The Making of Latin America Blog

 This week, I found the film Even the Rain to be very interesting. Overall, I liked the idea of a film within a film, and it was very entertaining but also thought provoking. There was one quote, however that stood out to me. When Costas and Sebastian come to bail Daniel out of jail after he's arrested, Costas gives Daniel a hard time because he broke his promise to not participate in the demonstrations. Daniel replies with something to the effect of, "Water is life, you don't understand." This struck me. Water really is life, so with their struggle over water, these people in Cochabamba really were struggling for their lives. Costas  tried to bribe Daniel to keep him out of the struggle, but he chose to keep on fighting because his life was on the line. Costas was trying to do the impossible. He was trying to bribe someone to not fight for their life. When someone's life is on the line in a struggle, it doesn't matter how much money you offer them, they will ...

  Hi Lillie! I also found the sense of community in Rigoberta's account to be amazing. As you said, this is very different from what we typically experience here in the US today. Thinking about this sense of community made me very thankful for my family. While we may not be as sharing as Rigoberta's community was, it's nice knowing that there's always someone looking out for my back even in tough times.

 I found our initial reading of I, Rigoberta Menchu to be very interesting. I found it particularly sad to see how much these people have suffered. It reminded me of a personal experience I've had with a Guatemalan who went through similar suffering. Back when I was younger, my family housed a Guatemalan refugee for about seven months. He was from the Mam people and had come from a very rural area of the country. Unfortunately, he got caught up in gang and drug related activities. In his effort to get out of those activities, he had to flee, otherwise he would be killed. After making a traumatic border crossing where he wasn't sure he would survive, he was picked up by a border patrol, but because he was assumed to be a minor he was sent to a program to house him while his case was processed. After some research, however, the government found out he was actually over 18 and was going to deport him, but he was granted asylum because if he returned to Guatemala he would have like...

  Hi Victoria! I also found the contrast between the two poems and their opposing views on the Revolution to be interesting. It was enlightening to see how different people looked at the same Revolution in completely different lights based on their own personal experience with it. It shows how everyone has their own perspective, and each perspective can be completely different based on one's experience.

 This week, I found our discussion of the US and the Cuban Revolution to be very interesting. I had heard and read in the past that the US had tried to meddle in the Revolution in order to bring it down, but I never realized the degree it reached. I found the countless assassination attempts by the US or funded and directed by the US to be particularly bad. I feel that whether or not we disagree with a leader of a foreign nation, we have no business trying to assassinate them. How would the US react if a foreign nation tried to assassinate the president? I can pretty much guarantee it wouldn't be good. I think Fidel Castro said it best himself. In "History Will Absolve Me" from last week, he described how if a nation's government has become tyrannical or is no longer working for the country, it is the people's right and responsibility to get rid of that government. So it's the people's job, not the job of an interfering nearby neighbor, to try to get rid o...

 Hi Amanda! I definitely agree that what we're taught in high school about Fidel Castro doesn't tell the whole story. I feel like my knowledge about him, as well as Cuba, has grown exponentially this week. I always assumed he was just a bad man with bad intentions as you said, but it turns out the story is much more complex than it's made out to be.