The Journey of Che

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The journey of Che

In this weeks film the class watched "The Motorcycle Diaries" which told about the journey of Ernesto Guevara aka "Che" across the continent of South America in the turbulent era of post WWII Latin America. The film takes place in Latin America at a time of great social change. Issues such as poverty and homelessness are rampant and as "Che" embarks on his journey he is exposed to these issues at many levels.  The purpose behind the film is to give the viewer an understanding of the circumstances which led Ernesto Guevara to become a famous political activist of this era. The movie begins with the two main characters (Ernesto "Fuser" and Alberto Granado) planning their trip which will take them across the continent. They must rely on a relic of a motorcycle throughout their trip which makes their journey very difficult at times. The goal of the two men trip is to arrive at a leprosy clinic in Peru, which they plan to work at upon arrival.
Throughout the film the two men are confronted with the social issues troubling the indigenous people across the continent. While examining the article written by Paulo Drinot it seems evident that while witnessing the many horrible problems of other Latin Americans "Che" began to really reflect on his own morals which eventually inspired him to become politically active. One can only imagine the rage within "Che" when he saw the injustices that seemed to be everywhere on his continent. It seems apparent that Drinot believed that "Che" was very moved by what he witnessed upon this trip. Drinot offers the perspective that after seeing his home country being plundered by the foreign outsiders he was enraged, as well as inspired to see change take place.
The other document dealing with the journey of "Che" is entitled "Point of Departure" written by Eduardo Elena. This document gives the opinion that even though this trip was very influential to Ernesto Guevara,  his transformation to the famous political activist he became was much deeper than this one trip. Elena claims that the activist known as "Che" was dealing social change both before and after his famous trip. This document suggest that to fully understand the true inspiration for "Che" one must look at his life from a much wider scope, while taking into account the daily challenges facing the continent of South America.
Overall the film “The Motorcycle Diaries” does a good job of telling the story of the trip which exposed Ernesto Guevara to the troubles of his people. To understand the motives of political activist can often be troublesome because many times their stories can be twisted to conform to the views of the story teller. By relying on the journals which “Che” kept we have a very clear perspective on what he believed was right and wrong. I feel very fortunate to have heard the story of “Che” because his story is very inspiring. He strongly wanted to change what he saw as wrong, and was not afraid to speak out about it.

Our Brand is Crisis

This weeks film entitled Our Brand is Crisis, is a documentary following the Campaign of former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante aka "Goni". The film follows an American firm, led by the legendary John Carver, that specializes in foreign elections, as they do their job. Many times throughout the film there are scenes that show the inner processes of the political campaign that Latin American countries with diverse ethnic populations undergo. At the beginning of the film the results of Goni's time in office are revealed, showing the political strife Bolivia saw because of his decisions in office. After this tragic event is shown, the filmmakers then show the actual footage of Goni's political campaign, and how they worked to get him elected. The film's name gives the best indicator on how the Goni's campaign team viewed his chances of winning election. Knowing that Goni was already unpopular; they devised a strategy that depended on deviding Goni's opposition amongst as many candidates as possible in hopes of winning the campaign. The American firm which advised Goni's every move employed strategies such as dirty politics to achieve their goals.

The First reading which is chapter ten of John Chasteen's Born of Blood and Fire: a concise history of Latin America; relates to this weeks film in multiple ways. One similarity the two share is that they both highlight the difficulties in sustaining political stability in Latin Countries due to the diverse populations that mostly all Latin American countries share. Ethnic groups such as African Americans, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Indigenous populations seem to always have conflicting views when it comes to how their countries should operate. The reading gives many examples of how the ruling classes in Latin Countries can simply exclude the poorer classes from the political process. The movie in correlation gives the answer to what occurs when this happens; which is revolution and/or political strife.

The second reading for this week entitled; “The Slow Death of the Washington Consensus on Latin America”, also gives better insight about the political forces that exist in Latin American Countries. Officials such as Goni who embrace opening trade in order to produce wealth for their countries have historically been met with challenges. While it seems that opening trade would produce "capital flows" for Latin countries; the reading suggest that only a few individuals actually benefit. Moreover, many times throughout history financial deregulation in Latin Countries seems to produce only failure. In Goni's case by allowing free trade to take place he angered his citizens to the point of rebellion. Whether the country would have actually benefitted by this, Bolivian citizens were aware of the historical trends that followed when foreign investment was allowed to take place. To them it seemed as if Goni wanted to take away Bolivia's recourses for his own gain, rather than sell them for financial stability. Overall the fim and the readings gave an accurate perspective on the political forces driving Latin America.

La Virgen de los Sacaros

The film for review this week is entitled La Virgen de los Sacaros, which is the peculiar story of a homosexual author who finds love and despair as he returns to his home Medellin, Columbia. As the writer attempts to find joy in his new life he meets a boy, and soon they fall in love. The two make a dynamic couple whit both bringing their own perspective viewpoints on the city of Medellin to the table. The older writer remembers the city as it was in his youth without a booming population and massive poverty. The boy on the other hand knows only the violence brought by competing gangs and drug cartels. Throughout the movie the dialogue between the two characters does an excellent job of showing changes Columbia has seen this century due to civil unrest. Overall the film gives a great perspective of just how the deeply rooted political violence of Columbia's past has effected its citizens in modern times.

The movie relates to this week’s readings in many different ways. After reading the first document, which gives a summary of the United States drug war in Columbia, it was easier to understand why people tolerate the violence depicted in the movie. The document gives the notion that the Columbian government is simply incapable of stopping traffickers due to many reasons including corruption, lack of funding, and lack of willpower. In the movie it seems that street shootouts were commonplace, and assassins were everywhere. A major question that the document raises though is just how effective has United States intervention in Columbia been. By forcing drug trafficking underground it seems we have created a country deeply rooted in violence. The reading shows that as demand for drugs rises in the United States, the power of the cartels will only increase. Soon it will be inevitable that we either change our policies on how we deal with the issue, or change laws that will affect the demand of the product.

The other reading; Evil Hour in Columbia written by Forest Hylton, gives details on the hostile state of affairs in Columbian Politics dating as far back as the 1920's, and giving insight onto events in modern times as well. The most interesting thing about the reading is how it details the processes which led to Columbia’s political unrest. The importance of understanding this document in correlation to the movie is so that the viewer can understand the two worlds the writer and his young assassin lover come from. The writer lived in Columbia in the Pre-Escobar era at a time when Columbia's political system seemed to be at a lockout. The boy on the other hand was born into a chaotic Columbia where drugs and guns have caused society to lose its humanity. The two seem to bond on the fact that they have two differing views on the world.  By understanding these two contrasting viewpoints we can understand what deeper intentions that La Virgen de los Sacaros intends to give to viewers.

The documentary "Cocaine Cowboys" focuses on the role cocaine played in the city of Miami in the 70's and 80's. The film gives true accounts of events from former drug runners Mickey Munday and Jon Roberts. Roberts and Munday were notable smugglers with connections to both the columbian and cuban sides of the Miami drug trade. They had developed many clever ways to run drugs into the country, and after a few years had earned multiple millions of dollars. But as time progressed the violence resulting from cocaine had produced enough heat from law enforcement which ensured the groups operation would soon be discovered. After a former partner ratted the group out law enforcement arrested both Roberts, Monday, as well as a few others.

The other aspect the film focuses on is the role the columbian crime organizations played in the control and distribution of cocaine in Miami. The film producers interview former columbian enforcer Jorge Ayala who is serving life in prison for murder. Ayala represents the image of the Columbian forces perfectly. He killed for money and was notorious for never failing to collect debts. Another interesting way Ayala fits the stereotype for a columbian enforcer perfectly is the fact that he committed his many all of his atrocities simply for money.

The Colleta Youngers document gives a summery of the failures of the United States war on drugs, and how it has promoted elicit activity amongst impoverished people in Latin countries notable for drug production. The document relays to "Cocaine Cowboys" and the Miami crisis in the late 70's and 80's in the fact that the reward for involving oneself in the drug business is more satisfying than pursuing other careers available To poor Latinos. The document gives a solid alternative to the useless policies currently being used by promoting ideas such as drug prevention.

The other reading gives excerpts from emails sent from CIA officials concerning a the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980's. It tells of how The CIA allowed for drug organizations to raise money from drug sales to support war. The information from the reading shows that bad policies with short term benefits over-ruled long term prosperity.

Overall the documentary "cocaine cowboys" shows how drug money can disrupt social order. Poorer Citizens are vulnerable to committing horrible acts because of the reward from the drug business. The movie shows how we must find new ways to fight drug use other than enforcement. Though the thought of legalization is far from achievable it could one day be an actual possibility

La Ultima Cena

       Throughout the history of slavery; social change has often led to revolts and uprisings that ended  abruptly with violent conflict. This week the assigned readings, as well as the movie, consisted with reports of slave uprisings in Latin American countries. The film "La Ultima Cena", directed by  Tomás Gutiérrez Alea was released in 1976, and told the story of a sugar plantation which is run by a very pious plantation owner. The storyline of the movie revolved around the plantation owners decision to re-enact the last super of Jesus and his 12 apostles with his slaves. Once the dinner begins it becomes apparent that the owner wishes to convey the importance of Christianity to his slaves. He tells of biblical stories intended to enlighten his slaves, but only seems to make them question their posistion as slaves in a christian world. The readings; John Mraz, “Recasting Cuban Slavery: The Other Francisco and The Last Supper.” and Kristen Schultz, “Slavery Race and Citizenship.” were insightful as well and helped paint an accurate understanding of the many questions that were still present after viewing the movie.
       One important thing to keep in mind is the extremely crude times that those in slavery constantly faced. Writer John Mraz points out the many ways slaves coped with their dilemma which included running away, rebellion, and in some cases passive resistance efforts such as suicide and abortion. When viewing the film "La Ultima Cena" with this foreknowledge is it easy to see why the slaves were not swayed by their master's attempts to appease them with Christianity. The slaves also seem to be from different origins altogether, with many different attitudes and actions towards their master as well as each other. One aspect to be appreciated when viewing the film while also keeping in mind the writings of Mraz; is the real conflict between religious forces, and the rising demand for the commodities slave labor produced. In "La Ultima Cena" the slaves eventually revolt because of the broken promise that they could have "Good Friday" off, so that they may worship the lord.

       The other reading gave a detailed account of the issues the Brazilian constitutionalists faced when attempting to obtain sovereignty as an independent nation. A major issue was how the new government would appropriate citizenship status to its people in a very slave driven society. This shows the struggles that oppressed slaves faced when attempting to rebel, as the did in "La Ultima Cena". One can assume that lack of education as well as organization, was a major reason many slave revolts were forcefully ended. Slaves had no power, and were kept impoverished. As far as conflict between revolting slaves and armed militias ,often hired by the revolting plantation's owner, slaves were at a heavy disadvantage. Overall, it can be assumed that the film "La Ultima Cena" is a mostly historically accurate film that depicted numerous aspects of slavery that should never be forgotten. It offers a general example of how slave revolts were sadly nearly always bloody events that shaped our past, and defined us as a society.

History 475 spring semester

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