Understanding Latin America
Dear readers and colleagues, this month we bring you five articles that reflect the reality of Latin America: one from Argentina, a regional piece looking at reactions to the Israel-Hamas war, another from the US-Mexico border, and two from Brazil.
- Argentina’s Far-Right President-Elect
- The Israel-Hamas War Is Inflaming Polarization in Latin America
- Inside the secretive network of pro-choice activists on the US-Mexico border
- ‘It is all about listening and sharing’: Indigenous solutions to the carbon divide
- The Remarkable Rise of Fare-Free Public Transport in Brazil
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ARGENTINA’S FAR-RIGHT PRESIDENT ELECT
It’s official. Earlier this month, Argentines selected Javier Milei – the man who once brought a chainsaw to a campaign rally to show how he will destroy the current political system – to be their new president. Some international media have sought to portray Milei as a “liberal libertarian” or a “radical,” and not part of the global far-right. In reality, Milei and his vice president Victoria Villarruel are located squarely in the center of the South American far right, says the author. Milei proposed dollarizing the economy, ditching the Argentinian peso and the Central Bank, and promised a minimal state with only eight ministries. This will involve privatizing health and education and major changes to social security policies. These align squarely with the far-right agenda of fiscal austerity, privatization and labour deregulation. He didn’t lean into the usual far-right talking points like anti-feminism, anti-LGBTQI+, racism or militarization etc, but many of these sentiments were present in his campaign, from promising to repeal abortion laws to denying the death toll during Argentina’s former military dictatorship. His win was in fact a victory for the global far-right. But why were his messages so popular with Argentines now?
Julia Almeida, November 22, 2023
https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/51280/argentinas-far-right-president-elect
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THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR IS INFLAMING POLARIZATION IN LATIN AMERICA
Latin America has the privilege of being far away from the world’s geopolitical hotspots and the current Isreal-Hamas war, but the region hasn’t escaped the polarization unleashed by this conflict, producing heated public debate. The left and right in Latin America do agree on a number of issues regarding the war in the Middle East: the vast majority have condemned the attacks by Hamas on October 7 (with the exception of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela), most countries also diplomatically recognize the state of Palestine, and unlike much of Europe and the U.S., most have not designated Hamas a terrorist organization (though the governments of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Ecuador have described the October 7 attacks as “terrorism”). But that’s where the similarities end. Strong internal fractions over this issue can be seen in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia, where the current left-of-center governments have been critical of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks in October, clashing with their right-wing counterparts defending Israel. Bolivia has severed diplomatic ties with Israel altogether, while Paraguay continues to be the region’s staunchest supporter of the Jewish state. How will these strong divisions affect the region going forward?
Oliver Stuenkel, November 16, 2023
https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/the-israel-hamas-war-is-inflaming-polarization-in-latin-america/
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INSIDE THE SECRETIVE NETWORK OF PRO-CHOICE ACTIVISTS ON THE US-MEXICO BORDER
Abortion laws are strict in both northern Mexico and the US, but reproductive rights activists operating on the border have been filling in the gaps, helping women terminate unwanted pregnancies. The author refers to this cross-border network of activists as a kind of ‘underground railroad’ like the network that helped enslaved people in the American South escape their owners and travel to the north where slavery was illegal. There are currently at least 17 groups of acompañantes (companions) that operate along the border. Ever since 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade ruling ending federal right to abortion, these organizations have widened their cross-border networks and have been provide more care to US women with unwanted pregnancies. The groups mostly help women with access to abortion pills, while some also offer accompaniment, mental health services or legal advice. In Mexican, the Supreme Court recently decriminalized abortion, but the act is still taboo in this conservative catholic country, where women also face rising presence of anti-abortion activists. So for now, the abortion services remain underground. Who are these acompañantes and how do they manage to dodge criminalization and surveillance on both sides of the border?
Dánae Vílchez & Verónica Martínez, November 21, 2023
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mexico-us-feminist-women-human-rights-abortion/
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‘IT IS ALL ABOUT LISTENING AND SHARING’: INDIGENOUS SOLUTIONS TO THE CARBON DIVIDE
Francy Baniwa, writer and activist of the Baniwa people in Brazil, is part of a community of 25,000 people that protect an area of the rainforest the size of Scotland. In her new book, Umbigo do Mundo, she describes how. It includes values of collectiveness, empathy and spirituality, things that are rarely part of the discussion in the global climate debate, as they are hard to quantify. However, several studies over the years have shown that Indigenous communities and nature-immersed cultures are the best at protecting the rainforest from land invasions by ranchers, loggers, miners and other extractive industries. This has benefits of carbon sequestration, regional benefits for rainfall generation and cooling, and local benefits for the abundant wildlife, such as jaguars, anteaters and anacondas. Francy criticizes “white” capitalist society for getting the climate debate wrong. “White society doesn’t know how to listen to the forest as if it is a part of their own body, or a close relative. They see it only as money,” she writes. What can we learn by incorporating insights of local people, like Francy’s, into the global climate debate?
Jonathan Watts, November 22, 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/22/it-is-all-about-listening-and-sharing-indigenous-solutions-to-the-carbon-divide
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THE REMARKABLE RISE OF FARE-FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN BRAZIL
Municipalities across Brazil are considering the idea of fare-free public transport (FFTP), including São Paulo. Earlier this year, centrist mayor Ricardo Nunes announced his intention to abolish fares for public transport and the municipal parliament has since been studying how to make that happen. The idea has gained such widespread support that experts think it could be one of the main themes of the country’s upcoming municipal elections in 2024. São Paulo, with a population of 11.4 million inhabitants, is the largest city to contemplate FFTP. It’s also the largest city in the Americas. If it succeeds in implementing FFTP, it could change dynamics across the continent, says the author. Brazilians have long been fighting for FFTP systems, and by 2013, 18 small cities had full FFTP systems. At the time, most politicians classified the measure as an impossible dream, but today, even conservative figures like Nunes are advocating for the measure. How did Brazil get here, and what are the benefits of Brazilian cities implementing FFTP going forward?
Daniel Santini, November 15, 2023
https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/51246/the-remarkable-rise-of-fare-free-public-transport-in-brazil
