A New Latin America Says "No" to Torture

In 1991, during my senior year of college, I partook in an alternative spring break trip to Guatemala. While I had visited parts of Mexico during the late 1980s, this was my first foray further into Latin America.  Prior to this – and I hate to admit it – I was pretty naïve about Latin American history.  Although I have written before about the United States’ involvement in the region, I did not appreciate the full extent and long-lasting effects of that involvement until this sojourn.

It is no accident that Loyola University sponsored the trip.  Loyola is a Jesuit school and Jesuit priests at the time were the leading proponents of liberation theology. Liberation theology offered a revised interpretation of the Bible, specifically the New Testament Gospels, and had significant influence in Latin America.  That interpretation held, in a nutshell, that the poor and powerless were not on this earth to suffer towards a greater reward in heaven, but rather should work with the religious and others to improve their lot in this life.  In short, liberation theology offered an early response to the question “What would Jesus do?”  The answer was that Jesus would uplift the poor.

As one can imagine, liberation theology was an attractive notion to a young college student - just the right mixture of politics, activism, and revisionist Catholicism.  The two weeks I spent with my classmates at the Catholic mission in the Guatemalan countryside, some miles from the capital city, had a profound influence on me that continues up through today.

Carmelo de Nazareth Catholic Mission, Guatemala, 1991
Source: Author's private collection

One reason this experience was so profound is that my visit occurred when Guatemalans were engaged in a civil war, with the United States having supported the repression of indigenous populations conducted by various ruling military dictatorships over the years.  It is no wonder then that a recent New York Times piece grabbed my attention.  Thankfully, a lot has changed in Guatemala over the 22 years since my visit, evidenced by the impending public trial of former military dictator, Efraín Ríos Montt.  Charged officially with genocide, Montt is responsible for numerous cases of murder, torture, rape, and other human rights violations conducted during his rule.  Montt’s trial marks a significant turn for Guatemala and promises to provide some measure of justice and closure for the victims and survivors of Montt's cruel reign.

Some of the locals and I pause from our work - building a new church.
Guatemala, 1991. Source: Author's private collection

But what is as equally significant as Montt’s impending trial is not only the measure of justice it offers the people of Guatemala, but also that Guatemala as a nation has learned from its past.  Other nations in the region also seem to have learned from their own experiences with repressive dictatorships.  As it happens, the announcement of Montt’s trial for human rights violations coincided with a recent Washington Post analysis of those countries that have or continue to cooperate with the United States in its transnational torture program of suspected terrorist suspects - a program consisting of among other things, rendition by way of secret late night flights to undisclosed and officially non-existent black sites.  As discussed at Tom Dispatches.com, seemingly every country on the planet has fallen into the US’ imperial sphere of torture – every country that is except for those in Latin America.

Speaking almost uniformly, Latin American nations have said "No" to their imperial neighbor to the north.  In so doing, they have taken a stand for human rights and against the most violent forms of repression by denying the US the use of air space to spirit away suspects, the use of it territories to establish black sites, and the other types of support needed to conduct rendition and torture.

This is a positive and hopeful development for Latin Americans as they emerge from the darkness of their histories while simultaneously gaining the confidence to refuse US demands rather than capitulate under US economic, military, and political intimidation.  Still, while admit my youthful naiveté about how the world works, I cannot do so now.  I realize that Latin American nations’ stance against US-sponsored torture will not bring about the practice’s immediate end, but it does provide an example other countries – including our own – can and should follow.

The Guatemalan countryside, 1991
Source: Author's private collection

Empowering Young Latinas Through the Girl Scouts

           Today the House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a couple of weeks after the Senate passed the bill, now sending it to the President to be reauthorized. I mentioned in a previous post that this act offers resources to women who arevictims of violence. This act is certainly necessary, but I sometimes feel disappointed that we often put resources toward the treatment of problems, rather than focusing on prevention of the problems in the first place. Educational programs for men about using means other than physical violence to get what they want, and how to respect women could certainly go a long way. Programs that empower women and young girls would also be a great step in the right direction.
          Thankfully, there is one such group that empowers young girls that is quite high profile in general, but especially at this time of year. They do not rely on government funding, but perhaps our tax dollars would be better invested in programs like it-then they would not have to sell so many cookies to make ends meet. Because of those cookies, though, they are doing quite well for themselves and are teaching young women and girls great skills through their sales. If you have not guessed by now, I am talking about the Girl Scouts.

I typically buy a few boxes of cookies each year in January, to have them delivered around this time in late February. It seems that there is always a friend, a relative, or a coworker with a daughter who can hook me up with some Samoas or Tagalongs. This year I am lucky to have a Daisy in the house, the entry level Girl Scouts, and she is my six-year old daughter. 

Having a daughter has done a lot to raise my consciousness about gender and equity issues for females, which explains my last few posts. Not that I was completely unenlightened before, but I did grow up in a house with two brothers, and my father is one of nine boys (with one sister), and my mom likewise lived in a male dominated house (at least in numbers, with four brothers and a sister). So, I was not the most sensitive guy in the world, but thinking about opportunities and the safety of my own daughter quickly changed that. While, unintentionally, our daughter has become quite “girly” I am always happy to encourage her dreams and pursuits that don’t fit into traditional gender roles, such as playing soccer, being an astronaut, or playing with blocks.

The wonderful thing about the Girl Scouts, Brownies, and Daisies is that they empower young girls, but still reward them for being girls. This newfound admiration and cookie season led me to do a little research and I learned that they provided a great opportunity for girls in general, but that they are also great about empowering young girls of color, especially Latinas, my self-identified Mexican daughter included. 

First, a little history. Juliet “Daisy” Gordon Low, an upper class woman from Georgia was in an unhappy marriage with a philandering husband, who while perhaps not physically abusive, was certainly emotionally and financially abusive to Daisy. After his death in 1905 she assumed that she would have been left as an heir as they were still legally married, despite the fact that he had a live-in girlfriend and relegated Daisy to the servant’s quarters. But her husband left her nothing. Daisy was able to make it on her own and after meeting the founder of the Boy Scouts, she had the idea of creating a similar organization to serve young girls.  So, as I wrote previously in my VAWA post about immigrant and Latina women who experience abuse or at least a lack of respect by their macho husbands, the Girl Guides, as they were originally called had roots in issues that touch Latinas. 

As the media often does special interest stories on the Girl Scouts because of cookie season I learned of a couple of other connections between the organization and Latinas. One is the fact that the organization is currently headed by Anna Maria Chavez, a woman of Mexican-descent, who was enrolled in the Girl Scouts as a youngster by her mother, who saw it as an opportunity to help her excel in school. Now as CEO she gives back to young girls of all backgrounds, serving as a role model for all, but especially for those of Hispanic origin. A second Latina connection, also out of Arizona, is the all-time cookie selling record holder, 10 year-old Mary Ruiz, who was featured in the New York Times, and who sold over 5000 boxes of cookies last year. 

So, while I am happy that the VAWA was passed today, I am even happier that great work is being done by the 101 year old girl scouts; perhaps with their support we can have more female legislators and even our first Latina senator rise from their ranks to create a society where that type of act is no longer needed.

The Academy Awards: The Class Edition

There has been much discussion about the displays of sexism and racism at Sunday’s 85^th Academy Awards ceremony broadcast.  Much of the criticisms have taken aim at host Seth MacFarlane and the Twitter feed of the satirical newspaper, The Onion. Whatever problems the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has with gender and race that spilled into last night’s telecast, it seems they are less about either gender or race.  Rather, any poorly dim views of race and gender likely are based more in class than in anything else. 

To some extent, the Oscar ceremony is a display of some of the most privileged among us using their wealth and power to throw a lavish, self-congratulatory spectacle for themselves.  The rest of us are asked to witness this display and are expected to share in the revelry of the rich and famous wallowing in their own successes.  In such an environment, is it any wonder that the privileged class holds some of us – like minorities and women - in such contempt?

A look at some of last night’s winners beyond their performances demonstrates how well heeled they are.  Celebritynetworth.com reports that Best Actor winner Daniel Day-Lewis was worth up to $40 million dollars as recently as October 2010.  At about that same time, Best Supporting Actor winner Christoph Waltz was worth $10 million.  As of July 2010, Best Supporting Actress winner Anne Hathaway was worth up to $15 million.  Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence was worth only $2 million as of July 2011.  She earned a mere $500,000 for her role in The Hunger Games, but reportedly will earn $10 million for the next installment of that movie franchise.  Her win last night likely will enable her to demand even more money for any future projects.  And the producers of Best Picture winner Argo?  Ben Affleck was worth as much as $65 million as recently as January 2010.  His co-producer, George Clooney, had a staggering reported net worth of $160 million as recently as January 2011.

Most of us can only imagine the power and privilege that comes with this kind of wealth.  At best, it leads to the kind of self-indulgence demonstrated during the annual awards season.  At worst, it enables an ever-widening gap between filmmakers, actors, and other artists and entertainers and their audiences; who, after all, pay their salaries.

Authentic Latinos: Oscars Edition

This has been a less than inspiring year for Hispanics in film and their presence at the Academy Awards, or lack thereof, is indicative of that. Voxxi has given a rundown of Latinos who were up for awards. The list it mustered includes those in some of the less high profile categories, like cinematography and short documentary (not to undercut the two winners of the short and feature length documentary awards, “Inocente” and “Searching for Sugarman,” respectively).  In order to fill out the lack of a Hispanic presence, the article reaches to the foreign film category, namely the Chilean film “No,” starring Mexican actor Gael García Bernal; this although most would agree that Latin Americans living in their home countries are not Latino at all as Hispanic and Latino are categories that only have meaning in the United States. The Academy could not even muster a brief acknowledgment for Lupe Ontiveros, the Latina character actress, who passed away this year.

The one possibility for a Latino presence in a major award category was the acclaimed film Argo, which is based on the life of former CIA agent Antonio “Tony” Mendez. Rather than having a Latino actor play the Mexican-descent Mendez, Ben Affleck chose to cast himself in the lead role. This was to the chagrin of journalist and polemicist Ruben Navarrette, who argued a few weeks ago that Affleck rewarded himself at the expense of many qualified Latino actors. Navarrette offered a compelling opinion that it is time for Hollywood to place Latinos in lead roles, especially when the characters are Latinos.

There was an interesting twist to Navarrette’s appeal, however; Jack Rico, a writer with NBC Latino, sat down with the real Tony Mendez to see if he had taken umbrage with Affleck, an Irish-American, playing him in the film. Mendez said he had no problem at all with Affleck portraying him. It wasn’t because Affleck speaks Spanish and could pass as an authentic Latino, it was because Mendez doesn’t identify as Hispanic. As he stated in the interview, “I think of myself as a person who grew up in the desert. If I had been in a different family circumstance, I might have felt that way.” He reveals again that lumping a really diverse group of people into one category is a difficult thing to do, and given the artifice that is involved, many people may just opt out. Many “Hispanics” and “Latinos” do just that, as they typically prefer to be categorized by their countries of origin. Mendez takes it a step further, as probably a significant number of Hispanics have done, by simply melting into the American pot and giving up the minority ethnic identity. Richard Alba, a sociologist has argued this very point and has numbers to back up the idea that Latinos are assimilating into the mainstream, just as generations of immigrant descendants have before.

Even though there was not large Latino presence in terms of films and actors this year, perhaps Hispanics can take solace in the fact that in one way they have always been present at the award ceremony and always will be. After all, the Oscar statue was modeled after Emilio Fernández, a Mexican-born screenwriter, actor, and director who worked on both American and Mexican films. 

Violence Against Women on Fox

Yesterday, I shared my thoughts on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and how it has yet to be reauthorized by Congress since expiring in 2011. Republicans held up its re-authorization for a while before the Presidential election. After that loss, they realized they needed a new strategy, namely going after Latinos, an emerging giant that will be a force to be reckoned with in politics for years to come. I pointed out that Republicans have anointed Ted Cruz, a senator from Texas, and Marco Rubio, senator from Florida, as leaders in the party, charged with the goal of attracting the Latino vote. Unfortunately, these two senators have taken a hard line against VAWA, which is ironic because there are provisions that protect immigrants that really speak to Latino voter interests. I suggested that perhaps their views resulted from macho attitudes that don't consider women fully and with respect. Then I came across this article on Slate that reminded me that violence against women is not just a Latino thing or just political, it is a reality for all women. Bob Beckel, a former adviser to President Jimmy Carter, had the audacity to question whether rapes actually ever occur on college campuses. This despite the sad evidence that 1 in 4 women are victims of attempted sexual assault by the end of college. The worst part is how deeply ingrained the idea that rape and sexual assault can be justified or not that big of a deal in some parts of American culture. I was glad to see that even Fox News panelists called him out on this, but this kind of ignorance shows all the more that women need protection from this foolishness and violence.