Why I’ll Never Buy a Kindle

First published in Alternet

November 17, 2009

Written by Benjamin Dangl

A green crochet cover envelopes the Kindle of Eileen Messina in Freeport, Maine. She has downloaded a number of popular titles onto her reading device – one of many new handheld digital gadgets now available to read books. New Yorker reporter Nicholson Baker wrote that Messina lamented that books at the library sometimes smelled of cigarette smoke. Baker says, “a Kindle book is a smoke-free environment.”

But a lot of book-readers, myself included, enjoy the smell and palpable history of a book from a library or used bookstore. There is something comforting about the shared experience of reading a physical book many others have read, and will read in the future. I like the story of a used book – a folded page, the markings on the margins, the hints at its past. Sure, sometimes they smell like cigarette smoke, but they can also smell like the places they’ve been, whether it’s a dusty old used bookstore or the tropical funk of Asunción, Paraguay. You can’t share a Kindle book and so history doesn’t cling to it the same way.

One bookstore in London has a display of the items left accidentally in used books that were donated to the store. In the Guardian, Theresa Malone writes that the display includes “a chest x-ray, an air freight invoice and the handwritten guest list to a party, complete with notes for the host’s speech. …about a dozen photo albums containing family holiday snaps, wedding day memories, pictures of pets and more are laid out on a table for customers to browse through.”

These leftovers from another period in a book’s history aren’t something you can ever get with the Kindle. As Malone writes, “The creased spines and turned down pages, those makeshift bookmarks from a bygone age, all signs that the book, which is now yours, has been in the past a real, tangible, treasured possession.”

There is also the story of the actual geographic journey of a book, the travels of something born out of a keyboard that later takes on a life of its own. One reader wrote me to say that a copy of my first book, The Price of Fire, was on the back of the toilet seat when her toddler woke up early one morning raising havoc and ended up knocking the book into the toilet. Once, just after finishing a copy of Ramor Ryan’s book Clandestines in Argentina, my backpack – with the book in it – was stolen in Buenos Aires. Who knows where that book might be right now?

Such stories of books have parallels to the widely circulated news of 30,000 plastic toy ducks that were washed into the Pacific Ocean in 1992 when the container carrying them fell off the cargo ship. The Times Online reported that “Two thirds of them floated south through the tropics, landing months later on the shores of Indonesia, Australia and South America. But 10,000 headed north and by the end of the year were off Alaska and heading back westwards. It took three years for the ducks to circle east to Japan, past the original drop site and then back to Alaska on a current known as the North Pacific Gyre before continuing north towards the Arctic.”

Like one of these plastic ducks, one never knows where a book might end up. There isn’t the same mystery with the Kindle. As Rebecca Solnit writes in her book, Hope in the Dark, “Writing is a model for how indirect effect can be, how delayed, how invisible; no one is more hopeful than a writer, no one is a bigger gambler… You write books. You scatter seeds. Rats might eat them or they may rot…”

With a Kindle on the other hand, you know where it will end up – with the rest of the toxic trash heaps that our newest technical gadgets are eventually destined for. Baker of the New Yorker writes that the Kindle is “made of exotic materials that are shipped all over the world’s oceans; yes, it requires electricity to operate and air-conditioned server farms to feed it; yes, it’s fragile and it duplicates what other machines do; yes, it’s difficult to recycle; yes, it will probably take a last boat ride to a Nigerian landfill in five years.”

However, the Kindle does save trees, and in a country that trashes 83 million tons of paper annually, that’s no small task.

But whatever happened to just going to the library? As Kiera Butler writes at Mother Jones, “The San Francisco library bought 78,445 books in 2008. Let’s assume each of the library’s 2,265,209 visitors borrowed two books.” By doing that “You’ve reduced your reading emissions to 42 pounds of CO2, nearly an eighth of what they would be if you bought all your books new.”

Maybe your local public library has shut down, like so many other cash-strapped libraries across the country. Columnist Katha Pollitt points out, “If the government can bail out the banks that are so deeply implicated in our current troubles … Why can’t it support libraries and schools and publishing by stocking the public bookshelves with inviting new books and hiring staff to keep the doors open?”

Instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars for a Kindle, why not just go to the library for the book you’re looking for. And when you’re there, hand a check for the money you would have spent on the Kindle to the librarian.

With Kindles we lose more than the smell of cigarette smoke on the pages of a library book. As one character in Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451 said, “Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You’d find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion.”

Next on the Endangered Species List: Your Hometown Newspaper

Written by Benjamin Dangl

June 22, 2009

While reporting on various political events from Latin America in recent months I followed news from my hometown of Burlington, Vermont through the website of my weekly local paper, Seven Days.

I kept track of Burlington politics online from La Paz when Bolivia passed its new constitution, watched reportage on the opening of the local farmer’s market when Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was caught in a paternity suit, and followed Vermont’s legalization of gay marriage via the paper’s updates while Argentina commemorated the 33rd anniversary of a military coup.

The paper’s website offered a portal to home, and underscored the importance of local newspapers in providing a sense of community. Local papers ground us in a globalized world, and help define who and where we are. They should be nourished and supported by their readers.

I’m not a nationalist or a patriot, but there’s something in the place that you grew up in that pulls at you the farther you go from home. While working in Latin America, my home town newspaper was a life line for me to Vermont, cushioning dizzying realities abroad with local news I could identify with.

But now more than ever these local papers are disappearing. They’re being bulldozed over by corporate conglomerates, dropping ad sales and competition in general with internet-based news outlets.

Daily papers in major cities across the US have been folding at an alarming rate this year. Rocky Mountain News in Denver has closed its doors, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stopped its print operation to go online. In addition, The Detroit Free Press, The Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram all made major cuts this year. The Ann Arbor News will be closing this July after a 174-year history.

When this happens, the reporters are hit hard, but the communities that depend on these papers suffer as well. “We need to view journalism in the same way that we view libraries and public schools, as absolutely essential to any prospering community,” Theodore Glasser, a professor of communications at Stanford University, told USA Today.

It’s not that I always agreed with the editorial decisions made by my hometown weekly and its writers all the time. I think, for example, that it could sometimes be more political, more agitating and more investigative. Yet it serves a fundamental purpose in the community as a reference point on local news, life and issues. The same is true for local papers across the nation.

After various connecting flights, taxi rides, and layovers, I finally arrived in Burlington after about five months in Latin America. A few days later, when opening the paper for the first time, the news entered my brain in a different way than it had online: I could smell it, hear its pages rustle, and some of the ink rubbed off on my fingers.

As I caught up with news on the state budget and read a column by a local taxi driver, I realized that the paper had become like so many friends I ran into upon coming back to Burlington - something that helped define my place in the world. Like the parks of the city, the taste of a local beer and the contours of the mountains across the lake, this local newspaper was a part of the landscape.

When I finished reading the paper, I went outside and laid sections of it down between the rows of vegetables in my garden, placing hay on top of the paper, all to keep the weeds down. A column on the Democrats’ override of a veto by our Republican governor went next to the beans, face up. An update about a new Vermont law allowing residents to dry their laundry outside on a clothesline, despite any “neighborhood restrictions or covenants” went along the rows of carrots. I laid down the history of a local jazz band next to the tomatoes.

And I knew I was finally home after the paper put local news into my brain, and began collaborating with the dirt and the sun to put local food in my stomach.

Abraham’s Last Rap: Bolivian Hip-Hop Hero Dies in El Alto

By Benjamin Dangl

Sunday, 24 May 2009

En Español: El Último Rap de Abraham: Un Héroe del Hip-Hop Boliviano Falleció en El Alto

El Alto-based hip-hop artist Abraham Bojorquez died early in the morning on Wednesday, May 20 in El Alto, Bolivia. He was killed when a bus hit him as he walking home.

Abraham, 26 years old, was a member of the popular hip-hop group Ukamau y Ké, and in recent years had become increasingly well known within Bolivia and internationally. His music blended ancient Andean folk styles and new hip-hop beats with lyrics about revolution and social change. Through his music he demanded justice for those killed in the 2003 Gas War, spread political consciousness, spoke of the reality of life in El Alto, and criticized the lying corporate media. He was a radio host at the cultural center Wayna Tambo in El Alto, and regularly traveled around Bolivia to prisons, rural and mining communities to offer classes on hip-hop to young rappers.

For more details on Abraham’s life and music, see this article: Rapping in Aymara: Bolivian Hip-Hop as an Instrument of Struggle

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I first met Abraham in 2006 when doing research for a book on Bolivian politics and social movements, and he offered invaluable time, input, and interviews, enriching the book with his stories of growing up as an orphan in El Alto, working in a sweat shop in Brazil, joining the Bolivian military, and then entering the street barricades as an activist in the 2003 Gas War. Woven throughout this dramatic story was Abraham’s hip-hop, an art he began in poor neighborhoods in Brazil, and brought back to El Alto.

Aside from being a key character I extensively interviewed for the book, I came to know the city while walking the streets and markets of El Alto with Abraham, listening to his stories of the city, its youth, meeting members of his family who produced beautiful carnival costumes and masks. After the book was completed, I received more emails, responses and comments regarding Abraham and his hip-hop than any other person or topic in the book. When I went on tour with the book in the US, I showed a music video of a rap song he did at nearly every event. We performed a Challa (indigenous, Andean blessing) for the book together recently when it came out in Spanish in La Paz, tossing alcohol and coca leaves on its pages for good luck. So Abraham was very much present throughout the whole process of writing and getting the book out into the world, offering support, stories and inspiration.

Over this time, he became one of my closest friends in Bolivia. Countless people from around Bolivia and the globe, including many rappers, activists, journalists, photographers and documentary film makers, became friends with this generous and talented person, and I was among the many drawn to his music, ideas and life story. The extent of this network of friends and fans obviously had to do with his incredible artistic and poetic ability, but it also had to do with his humbleness, sense of humor, and commitment to remaining true to his roots, his city, his friends and his struggle as he became more and more popular as a hip-hop star.

This was very clear to me when I met with him in La Paz a few days before his death. He greeted me in the Plaza del Estudiante with a hug and his big, contagious smile. We walked over to a café where I ordered a coca tea and he ordered some juice. Over the years, the news he shared of his hip-hop career kept on getting better and better, and this time he really seemed on top of the world.

He had just performed with the Argentine rock band Bersuit Vergarabat, and showed me the cover story in an Argentine cultural magazine that showed a few photos of him onstage with the band’s lead singer. Abraham was particularly happy about the fact that the day after the show, instead of just hanging out in the lounge of an expensive La Paz hotel, the Argentine band walked around a popular El Alto market with Abraham. In previous years, Abraham and his hip-hop comrades had rapped onstage along with other star groups such as Manu Chau, Actitud Maria Marta and Dead Prez.

Abraham has performed around Latin America, including in Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. And he was regularly invited to perform – and teach hip-hop classes around Bolivia. During this recent meeting, he spoke of an even busier schedule than usual, performing in one Bolivian city one day, and then traveling by bus for another concert the following day, and on and on – a busy, hip-hop star life.

Abraham said he had recently rapped at a youth gathering in Cochabamba where Bolivian President Evo Morales was present. Morales was moved by Abraham’s rapping, and invited him to rap at an event in El Alto the following day where the government would be giving out newly built homes. As much as he was excited about this new connection with Morales, Abraham decided to turn down the offer to stick around Cochabamba to meet other obligations with youth and union groups in the city.

We spoke about some of the same themes we had talked about a lot over the last few years, one of them being the media. Abraham had a very clear analysis of the misinformation put out by corporate and right wing media, and often rapped and spoke about the “lying media.” As an artist and radio host, he also spoke regularly about the need to provide alternative, honest information about what was really happening around the world – the real stories about police repression, the root causes of poverty, corporate looting, as well as popular struggles and social change in Latin America. He seriously believed in the struggle to provide and distribute these real stories, so that they would become a part of the official history, and people didn’t go through life without knowing the truth about politics, society and history.

(Download Ukamau y Ké album “Para La Raza” by clicking here)

He talked about the need to take into account criticisms of the Evo Morales government, but to also look at it from a different perspective, look at it from beyond the borders of Bolivia, to compare the situation in Bolivia to political situations elsewhere in the world. Then, he said, you can really see that what’s happening here is really new, exciting and historic.

Abraham was excited about the upcoming release of a new CD he was working on, and we talked about ways to distribute it in the US. Abraham spoke about how he was seeing an improvement in his music, lyrics and rapping, and how he thought he would always be improving his style. Clearly, he was looking forward to a long life in which such hard work, connections and political conviction would be without a horizon, without a limit, and help bring about social change on an even greater level. We parted ways after the coca tea and juice was long gone, hugging and wishing each other luck. I think we left each other both convinced that Abraham’s rapid and amazing trajectory as an artist was just getting started, and he would continue to rise to new heights, with his new CD, connections and plans.

After our meeting, and before he died, he rapped on a main street in La Paz. It was a cold Saturday night, and the crowd was very excited to see him, warming up by dancing and cheering. He shook his fist in the air, jumping around the stage, rapping about Latin American unity and economic crisis. His words echoed across the Andes for the last time. A few days later, when walking home late at night from a party, he was killed by a speeding bus on a road in El Alto.

Abraham understood the rapid passage of time. He understood the importance and urgency of spreading political awareness through his music, and leaving something behind. He once spoke of the fact that he was happy to know that his music would be available to his grandchildren. Luckily, as a musician, activist and poet, his spirit and message will live on through his music.

It will also live on through the huge number of people he influenced as a teacher, colleague and hip-hop leader. He had an impact on countless young people’s lives in mines, jails and impoverished communities across Bolivia. Abraham spoke of the need to help spread hip-hop as a tool, an instrument of struggle, an art and way of expression that desperate young people could turn to instead of hard drugs and violence. Thanks to his guidance, and the CDs he helped record with these hip-hop students, he changed lives.

This part of Abraham’s work reflects another trait of his – his generosity. He could have easily used his rising popularity to simply consolidate his fame and power, but instead he shared his knowledge, connections, stories and skills with the whole world, uniting and empowering people. Thanks to this, his legacy lives on.

Abraham was one of those unique people who are able to speak poetically in a non-cliché way at the drop of a hat. Whether we were talking about a movie, a politician, or telling a joke, he always had this capacity to slip into a kind of poetic reverie, as if he was always rapping, or at least thinking of and working on lyrics for his next song.

This happened one night a few years ago during a failed attempt to broadcast a rap performance and interview over the internet from La Paz to Vermont. We were both hunkered down in a crowded internet café, and the connection with an eager crowd in Vermont just kept failing, until finally we came through over the phone instead. Abraham rapped to the crowd in the US, and to the surprised group in the internet café, then fielded questions about Bolivia from the VT listeners. Then Abraham asked the Vermonters about US politics, the Bush administration and the War in Iraq, and later spoke of his surprise about how similar the hopes and challenges in US sounded to those in Bolivia.

Afterward, on the sidewalk, walking toward a pizza place, we lamented the technological setbacks of the exchange, and spoke a bit about those political and social similarities across borders, and the importance of building those kinds of bridges of understanding, connecting and uniting people across continents – and bad internet connections.

Then he said something – one of his poetic reflections – that I didn’t quite understand, it was lost in translation. So he stopped to explain, picked up a stick, and drew a line in the dirt near the road. “See,” he said, finishing the line, “it’s important to make a new path in the dirt, in the world, so that other people can travel more easily on that path, moving even farther along.”

And I think that this is what Abraham did with his life: he fought, rapped, and shared, creating a new path, so that the road is easier for others, so that those he left behind can live a better life, can make it even farther along than he did in this hard world, where life is too short, and the Abrahams are too few.

Goodbye and Jallalla, Abraham!

City of Terror: Painting Paraguay’s ‘casbah’ as terror central

Written by April Howard and Benjamin Dangl

Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Source: EXTRA!

Ciudad del Este, Paraguay

When we arrived in Ciudad del Este, we were petrified. After all, we were in the Paraguayan city known in the American press as a “Jungle Hub for World’s Outlaws” (L.A. Times, 8/24/98), and a “hotbed” “teeming with Islamic extremists and their sympathizers” (New York Times, 12/15/02).

The U.S. media’s portrayal of this city, the center of a zone on the frontiers of Argentina and Brazil known as the Tri-Border Area, left us expecting to see cars bombs exploding, terrorists training and American flags burning. We soon realized that picture painted by U.S. media was inaccurate. In the Cold War, Washington and the media used the word “communism” to rally public opinion against political opponents. Now, in the post– September 11 world, there is a new verbal weapon—“terrorism.” Despite a lack of evidence, Washington and the media are asserting links to terrorism in the Tri-Border Area to advance their agenda in a region that is increasingly shifting to the left.

The rumors date back to two anti-Semitic bombings in Buenos Aires in the 1990s—a 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy and a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center. Ciudad del Este, with its large Arab population, made an easy scape-goat. Though the attacks were never proven to be connected to Ciudad del Este, journalists since the bombings have had Washing-ton’s go-ahead to promote the unverified hypothesis that Hez-bollah (or any other Middle Eastern group designated as a terrorist organization) is finding refuge in the Tri-Border Area.

Ciudad del Este has been described (New York Times, 8/24/98) as “a capital of institutionalized smuggling that today flows back and forth to other Latin nations, Europe, the United States, Asia and the Middle East.” That’s not necessarily inaccurate, as far as it goes—there is a lot of smuggling and organized crime in the Tri-Border Area—but U.S. coverage of Ciudad del Este is marked by a combination of sensationalism and xenophobia.

Street Vendors

Mixing orientalism with fears of illegal immigrants, the L.A. Times (8/24/98) called the city a seething “Latin American casbah” with “tens of thousands of small-time smugglers, as brazen and numerous as illegal crossers at the U.S. border.” In “alleys dense with tables of pornographic videos,” New Yorker writer Jeffrey Goldberg (10/21/02) found an “alarming enclave of lawlessness,” a “filthy and disgusting” place where “everything is illegal.” The New York Times (8/24/98) described the “jungle hamlet” as a “slow-motion riot” of “urban mayhem,” with “predatory street kids” and a “trash-strewn downtown.”

Of late, another theme has been creeping into reports on Ciudad del Este: the spectre of terrorism. In the words of the New York Times (8/24/98), the area is not just a “magnet for organized crime” but “a danger to the entire continent.” The Tri-Border, the paper reported, is “a free zone for significant criminal activity, including people who are organized to commit acts of terrorism.” The L.A. Times (8/24/98) put it simply: It is “a prototypical laboratory for developing a base for bad guys.”

Missing evidence

What’s missing from the pieces painting the Tri-Border Area as a hotbed of terrorism is evidence. Paraguayan officials protested accusations that Ciudad del Este was funding Hezbollah. “There’s no proof, only suspicions,” Washington Times journalist Mike Caesar (10/26/01) quoted officials as saying.

Nearly every article reporting on Islamic terrorism in the Tri-Border Area is honeycombed with qualifying language indicating that, despite a lack of clear evidence, U.S. officials say that there are probably links to terrorist organizations in the Tri-Border Area. The New Yorker’s Goldberg perhaps went the farthest in his claims that the Tri-Border region hosts a hard core of terrorists, a community under the influence of extreme Islamic beliefs; Hezbollah runs weekend training camps on farms cut out of the rain forest of the Triple Frontier. In at least one of these camps, in the remote jungle terrain near Foz do Iguaçu, young adults get weapons training and children are indoctrinated in Hezbollah ideology—a mixture of anti-American and anti-Jewish views inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Typical Street Scene

Goldberg’s certainty about these claims—for which he supplied scant evidence—is reminiscent of a later article he wrote as the U.S. government was gearing up for a war in Iraq (New Yorker, 2/2/03), confidently linking Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The article was gratefully cited by the Bush administration to further their argument for war. Veteran muckraker Alexander Cockburn (CounterPunch, 3/28/03), pointing out various inaccuracies in that article, described it as “a servile rendition of Donald Rumsfeld’s theory of intelligence: ‘Build a hypothesis, and then see if the data supported the hypothesis, rather than the reverse.’”

Though the press reports might not have had much evidence, they ensured that further unverified reports of terrorism in the Tri-Border Area could point to those news accounts as proof of a sort, however hollow. The Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress released an official report (7/03) titled Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of South America. Using thinly sourced media accounts to gloss over the lack of proof linking the early ’90s bombings to the Tri-Border Area, the report glibly summarized the next 10 years: “Since the1994 attack, Islamic terrorists in the TBA have largely confined their activities to criminal fundraising and other activities in support of their terrorist organizations, including plotting terrorist actions to be carried out in other countries.”

Using media reports (among them the New Yorker, New York Times and L.A. Times articles cited above) as its conclusive evidence of terrorist groups in the region, the report concluded with a section titled “The TBA as a Haven and Base for Islamic Terrorist Groups.” The bulleted finale stated that “various Islamic terrorist groups, including the Egyptian Al-Jihad (Islamic Jihad) and Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group), Hamas, Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda, probably have a presence in the TBA; Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda are probably cooperating in the region, but definitive proof of this collaboration, in the form of a specific document, did not surface in this review.” Indeed, proof that the Shiite Hezbollah was working with the ferociously anti-Shiite Al-Qaeda would be remarkable news.

A new generation of rumors

The Library of Congress report’s release prompted a flurry of new coverage, citing the report as solid evidence of terrorism links in the TBA. The most confident officials declared their conviction that Paraguay’s “illicit activities help finance global terror”: “That is fact, not speculation,” insisted U.S. Southern Command chief Gen. James Hill, without offering any substantiation (Miami Herald, 8/15/03). In the same report, an anonymous Bush administration official was more cautious. “There’s no solid evidence that Al-Qaeda is still present in the region, but ‘we want to do the work of prevention and reduce the flows of money to Hezbollah and Hamas. . . . As terrorists flee the hot spots in the world, we don’t want them to see places like the Tri-Border Area as potential safe havens.’”

Cityscape seen from the Friendship Bridge to Brazil

The master of hypothesis verification himself, Donald Rumsfeld, took another approach: ignore the topic altogether. When Rumsfeld visited Asunción in August 2005, he talked about using the Paraguayan military to save bordering Bolivia from the leftist influence of Venezuela, but never mentioned terrorism in the Tri-Border Area. At the time, the Washington Post (8/17/05) reported that “Defense officials said [the TBA] might also harbor groups that finance international terrorism. One Defense official . . . said Hezbollah and Hamas, radical Islamic groups in the Middle East, ‘get a lot of funding’ from the Tri-Border Area.”

The issue received steady coverage in 2006. In a June 3, 2006 Associated Press report, Western intelligence officials, speaking anonymously, claimed that if Iran were cornered by the United States, it could use a Hezbollah network based in the TBA to direct terrorist attacks. Again, no evidence was offered, and the Paraguayan government protested the unverified report. On August 3, 2006, Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, practiced his verbal gymnastics when talking about “a broad series of new measures aimed at uncovering money-laundering rings that [U.S. officials] believe are funding Hezbollah and other radical groups.” “I am highly confident that’s the case,” Glaser said (Washington Post, 8/2/06). “We believe there is evidence.”

By the end of the year, the U.S. government was ready to take action in an environment saturated with media coverage, if light on evidence. On December 6, 2006, “The U.S. Department of the Treasury . . . designated nine individuals and two entities [in the Tri-Border Area] that have provided financial and logistical support to the Hezbollah terrorist organization” (paraguay.usembassy.gov, 12/6/06). These claims were rejected by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.  As of August 7, 2007, an article describing the designation was still the top article of the “Latest Headlines from the Americas” section of the U.S. embassy site. The article, titled “Hezbollah Fundraising Network in the Triple Frontier” and dated December 6, 2006, appeared on the front page of the site without a date, misleading readers to believe that it was a current article. Next on the list of news stories was an article dated July 10, 2007.

Seeing for ourselves

To see what was really happening in Ciudad del Este today, we set out into the sunny heat of the city to hear what Paraguayans had to say. The press attaché for the governor of Alto Paraná, the state where the city is located, was shocked to see us: In spite of all the media coverage this city had received in the international media, we were the first two foreign journalists to speak with him. He denied any terrorist activity in the area.

Bustling downtown

Others were similarly dismissive about claims about terrorist groups. Local vendors and farmers calmly described the mafia activities, drug trafficking and arms smuggling going on in the area, but were quick to point out that there were no links with foreign terrorist groups. A Syrian businessman we spoke with ridiculed the claims, saying Middle Easterners in the area left their home countries to escape violence and war. In a country that ran rampant with rumors, no one seemed to believe the claims of terrorist links for a second.

There are a number of plausible reasons the region has been portrayed as a terrorist stronghold. One is that the current Paraguayan government is one of the Bush administration’s last allies in a region that is increasingly shifting to the left. It is strategically located in the heart of South America, between the politically and economically more powerful countries of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. An alliance with the Paraguayan military, justified by an internal threat, can only help expand the Pentagon’s reach in the area.

The Mideastern community in Ciudad del Este makes it potentially easier for Washington to claim a threat of terrorism if the need for a military intervention arises. The area is also rich in natural resources: Bolivia’s vast natural gas reserves are right next door, and the largest fresh water aquifer is under Paraguay’s soil.

Misinformation to militarization

The media misinformation campaign transformed into a military campaign when hundreds of U.S. troops arrived in Paraguay in July 2005. After Washington threatened to cut off millions in aid to Paraguay if its Senate refused the military’s entry, the legislature voted to allow U.S. troops to train Paraguayan military. When the U.S. troops arrived in the country, U.S. funding for counter-terrorism to Paraguay soon doubled, and repression against rural farmer movements subsequently increased.

The media portrayal of Paraguay has facilitated the repression of some of the most powerful protest movements in the country. Small farmers in rural Paraguay are being forced off their land—and in some cases tortured and killed—to make way for the booming soy industry (Upside Down World, 7/17/06). Analysts in Paraguay believe the increased violence against farmers is linked to the presence of U.S. military.

“The U.S. military is advising the Paraguayan police and military about how to deal with these farmer groups,” Orlando Castillo of Service Peace and Justice, a Latin American human rights organization, explained:  They are teaching theory as well as technical skills to Paraguayan police and military. These new forms of combat have been used internally. . . . U.S. troops form part of a security plan to repress the social movement in Paraguay. A lot of repression has happened in the name of security and against “terrorism.”

Plastic Paradise For Sale

University of Brasília historian Luiz Moniz Bandeira told the Washington Times (10/25/05), “I wouldn’t dismiss the hypothesis that U.S. agents plant stories in the media about Arab terrorists in the Triple Frontier to provoke terrorism and justify their military presence.”

The U.S. Embassy in Asunción denied that the U.S. military is linked to the increased repression against farmers. In December 2006, the Paraguayan Senate voted against renewing the legislation granting the U.S. troops freedom to operate in the country.

Upon leaving Ciudad del Este, we saw children playing baseball in a park, couples walking hand in hand, people fishing in a nearby river and Brazilians on vacation snapping photos. It looked like any other sleepy Latin American city on a Sunday. Given the history of U.S. intervention in the region, we have no reason to trust what is being said in most foreign media about this city. For the last hundred years, the U.S. has been accusing Latin Americans of lawlessness and terrorism. It is easy to make those accusations about places that most North Americans are unlikely to go. Our job, as conscientious news readers, is to ask for evidence and be skeptical of the hype.

April Howard is a journalist, translator and history teacher. Benjamin Dangl is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia (AK Press, 2007). He is the editor of TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events.  April and Ben are both editors at UpsideDownWorld.org a website on activism and politics in Latin America.

All photos copyright April Howard and Benjamin Dangl.

This article was originally printed in September/October 2007 issue of EXTRA! the Magazine of Fairness and Accurary In Reporting, The Media Watch Group.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Decolonization’s Rocky Road: Corruption, Expropriation and Justice in Bolivia

By Benjamin Dangl

March 14, 2009

El Alto Anniversary Event. Photo: Quintana/ABI

Over 3,000 Bolivian and Peruvian indigenous activists recently marched in El Alto in commemoration of the March 13th, 1781 siege of La Paz, Bolivia launched from El Alto by indigenous rebels Tupac Katari and Bartolina Sisa. The siege was against Spanish rule and for indigenous liberation in the Andes. At a gathering the night before the recent anniversary mobilization, Eugene Rojas, the mayor of Achacachi, said, “We, the indigenous, organized a siege of La Paz in the past, and we will do it again if we need to.” Rojas alluded to the long-postponed decolonization that Katari and Sisa dreamed of over two centuries ago. Today, those dreams of liberation are at once alive and in jeopardy.

After the nationalist confetti of the January 25th constitutional referendum blew away, and the busted water balloons and foam of Carnival washed down the streets with the rain, political scandals filled the Bolivian airwaves. Besides the challenges of applying the changes in the new constitution, recent cases of government corruption, shaky relations with Washington and political unrest show that the road to the December general elections is likely to be a rocky one.

The Corruption Scandal

In late January, Santos Ramirez, a key architect and member of the Movement Toward Socialism party, (MAS, the political party of indigenous president Evo Morales) and director of the YPFB – the state oil and gas company – was hauled off to jail on corruption charges. Investigations showed that Ramirez asked for a bribe in order to provide an $86 million contract to Argentine-Bolivian Company Catler Uniservice for a natural gas plant. The investigations started when a manager at Catler was murdered and robbed of $450,000 - money that was apparently going to Ramirez’s aide, according to Reuters. Ramirez is now in San Pedro jail in La Paz, the same place former Pando governor Leopoldo Fernandez is currently held after being implicated in a massacre of MAS supporters in Pando in September 2008.

Santos Ramirez

Ramirez’s arrest struck a harsh blow to the MAS administration which has always pledged to put an end to the country’s legacy of corruption. The difference this time around however, compared to what was the norm in previous administrations, is that Ramirez actually was actually sent to jail; under past governments some of the most corrupt politicians remained free.

After the Ramirez scandal blew up, Morales said, “It’s been totally proven that foreign agents, CIA agents, were infiltrated (in YPFB) … Maybe that’s the way the (U.S.) empire has to conspire against the policies that we’re pushing forward.”

Alfredo Rada, the Minister of Government, accused Francisco Martinez, a US diplomat, of being a CIA agent and helping to infiltrate the YPFB. Morales accused Martinez of “coordinating contacts” with a Bolivian police officer that the government says infiltrated the YPFB, following orders from the CIA. Morales explained that “deep investigations” had proved Martinez was also “in permanent contact with opposition groups” in Bolivia. The Bolivian president then kicked Martinez out of the country. The expulsion of Martinez follows that of former US ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg in September of 2008. Goldberg was also accused of collaborating with the right wing opposition to undermine the Morales administration. (See Undermining Bolivia for more.)

“There is clearly a connection in the activities that the former ambassador Philip Goldberg, USAID, the DEA and now Martinez have been doing here in Bolivia,” an anonymous official in Bolivia’s Government Ministry said to Josh Partlow of the Washington Post. “These are suspicious acts that have nothing to do with diplomacy or foreign aid. … This conduct of interference, and it cannot be called anything else, is not tolerated here anymore.”

“We reject the allegations,” the US state department said in a statement regarding the events. “We can’t understand how the president can assure us that he wants better relations with the United States and at the same time continue to make false accusations,” said Denise Urs, a US embassy spokeswoman.

In a press conference on March 13, Tom Shannon, the US assistant state secretary for Latin American Affairs, commented on the expulsion of the US diplomat from Bolivia. “We need a full diplomatic dialogue and a high-quality dialogue… And regrettably, up to this point, as we have sought to engage the Bolivians around the issues that have provoked their own actions, we have yet to receive what we would consider to be a coherent or a consistent response.”

Meanwhile, the Santos Ramirez corruption case is far from closed. On March 13, Ramirez demanded that he be let out of jail because he says no evidence has been produced that proves that he harmed the Bolivian government with his actions, as the supposed irregular contract with Catler has not yet been terminated.

Cárdenas’ House Occupied

On March 7, 350 people took over and occupied the country home of Victor Hugo Cárdenas. Cárdenas was vice president in the Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada administration of 1993-1997 and a harsh critic of Bolivia’s new constitution. The group of angry locals forced Cárdenas’ wife and three children to leave the house, while reportedly beating them.

Victor Hugo Cárdenas

Mario Huaypa, a representative of the group that occupied the house, told the Agencia Bolivian de Información that a general meeting was held within the community in which it was decided that the house should be expropriated because the land it was built on was illegally acquired by Cárdenas. The group said they will continue the occupation until the official Bolivian justice system looks into the case. The people who occupied the home introduced the supposedly eight legitimate owners of the land, who said that the land and house should be taken over and converted into a retirement home for the area’s elderly.

Cárdenas, an Aymara intellectual, governed in the 1990s with Sanchez de Lozada speaking on behalf of the indigenous population and their rights, while at the same time pushing through repressive and neoliberal policies that led to economic depression and state violence against indigenous people. To this day, public appearances by Cárdenas are regularly met with protests. The locals who occupied his house were also protesting the fact that Cárdenas campaigned against the new constitution. It is rumored that Cárdenas will run as a possible presidential candidate for the general elections in December.

The occupation of Cárdenas’ home has rightly been condemned throughout Bolivia, as the act only worsens the polarization in the country and pushes aside much-needed peaceful dialogue between opposing political factions. Unfortunately, violence has been even more extensively used by the Bolivian right wing since Morales took office in 2006. A right wing youth group in Santa Cruz has regularly attacked indigenous people in that city (see The Dark Side of Bolivia’s Half Moon.) In 2007 alone, there were approximately eight political bombings in Bolivia, most of which were against leftist unions or MAS party officials (see String of Bomb Attacks Prompts Hunger for Truth.) In 2008, right wing thugs destroyed various government and human rights offices across the country, and murdered some 20 pro-MAS farmers in the Pando, injuring dozens of others (see The Machine Gun and The Meeting Table). While the violence against Cárdenas’ family members and the house occupation should be condemned, so should the widespread violence unleashed by Bolivia’s right wing against indigenous and pro-MAS citizens.

Misinformation and Decolonization

In other news, the US State Department recently released a human rights report on Bolivia which did not even mention the Santa Cruz Youth Group and similarly violent right wing groups, or the repression they have let loose on Bolivia’s indigenous majority. The report does mention the charges against former Bolivian president Sanchez de Lozada, but does not mention that the country in which this criminal is currently enjoying refuge is the same one that issued the human rights report. The report explains, “On October 17, the attorney general’s office formally indicted former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and former defense minister Sanchez Berzain on criminal charges in connection with the deaths of up to 60 persons in October 2003. In November the government submitted a request for Sanchez de Lozada’s extradition from the country to which he fled.” (For more on the irony of the US issuing such human rights reports, see the recent article, Who is America to judge?)

On the media front, Bolivia has recently witnessed the all too common bias and misinformation from various US press outlets. A recent piece in The Atlantic Monthly by Eliza Barclay was particularly egregious. The title itself – “The Mugabe of the Andes?” – alludes to the article’s suggestions that most political violence in Bolivia comes from Morales and his supporters – not a racist right wing. In the article, Barclay fails to quote a single MAS supporter, or anyone offering a more nuanced view of the country’s political landscape. She focuses on how Morales’ “rhetoric studded with racial references aimed at his opposition” has created divisions in the country, and then goes on to mention the September 2008 violence in Pando without saying that right wing governor Leopoldo Fernandez, not Morales, was behind the massacre. She mentions that US ambassador Goldberg was expelled, but doesn’t say why. Barclay also writes that Bolivia’s “highland regions remain stuck in a poverty trap that Morales has shown little flair for unlocking” but fails to mention that, as the website Abiding in Bolivia pointed out, the Bolivian government is “running a surplus and massively expanding its budget and infrastructure spending.”

Though the MAS has made plenty of mistakes and Morales is far from a perfect president, Barclay’s article leads the reader to believe that the country is brimming with people who hate the MAS government. The fact is that Morales, in his 2005 election, August 2008 recall referendum and recent constitutional vote, received significantly more support from the population than Barack Obama did in the 2008 US elections. Luckily, photographer Evan Abramson offered a much more accurate view of Bolivia in this excellent narrated photo essay, which was posted on the Atlantic’s website to accompany the article. (For more media analysis on coverage of Bolivia see Borev.net and Abiding in Bolivia.)

El Alto Anniversary Event. Photo: Quintana/ABI

One example of the positive policies of the MAS government was demonstrated on March 14, when Morales redistributed some 94,000 acres in the eastern part of the country to small farmers. The land of US rancher Ron Larsen was among the acres redistributed. Bolivia’s new constitution, which limits new land purchase at 12,400 acres, has empowered the MAS government’s plans for land reform. ”Private property will always be respected but we want people who are not interested in equality to change their thinking and focus more on country than currency,” Morales said, upon officially redistributing the land. Many of the Guarani farmers in the area that received the land, including various families on the Larsen ranch, had been living in conditions of slavery. Morales explained that, “To own land is to have freedom, and if there is land and freedom, there is justice.”

While the Atlantic Monthly misled their readers, on March 14th, the NY Times did publish an Op-Ed by Evo Morales on his demand for decriminalizing coca, a leaf widely used throughout the Andes for medicinal and cultural purposes. At a recent UN meeting in Vienna, Morales called for the legalization of the coca leaf, and even chewed coca at the meeting. Some 48 years ago the UN incorrectly classified the coca leaf as a narcotic. In his NY Times piece, Morales writes, “Why is Bolivia so concerned with the coca leaf? Because it is an important symbol of the history and identity of the indigenous cultures of the Andes.”

Indeed, symbolism, history and identity have taken center stage in today’s Bolivia. Just recently it was announced that a statue of Che Guevara situated at the entrance to the city of El Alto will, after outcries and protests from numerous residents, be replaced instead with statues of Tupac Katari and Bartolina Sisa, as these two heroes more accurately represent the city’s legacy of anti-colonial, indigenous rebellion. As Bolivia continues on its rocky road to the December general elections, the process of decolonization, so often lauded by MAS government officials, takes on many forms in this country in the midst of historic transitions.

Alive in Baghdad: An Interview with Brian Conley

By Benjamin Dangl

Tuesday, 31 January 2006

Benjamin Dangl: How did you get involved in journalism and journalistic film making?

Brian Conley: Well, I initially intended to study history and political science in college. When I arrived there, however, I quickly decided that art and, particularly film, were very good ways to influence the public and to talk about important historical events that might not otherwise be learned or discussed in the public discourse.

After college I quickly recognized the desperate need for documentation of police misconduct at political demonstrations as well as the demonstrations themselves. As the Iraq war has transpired it increasingly became clear to me that this was the latest important topic for video coverage, but the media has consistently failed to provide in-depth nuanced coverage of Iraq. After my experience documenting the lives of migrant farm workers, another issue long-ignored by the media, I felt obliged to travel to Iraq.

BD: Why did you go to Iraq? How long were you there?

BC: Well, as I said previously, I went to Iraq because no one was there. And by no one, I mean no one who was producing independent media from Iraq and who was willing to talk to Iraqis themselves and provide a space to hear the perspectives and desires of Iraqis. I was in Iraq for three weeks and spent the bulk of my time doing face to face interviews with individual Iraqis, on video, in order to bring their images and words back to the United States and to make them available, via the internet, screening and speaking events, and eventually a feature-length documentary. I hope that by my trip to Iraq I am able to help others gain a better grasp of the situation in Iraq, to come to better understand what is happening there and what changes might be made in order to ease the conflict and enable the general withdrawal of the United States and its allies, troops, and the formation of a free and popular government in Iraq.

BD: What was your daily routine like while in Iraq? What were the challenges of working there?

BC: Well, there is certainly no such thing as a “daily routine.” However, on most days I rose early, examined news and emails, checked on the status of the “Alive in Baghdad” website, and prepared notes for the days interviews. I would then travel with my translator, Omar, to various neighborhoods in Baghdad, dependent on the specific schedule of the day. Traveling anywhere in Baghdad is immensely dangerous, but generally not from any direct forces. The indirect, unpredictable dangers are the worst and often the most present. You can easily make plans to avoid whatever neighborhood is engulfed in active conflict on a given day or week, but you can’t be sure about the less predictable dangers. It’s really impossible to know when you might run into a traffic jam around a U.S. patrol of tanks or Humvees, where at any moment a car bomb might explode, killing or maiming yourself as well as so-called “legitimate military targets.” Furthermore, simple criminal violence is an ongoing problem in Baghdad, as is kidnapping. For this reason, to travel in Baghdad it was necessary everyday to ensure that my appearance was as close to that of a local as possible, I adopted a short, very neat haircut, as well as a closely trimmed beard and a thick mustache to blend in. I purchased Iraqi style shoes and made sure always to dress in the general nature of Iraqis.

BD: Please talk a bit about how your “Alive in Baghdad” media project began? What are some of its objectives?

BC: Well the media project itself is set up to help increase dialogue and understanding of Iraq. I’m hoping, eventually, to incorporate something more informative about Iraq’s geography, weather, traditions, historical importance of landmarks, maps, etc. Unfortunately this hasn’t happened yet. So far, the main attempts have been to bring back photos of Baghdad and video interviews with Iraqis. The idea is that these images will help Americans and others to better identify with Iraqis. I feel that if people in the United States and other countries who are providing resources to the war begin to identify with Iraqis, to see themselves reflected in the struggles and desires and fears of Iraqis, this will be a good first step toward ending the conflict and repairing ties between our countries. If you see a young man on a video, and he reminds you of your brother, or son, or grandson, and then after the video ends, you realize you can’t be sure he is still alive, I hope you will say to yourself, “I don’t know if this person is still alive, and that is unacceptable.”

BD: On your website, it says, “Alive in Baghdad was formed with the intent of making the world, and particularly the United States, aware of the Iraqi experience.” How do think most mainstream media in the U.S. is doing in the area of making U.S. citizens aware of the “Iraqi experience”?

BC: In a word: failure. The mainstream media has essentially made no effort to make U.S. citizens really aware of the Iraqi experience. Otherwise, more people in the United States would recognize that security is the number one concern, freedom is not on the march, and democracy and goodwill are certainly not breaking out all over Iraq. More people would be aware that Iraqis have on average only 12 to14 hours of electricity a day and that has lately dropped significantly, some have claimed Iraqis in Baghdad at least are averaging as little as one or two hours of electricity a day in the past week. Iraqis are angry about the occupation and are choosing to resist, in large numbers. If the mainstream media had a better concept of the Iraqi experience and why Iraqis felt this way, they might begin referring to much of the anti-occupation activities going on in Iraq now as a resistance, rather than an insurgency. But then again, I don’t really believe the mainstream media can discuss the Iraqi experience because they refuse to travel the streets of Baghdad and to talk to Iraqis living and working on the streets of Baghdad everyday. Until the media can improve recruiting methods of Iraqi journalists, and giving them the free reign to cover important stories and provide them the full credit for their work, it is unlikely the mainstream media will be able to provide more than the slightest window of insight into the “Iraqi experience.”

BD: What was the general consensus among Iraqis you spoke with about the U.S. occupation? Did most Iraqis you met want the U.S. troops out immediately?

BC: The Iraqis I met were all opposed to the occupation. Every one of them told me they felt the United States should leave Iraq and that it was there illegally and engaged in an illegal war to overthrow Saddam. That is not, however, meant to imply that they were not opposed to Saddam. Most Iraqis I met were completely opposed to Saddam, and many initially even thought something good might come of the invasion. To be honest, the response of Iraqis was mixed. Their feelings about the occupation’s legality and the timing of its departure were contradictory at best. Iraqis certainly believed that resistance was legitimate and many even supported the resistance. There were others however who felt that because of the instability and the dangerous. in-roads Iran was making, if the United States left immediately, it might descend into civil war, or at the very least there would be a great deal of in-fighting and the possible dissolution of the country. Others told me that the state had already dissolved and it was mere ignorance to look at Iraq today as anything more than a failed state. Still others really seem to believe that, when the Americans leave, all those individuals who returned to Iraq with them, “on the American tanks” would leave on these same tanks and Iraqis would unite to form a truly national government. So as you can see, the opinions were very mixed.

BD: How has Bush’s dedication to the war on terror prevented him from adequately executing the Iraq reconstruction? How is this amounting to a kind of “cut and run”?

BC: In my opinion, Bush is most interested in “fighting the terrorists” and has himself caught up in some sort of idealistic moral crusade, rather than actually fighting a war in Iraq specifically for oil. Certainly this and “democratizing the Middle East” have played a part in directing and influencing the war, but I don’t believe they are at the core of Bush’s agenda. In fact, it seems like there are three factions in the war, Cheney and Rumsfeld make up one faction, which is concerned, generally, with U.S. power and imperial influence, specifically with oil income for major trans-national corporations. Elements in the intelligence community and more specifically the State Department make up another faction, which really appears to believe in the possibility of creating the “first Democracy in the Middle East.” The State Department has been most influential in the recent events around the election and the constitution referendum, and they are really working to bridge divides between Iraqis in order to create a stable, western-style, U.S.-friendly democracy in Iraq. Of course, they are doing this solely to increase U.S. power and influence in the area and protect the nations’ interests. As for Bush, I really feel like his desire to “fight the terrorists” is greatly hampering the reconstruction effort. The administration has basically done as little as possible, step by step, to fulfill their obligations under international law. Look at it this way, there are specific hallmarks, or goalposts even, to pass once you have invaded a country in order to leave it. These consist of ending major combat operations, setting up an occupation authority, a transitional government, and eventually that transitional government will arrange the process for a permanent government to take power. In Iraq we’ve seen the Bush administration hurriedly administer these steps, and in many cases it appears we’ve moved ahead much to quickly. However, if we are going to continue “fighting the terrorists” and also contend that they are not actually elements of a legitimate national army who we are still at war with, then all of these obligations must be met. I would say that in some ways this is amounting to a “cut and run” because President Bush is not looking to protect the Iraqi people and produce a stable government based on ensuring the liberty and equality of all citizens of Iraq. President Bush is in fact, doing what he can to both deal with the increasing political liability of Iraq and also better equip U.S. for continuing to fight his self-styled “war on terrorism.”

BD: Please discuss the role of the media and its complicity in the breakdown of Iraq’s stability.

BC: Well, first and foremost most of the Western media appears to have no idea what’s going on in Iraq or even a small amount of knowledge about the social and cultural traditions and history of Iraq. They continue to trumpet the idea of an “ethnic divide” between Sunnis and Shi’is. Shi’a and Sunna are not ethnicities, they are religious sects. Much like being born Jewish or Christian, Iraqis are initially born into one or the other sect. I have met Iraqis who were married to members of the other sect, in fact this is fairly common! In fact, even in the city of Fallujah, one of the muezzin, the men who make the call to prayer, is married to a Shi’a woman from the south of Iraq! So first thing, the Western media keeps saying, everyday, civil war, civil war. This makes it difficult for people in the west to identify with Iraqis, who increasingly are seeing Iraq like Afghanistan or other war-torn countries torn apart by warlords and sectarian divides. Furthermore, the media’s failure to do real investigative reporting and coverage in Iraq further alienates the public to the issues facing Iraqis. We hear in the news everyday about the death and destruction and war and terrorism happening in Iraq. It presents this image of a weak Iraqi public who are besieged by terrorists and the “enemies of freedom.” The western media is incapable of telling a different story however, because they lack any understanding of the lives of Iraqis. If they were talking to Iraqis they might be forced to consider that the massive enmity towards the United States could be understandable. Iraqis were mostly glad to be rid of Saddam and have the United States’ help in that process, however this quickly turned to intolerance, when the United States and its allies failed to get basic services operational and stem the tide of crime which broke out all over Iraq once the regime was destabilized. Lastly, the media’s failure to provide a balanced and nuanced view of Iraq has probably adversely affected the manner in which the occupation has been carried out and the war has been waged. If the Bush administration and military officers were forced to read about the basic concerns of Iraqis daily on the front pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, on CNN and Fox News, chances are they would have taken steps slightly differently and with a greater measure of humility. This is why I went to Iraq, to try and provide insight into exactly what the Iraqis were thinking, and perhaps a better idea about why the resistance has been so intransigent.

BD: On your website you have an enormous list of blogs by Iraqis, and publish a number of blogs from Iraqis on your site.  What does the ability to write blogs mean for Iraqis in the midst of a war? What have been some of your experiences with fellow bloggers in Iraq that illustrate the potential of this new media tool?

BC: Well, part of the reason for syndicating all the Iraqi blogs was to provide an insight into the thinking of individual Iraqis themselves. I believe the ability of Iraqis to publish stories about their lives could provide a great deal to the body of knowledge and understanding of Iraq. Unfortunately, they seem to have been largely ignored as an asset in understanding the situation in Iraq. Also, just like in the United States there are blogs with in-depth political analysis, people such as Riverbend (riverbendblog.blogspot.com) and Khalid Jarrar (secretsinbaghdad.blogspot.com), but there are also many blogs that are just Iraqi kids talking about hanging out with their friends and what they did on their vacation. Certainly these are all important elements to understanding Iraq. One really strong example of potential for this new media can be found on Khalid Jarrar’s blog. He broke a story about torture and abuse by the Interior Ministry nearly six months before it came on the mainstream media’s radar. He was abducted by the Interior Ministry’s agents in mid-July and held for at least two weeks until being freed. He provides very specific details about the location of the prison as well as the torture and other things he saw inside. If even one intrepid reporter was reading these blogs regularly and had pitched this story to her editor, who knows how many Iraqis might have been saved a horrible fate. Keep in mind that this would never have happened in the current media climate in Iraq, however. Because western journalists refuse to go out on the streets and do in-depth reporting, and the media has generally failed to put a reasonable amount of faith in Iraqi journalists, this story would never have been capable of proper coverage.

BD: After you came back to the U.S. and spoke to Americans about the realities of the war in Iraq, what is the usual reaction from people?

BC: Well, I think people are first of all shocked that I was able to go to Baghdad and remain relatively safe, generally speaking. It seems almost inconceivable for Americans that Baghdad is nothing like Sarajevo, or Dresden, or the opening scenes to Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” But at the same time, they are also shocked, and horrified, or sometimes dismayed, to hear about the continuing infrastructure problems in Iraq. We have to remember that Iraq is nothing like Afghanistan, and in fact, is not like most of the other nations in the Middle East. It was a well-developed, Western-looking nation even throughout it’s long war with Iran in the 80s. I think it is also hard for Americans to understand the deeply nuanced and often contradictory nature of the Iraqi mind. There has been such a great deal of trauma in Iraq’s last twenty or thirty years that they have a very specific way of striving for a desirable goal, yet also being realistic and making allowances that even seem often at odds with their expressed desires. A good example of this can be seen in a recent poll done in Iraq. The poll found that while 60% of Iraqis were completely opposed to the occupation, only 25% wanted a complete withdrawal of American forces. In the often black and white nature of American politics, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Communist, or some other wing, I think this is an apparent contradiction that would be difficult to find. While most Iraqis are opposed to the occupation, there are many reasons for them to fear what might happen if the United States were to withdraw immediately.

BD: What message do you have for those who believe the U.S. should not withdraw its troops from Iraq immediately?

BC: Well, first of all, I’m not sure this is the right question to be asked. We should be talking about how the troop presence affects the ability to provide security and stabilize Iraq, and whether this is the best process. There are clarifications that have to be made. I don’t believe the United States should withdraw from Iraq immediately, I believe we have an obligation to provide reparations and services to the people of Iraq, and to repair much of the infrastructure we helped destroy during the war and subsequent occupation. I do, however, believe that the standard military practice is not working in Iraq. I would tell people that there is a difference between questioning the policy of large troop numbers and “show of force”-style deterrence, and suggesting we should just abandon our responsibilities in Iraq. To anyone who is calling for U.S. to immediately withdraw from Iraq, I would accuse them of the worst type of insular nationalism. However, the United States cannot possibly hope to repair the situation in Iraq by itself or by continuing its current policies. We do need to take a long look at how our military actions have affected our ability to help stabilize Iraq. We need to be certain we are talking to everyone involved from all of Iraq’s different tribes and groups, and we need to chart a course that best represents all of their various interests, and attempt to respect their specific needs and wants as best as possible. I would also say to anyone who believes this new approach of airpower combined with Iraqi boots on the ground will enable U.S. troop numbers to decrease, that they have obviously not read anything on counterinsurgency tactics written in at least the last thirty years. A unified, stable Iraq is going to be a long time coming. I think it will take at least a decade of self-less humble conflict resolution work and deal brokering. We need to remember we are still at war, and that we have obligations in regards to prisoners of war and that the international rules of war do still apply in much of the Iraq theatre and could be used to settle much of the conflict effectively. There are terrorists in Iraq and there are resistance fighters. Many of the resistance fighters are legitimate representatives of the previous regime and they should be dealt with as such. Saddam’s regime never surrendered, and until the United States comes to terms with the reality of the situation on the ground in Iraq, it is unlikely we’ll have a peaceful resolution any time soon.
Brian Conley is a 25 year-old journalist and filmmaker. He is the founder of the Alive in Baghdad Project. During his first trip to Iraq, the Alive in Baghdad Project focused on interviewing Iraqis living in and outside Baghdad. At this point Brian is working on writing articles about the ongoing situation in Iraq and arranging the project’s second phase. It is the goal of the Alive in Baghdad Project to make Westerners, and particularly Americans, more aware of the Iraqi experience and to begin to understand the occupation from the Iraqi perspective.

Taxidermy From the Revolution: Cuban Media

By Ben Dangl and April Howard

3/17/04

A few regulars dragged their chairs over to the small community television in the park. But this evening, instead of the standard soap opera, Cuba’s bearded leader took over the screen to begin what would be a two hour speech on education, healthcare and international relations. Amidst moans of indignation, someone changed the station, and then changed it again. Fidel Castro was on all three Cuban television channels.

Perhaps nowhere else in Cuba is the revolution more present than in its media. Every day, Cuban citizens are bombarded with a campaign of pro-government propaganda. Even the most mundane local news takes on a revolutionary guise when reported through the lens of Cuban media. But what does media look like on the socialist island and do the people there buy it? Does state control of the media have any redeeming factors? And in the end, is it that much different than corporate controlled media in the U.S.?

Granma and Rebellious Youth: Daily News Resources

Fortunately, Cuban public opinion regarding national media varies more than the media itself. “All news sources here are controlled by the state. The government uses what is convenient for them to show in the news and nothing else,” Sarai, a young mother in suburban Havana, commented. On the other hand, one middle-aged landscaper from Havana commented, “Our government is very dedicated to keeping us informed and everyone thinks so. Cubans know everything about what is going on in Cuba and in the rest of the world.”
The national daily newspapers in Cuba are Juventud Rebelde (Rebellious Youth), Trabajadores (Workers) of the national workers union and Granma, the official communist party newspaper, named after the boat on which Castro and others rode from Mexico to Cuba to start the revolution. Though Juventud Rebelde caters to youth groups and street parties, Trabajadores discusses worker’s issues and Granma takes a more staid approach, all three papers are consistently under ten pages long and cover similar topics.

In a recent issue of the eight-page Granma, the most popular of the three publications, the front page consisted of articles dedicated to Che Guevara’s contributions to mining technology, and the history of a battle in Santa Clara that took place during the Cuban Revolution. Other main articles in the issue included coverage of the successful potato production in a Cuban province, the tenth anniversary of Zapatistas in Mexico, a few pieces on Iraq and Colombia and then another interview and article on the same battle in Santa Clara. Ironically, a special interest article which filled the last page was entitled, “A Grand Eye Watches the City,” describing an aging periscope turned tourist attraction looking over Havana. The article ended with a description of the viewing of a woman sunbathing on her balcony.

While some Cubans prefer one newspaper to the other, many joke that the publications are more useful as toilet paper, and cheaper. Still, even the most critical readers point out that though the media publishes the news that it finds convenient, avoiding other controversial issues, it does not lie, a sentiment that is not shared by many critics of U.S. media. On the other hand, it is rather difficult to obtain a realistic idea of events from the bits and pieces of information provided by Cuban media. “For that reason,” commented sociologist Juan Valdez Paz in Havana, “as investigators, we have to speak with hypotheses, instead of affirmations.”

Professor Zelia Perez spoke about the most popular newspaper. “Granma is bad. Very bad. It is bad for the government, bad for Cuba, bad for the communist party, and it would be bad for capitalism. Cubans know this but they read it anyway. People learn to read between the lines. You can read an announcement of an event and then go and find out what really happened, if you know the variables of the issue. Just like in The New York Times.” However, many U.S. citizens don’t feel like they have to read between the lines of their newspapers and it seems that many Cubans don’t either. For example, Ernesto, a middle aged construction worker, reads Granma every day. “It is a great supplement to TV news with coverage about everything, international and national news. I like it, it is sufficient.” Many other Cubans concur.

In addition to the national newspapers, other daily publications in Cuba include a local paper, specific to each province, similar in content to the national publications, and The Orbe, a weekly “international newspaper edited by the Latino Press.” Though filled with the same rhetoric, The Orbe is probably the closest thing to a “normal newspaper” to be found in Cuba. Its sixteen pages include sections entitled “weekly news, economy, politics, variety, culture, science and technology, and sports.” However, as a weekly publication, it can not fill the void of a good daily newspaper, nor can the multitudes of cultural and literary magazines that exist in the country.

According to Professor Perez, the web publication La Jiribilla (www.lajiribilla.cubaweb.cu) played an important role during the recent detentions of dissidents and executions of boat hijackers during April, 2003. In coverage of these controversial events, La Jiribilla published international defenses and criticisms such as Eduardo Galeano’s commentary “Cuba Duele” or “Cuba Hurts.” The more accessible paper edition of the website, La Jiribilla de Papel, is a sixteen page bi-monthly publication with selected pieces from the website, and manages to publish constant criticisms of censorship and propaganda in other countries without touching similar issues within Cuba itself.

Living in the Bubble

The single evening news program in Cuba is widely popular, as most Cubans, even those living in rural areas, have televisions. The TV news program is forty-five minutes long and focuses on the same topics and issues as the newspapers, with the same propaganda and motives. Footage for the world news is often borrowed from news conglomerates such as CNN and BBC, but commentary is always voiced over by a Cuban newscaster. Every night, after the studio presentation of the evening news, a “news analyst” explains the government’s interpretation of international issues such as the war in Iraq. Other sources of political information include “Mesas Redondas”, or “Round Tables” which are discussion forums in which topics are debated within the limits of official government standpoints. Aside from news programs, soap operas and cartoons, one of the three channels on Cuban television is dedicated solely to educational programs such as science, language and history lessons.

Surprisingly, some of Hollywood’s more moralistic movies are also a staple of Cuban television. “If there is no American movie on TV on a Saturday night, people would take to the streets,” one Havana resident said, only half-joking. Often the selected movies exhibit communist values such as team work, social equality and solidarity.

In the U.S., regardless of how deficient the local or national news is, one can almost always go on the internet to read news from other countries or choose from a variety of alternative news sources. Cubans don’t have that option. The exorbitant rates for what little internet access there is limits use to primarily tourists. Furthermore, it is illegal for Cubans to have computers or internet access in their homes unless for work authorized by the government.

Articles published in Cuban media regarding the benefits and dangers of the internet have been largely critical. One article in Juventud Rebelde discussed whether internet users are in turn being used by the technology, (12/30/03). An article in La Jiribilla debated whether the internet was immoral or not, and cited the difficulty of censorship on the net as one of its dangers (9/8/03). While the rest of the world connects in ways that were never before possible, Cuba’s decision to remain off-line has left the island more isolated that ever.

As a twenty-seven year old book seller said, “We are living in a bubble. Most people know it, but can’t do anything about it. It’s just like in Orwell’s books.” He went on to add that he owned a boxed copy of his favorite book, 1984, illegal in Cuba. Yet in Cuba, like anywhere else, there are plenty of people who are too busy working and taking care of their families to concern themselves with news and politics. Other citizens simply don’t care. Maria Valdez, a single mother, said, “Fidel takes care of me, what happens in the world outside doesn’t affect me. I have my rights within Cuba and that is what is important.”

The Only Alternative

The absence of corporate control and advertisements in Cuban media, while making funding more difficult, allows for a media which does not have to prostitute itself to big businesses in order to survive. In a recent speech, Castro even cited the lack of ads on TV as an important success for the revolution. This would be an amazing achievement if there wasn’t a plentiful amount of nationalist propaganda ready to fill that space. However, the lack of ads and corporate influence does allow for a greater focus on constructive local news,often presenting educative information about the country, its industries and institutions.

The anti-US slant and humanistic coverage of international news in the Cuban press is often comparable to the perspectives of alternative media in the U.S.. Articles on Hugo Chavez’s achievements as the president of Venezuela and updates on the Zapatistas in Mexico are common in Cuban media. Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, Cuban media has been ceaselessly critical and anti-war and coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is consistently pro-Palestinian.

Still, nothing can be considered to be “alternative” if it is the only option. Right or left, no one point of view is sufficient to satisfy an intelligent public. In this light, inadequate news sources are not the biggest problem in Cuban media. Weak and narrow minded newspapers, television and radio news programs exist all over the world. What Cuba lacks is variety in media, partly due to a shortage of internet access and partly because of state control, which results in a lack of competition for quality in reporting or in-depth information.

In nearly every country in the world the media is primarily controlled by those in power. While U.S. media is largely controlled by corporations and businesses, in Cuba, the government takes on that role. News sources are controlled in each country depending on how much of a threat they pose to those in power. There is an enormous amount of critical, intelligent, and alternative journalism in the U.S., but often it doesn’t pose a serious threat to the objectives of the mainstream media, and so is not censored. In Cuba, because of the history of tensions with the U.S., any form of dissent, including opposition publications are immediately accused of being U.S. conspiracies against the Cuban government.

However, as Rafael Hernandez, the editor of the cultural magazine Temas, explains:  “You cannot write anything against the revolution, but within the revolution you can be a critic. The interpretation of where this line is has always been an object of discussion. The artists and intellectuals of Cuba continue to win spaces of expression for themselves. We have not been given this liberty, we have won this liberty.”

Media Crusades: Reading Between Regimes

For years, the greatest threat to the U.S. Empire was the “bad” example of communism. Now it is supposedly terrorism. In Cuba, the threat, or enemy, has always been imperialism, and the personification of that enemy has and will be Uncle Sam. As one of the last socialist countries in the world, the diminutive island of Cuba is fighting with its teeth and fingernails against its closest and most radically different neighbor to maintain its sovereignty. Control of the media is only one of the manifestations of this struggle.

Recently, patriotism in the U.S. has reached a fevered pitch, at times comparable to the extreme nationalism of places like Cuba. Overuse of the word “Terrorism” in the US has come to be as hollow as the word “Imperialism” in Cuba. The “War on Terrorism” has given the Bush administration an excuse to clamp down on civil liberties due to the “threat” these terrorists pose to U.S. society. The U.S. trade embargo and the five Cuban prisoners in the U.S. give Castro an excuse to clamp down on civil liberties and control of freedoms of expression. Cuba detains possible dissenters in their jails and the U.S. detains possible terrorists inGuantanamo Bay, Cuba. Though the political perspectives of these two countries are opposite, their ways of demonizing “the enemy” are the same. Both governments depend upon their respective vague and omnipresent enemies in order to create fear, solidarity and remain in power. Media is the fundamental tool for these objectives. Though the manipulation of Cuban media is less subtle, media crusades in both countries glorify and over simplify, making news mean what those in power want it to mean, and leaving the discerning citizen trying to read between the lines.

Channel One – a corporate offer some Vermont schools refuse

by Benjamin Dangl

8/29/05

Vermont Guardian

When U.S. public schools run into financial trouble, they can often turn to corporations for help. In exchange, the company might want its logo displayed prominently or exclusive vending rights for its soda. In the case of the news program Channel One, the schools get audio/visual equipment. All that is asked in return is the attention of every student for 12 minutes a day: 10 minutes for the news and two minutes for the commercials.

Now in its 15th year of broadcasting, Channel One is aired daily to nearly eight million students and 400,000 educators in nearly 12,000 middle and high schools across the country.

Vermont’s Mount Mansfield Union High School recently explored using it. Jeffrey Forward, chair of the school board’s curriculum committee, explained that because Mount Mansfield was struggling with its budget, “The principle was exploring alternative ways of funding things. One idea was the possibility of using Channel One. They’d provide all the studio and TV equipment for all the classrooms. In exchange, you have to commit 100 percent of the eyes every day.”

Forward said the programs had youth anchors and were “newsy, there were ads in them for Wrigley’s gum, Gatorade. It felt very similar to me to CBS News.”

Criticism from the community was widespread, in part because of the commercials. “We planned to have a meeting, view a Channel One tape, and then have a public discussion about it,” Forward explained. “But the principal couldn’t drum up any support. He’d had an earful from the community.” The school ended up passing on the program.

On the other hand, Channel One has been used at Vermont’s North Country School for more than 10 years without any controversy, according to Principal Bill Rivard. He described the reception among parents and students as positive, and added, “There has been no resistance to my knowledge.” A small number of staff occasionally do complain that Channel One cuts in on their class time, he admitted. However, “We haven’t had a formal conversation about whether to keep it or discontinue it.”

Channel One isn’t the only TV program the school offers. Each morning, before that broadcast, an 8-minute student-run news program is aired. Called North Country TV, it features student anchors and focuses on local and school news and announcements.

No questions have been raised about Channel One’s advertisements, Rivard claims. He described the commercials as typical. “It’s nothing you wouldn’t see on normal TV.”

For other Vermont schools, that’s exactly the problem. “Many think [Channel One] is a backhanded way for corporate America to get the attention of students,” said Winton Goodrich, associate director of the Vermont School Board Association.

Several states have passed laws banning the controversial news program. Although Vermont has no statewide regulations to control corporate influence in schools, Channel One is only used in a handful of schools here.

Goodrich believes this is due to local participation. “Vermont has much more local control than other states,” he said. “It has more school boards per capita than any other state … Concerns are raised by school boards and parents – they don’t want to give up the control of the school to where the money comes from; so goes the money so goes the policy and decision.”

Reporting from Latin America, An interview with Benjamin Dangl

Conducted by Brian Yanity of Insurgent49.com, independent media for progressive Alaskans

8/8/05

In this interview Benjamin Dangl talks about his work reporting from Latin America, and discusses the social movements, grassroots media projects and natural resource struggles in the region.

Tell us a little about yourself and your recent work in Latin America.

I graduated from Bard College in NY in 2003 with a degree in writing and literature. During my time in college I traveled abroad via study programs to India, Mexico and Argentina. Traveling outside of the US, and figuring out how to do that, has been a kind of full time hobby of mine for a while now. At this point I’ve traveled in over twenty five countries. Writing has always a key part of these trips.

My current interest in South American social issues began while I was stuck in road blockades in Bolivia during protests against coca eradication plans. A few weeks later I began a semester of studying in Mendoza, Argentina during the country’s 2002 economic crisis when protests filled the streets, most of the universities were on strike, factories were taken over by unemployed workers and barter systems were developed to replace pesos. People were forced to do these things in order to survive. Over the course of two weeks, they went through five presidents…

During these two experiences, in Bolivia and Argentina, I became fascinated with the politics and history of the region. I learned Spanish and started talking with people in Bolivia about their thoughts on the drug war. In Argentina, I talked with people about the situation in the country; the crisis at the time was impossible to ignore.

One great friend of mine in Mendoza, Lucas Palero, was always handing me music to listen to, books, magazines, newspapers to read, and helping to create this kind of hands-on, crash course in Latin American studies.

From Argentina, I traveled to Nicaragua and Cuba, and began writing about current events and doing interviews with more people. Since then I’ve been to Latin America a number of times, writing stories on the 30th anniversary of the military coup in Chile, Cuban media and public opinion, the worker-run factory movement in Argentina, community radios and unions in Venezuela, the World Social Forum in Brazil, Bolivia’s gas related conflicts and so on.

While writing from South America, I started www.UpsideDownWorld.org, an online magazine about politics and activism in the region. It began as a simple collection of my own articles. Now we publish two original pieces each week from different writers, many of whom are based in South America, and offer a Cyril Mychalejko just joined UDW as an assistant editor. He has a lot of experience covering free trade issues in Central America.

There is a lot of hope in this part of the world, especially compared to the dismal situation in the USA. Leftist and socially conscious presidents are being elected across the board in South America. It’s great to be able to share news about this movement with others and help to create more solidarity and awareness about what’s happening in the region.

What are a few important things that North Americans should know about the vast social movements of Latin America?

There is an incredible history of union and political organizing in South America. The US has a similarly radical history, but this legacy is all but gone now. From the 1960s into the 1980s, there was broad enthusiasm among workers, regular citizens and students in Latin America for socialism. These movements were successful in Chile with the election of Allende, Nicaragua with the Sandinistas and of course, Cuba. This enthusiasm was met with harsh oppression from military and political groups against these aspirations. As a result, many dictatorships arose throughout this time, many of them funded and supported by the Unites States. Unfortunately, this regional move toward socialism was held back by harsh crackdowns, killings, torture and kidnappings which crippled the movement. But something akin to this momentum for change is happening right now, for somewhat different reasons.

Nowadays, there is widespread discontent in Latin America for what’s been called the “Washington Consensus”, a mixture of free trade economic policies pushed by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, WTO, corporations and governments which amount to the vast privatization of public works and natural resources, cuts in social spending and an opening up of countries to foreign investment, or exploitation; all of the things which trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA involve.

Thirty years after many of these policies were first introduced, Latin American countries are finding themselves poorer than ever. Argentina was hit particularly hard by these policies in 2001-2002. For years, it served as the IMF’s testing ground for various free trade and neo-liberal plans, which ended up working as a kind of economic house of cards. After years of privatization and foreign investments, the economy collapsed.

Citizens across Latin America understand that this “Washington Consensus” is a bankrupt system. Right now, we’re seeing the backlash to these policies with elections in Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Chile, where left of center presidents have been elected. None of these leaders are perfect, but they represent this clear desire for change among citizens. Many presidents who strictly adhered to Washington’s policies were recently forced from office by massive protests in Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia.

Most, if not all, of the social movements in Latin America today, have roots (and in many cases, leaders) from the movements of the 1960s and 1980s for socialism. Today their enemies are politicians as well as corporations that are hungry for gas, oil and cheap labor.

In the US, there hasn’t recently been broad unity between students, union workers and so on, for a common front - not on a massive scale. This is not the case in many Latin American countries today. Some movements and unions, like the miners in Bolivia and the landless farmers in Brazil, have incorporated themselves into larger coalitions, while still fighting for, say, land or higher wages. In Bolivia, for example, miners, students, teachers’ unions, transportation unions and coca farmers have united within the last few years against the exploitation of the country’s natural gas reserves.

What are some key struggles in Latin America involving the oil and gas industry?

The two struggles I know the most about are in Bolivia and Venezuela, where most of South America’s oil and gas are located.

Recent uprisings in Bolivia have revolved around the gas exportation issue. From September-October 2003, a month long campaign of protests and road blockades left nearly 80 people dead and hundreds wounded, all from confrontations between protesters and security forces. During that month, the country was paralyzed by demonstrations against the exportation plan, which was being pushed by the president at the time, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, or Goni, as he is called in Bolivia. After massive protests demanding his resignation, Goni left in a plane to Miami. I believe he still lives in the US.

Under Goni’s plan, Bolivia was to receive a meager sum of the gas profits, around 18%. Bolivia is the second poorest country in South America and most protesters wanted the gas nationalized, similar to what’s done in Venezuela, so that most, if not all of the profit from the gas could go to social programs to build much-needed schools, hospitals, roads and so on.

Vice president Carlos Mesa took office after Goni left, and presided over the country until June 6th of this year, when he was also forced from office by protests related to the gas exportation issue. There will be elections in the country this coming December. I believe a referendum on what to do with the gas is to take place sometime this year as well. The destiny of the gas is still very much in question. Unless full nationalization of the gas takes place and a president is elected who truly represents the majority of citizens, I expect massive protests, road blockades and strikes will emerge in Bolivia again.

Venezuela is a thorn the Bush administration’s side for various reasons. It is in part because Chavez is so outspoken, speaks poorly of the Bush administration and is leading a very democratic, socialist revolution in Venezuela. This makes Washington nervous. Yet if Venezuela didn’t have the vast amount of oil it does, the US wouldn’t be as concerned as they are about the situation there. It’s also possible that Venezuela’s current political process wouldn’t be that successful without the oil money.

Did you visit any of the innovative worker cooperatives in Argentina?

Yes, on my last visit to Buenos Aires this past winter I wrote a few articles on these cooperatives. They’re very inspiring. So much of the solidarity and grassroots momentum that developed out of necessity in the Argentine 2002 crisis is gone now. A lot of the middle class people who were protesting in the streets in 2002 now have jobs again and are living somewhat comfortably, so there’s less class consciousness and solidarity among workers, activists and citizens.

One of the strongest remnants of 2002 is the worker-run business movement. When workers were thrown out of their jobs in many cases they took over the factories and businesses to run them themselves. It was a matter of survival. There are over 200 worker-run businesses in Argentina, which isn’t a huge number compared to the normally run businesses, but it’s still significant.

One worker-run business that I visited was Hotel Bauen, located in the center of Buenos Aires. This place used to be frequented by corrupt politicians like former president Carlos Menem and business leaders. It’s now a worker cooperative which operates as a kind of central gathering place for unions, workers, students and activists. They have a lot of press conferences there, organizing meetings, cultural events, lectures and so on. It’s a kind of leftist hang out and operational base in the center of town, a very exciting place. Many of the workers there said they preferred working in a cooperative because now they are in charge of the business, they feel they have a stake in it. The hours are longer now, because of meetings and making decisions through consensus, but the workers I talked said it was worth it. It’s also managed better now than it was under the previous owner, who was corrupt and a poor administrator.

I also interviewed Celia Martinez, a worker from the Brukman textile business. The history of this factory is an incredible one. Just before the economy crashed in late December 2001, the Brukman boss began gradually paying the workers less and less money because he was going bankrupt. One night the workers at the factory said they weren’t leaving until the boss brought them their back pay. He left and never showed up again. A legal and political battle ensued. Police evicted the workers and they returned. Road blocks were placed in front of the factory, the workers set up a camp on the sidewalk, refusing to leave until their demands were met. Four years later, the workers are still there, and are now in charge of the factory.

When I spoke with Celia, she explained that before they occupied the factory, many of the workers were not leftist at all; they just needed the money to support their families and so took over the factory. Gradually they became radicalized and now are one of the leading forces in this worker-run business movement in Argentina.

Chilavert book publishing house is another cooperative I visited. It’s run by less than a dozen workers who all earn the same salary and operate through consensus. Like many of the other worker-run businesses, they have a cultural aspect of their operation. Salsa lessons, film screenings, poetry readings and so on take place regularly in an area on the second level of the building.

Chilavert is very linked to its surrounding community, an aspect most worker-run businesses share. They’ve made an effort to reach out to their neighbors so that their business isn’t separate from the community it’s situated in, but a part of it. In many cases, this arose from solidarity between neighbors to help workers start up the cooperative. Over 300 neighbors and workers from other businesses showed up to support the Chilavert workers when the police came to evict them.

When talking with Candido Gonzalez, a worker from Chilavert who had been there for over forty years and had spearheaded the worker takeover, he showed me a large safe with the name of the old owner on it. He said something like “this is where the old boss used to put all of his papers and money. Now, this is where we keep the whiskey.” And he pulled out a bottle.

Describe some of the independent, grassroots-type media operations you
witnessed in Latin America:

LA Vaca, (Lavaca.org) in Argentina is a great resource in Spanish on social movement and political related stories in Argentina. They came out with a great book on the recuperated, worker-controlled business movement called Sin Patron. They update their site weekly. There is excellent writing there, with great analysis, humor and inside scoops.

Calle y Media, (Street and Media), in Venezuela is a great media operation as well. Their website is www.calleymedia.org. I ran into a member of this collective at the World Social Forum in Brazil this past winter, when he screened his documentary called “ Venezuela Bolivariana, People and the Struggle of the Fourth World War.” It’s an excellent film, very moving. The Calle y Media cooperative is located on the top of a hill in a very poor neighborhood in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. The group teaches local kids how to use cameras and photo/film editing programs and so on so they can make their own media. Some of the projects include a radio station, newspaper and weekly film screenings where the week’s news, gathered by teenage journalists working with Calle Y Media, is shown on a screen in the neighborhood. These news projects offer alternatives to the mainstream media’s focus on the violence in the barrios. Calle y Media covers issues relating to sports, youth and local news from the neighborhood.

Probably the most impressive national grassroots media project I’ve ever seen was the community-run radio stations in Venezuela. They were all over the place. Small towns had them and bigger cities had up to seven community radio stations. Most of the ones I visited were run by people who supported Chavez’s political process, but were free to be critical of it on air when they felt they needed to be. They received up to 25 percent of their funding from the government but did not feel restricted in any way. I can just speak for the ones I visited, which were four in a few different towns and cities.

They had programs on local history, health, family issues, global, national and local news, commentary, local music and culture – all run voluntarily by members of the community. Anyone could come in and create a show. This was very inspirational, a great antidote to globalized corporate media.

Hecho En Buenos Aires, or Made in Buenos Aires, (there’s one for many Argentine cities, Hechos en Cordoba, Hecho en Mendoza etc) are small magazines with art, news, commentary, interviews, photography which address social and cultural issues. The way the magazine is distributed is very unique. The people who write and organize the publication give it to homeless people in the cities to sell so that they can make some money. It’s a way to distribute the magazine widely, but also help out these people in need.

What are some good sources of further information on social movements in Latin America?

I already mentioned, www.upsidedownworld.org, a site I edit. www.towardfreedom.com is another website I edit. We often publish great articles on South American topics as well.

North America Congress on Latin America, (www.NACLA.org) is an excellent resource that’s been around for a long time. On their website they also list a large number of helpful resources on social movements, politics and so on in South America.

Latin America Press (www.lapress.org) based in Peru, is another great weekly online resource in English.

www.Venezuelanalysis.org is the best site in English on what’s happening in Venezuela.

www.Counterpunch.org and www.zmag.org also regularly have excellent articles on Latin America.

World War 4 Report (www.ww4report.com) often has well investigated stories on South America you won’t find in the mainstream press.

Narco News, (www.Narconews.com) has a great network of writers all over Latin America, covering a variety of topics.

The Resource Center of the Americas, (www.Americas.org) is a regularly updated site with a variety of resources and articles.

La Vaca, (www.lavaca.org) which I mentioned before, is a great source of information on what’s happening in Argentina.

Jim Schultz’s Democracy Center Blog (www.democracyctr.org/blog/) on what’s happening in Bolivia is great for news and analysis you often can’t find anywhere else.

http://www.rebelion.org/ is another great publication on South America.

Keeping a close eye on different www.Indymedia.org sites for each country is also a good idea.

You are now editor of www.towardfreedom.com, a Vermont-based publication that was a printed newspaper for decades, but now has switched to a web-only format. Which of the two formats (web or printed) is best for progressive activist operating on a shoestring budget? What do you think some of the pros and cons or either format?

Nothing will ever beat holding a newspaper, magazine or book in your hands. It’s so much more enjoyable than staring into a glowing computer screen. With a computer, people are more likely to just skim read. If they’re holding a paper in their hands, it’s natural to take more time with it.

However, running a website is definitely cheaper than running a magazine. You can also reach a wider audience with much less money (and paper) with a website. People from all over the world can easily access a website, but it can be much harder to get your hands onto a printed publication. It’s also easier to publish up to date material with a website. With a magazine, if it’s, say a monthly or weekly publication, you have to make sure the articles you publish aren’t going to be out of date by the time the magazine comes out. A website’s easy to update with breaking news, it’s immediate. There are a lot of web programs out there that allow virtually anyone with internet access to start up their own website or blog for free or for a small price. This is totally changing the way media is made.

Ben’s email is Ben@upsidedownworld.org

This interview was initially published in Insurgent49.com, independent media for progressive Alaskans

The Street and the Media in Venezuela

by Benjamin Dangl

6/6/05

La Vega, a sea of tin-roofed shacks and steep, narrow streets, is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Caracas, Venezuela. Most of the country’s population lives in slums, or barrios like this. Until President Hugo Chavez came to power in 1998, politicians had done little more for these communities than seek their votes, and then forget about them. Under Chavez, much of the nation’s oil wealth has been poured into social programs. As a result, many citizens have been able to receive an education or see a doctor for the first time in their lives. A recent visit I made to La Vega offered a close look into the inner workings of the government projects and grassroots fervor in Venezuela.

Calle y Media

Calle y Media (Street and Media) is a media collective located on a hilltop in La Vega. Katrina Kozarek, a member of the collective, introduced to me her friends in the neighborhood and pointed out the local Mercal, a common sight throughout poor neighborhoods in Caracas. “Government subsidized food is sold here,” she said. “At the Mercals everything is always cheaper. Here you can usually get the basic stuff.” She explained that the directors of the Mercals were currently looking into ways to buy products that were produced locally, not from corporations. Next to the Mercal a building had been constructed which is scheduled to include 8-12 computers and offer free workshops on computation and the internet.

A block from Katrina’s apartment was a two story, octagonal building home to the local Barrio Adentro health clinic. A criticism I had heard of these clinics was that long lines often formed while people waited for hours to see a doctor. According to Katrina, this wasn’t the case, “I have never seen a line outside of these clinics. There is no paper work. They take of medicine and everything for free. The care and quality is always good. In this neighborhood there is a Barrio Adentro every five blocks or so, which is another reason why there are no lines. The doctor usually receives patients in the morning and visits people in their houses in the afternoon. Most of the doctors are Cuban. The government just started sending Venezuelan students to study medicine in Cuba as well.”

“We have a film screening every Friday,” she said about Calle y Media’s activities. “There is a small community newspaper and we’re trying to raise money for a printing press to make T-shirts and fliers. There are various classes as well. I teach theatre, others teach printing, photography, internet skills and video. If people want to borrow equipment, they can do so and if they don’t know how to use it, we teach them.”

We walked into her apartment, which also served as a base for the collective’s operations as well as a film editing office, kitchen and classroom. I was introduced to Atahualpa Perez, 18, who had been involved with Calle y Media’s classes. “Most Venezuelan media just reports on how many people die in the barrio each week,” he said. “They don’t show anything about the youth movement, sports and culture here. What they mainly show is violence.” Perez is trying to counter that coverage with the media he works in, which involves a pirated radio station and a news program.

Tony, 14, also attends video workshops with Marcelo Andrade, one of the members of Calle y Media. In turn, Tony has taught him how to change the tire on a car.

“Chavez isn’t the Revolution, he’s a part of it.”

When I asked Marcelo what he thought of the Chavez administration, he said, “Chavez hasn’t necessarily been giving people jobs. He’s been helping to generate cooperatives. With cooperatives you can apply for a loan to start a business and then pay it back regularly with a low interest rate…5% percent of the population owns 80% of the country’s wealth. This is changing now but these smaller political and social changes are preparing for a massive change in the future. Chavez’s reforms are arming the people for change in the long term, 15 years from now.”

“One big criticism I have is what the Chavez government is doing with the carbon mines that are going to be built in Cerro de Zulia in Western Venezuela near Maracaibo,” Katrina explained. “They will be massive, and they have to make a lot of roads to do it. It will destroy the land and displace 300 indigenous families and farmers.”

Next door to the Calle y Media apartment was another center of cultural and social activity in the neighborhood. The mother of the house, Alicia Cortez, also the Coordinator of the local Health Committee, explained how the Comedores Libres, or Free Cafeterias worked. She had been running the government funded cafeteria from her home for a year.

“Around 150 people come here each day to eat. We go around and look for families that seem the neediest and invite children who live in the street, sick people, pregnant women and so on,” she explained while stirring a pot of soup and cutting up carrots at the same time. Her daughter, Ayari works in the Comedore Libre as well, but also spends time teaching at Mission Robinson, the government funded literacy program.

Alicia continued, “The meals are free and the food is served from 12-2 pm. Four women, including myself, work all morning to prepare the meals. In all the sectors of the barrios (a sector is an area of about five blocks) there is at least one Comedore Libre. With this program, people can depend on at least one good meal six days out of the week.”

“Gordo” Edgar Lopez, Alicia’s husband, is a worker at the Central University of Venezuela. “Gordo”, a jovial man with a huge smile, is also well known drummer in the neighborhood.

“We’ve been doing community work for decades,” he explained, sitting down at a table in the kitchen. “My mother and father were both union leaders and worked in a cooperative…Since Chavez has been in office, community participation has increased and has been better facilitated. People have been given more responsibility over their own lives. We support and defend the Chavez government, but we are very critical when we need to be. If there are no criticisms, the revolution dies. Socialism fails when people stop having a voice in the government. I don’t believe in saviors, I believe in the people.”

Gordo’s sentiment was shared with dozens of people I spoke with in Venezuela. It represented an enthusiasm to make the most of Venezuela’s current political movement, and insure that it doesn’t become bogged down in bureaucracy and centralization. Marcelo of Calle y Media put it well with, “Chavez isn’t the revolution, he’s a part of it.”

Benjamin Dangl is the editor of www.UpsideDownWorld.org, an online magazine about activism and politics with a focus on South America. For more information on Calle Y Media go to www.calleymedia.org.