Modern Latin America 2020 – Page 3

The Motorcycle Diaries

My discussion question is: throughout the novel, how was the idea of “Americanism” expressed?

Americanism was expressed throughout Guevara’s journey. When traveling between places in Chile, he said, “I say our friends, because in no time at all they were mine too” (48), indicating a sense of American identity that he and Alberto were a part of. When discussing the Chileans, he also writes that they were, “exceedingly friendly people, were warm and welcoming wherever we went” (56). This allowed him to travel and have access to resources and people who could help him. In Argentina, the two rely on family, friends, and other people they know to help them with food and lodging. When Alberto decided to stay behind, Guevara felt, “Alberto’s absence so sharply… [saying] It seems like my flanks are unguarded from some hypothetical attack” (160). Alberto is his friend but also represents the larger theme of a Latin American identity during the time period.

The Motorcycle Diaries

What is the symbolism of Mate and how is it mentioned throughout the book?

Mate is a traditional Argentine drink. It is a tea-like beverage and sees its first mention on the third page of the book. It continues to be mentioned throughout their journey in different contexts.

For the most part, Mate is mentioned after the pair have reached their destination for the night and are preparing food for themselves. In this situations, I believe that Mate is meant to symbolize part of their culture and a reminder of home. It is important to carry something that reminds you of home on a journey and in this situation it seems to be Mate.

In other situations, Mate is mentioned as a cultural difference. When Che and Alberto are in Bolivia (99), they are trying to find more mate but they are unable to. It is not commonly found in the north and so they have to adjust to the unavailability. They also used the mate to bond with others throughout the book, using it as a way to connect to others by sharing it with those on their travels (116).

There are other situations in which others are curious about Mate and the ways that it is made which shows the diversity in cultures in Latin America and provides a learning opportunity for all.

Overall, Mate plays a big role in this book even though it is often only mentioned briefly but it is clearly an important part of Alberto and Che’s culture and provides a good reminder of home even when they are far away.

Motorcycle Diaries

My discussion question is, Throughout the novel, how is Guevara affected by the medical-related inequalities he faces? As a 23-year-old medical student almost entirely finished with school, Guevara was viewed as a “leprosy expert.” At the time, he had treated 3,000 patients with leprosy and had become familiar with the leprosy centers of Latin America (Guevara, 59). While traveling through Latin America, Guevara was faced with many inequalities, specifically involving the poor and their health conditions. A specific example of this is when Guevara comes in contact with an old woman with asthma, who held a job as a waitress. He described her as being in a pitiful state. Significantly, upon treating her, Guevara states, “It is at times like this, when a doctor is conscious of his complete powerless, that he longs for change…” (70). He goes on to say that in this state, it defines the individuals poor families as they are unable to pay their way out of this state. Guevara resents himself for not being able to do much for the woman, despite his medical knowledge, further showing that he wants to strive for change in the system. Another example is when Guevara visits Huambo and observes the conditions of a medical center there that contains leprosy patients. He is appalled to find out that it lacks a laboratory and surgical facilities, as well as that its location is infested with mosquitoes. As a soon-to-be doctor, Guevara hopes to make a change in the conditions that he is seeing and make the living conditions of the poor better.

Class Notes-02/26/2020

Populism

We started with announcements of events happening on campus. Information regarding events are on the blog. Professor Holt went through a couple of slides that helped further explain Populism and what that entailed, including how people were affected by it. We broke into small groups to discuss one person from the reading. Afterwards, reported back how we analyzed the reading.

Historical questions: What is populism? What appeals did Latin American populists make to appeal to newly enfranchised citizens?

Key terms: Populism, ISI, and Conventillos

Populism: “is an appeal to the excluded” Populists claim to represent a neglected majority by defying an undeserving but powerful minority. Populism-reaction to structural inequality. Erosion of the rule of law. Manipulation of office-holding. Who is really benefiting from this? The people? Or people who can or do hold power?

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI:1930-1960): Replacement of foreign imports with domestically produced industrial produces.

Conventillos: Urban tenement in Argentina during the 19th century. People were emigrating from Europe, specifically Spain and Italy. These homes were on the rise for the working class. Those homes were very simple in appearance and very limited in function.

Isolation of Latin American countries regarding trading; exports and imports. There was more shock with the Depression of 1929. This includes export crisis-unemployment, bankruptcy, liquidity crisis, higher interest rates, and etc. Foreign debt was prevalent within this time period. It was easier to ramp up production to meet demands. Work entailed relatively unskilled labor. For example, textile, pharmaceuticals, etc. Government does this through high tariffs (Like the U.S). Focus is really on cheap labor. Focus is on things where you can start manufacturing through cheap labor, like textile work. They pay workers so little, the workers cannot become a middle class, meaning they cannot take part in being consumers. Consolidation of the state, where the state is becoming much more involved in workers’ lives. Worker-Domestic consumption. There is continuation of a Paternalistic role regarding Perón. Eva Perón in France truly showcased her glamorous lifestyle. There seems to be a historical weird role that first ladies play. Eva’s claim: I have no choice; it was thrusted upon me. She originally didn’t intend to pursue a place in the women’s political movement. But she eventually just had to help be an activist in the movement. She wanted to make a home for women in the movement, like temperance, or women organizing around abolition. These are all parallels. Women’s roles in these movements are like “I want to speak out, but I know my place.” Eva Perón’s actions didn’t feel realistic. It was all very performance-like.

Websites:

https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/eva-peron/

A brief history of populism in Latin America: Its rise, its impact and its fall

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/importsubstitutionindustrialization.asp

Questions:

What is populism and how did populism affect people’s lives?

What is Import Substitution Industrialization and how is it implemented/how can one identify it?

Like Eva Perón, what were women’s roles in the political movement and what were their attitudes toward being involved in said movement?

Motorcycle Diaries

How are disparities in medical care portrayed throughout The Motorcycle Diaries?

Economic inequality is an important theme throughout Guevara’s memoir, and because of his medical background, these inequalities are often shown through disparities in the medical care that people he comes upon can access. While this was a reoccurring theme throughout the book, one instance that was particularly enlightening was Guevara’s encounter with a woman in Chile with asthma on pg. 70. Guevara describes how the woman was also struggling with a heart condition and until recently had been forced to work as a waitress in order for her to try and scrape by. In seeing her misery, Guevara is struck by just how little he can do in that moment to help her, even with his medical training. He declares that those in power should spend much less time “publicizing their own virtues” and more money “funding socially useful works,” (pg. 70-71). While he is able to give her some advice and a few pills, he is not able to help her any further and must leave her in her unsanitary room with her family who seems to view her only as a burden. Later in the book, when Guevara is struggling with asthma himself, he is able to access much better treatment, both because of his and Alberto’s knowledge of medicine and because he can afford to. For example, on pg. 160, he describes how he was able to purchase a new French inhaler to treat his asthma. While much of the book focuses on medical disparities in relation to leprosy, I found this comparison particularly interesting because it highlighted Guevara’s privilege compared to many of the people he met on his journey.

Meaning of travels—-Los Diarios de Moto

The Motorcycle Diaries by Enersto Guevara talks about his journey with Alberto through the whole South American continent after taking a year off from UBA, school of Medicine. The journey was fascinating in the 1950s with limited transportation and money. Their courage was huge when crossing the cordillera of Andes, the huge desert and tropical forests. It is clear to see even South American countries share similar history of colonization and independence. South America is a diverse continent with different climates, landscapes, levels of economic, cultural and social development. Traveling involves intense planning, commitment and flexible problem-solving skills. We could see this in Enersto and Alberto during their travel. Also, it represents the courageous exploration during youth. Their spirit makes me think of my Argentine mom saying the importance of experiencing different things to see if I like it, and she always stresses that when I get old, I would not be able to do the same. Travel can make a person changes perspective and look at the world at a different angle. I could relate to some part of their travel and reflect back on how much I have changed through my time in South America as well. Guevara’s journey in South America inspired his later career in medicine and participation in the Cuban Revolution.

Winter sunrise at 9am in Bariloche, Rio Negro. The day when Argentina played against Iceland World Cup. The whole city was basically empty.

However, I would like to raise a question about whether the characters in the motorcycle journey learned about different communities, cultures and histories when they traveled; or they went on the adventure as explorers and left as spectators without immersion. It is normal to see travelers share their experiences as outsiders—“others” in a foreign country without really learning the culture and history. They will usually show that they have checked off something on their bucket-list. There are other travelers who enthusiastically learn about history and cultures of specific regions and reflect back to their own. In other words, their travel was a learning process and reflection.

Downtown Bariloche, photo taken in Winter of 2018, Enersto and Alberto reached Bariloche at the very start of their journey.

From my perspective, Alberto and Enersto did not fully immerse in all the communities throughout their first travel. They visited different places, went on their own pace, and used their motorcycle journey to impress people and find their life significance. They witnessed and observed things from an Argentine perspective about other South American countries. However, this first travel inspired Enersto and provoked more curiosity and apprehension of different cultures and struggles.

Hill of Huelen (Santa Lucía), Ernesto and Alberto hiked up the hill in the journey as well.

Motorcycle Diaries

My discussion question is: How did the architecture Che and Alberto saw in Cuzco reflect themes of indigenousness and oppression?

Throughout Che Guevara’s and Alberto’s travels in Cuzco, they observed several buildings reflective of indigenous and oppressive themes. For example, they saw a fortress that was built with heavy defenses, which created the impression that Quechua warriors were always successful in defending the fortress (Guevara 105). The fortress’ representativeness of Quechua strength reflects a theme of indigenous power. Moreover, Guevara and Alberto noticed that the Church of Santo Domingo was built over the remains of the indigenous Temple of the Sun (Guevara 112). This structure represents the efforts of Europeans to destroy indigenous culture and religion in favor of European culture and religion. Additionally, while visiting the Church of Saint Christopher, Guevara and Alberto observe the indigenous art on the choir stalls (Guevara 114). The art serves as another expression of indigenous identity and ultimately reflects how indigenous culture still pervades Peruvian society despite the history of European oppression the nation has experienced.

Class Notes 2/24/20

There were two historical questions discussed in class today. The first question was: What can Mexican murals tell us about the vision of Mexican nationalism that emerges after the revolution? The second question was: What vision of Mexico, and Mexican history, do these artworks promote? The class began with a discussion from Dr. Holt on the recent Carnival celebrations in Brazil, which are a series of Christian festivities leading up to Lent. Videos of Carnival parades and festivities were shown in class to demonstrate how celebrations were held and highlight how forms of social protest were implemented into the parades.
Afterward, the class discussion transitioned toward a conversation on Mexican forms of artwork that developed after the Mexican Revolution. Dr. Holt presented several works from José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Diego Rivera, three of the most prominent figures in Mexican muralism. A significant theme in the art of Mexican muralists that was discussed was the importance of Mexico’s indigenous history and population. Additionally, another important theme covered in the murals was the oppression imposed by the ruling classes throughout Mexican history
One important historical piece that was discussed in class was Jose Clemente Orozco’s The Epic of American Civilization. This piece is related to the main point of that day’s discussion because it features Emiliano Zapata, a nationalist figure, in the middle of the artwork, which can symbolize the emphasis on indigenous rights and indigenous pride following the Mexican Revolution. Additionally, the artwork is related to the main point of the class discussion because it features government officials greedy for money and violent military officers, which are figures meant to depict the history of Mexico.

Key Terms
Fresco: a painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colors penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.
Historical Memory: the way by which groups of people create and then identify with specific narratives about historical periods or events.
1917 Mexican Constitution: The current constitution of Mexico, which was drafted during the Mexican Revolution. It outlines provisions on workers’ rights, land reform, etc.
PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional): The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party founded in 1929 that held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years from 1929 to 2000. The PNR was founded in 1929 by Plutarco Elías Calles, a prominent Mexican leader and significant figure of the Mexican Revolution.

Links
https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/carnaval/2020/noticia/2020/02/23/belford-roxo-imperatriz-e-unidos-de-padre-miguel-se-destacam-no-2o-dia-de-desfiles-da-serie-a-no-rio.ghtml

https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/carnaval/2020/noticia/2020/02/24/mangueira-viradouro-e-grande-rio-sao-destaques-do-1o-dia-do-grupo-especial-do-carnaval-do-rio.ghtml

https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/carnaval/2020/noticia/2020/02/24/mangueira-busca-bicampeonato-com-releitura-critica-da-vida-de-um-jesus-cristo-nascido-no-morro.ghtml

Potential Questions

1. How did Mexican muralists emphasize the importance of indigenous people and their history through art?
2. In what ways did Mexican muralists depict oppression in their art?
3. How did the art created by Mexican muralists obtain appeal beyond Mexico?