christine look of a skirt over my jeans. Apparently, this and the multiple layers of long-sleeves, while entirely practical in Chile and an unremarkable fashion choice in NYC, looked too muslim for the security people here in Miami as I tried to rush to flight that I was afraid I’d miss (this time entirely my fault as I chortled my way through http://sleepinginairports.com). The guard stopped me after I walked under the arc de triomphe of the sole operating security machine and consulted with his superiors. It took me a moment to realize the nature of his suspicion, which added to the risibility of a Kafkaesque 60hr escapade. After complimenting my style choice, I was waved through and hurried to my Newark-bound which (as of writing) is 90minutes delayed.

Incidentally, the trip down took 18 hours from NYC to Asunción, and that with layovers. And I have negotiated free beverages because the flight attendants think me an unusually patient and accommodating passenger, having switched seats a few times in order to accede to the wishes of other customers.

The culprit airlines? American and LAN.

And, for an “as-it-happened” account of the last few days, here are some text messages I sent:

“Am stuck in Santiago airport 4 24 more hrs bc of dumb error. Boo.” Sent: 4/28/08 at 4:04am
“Its worse than that. Prob worst flight situation of my life” Sent: 4/28/08 at 4:55am
“Am in miami at last! Now to immigration” Sent: 4/29/08 at 5:43am
“Stuck in Miami. Lan didn’t confirm am flight and so coming to ewr at 4pm if all goes well” Sent: 4/29/08 at 9:17am
“On plane. They thought my clothing was muslim suspicious and stopped me at security” Sent: 4/29/08 at 12:44pm
“Am on plane. We are delayed for 90min due to weather in nj” Sent: 4/29/08 at 1:24pm

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Interpreting Raul Castro's Latest Move & My Unexpected Stay in Santiago

Today's news from Cuba is that Raul Castro has announced a raise in state pensions. My guess is that this is an attempt to soften the impact of some more serious structural changes that are about to grip the nation. In order to make changes in the governance of a nation while avoiding massive amounts of unrest and protest, a great strategy is to calm the concerns of those who have the most vested interest in the system and who have the most to lose.

Today's news from my journey back to the US is that I've been stuck in the airport in Santiago for an extra 24 hrs, which is not so fun, but oh well. It has elicited humorous responses from some:

oh, honey
and

I would have been surprised if everything would have gone smooth for you
in this trip. Now that you are stuck in Chile, we can call it a typical
Christine trip.

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Lessons Learned from Paraguay’s Recent Elections

1) International observers make a difference.

2) When posing as part of the press, it helps to have credentials that you printed out on your inkjet hanging from a lanyard around your neck.

3) The success of a social movement like Tekojoja is difficult to gauge: initiating the campaign of a successful presidential candidate; failing to win seats for its state and senatorial candidates; shifting the public discourse to seriously consider previously marginalized issues.

4) Many Asunción cafes are wireless and Mac-friendly. Also, having a Mac at a press conference makes you look all the more estimable in the eyes of other journalists.

5) 17th century documents from the Caja Real in Asunción’s National Archives are often easier to read from a photograph taken by a digital camera than in person.

6) Freddo sells an excellent combination of dark chocolate and dulce de leche ice-cream.

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Interlude: Art, Archaeology, and Beauty


In the midst of a fascinating political moment, Paraguay is much more than its political process. It could be a matter of coincidence or a moment of confluence that a flurry of artistic production and concern for the creative patrimony of Paraguay arises as the country experiments with hope and determined democratic participation. But the truth is that what has always impressed me about this country is how much making art is part of daily life. There are guitar shops everywhere. The graffiti is deliberate both in its design and message. Music, literature, and poetry skillfully blend Spanish and Guaraní. Ñandutí, the spider's web-like crocheting is a heralded skill.

Last night's re-opening of the Theater "Federico García Lorca" was the first of its kind I've ever seen in Paraguay: street performance of dancers, poets, musicians, installations as the crowd of hundreds was led by a piper into a colonial building to be greeted by acrobatic dancing in hammocks, flamenco, and then a performance entitled "Mundo sin mal"-- an interpretation of edenic origin stories common to indigenous Paraguayan mythology.

A glimpse of the evening, including flamenco:


The Paí Tavytera are an indigenous Guaraní-speaking group in Paraguay who invited a team of archaeologists led by Dr. José Antonio Lasheras to excavate near an outcropping on their territory. The Spanish archaeologists did, under the watchful gaze of the community, and presented their findings at the Centro Cultural de España Juan de Salazar on Wednesday. Unlike "treasure hunters," who Dr. Lasheras excoriated, the team of scientists returned everything they found to Paraguay after taking molds and photographs.

Here are stone tools found in the excavation:


Other images of the evening:

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Complicating the "Leftward Turn" of Latin America: Lugo is no Chavez, Correa, or Morales

Tekojoja headquarters the day after the election win.


While news of Fernando Lugo's victory was much celebrated in the Spanish-speaking world as a triumph for democracy, rule of law, and respect for the will of the people, as well as for ending the 61 year hegemony of a single political party, it has been greeted with a little more anxiety and even apprehension in the English-language press as worries are raised about the "pink tide" sweeping the continent. Though in the United States the left-of-center politicians leading most of South America's nations may appear cut from the same cloth (and, depending on your viewpoint, that could be terrifying or attractive), on-the-ground here in Latin America, that perspective proves false. The pink tide needs much nuancing.

First, Lugo's coalition, the Alianza Patriotica comprises groups ranging from peasant and indigenous groups to workers groups and those who would consider themselves from the traditional left as well as groups on the right. Namely, the Partido Liberal. (In the U.S. the word "liberal" means "left," but in the rest of the world "liberal" means "advocates the market as the best distributor of goods"-- that is to say, "liberal" means "free trade"-- a position associated with the right.) The new vice-president, Frederico Franco, is from the Partido Liberal and is an advocate of neoliberalism... the foe for much of Latin America's left. This means that the new government will have to negotiate between some disparate positions. It is hard to imagine, say, Hugo Chavez having members of the right at the highest positions of influence in his government.

Frederico Franco is guy with the glasses and the mustache on the lower righthand side. This photo was taken on the night of April 20 as he arrived to the Panteon Nacional to celebrate the electoral victory. Notice the blue flags, the official color of the Partido Liberal.

It follows from this that Sunday's election was as much an indictment against the current regime and the Colorado party's unmitigated rule of more than half a century as much as it was for Lugo. For more than 60 years, in order to be a school teacher, a soldier in the military, a police officer, a judge, a clerk in the government, any part of government work, you had to be a registered member of the Colorado party. One Paraguayan with whom I spoke referred to this as political apartheid. Thousands of government workers, who had benefited from a system of party patronage, feared for their jobs should the opposition win and then kick them out. Lugo and Franco have taken repeated measures to assure those workers that, rather than vindictively firing them, the Colorado party also has a key role to play in the new administration.

Moreover, taking a step back from the Paraguayan context, it is important to realize that there are vast differences between the likes of Castro and Chavez, on the one hand, and Lula and Bachelet, on the other. The fact that they are lumped together in the U.S. press is disturbingly myopic. Brazil and Chile have two of the most robust economies in the western hemisphere and the "left"ish administrations in power have not scared away foreign investment whatsoever. As for Cuba, as I've said below, the slow but accelerating movement away from the economic policies of the past 60 years is notable as well.

This is a video (not made by me) of the "18 de Octubre" polca, the theme song of the Partido Liberal. During Stroessner's dictatorship, it was illegal to play and therefore became a hallmark of resistance.

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Incontrovertible and Incredible: Lugo Wins, Colorados Admit Defeat

Note: Lugo victory speech video and all photos taken by me.





As the afternoon unfolded and accounts of voting irregularities accompanied reports that Lugo's lead over his opponents was more than a 6 point spread, there was a moment of doubt about whether what was happening in the country was really going to stand. And then the 6 point spread became a 10 point spread.

Paraguayos spilled to the streets, celebrating, weeping, and repeating, "I can't believe this is happening." By wielding several cameras, I managed to enter a few press-only events and areas to film Lugo addressing various crowds: his fervent supporters who mobilized his campaign at Alianza Patriotica, the national and international press at the Granados Hotel, and the Paraguayan people in front of their most important national symbol--the Panteon Nacional--dedicated to heroes of the nation (usually those who died in warfare).

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The Thick of It: TEKOJOJA, Voting, Fraud w/Impunity.


TEKOJOJA's headquarters has a vine-covered patio facing the street where volunteers with cell-phones are busy communicating with observers and lawyers as they record attempts at fraud and voting irregularities. The fear is that the ruling party, threatened after more than 60 years of uninterrupted rule, will succeed in using its machine of intimidation and outright fraud to steal the election that Lugo supporters. Tekojoja is a popular movement made up of groups from almost every social sector (workers, peasants, intellectuals, the right, the left), which in and of itself testifies to the broad appeal of the platform for change and honest government.

The mood at the headquarters is high, with tremendous excitement, as word spreads that Lugo is ahead by 6 points, at the least… This with massive amounts of fraud. These observers from Uruguay at a voting station we visited this afternoon, when we asked if they’d seen anything irregular, responded emphatically that they’d seen massive fraud.

Here (from ABC Color, Paraguayan press) you can see a Colorado official (notice his red shirt) caught in the very act of paying people for their vote. He was not removed from the scene.

And at another school/voting station which we visited this afternoon, one of my companions saw a soldier cast his vote. Apparently, it’s illegal for someone in uniform to vote. There were no observers at this second station and after I arrived with a video camera, filming and taking photos, these soldiers casually strolled out of the voting center.

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Initial Impressions: Cautious Hope



Asunción is surprisingly quiet tonight-- the nearly full moon is softened by the low hanging clouds that diffuse the white light of the moon and blend it with the warm lights of the city. The heavy rainstorms have kept many cars off the streets that have just begun to dry for the first time in days.

Tomorrow's forecast promises better weather in time for the polls. The whole city seems to be in eager anticipation, but uncertain of what to expect. An unprecedented number of foreign observers have descended on Paraguay, to ensure the fairness of the election process and I think this gives Paraguay a bit of hope. Andres Pastrana, former president of Colombia, and the chief representative of IFES (International Foundation for Election Systems) has issued a very strong call for fairness and acceptance of the official results, whatever they may be, on the part of the government. This is part of a very deliberate "democracy building" plan.

On the plane and in the taxi, the Paraguayans with whom I've spoken (civilians and military personnel) have uttered guarded comments about tomorrow, making general remarks about "hoping the politicians come through on their promises," whoever the winner may be. No one has been willing to say who they think will win or who they wish to win, claiming to be apolitical while opining on policy with little prompting (the urgent need to renegotiate injurious water energy treaties with Brazil and Argentina, for example). Is this ambivalence a remnant of decades of dictatorship? The chief issue "facing Paraguayans," according to those I've spoken to today: health.

Tomorrow, I expect I'll see a more open display of political positioning rather than the sophisticated oblique moves from today. I'll be visiting TEKOJOJA ("life" in Guaraní) in Asunción-- one of the key organizations that launched Lugo's campaign and has mobilized the country behind him. There I'll speak with Dr. Marilin Rehnfelth, a Paraguayan anthropologist who has been with the movement from the beginning.

And, finally, here I am in Santiago, waiting to take the flight to Asunción:

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Taking Matters Into My Own Hands: Going to Paraguay for the Election

See this entry below for a brief summary of why I think this trip is important.




After feeling dissatisfied with the press coverage and analysis of what I think is a critical moment for Paraguay and for democracy in Latin America, and because it's spring break and this is what my PhD dissertation is about, and because, well, I'm a bit stubborn and decisive... I've decided to fly to Asuncion to cover the election myself.

I'll be posting photos and commentary here on this blog, uploading videos and interviews to youtube and linking them, and maybe even mailing you postcards, if you so desire.

The first thing I've noticed in "planning" this trip? The US dollar has gone down in value by nearly 20% since I was last in Paraguay (which would have been August 2007).

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Your Comments on the news that I'm going to Paraguay tomorrow.

Well, it's a little crazy, although it's not "you need to see me so I can put you on medications" crazy. But it also sounds like a really good idea. I'd do it.

Nicest procrastination move I've seen to date.... Good luck with your last minute vacation, I mean, research.

it's so crazy...it's pretty cool!

Wow, decisive action there, Folch!

Also, I'm going to Paraguay tomorrow to observe the elections. This was obviously what was coming after all my musings on the subject.

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Beg to Differ: Disagreeing with BBC Mundo's Take on the Paraguayan Election

Adrián Fernandez, BBC Mundo's editor in Miami, writes that, "It doesn't matter who wins the presidential election in Paraguay this coming Sunday, April 20; the winner is opening a new door in the political history of the country." If the official candidate, Blanca Ovelar, wins, he argues, it will be the first female president in the country's history. On the other hand, if one of the many opposition candidates wins, it'll be a change in the ruling party for the first time in nearly a century; and if the leading opposition candidate, Fernando Lugo, wins, it'll be the first time in Latin America that a former bishop becomes president.

The problem I see with this is that, if the Colorado party succeeds in stacking the polls by inventing ballots and voters (which is what it looks like has been happening) and thereby steals the election, I wonder about the value of a female president whose presidency is stolen, against the democratic wishes of the population. It's a troubling argument to make that the progressive gender politics implied trumps things like: rule of law, the will of the people, democracy.

I was also surprised that the BBC didn't mention the fragility of Paraguay's democracy-- with the ever present threat of a military coup, especially if an opposition candidate who, unlike Lino Oviedo (who apparently is flying to the U.S. today in a media blitz to meet with President Bush) was never part of the political and military ruling establishment. Current President Duarte has made calls to defend the Colorado vote "even with your life."

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Paraguay's Media: Doing Its Job, Upholding Democracy

"Same person, same moment, various places"


While the country suffers from a remarkable level of corruption, the one institution that has proven itself willing to speak out against the impunity and corruption endemic to Paraguay's state and business interests in the country is the media.

ABC has taken care to detail massive voter fraud, such as: the registration of the same person in multiple districts, the sudden appearance of 10,000 voters on the registration of a town with nearly 0 voters last election and those new voters happen to all be from the ANR, the reigning Colorado Party.

Meanwhile, La Nacion reports that "The Executive releases the ghost of violence" -- that the current president, Nicanor Duarte, has started spreading rumors that former bishop Fernando Lugo has designs to plant bombs in bus stations this Sunday, during the elections. It's hard, from this distance, to see how any of these accusations are remotely credible to the Paraguayan public and clearly the media find these untenable, but whether it'll make a difference remains to be seen.

The Paraguayan armed forces made a formal statement yesterday that it would accede to the popular will of Paraguay, whatever the decision. How credible these assurances are, however, remains to be seen, as the country has a long history of intervention by its armed forces (one of the longest dictatorships in the hemisphere, coup attempts galore).

Clearly there are many Paraguayans concerned with: a) the ANR stealing the election and b) the military taking over if an unliked candidate (read: Lugo) wins. And if history is any guide, they have right to be concerned.

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Demystifying Food: How to Make a Flan

Yes, I tried my hand at recording a series of clips (first time ever!) for youtube to show people how to make flan. You can watch this for laughs or grimaces.


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Paraguay at the Crossroads: the Election and the Future of Democracy

Paraguay is in a critical moment in its life as a nation. The first serious opposition candidate that has a viable chance of winning the election, Fernando Lugo, is leading the polls over the official candidate Blanca Ovelar (from the same political party as dictator Stroessner, the Colorado or ANR) and a more traditional opposition candidate Lino Oviedo (a former member of the military who staged an unsuccessful coup a few years ago).

In 5 days, on the 20th, Paraguayans vote in an election as emotionally invested with hope for "change" as the U.S. election is shaping up to be. Of course, there are scare tactics galore encouraging the people to vote for Ovelar: the Taiwanese (major investors in both private and public works in Paraguay) have expressed concern over candidates who "favor" China (read: concern over Lugo's desire to normalize relations with China); many government employees have received instant raises in the past two weeks; supporters of the opposition have been jumped and beaten up.

What happens if Ovelar "wins" the election dirtily? What if the international observers (from Uruguay, OAS) cry foul? What if Oviedo backtracks on his hitherto strong unwillingness to team up with Ovelar and neatly win the election? Would the people take to the streets to protest?

What if Lugo wins? What if there's a peaceful transition from one ruling block to another? What if there's no coup attempt to countermand this? What if democracy and rule of law are shored up?

Though I want to be hopeful, I think the past is a useful guide and it's grim: corruption reigns. If somehow the ANR would concede the loss to Lugo, I can see the military rising up to dethrone him. And if the ANR "win," I fear the population still traumatized by the dictatorship and so used to oppression and violence and absolute impunity for the powerful will merely resign themselves to, once again, dashed hopes.

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NBC's Bionic Woman Knows Paraguay Exists! Unfortunately, that's about it.

The fourth episode of the Bionic Woman remake features the unfortunate fate of a "doctor working in Paraguay" who gets kidnapped in Ciudad del Este and then, well, meets his fate at the hands of a terrorist organization called the "Sons of the Red Sand." I can't tell if they're supposed to be "foreign" terrorists (i.e. Islamic terrorists) or the homegrown variety (a FARC-like group). If you go here, you can watch for free.

But pay attention to the threat growled/yelled out at the unfortunate doctor in an accent that is clearly not Paraguayan at all. Everything that follows is absolutely wrong, of course. Paraguay _has_ passed counter-terrorism laws and would be very glad to let the U.S. mount an operation on its soil... that's what's been happening there for the last three years with our military in... Ciudad del Este! Also, I've been to _two_ airports in the Triple Frontera... there's no need for a random airstrip in a thunderstorm.

Yes, this dangerous location where the Bionic Woman dreads to go will be the site of my future research.

Some of the details are right: there's a Paraguayan flag on a box, but the Spanish uses the wrong vocabulary (stuff that comes from the Caribbean or Central America, not the Southern Cone) like "bodega." And the music should be polka half in Spanish, half in Guarani.

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Not New: Rising Trend of Food Riots

Ever since states began administering the agricultural resources of their populations (like, thousands of years ago), food scarcity, hoarding, and price jacking have incited unrest. The recent upsurge in reporting about food is more than a media trend. Changes in the recent past have drastically affected the price of food, globally, and are leading towards an escalating crisis which the World Bank has declared an emergency as hundreds of millions are in danger of plunging into worse poverty.

The price of food has risen. This is chiefly because of the connection between food and fuel. With oil prices at new highs, it costs that much more to transport food and the increase is passed on to the consumer. With oil prices at new highs, alternative sources of fuel are increasingly economically viable--hence the turn to biofuels (ethanol, from corn, being the best known but there are other oilseed being grown) and so crops that could be going to feed people are being converted to fuel, decreasing the supply of food and raising the price and of course the increase is passed on to the consumer.

In the past year, the price of food in poor countries has gone up by 50%, which is why we see demonstrations in Haiti, leading to the ouster of its Prime Minister. This is also why Argentines, the world's highest per capita consumers of meat, had to subsist on pasta and pizza for weeks when farmers and ranchers halted shipments of their produce in retaliation to the government's desire to raise taxes on farmers to benefit from the financial windfall from higher profits. And this is why American farmers who've been paid money for decades to let their fields lie uncultivated are starting to use those fields for biofuels and more "traditional" crop usage.

And, to be very clear, I, like Toussaint, think of Haiti as part of Latin America.

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Not with a bang but with a whimper: the end of Cuba's Communist Revolution?

The predictions of thousands of academics, intelligence agents, and ordinary Cuban emigres who have envisioned a thousand different outcomes for the end of the Cuban experiment in Communism notwithstanding, would it not be the most fitting irony that the Castro brothers themselves oversee the dissolution of the system themselves in a gradual, unremarkable, unrevolutionary style that stands in opposition to the way the whole of it has run since Moncada (1953)?


Instead of a fiery violent conflagration or the bold reforms pushed forward by a mass of popular protests, it looks like two old men who, at the end of their lives, are weary of the struggle and, looking for rest, do the unthinkable: willingly loosen their grip on the reins. On the other hand, it shouldn't be that surprising. The Cuban Revolution has always defied expectations.

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Adventures in Advertising: Absolut Vodka's Recent Stumble Across the Border


In an attempt to subvert U.S. political hegemony in the Americas, Absolut reinforces it. Though the vodka maker was trying to be cheeky and, presumably, take advantage of some discontent with the U.S. interventionist behavior in Latin America (stemming from its military involvement throughout the hemisphere for the past two centuries as well as the current international disenchantment following U.S. forays into Iraq and Afghanistan), Absolut was not ready for the response it garnered when it launched this ad campaign earlier this year.

The borders depict Mexico before the Mexican-American War (1848) where it lost half of its territory, including the lucrative oil fields of Texas, the mineral and agricultural wealth of California, and, well, I suppose the skiing potential of the Rockies. The Swedish company has issued a formal apology for the uproar caused by such a controversial move (where the ad clearly implies that in an "ideal" world, the territorial restructuring would not have taken place) as a result of complaints from sites such as conservative blogger Michelle Malkin.

Vitriolic and xenophobic comments aside, the campaign was a naive move on the part of the company for a number of reasons. First, directly addressing a sore and controversial issue such as the political and territorial fallout from a war requires more delicacy and deliberation. Was there no one who reviewed the ad and, personal political convictions aside, thought that international treaties and international law might be a bad subject for an alcohol ad? A friend who is a Chilean lawyer remarked, upon seeing the ad, that this was what happens when the legal risks and ramifications of a campaign are unconsidered.

Moreover, it's telling that the ideal ("Absolut") world is still post-Conquest and European. Whose ideal world is this? Surely not that of the native population decimated by violence and disease. And, the ad is in English. This subconscious slippage only reinforces the dominance of the anglophone West--that the use of English in the message is taken for granted and invisible underscores the power of English speakers.

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Fernando Lugo-- Paraguay's Obama?

Lugo, a former Paraguayan archbishop, is the first serious contender for the presidency of Paraguay who is not from one of the two established parties. The Colorados have ruled the country for the greater part of the 20th century (including the Stroessner dictatorship) up until the present day. They are running a female candidate, Blanca Ovelar, who was part of the current (and discredited) president's administration. Lino Oviedo, also part of the traditional establishment, is running as part of a motley association of movements and parties-- he's the guy who was jailed after a failed coup attempt a few years back. Yeah, he's part of the military who sought to overthrow a civilian government.

Though he's often spoken of as part of the "pink tide" sweeping Latin America, Lugo has managed to excite the hopes of a broad range of voters: workers, peasants, the indigenous, the poor, the middle class, the religious, students. And he currently leads Ovelar by 10 points. He's the one candidate who's said that he'll demand a renegotiation of the Itaipu treaty--a move that makes him unpopular to Brazilian interests. Itaipu, the hydroelectric plant shared 50/50 by Brazil and Paraguay, is based on agreements signed during military dictatorships wherein Paraguay agreed to sell excess energy only to Brazil at below market prices. Which means that Brazil gets a fabulous deal from the world's largest energy producing dam and Paraguay remains poor and suffers blackouts.

Elections are April 20th and will be observed by at least 300 Uruguayan volunteers. And Lugo's "party" is the Alianza Patriótica para el Cambio (APC-- or the Patriotic Alliance for Change).

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Soy Cuba -- I am Cuba (1964).



A friend gave me the special boxed edition for my birthday (in the shape of a cigar box... very clever) and the images have haunted me since. This is a film made by Soviet-Cuban collaborators at the height of the Cold War, only a few years after the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Detractors in the US will claim that it's communist propaganda (as if any piece of media didn't convey a message). Detractors in the USSR complained that it wasn't harsh enough in its depiction of pre-Revolution bourgeois Cuba and that it wasn't orthodox enough in its Marxism.

The film is stunningly beautiful and has these lovely long tracking shots which tour through Havana. As any piece of worthwhile art, its meaning changes through time. The misery of grinding rural poverty in the midst of comfortable corporate excess that set the stage for a massive social upheaval in the 50s, the inaccessible luxuries of hotels and rooftop bars, the racial inequality. These themes are reconstituted from today's gaze where the grinding rural poverty has been largely eliminated, but luxury hotels are still inaccessible to Cubans, and the racial inequality has morphed. Those Cubans lucky enough to work in the tourist industry (where they can make the dollars useful in the black market/dollar economy) or with family in the exterior that sends remittances are the whiter ones.

At the Night Club.



The Procession.



These visuals are part of a struggle to get to determine what the "authentic" Cuba of the 1950s was and thereby to condone or condemn what came afterward (i.e. Castro). Compare with this recent New York Times article (and especially the video) where the attempt is to go back in time and recreate the Cuba from the 50s. This raises the interesting question of memory... how much time and how much life lies between the experience of the Revolution and the lives of exiles here in the US? What does nostalgia and remembering a Cuba from the 50s mean to people who've never been to the island?

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