Artwork by Maria Insalaco “In the United Status, you have a very different conception of crisis than we do in Bolivia. For you, it is something bad that comes along every couple years, gets resolved, finished and forgotten about. For us, crisis is permanent. Crisis is our way of life. We breathe it and we feed from it. It is part of our consciousness.” To knowing smiles around the room, sociologist Alberto Rivera provided me this introduction t...
...ars and the economic crisis, but nonetheless his track record in the Americas is inconsistent at best. Despite Obama’s emphasis on engagement, the United States has experienced ambassadorial dismissals with Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia and Ecuador. Several incidents, such as the Argentine seizure of US military equipment from a cargo plane this February, developed unnecessarily from minor misunderstandings between countries into divisive posturing...
...unlikely alliances between disparate groups are often forged, re: coalition of the Kennedys with local Native American groups, united against the government. Recently, a hyper-controversial highway that would connect La Paz, Bolivia with the Pacific Ocean by cutting through the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory was defeated after indigenous groups and opposing politicians marched on the Presidential Palace, forcing President...
Standing on the beach in Brazil, a Portuguese speaking country, my friends and I roll our eyes and strain to stifle our laughter as the family of American tourists behind us attempts to brush away a persistent beach peddler. How bad were they? Frankly, typing a tilde over the “n” in their pronunciation of español would be quite generous. As the joke goes, “What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who...
...imperialist claims to the islands. Upon her exit, Kirchner remarked, “It [the Summit of the Americas] was pointless. Why did I even come here?” I found myself asking the same question. No worries. Her exit was a signal to the Bolivian president that it was okay to leave as well. Certainly no loss there. The summit concluded with no formal agreement; just a handful of bruised egos. Whether to from here? Rapprochement with Cuba? An American break w...
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