Author: Sven Baur

Posted on by Sven Baur Final Timeline Project

Independence in Latin America

Works Cited:

“Bicentenary Celebrations of Latin American Independence Obscure the Complex Realities of
the Birth of Nations: LSE Latin America and Caribbean.” LSE Latin America and
 Caribbean Blog, 29 Sept. 2017,
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2017/09/28/bicentenary-celebrations-of-latin-american-independence-obscure-the-complex-realities-of-the-birth-of-nations/

“Sketch of the Country from Reduction to Buenos Ayres, shewing the movements of B: Genl.
Be..”, JCB Library,
https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~1752~2660001:Sketch-of-the-Country-from-Reductio?qvq=q%3Abuenos+aires%3Bsort%3Aimage_date%2Csubject_groups%3Blc%3AJCB%7E1%7E1&mi=8&trs=50

“Rediscovering Haiti’s Declaration of Independence: The Declaration’s Text (in Translation).”
Rediscovering Haiti’s Declaration of Independence | The Declaration’s Text (in
 Translation), https://today.duke.edu/showcase/haitideclaration/declarationstext.html

 “Bolivar.”, JCB Library
https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~1678~2470001:Bolivar-?sort=image_date%2Csubject_groups&qvq=q:bolivar;sort:image_date%2Csubject_groups;lc:JCB~1~1&mi=1&trs=22

Essential Quotes: Simón Bolivár’s Cartagena Manifesto.
https://www.milestonedocuments.com/images/content/handouts/wh7_essentialQ_Bolivar.pdf

 
“A su libertador Simon Bolivar.”, JCB Library
https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~1707~2520004:A-su-libertador-Simon-Bolivar-?sort=image_date%2Csubject_groups&qvq=w4s:/when%2F1801-1850;q:colombia;sort:image_date%2Csubject_groups;lc:JCB~1~1&mi=5&trs=21

“Trienio Liberal (Liberal Triennium) (1820-1823).” Bicentenario De Las Independencias
Iberoamericanas | Ministerio De Cultura y Deporte, https://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/en/cultura/areas/archivos/mc/bicentenarios/contexto-historico/las-independencias-iberoamericanas/cuarta-fase-1820-1830/trienio-liberal-1820-1823.html

“1817 San Martin Crosses the Andes from Mendoza to Chile – War and Nation: Identity and the
Process of State-Building in South America (1800-1840) – Research at Kent.” War and
Nation: Identity and the Process of State-Building in South America (1800-1840), 10
Sept. 2020, https://research.kent.ac.uk/warandnation/1817-san-martin-crosses-the-andes-from-mendoza-to-chile/

“Rideau d’Avant Scène Exécuté au Théatre de la Cour, Pour la Réprésentation d’Apparat, à
l’…”, JCB Library
https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~5884~9170003:Rideau-d-Avant-Sc%25C3%25A8ne-Ex%25C3%25A9cut%25C3%25A9-au-Th%25C3%25A9?sort=image_date%2Csubject_groups&qvq=w4s:/when%2F1801-1850;q:pedro;sort:image_date%2Csubject_groups;lc:JCB~1~1&mi=18&trs=30

Posted on by Sven Baur Module 4 assignment: Latin America in the media

A Sullied Legacy

Hebe de Bonafini, 93, Who Rallied Mothers of ‘the Disappeared,’ Dies – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Argentina, like many other nations in Latin America, experienced a period of “apolitical” military rule. This type of rule often included strong government action against any perceived political dissidents. Argentina proved an exceedingly bad case of this form of government, human rights were disregarded as people were jailed, tortured, killed and disappeared. 

The article talks of the Death of an extraordinary activist during the time of the military regime, Hebe de Bonafini. She was a 49 year old housewife when one of her sons was disappeared by the military government. After tireless searching, she began to assemble other mothers who had suffered the same fate, and organized weekly protests with her new group. Although there was backlash, and members were disappeared, they did not back down.

The military dictatorship in Argentina finally came to an end in 1983, after seven grueling years of deaths and forced labor. This was mostly caused by an ongoing economic crisis and a shameful display in the Falkland War against the British. 

Argentina went on to institute one of the world’s first commissions for truth and reconciliation, attempting to punish the ones responsible for much of the suffering women like Hebe had endured. Although some long jail sentences were given, Hebe became increasingly polarizing during this time period, condemning every democratic leader until the election of the Kirchners. Nestor Kirchner finally restarted the trials which had been stalled by previous leaders.

The United States’ backing of the previous military government had left a sour taste in the mouths of many, Hebe was especially displeased. When the 9/11 attacks happened, she celebrated that the monster did bleed. She was very vocal about many foreign nations, freely voicing her opinions to the public. A corruption scandal further sullied her reputation, an alleged embezzlement of funds meant for housing of the poor. Unfortunately, even her former close allies, specifically former president Cristina Kirchner had recently been found guilty of fraud. (Argentina’s Vice President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Found Guilty of Fraud – The New York Times (nytimes.com))

Despite, and for some, because of all this, she had been nominated for multiple Nobel Peace Prizes, as recently as 2018. To this day she is admired for her actions during the terrible times of the military dictatorship, and Argentina has called for three days of national mourning.

Posted on by Sven Baur Timeline pilot project

INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

Works Cited:

“Bicentenary Celebrations of Latin American Independence Obscure the Complex Realities of
the Birth of Nations: LSE Latin America and Caribbean.” LSE Latin America and
 Caribbean Blog, 29 Sept. 2017,
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2017/09/28/bicentenary-celebrations-of-latin-american-independence-obscure-the-complex-realities-of-the-birth-of-nations/. 

“Sketch of the Country from Reduction to Buenos Ayres, shewing the movements of B: Genl.
Be..”, JCB Library,
https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~1752~2660001:Sketch-of-the-Country-from-Reductio?qvq=q%3Abuenos+aires%3Bsort%3Aimage_date%2Csubject_groups%3Blc%3AJCB%7E1%7E1&mi=8&trs=50

“Rediscovering Haiti’s Declaration of Independence: The Declaration’s Text (in Translation).”
Rediscovering Haiti’s Declaration of Independence | The Declaration’s Text (in
 Translation), https://today.duke.edu/showcase/haitideclaration/declarationstext.html. 

Posted on by Sven Baur Module 3 assignment - Latin America in the Cold War

Readiness for Intervention

Preparation-for-CubaDownload

The United States had continually altered the interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine since its creation in the early 19th century. By the time the Cold War had begun, it was again rewritten, and had become the Truman Doctrine. The underlying idea can still be seen in much of US propaganda in modern wars, the liberation of the people, help to achieve democracy and liberties. It is clearly stated that the United States sees it as their duty to aid each nation in becoming what it desires, and to fend off any powers which aim to impose their own ideologies as the Germans and Japanese had done in World War 2. It is already clear to see that by doing this, the United States had already committed to impose their own ideals on other nations, a hypocritical act in itself. This attempt at swaying other nations often came in the form of military and economic measures. This intent can clearly be seen in the document, “Memorandum for General Taylor” from 1962. The document comes from the earlier stages of the United States diplomatic crisis with Cuba. It is clear that intervention to some degree was the obvious next step to the writer. This document also provides insight into the readiness of the United States Army to engage in military activity in order to remove a Communist government from their doorstep. Such military preparedness seems the standard mode of operation. 

There is a clear indication that the United States saw itself more than capable of dealing with this threat quickly and decisively. The Document mentions a coup de main, a fast blow that can defeat the enemy in a single attack. This doctrine of military intervention however is not entirely in line with the Truman doctrine: “I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.” (Problems in Modern Latin American History, p.242) Nevertheless, it seems likely that the subversive arms of the US government, such as the CIA, had standardized such means of violating the national sovereignty of foreign states.

Posted on by Sven Baur Module 2 assignment - Visual sources of late 19th-century or early 20th-century Latin America

The Beating Heart of Argentina

Image: Boats entering the port | Tulane University Digital Library

In this image of the Port of Buenos Aires, taken in the latter half of the 19th century, we see the bustling ambiance of international trade, and the local focus on export. Buenos Aires emerged as a center of transport early on, due to its strategic location at one of the only navigable rivers in Latin America. The latter construction of railways further cemented it as the undisputed center of trade in Argentina. Railways spread out like a spider web across the nation, all originating from this center of commerce. This clear focus on connection of rural areas to a major trading port already hints at the importance of raw goods exportation within Argentina. As Celso Furtado marks in his writings on Neocolonial Economics, the case of Argentina was one of the most remarkable. Along with railway construction, the nation’s population doubled, and cereal exports rose five-fold. Cereal would be a typical product of Argentina, as it focused on the first of three commodities, temperate goods. The image encapsulates the very focus of Argentina at the time, maritime export of raw goods and the focus on the development of Buenos Aires and its connection to rural areas. 

Neocolonial foreign investments were rampant around these times. The buildings in the harbor may not merely look European architecturally, but could even be foreign owned, by nations like the United States or Great Britain. If this image was shown unlabelled it could have well been assumed that this was a harbor somewhere in the British Isles. 

Ultimately the influence and sheer reliance on foreign nations is evident. Should this harbor become empty, the entire nation would grind to a halt. The beating heart of Argentina at the mercy of the industrialized nations of the world. Inseparably, Argentina and other producers of temperate commodities like Uruguay had turned themselves into a new frontier of the European economy. 

Source:
Boats entering the port | Tulane University Digital Library
Wood, James A., and Anna Rose Alexander. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019., p. 267-270

Posted on by Sven Baur Module 1 assignment - Late Colonial and early Independence Latin American sources

The Contradictions of Conservative Revolution

This image, part of a series of images sent to the Portuguese royalty in Brazil by Jean-Baptiste Debret, is an artistic rendition of the coronation of Pedro I. The image depicts qualities of revolution, monarchical power, colonial diversity as well as strength. As such it aims to encapsulate the conservative Portuguese independence and the values it held. It shows some of the inherent contradictions inherent to a conservative revolution.

Pedro is depicted not like a revolutionary, but like a traditional European King. Instead of waving flags and dynamically standing subjects as seen in American imagery, Pedro is seated on a throne, with monarchical icons like the crown. Nevertheless, the artist attempts to bring in the dynamism of revolution and independence through alternative means. The crowds are shown to be ecstatic, and Pedro I holds a Sword and Shield, signifying defiance and battle. The trumpeting angels display banners of Independence, and a cannon aims to the left.

Prosperity becomes a central focus, in front of Pedro lay a cornucopia full of food, while his throne is adorned with the Rod of Asclepius and Scales of Justice. Signals for an abundant and prosperous future. Similarly, the image seems to signal unity, as both sides contain subjects of various races and cultures. Babies of all cultures are presented to the new emperor. 

While there is a lot of positive imagery, power and military might are still central. Behind the new emperor are innumerable lines of soldiers, merely discernible by the forest of arms they erect towards the air. In this darker section, tribal leaders bow and swear allegiance, a reverence that is much more somber than the jubilation in front. 

The image wonderfully depicts the duality of Brazilian independence, it is both a celebration of independence and a declaration of subservience. Pedro I the generous, who will bring Health, Justice and Prosperity to Brazil, and Pedro I the emperor, with immense military might demanding absolute devotion. We may see in this concise depiction why conservative revolutions were the exception, as there are inherent contradictions and incongruences within their goals and values.