It’s hard to get people excited about Latin America politics–a bit like asking for a brisk discussion of methods of solving differential equations. But please read on–our future may depend on it. So try a little conscience calisthenics.
I just returned from a quick trip to the Amazon Rainforest. (The mold is still growing in my shoes!)Fortunately (or unfortunately, as your politics may dictate) I took along a bargain copy of John Perkins’ Confessions of an Economic Hitman on the advice of a DKos commenter. It was a “born again” experience.
I’m going to share a number of very specific political situations and insights in a couple of diaries this week. But first, I’d like to share with you the comments of children I saw there.
100 miles up the Amazon from Iquitos, Peru you will find incredible poverty and incredible genius. The Peruvian government has provided relatively permanent “deeds” to strip farms (1 hectare on the river, 14 back) to people who might formerly have been nomadic. The area is changing. One-roomed homes are creeping up along the Amazon and Napo highways.
We spoke to women who worked all day for the equivalent of fifty cents, weaving palms for roofs. We tasted the guane the women were making for St. John’s day (that great scam that the Conquistador missionaries laid on top of winter solstice, just as Christmas was superimposed on winter solstice in northern Europe.) We talked to men who hunted endangered monkeys to feed their children and to “mission groups” who were painting schools and trying to influence politics.
Like most native areas, this one is dramatically split. The insidious influence of international business is corrupting the traditionally generous and peaceful communities. Jobs? Or the environment?
Just two examples today:
I was honored to be invited into the one room home of a Yagua family. Five children lived there. The only decoration on their home (which was being destroyed by termites) was this picture by a ~9 year old child. This was the most significant object in her life–a logging barge that was destroying her environment. I didn’t have enough Spanish to determine the nuance of her observations.
My second example–I sat that evening with a teacher, who had taken her middle schoolers to meet peers in a private Amazonian school. The American kids were relatively shy; just introduced themselves and said hello. The Peruvian kids (100 miles upriver, who have never experienced electricity, running water, or Playstations) introduced themselves and then asked: “Why haven’t you Americans approved Kyoto?”
I’m not kidding!
Now, as an American, did you know that Ecuador and Peru were at war a decade ago? Do you know why? In a nutshell, the issue was where the border was, and which nation controlled the right to sign an oil agreement. The weapons? The spears and poison arrows of indigenous people. Your government provided “technical advisors” to one side, in order to defeat the natives who didn’t want oil spilled into their life-giving river!
More details when the jet lag wears off. But in the interim, please take a look at Confessions of an Economic Hitman. Your conscience depends on it.
(Cross Posted at DailyKos.com)
