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Authors: Stephanie Rodriguez and Haleigh Reutershan

Edited by: Keury Collado and Tracy Kay

      After the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff just over a year ago, her vice president Michel Temer, of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, took office. 

      Since then, many Brazilian citizens have felt a growing discontent with the current administration (Dwyer).

       This past Friday, April 28th, a general strike took place in major cities across Brazil for the first time in over two decades. The strike began at midnight and began the weekend, lasting twenty-four hours.

(Reuters.)

       The strike was triggered by Temer’s labor reform initiatives, which will raise the retirement age by eleven years. Over 70,000 citizens were outraged with Michel Temer’s administration plans. Under Temer’s pension reform, men will retire at age 65 and women will retire at the age of 62. Brazilian citizens are accustomed to working until at 54 years. The pension reform will affect the  Brazilian workforce in that men and women will have to work passed an age where their physical capabilities may restrict their ability to labor properly.  Temer blames unemployment rates and the recession on the previous administration, and he plans to do what he thinks is best for creating jobs and boosting the economy, despite the people’s revolts. However, extending the retirement age is not the only thing citizens are outraged about. Temer plans to eliminate education and agricultural pensions. The Latin American television network Telesur, states that, “according to the head of the Landless Worker Movement, Joao Pedro Stedile, [retirement benefits] almost tripled during the governments of Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.” Since the proposal of these bills, Michel Temer’s approval rating decreased by 10 percentage points.

(Dwyer.)

     A group of protesters attempted to march onto the residence of President Temer, but they were met with force, police pushed back throwing tear gas. Across major cities in Brazil, police and protesters grappled as the night fell. One citizen claimed this strike was going to be marked down as Brazil’s largest in history, although this has yet to be confirmed (Krol.)

      The heavily unionized parts of the economy were most affected. Nationwide, schools and banks were shut down. Public transportation  halted and buses were burned, even some hospitals were affected (Krol.) Major roads in cities throughout Brazil were blockaded by structures created out of burning tires. Automobile production experienced great setbacks, as most of major car production takes place in Sao Paulo, where sixty thousand metallurgical workers striked (Krol.)    

(Krol.)

         Citizens are very uneasy about the reforms and the current administration. One bank worker, Ricardo Jacques stated “We can’t keep quiet anymore with a government that isn’t legitimate, which wasn’t elected to dismantle the rights of workers,” (Krol.) Despite this opinion being backed by thousands across the nation, Temer still believes he is doing the best he can for Brazil, and plans to carry out his reforms (Dwyer.)

Factoids:

1.) Q. What political party is Michael Temer associated with?  

     A. The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

2.) Q. What industry was heavily influenced in the city of Sao Paulo as a result of the protests?

     A. The automobile industry

3.) Q. What were two main causes of the protests? 

     A.  Labor reforms and growing dissatisfaction with current administration 

Sources:

Durden, Tyler. “Violent Riots Break Out In Brazil As First General Strike In 21 Years Paralyzes Nation.” Zerohedge.com. N.p., 29 Apr. 2017. Web. 3 May 2017.

Dwyer, Colin. “Nationwide Strike Clogs Brazil’s Big Cities, Grinding Daily Activity To A Halt.” Npr.org. N.p., 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

Krol, Charlotte. “Buses burn in Rio de Janeiro amid general strike against proposed Brazilian labour laws.” Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 29 Apr. 2017. Web. 2 May 2017.

Reuters. “Brazil Protesters, Police Clash in First General Strike in Decades.” The New York  Times. The New York Times, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 04 May 2017.

Rasmus, Jack, James Cockcroft, Ramzy Ramzy Baroud, Dr., Arshad M. Khan, Dr., and N.  Malathy. “Brazil: More Massive Protests Against Temer’s Pension Reform.” News | TeleSUR. TeleSUR, n.d. Web. 04 May 2017.

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Author: Tracy Kay

Edited by: Haleigh Reutershan, Stephanie Rodriguez, Keury Collado

For over forty years plans of building a dam along the the Xingu River in northern Brazil have been revitalized and redesigned in the hopes of supplying Brazil’s growing population with a stable amount of electricity. The hydroelectric dam, formally named the Belo Monte Dam, began construction after the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) issued an installation license to do so in 2010. Many citizens of Brazil have realized that Belo Monte exhibits the same authoritarian tendencies as the brutal regime of Brazil, not surprising as the country is currently in the hands of a military dictatorship.

It’s ultimate goal — to provide clean, renewable, and sustainable energy and aid Brazil in prospering socially and economically.  However, there’s a reason that this project was negotiated again and again before its relatively recent approval. Long term and persistent controversies surrounding the project stem from the environmental damage and negative impacts on local communities. Being submerged deep in the Amazon Rainforest, the Xingu River connects with its fellow rivers to sustain the lives of indigenous people who use its current to provide food, water, and transportation. Anti-dam protests have been active all over the country for the last 20 years, one of the most famous being the protest of the Candonga Dam in 2003.

Due to the $17 billion project being constructed by the Brazilian government, the body of water will be diverted away from its natural flow in order to power what is believed to be the third largest hydroelectric dam on the planet. Eighteen of the forty ethnic groups that live in the Xingu River Basin depend on the sustenance of the Xingu River alone and without it, will be forced to relocate. One of these groups, the Arara tribe, depends so heavily on the natural resource that in an interview conducted by Bianca Jagger, the Arara leader of thirteen years described their lives to be “irreversibly affected” by the implementation of the Belo Monte Dam. The inability to fish and farm will most likely cause thousands of people to go hungry. Over 20,000 people will be forced to relocate into nearby cities where they will have to compete for jobs and if they are unable to avoid unemployment, will work in logging. Logging is one of the leading causes of deforestation in the amazon, thus starting the vicious cycle of environmental degradation over again.

The city of Altamira, located in the state of Para, has noticed a massive spike in criminal activity. The reason is primarily the negative impact on the quality of life of the residents due to the construction of the Belo Monte Dam. The immense pollution of the river has jeopardized the water and food as well as their means of bathing and transport for indigenous peoples. The indirect effects of this has caused people to spiral into alcoholism and depression leading to cultural disintegration.

Despite the danger to indigenous communities along the Xingu River, the Brazilian government decided to proceed with the dam. It was mandatory for the government to take into consideration the people who reside near the area that their project aimed to settle itself, but the government claimed that the likelihood of the community being flooded by the reservoir was comparable to the impact they would endure during the building of the dam. This gave them incentive to continue the project as they emphasize the potentially immense economic benefits.

What is a country to do when nearly 80% of its energy needs stem from hydroelectricity? Amazon Watch, a nonprofit organization founded to protect the rainforest and the rights of indigenous peoples commented on the dam, calling it the “most devastating infrastructure project ever built in the Amazon”.

Summary Factoid Questions!

  1. How is the Belo Monte Dam affecting the lives of indigenous people?
  2. What is the Brazilian government’s argument as to why they should continue building the dam?

Sources

Amazon Watch “Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam.” Amazon Watch. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

http://amazonwatch.org/work/belo-monte-dam 

 

“Arara do Para Indian Language (Araras).” Arara Language and the Arara do Para Indian Tribe

(Araras, Pariri, Ukargm). N.p., n.d. Web. 27 April 2017.

http://www.native-languages.org/arara.htm

 

Intercontinental Cry.”Harmful impacts of the Belo Monte Dam on the Amazon’s Xingu

River.” Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

https://intercontinentalcry.org/harmful-impacts-of-the-belo-monte-dam-on-the-amazons-xingu-river/

Jagger, Bianca. “The Belo Monte Dam: An Environmental Crime.” The Huffington Post.

Web. 27 Apr. 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bianca-jagger/the-belo-monte-dam-an-env_b_1614057.html

Knowledge@Wharton “The Tug of War Over Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam.” Web. 27 Apr.

  1. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-tug-of-war-over-brazils-belo-monte-dam/

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By Keury Collado

Co-Authors: Haleigh Reutershan, Tracy Kay, and Stephanie L. Rodriguez 

         In late April, a peaceful protest held in Brazil’s capital city, Brasilia, led by various indigenous groups suddenly turned violent. The police and indigenous protesters’ confrontation started when, according to a Reuters’ photographer, protesters climbed over a ramp that gave way to the entrance of the congressional building. The protesters, though, argued that the police were just looking for any excuse for their removal. These various groups were calling for laws that would finally set boundaries on their lands and reservations, which are constantly being trespassed by ranchers and farmers. Although Brazil’s indigenous people only make up 0.4 percent of the nation’s population, 12 percent of the country’s territory is supposed to be under their jurisdiction. The failure of the Brazilian government to implement and enforce laws regarding demarcation has led to numerous violent confrontations between the indigenous population and the ranchers and farmers living on the borders of these lands. Just recently in the northeastern state of Maranhão, indigenous leaders were violently attacked by ranchers on a late Sunday night. The attacks were a result of territorial disagreements between both parties, these disputes tend to turn brutal and violent very quickly. On this particular incident, thirteen people were reported to be hospitalized and one individual was even reported to be mutilated, his hands and feet being chopped off. The indigenous group involved in this particular altercation were the Gamela people. They argued that they were just occupying lands that was rightfully theirs. The land that was being occupied by them, they said, was illegally strip from them by the military dictatorship that controlled the country from 1964 to 1985. The cattle ranchers, who claim to be the legal owners of the land, were stated to have gotten together in the middle of the night, gotten drunk and attacked by surprise the Gamela community. The ranchers and farmers argue that the indigenous populations who are claiming these lands to be theirs aren’t making proper use of it. The land isn’t being used for agricultural production, so in their eyes they see no point in why land should be given to them. In the other hand, indigenous population state that they are in fact making heavy use of the land they claim to be rightfully theirs. It is used for the daily rituals that are needed for them to stay healthy and whole (Nolen 2016). The land is also used for fishing and hunting, the river used for things such as bathing and drinking water. A simplistic life that mirrors many of the indigenous communities found in Latin America. Genito Gomes, a member of the Kaiowa community, states “we need the land to be able to live our culture” (Nolen 2016). They know of the danger the farmers pose to them, but the land is deemed too sacred to give up on it so easily. They’re ready to risk it all just to be on the land of their ancestors.

(source: REUTERS/ Ueslei Marcelino)

 

The current situation in Brazil is a very complicated one that has put neighbors against each other, disagreements very often leading to bloodshed. Even though the indigenous communities in Brazil have stepped up activity in attempts to reclaim their land, land rights activists are constantly threatened and murdered. Making Brazil one of the most dangerous places in the world for these people. A government report put the total deaths of activists at 61 in the year 2016 alone.

Summary Factoids

 

1.Name one group of the indigenous community in Brazil suffering from confrontations with farmers and ranchers?

 

The Gamela or Kaiowa people.

 

  1. What percentage of Brazil’s population do indigenous people make up?

 

0.4%

Sources

“Brazil Promises Backing for Beleaguered Indigenous People.” Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 04 May

  1. Web. 04 May 2017.

Marcelino, Ueslei, and Anthony Boadle. “Brazil Indigenous Protest over Land Rights Turns

Violent.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 25 Apr. 2017. Web. 04 May 2017.

Nolen, Stephanie. “Brazil’s Land War between Indigenous People and Farmers: ‘We Just Need to

Be home’​.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail, 07 Apr. 2017. Web. 04 May 2017.

Solomon, Feliz. “Brazil: 13 Hospitalized After Attack on Indigenous Tribe.” Time. Time, 01

May 2017. Web. 04 May 2017.

Watts, Jonathan. “Brazilian Farmers Attack Indigenous Tribe with Machetes in Brutal Land

Dispute.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 May 2017. Web. 04 May 2017.

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Author: Michael Volpe

Co-authors: Samuel Halligan, Alexa Bryden, Manuel De Jesus Fernandez

When many people think of Argentina, it is thought of as the Europe of Latin America.  Its associated with a lot of European architecture and also culture as well, with a majority of Argentina’s being white and of European decent.  There are even many stereotypes that Argentinians harbor about their own indigenous people, like that there is none be because they have all died out or have been assimilated.  This makes a lot of indigenous people have to hid their identity to avoid racial discrimination.  And yet out of a population of about 40 million people, the latest national survey says about 955,032 identifying as belonging or descending from an indigenous group and there are about 35 recognized groups (IWGIA 2017).  The largest three indigenous groups in Argentina are the Mapuche, the Kolla, and the Qom.  The Mapuche are by far the biggest and mostly consist of traditional farmers.  Their social organizations are made up of their extended families and the leader is called the Ionko or chief (Worldatlas 2017).  For Decades, the indigenous people of Argentina have, had many hardships and have been treated extremely poorly in their own country.  Land disputes and racial discrimination have been seen through the indigenous community.

The main contention in the Indigenous rights issues are land, territory, and natural resources, and also racial discrimination and violence as well, which is the plight of most indigenous communities.  The Qom people, living in the Formosa Province, have been subject to human rights violations for years and the taking of provisioned land, but in 2011 the government granted precautionary procedures for these groups.  These actions would protect the livelihood and physical veracity of individuals in the group.  Since these agreements, there has been little to nothing done to satisfy the demands of the Qom people.  In 2015, activists in the Qom community staged a protest in the center of Buenos Aries to request the return of their land from the government.  They also called for additional rights such as respect to their cultural identity and rights that that they did not have such as education and health care.  Additionally, they had two marches at the supreme court trying to get promises that were granted fulfilled.  But hope was not lost.  As the new president at the time, Macri, claimed the presidency, to indigenous leader’s surprise, he set up meetings and press conferences to address their concerns.  So far in the last couple of years little has been done to fix these problems the community in Formosa experience (IWGIA 197).

Another huge concern of the indigenous community in Argentina is the exploitation of the indigenous people as lithium mining become more abundant in their country.  This is clearly seen in the events surrounding the indigenous Atacamas.  The people of the Atacamas group are peaceful llama herders who live in bud brick homes in the northern part of Argentina.  Despite this, underneath their land is a treasure trove of the mineral lithium.  This mineral lithium, is used to make lithium batteries which is a big export in Argentina.  But this small indigenous community has seen almost none of the benefits.  Sometimes only ranging in 9,000-60,00$ per community for water rights and other things.  Going to even one of these 6 communities in the northern part of Argentina makes it evident, that these communities are having problems with clean drinking water, education, among many other things.  This big find in lithium has also caused a big split in the community as well because sometimes some of the communities working class can get some jobs.  But all in all, these indigenous communities are getting shouldered in the emence amount off profits made off of their own land (Frankel 2016).  For the past 2 years, there has been a lot of activism and community organizing inside of these communities.  And yet, not much has been done to help the people suffering from just being ignored.

Summery Factoid questions

  1. How many people identify, belong or decent from an indigenous community in Argentina?

-The latest national survey said that about 955,032 identify, belong or decent from an indigenous group.

 

  1. What are the main things or rights that the Qom people are fighting for?

-the main rights they are fighting for are health care, education, and recognition of identity.

 

 

Sources

Frankel, Todd C. “Tossed aside in The White Gold Rush.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

 

“Indigenous Peoples Of Argentina.” WorldAtlas. N.p., 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017. <http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/indigenous-peoples-of-argentina.html>.

 

Iwgia – The Indigenous World –. “Argentina.” IWGIA – THE INDIGENOUS WORLD – 2016 ARGENTINA (n.d.): n. pag. Www.IWGIA.org. 2016. Web. 4 Apr. 2017. <http://www.iwgia.org/images/stories/sections/regions/latin-america/documents/IW2016/Argentina_IW2016_web_redu.pdf>.

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Author: Alexa Bryden

Edited by: Michael Volpe, Manuel De Jesus Fernandez, and Samuel Halligan

In January, three Argentinian women were sunbathing topless on a beach when a tourist complained about them. The police responded forcefully to this complaint, twenty police officers and six patrol cars showed up to threaten the women with arrest unless they covered their breasts. This reaction was seen as excessive by the female population of Argentina and this event led to a national debate on women’s rights and various topless demonstrations around the country. These demonstrations are about more than just the right to go topless. They are about equality and fighting against the oppression of women. They write phrases on their breasts such as “We’re not going to ask for permission”, “I decide”, and “equality” during demonstrations.

A Protester’s chest reading “censor this”

Women in Argentina are subject to violence frequently. A woman is killed every thirty hours in Argentina simply because they are women. These murders are called femicides and are traditionally considered crimes of passion. Femicides such as those of Ramona Luque Blanco, Sandra Barrientos and Denise Juarez, who were murdered by a man named Saul Heredia. The murders occurred because Ramona was leaving Saul. Another example is the murder of Nancy Ibanez by her partner Sebastian Galvan due to relationship problems. Another example is the murders of Claudia Arias, her aunt, and her grandmother. Two of her children were seriously injured during the attack. This happened because she fought with her ex-partner about the paternity of her youngest daughter. There are many more examples of murders such as these, in fact last year there were around 235 cases of femicide in Argentina. These murders are somewhat common, and they are one of the many reasons that women are participating in the tetazo (topless) protests. These demonstrations are about much more than simply not wanting to wear shirts.

There has been efforts by the government to curb gender based violence. In 2009 president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner implemented the “women’s comprehensive protection law” which was supposed to “prevent, punish, and eradicate” violence against women. In 2012 the maximum prison sentence for femicide was raised from 25 years to life. In 2013 a helpline for domestic violence victims was launched. The new president Mauricio Macri is also trying to improve life for women in Argentina. He has a plan to spend 750 million pesos (50 million usd) over three years to build women’s refuges and increase efforts to electronically tag violent men.

Activists want real cultural change and are frustrated with the presence of hypersexualized images of women in the media, and images of almost nude women being acceptable when it is unacceptable for women to portray themselves as such in everyday life. Many protestors connect these hypersexualized images of women in the media to the gender based violence that is ravaging Argentina. If women are seen as objects in the media and popular culture that will translate into reality. Cultural change starts with the youth, and there are plans in place to combat the culture of machisimo in the classroom at a younger age.

  • How often is femicide committed in Argentina?
    • Every thirty hours
  • What triggered the topless protests?
    • The extreme police response to topless sunbathers.
  • What is femicide?
    • The murder of a woman because of her sex.

CuéTwitter, Carlos E., et al. “Centenares De Mujeres Exigen La Legalización Del Topless En Argentina Con Un ‘Tetazo’ En Buenos Aires.” EL PAÍS, Síguenos En Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Facebook Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Instagram, 8 Feb. 2017, internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2017/02/07/argentina/1486498659_776624.html. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017.

Murder and Machismo. www.economist.com/news/americas/21709579-fighting-femicide-argentina-murder-and-machismo. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017.

Roja, Cosecha. “Al Menos Cuatro Asesinadas En Las Últimas 72 Horas.” Cosecha Roja, 20 Feb. 2017, cosecharoja.org/al-menos-cuatro-mujeres-fueron-asesinadas-en-las-ultimas-72-horas/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017.

Timerman, Jordana. “Topless Uprising Against Sexism.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/opinion/topless-uprising-against-sexism.html rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FArgentina&action=click&contentCollection=world%C2%AEion&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection&_r=0. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017.

Author: Samuel Halligan

Edited by: Michael Volpe, Manuel De Jesus Fernandez and Alexa Bryden

When discussing deforestation many struggle to think beyond the Amazon Rain Forests which is slowly being destroyed by humanity. When one takes a look outside the Amazon they would find out that over thirty percent of the world is covered in forests and that only 9 percent of those forests are protected from those who want to cut them down.The most extreme cases of deforestation in Argentina are the Chaco and Yungas rain forests. The Chaco rain forest is home to over four million people, many rare species of trees and species and accounts for most of Argentina’s deforestation. One of the biggest issues with this widespread deforestation of the Chaco is that many individuals of indigenous background are losing their homes. Around the globe indigenous people depend on the resources of the rain forest for survival. It is quite common for people to lose their land to deforestation and be forced to move outside the rain forest into environments that they are not used to living in and with resources they are not used to using.

Picture of annual rate of deforestation in Argentina

The deforestation of the Chaco and Yungas rain forests truly accelerated when a genetically modified soybean was introduced to Argentina by American company Monsanto. This genetically modified soybean has sparked increased soy production over the years and has made Argentina one of the worlds top producers of the soybean. While this may be great for the economy of Argentina it has caused immeasurable damage to the rain forests, in the last decade alone over 2.5 million acres of rain forest have been turned into soybean fields. Deforestation is slowly destroying communities, species and our world and we do almost nothing to stop it.

Environmental issues do not only stem from soybeans, Argentinian beef an internationally recognized export and a major part of their society are is causing environmental damage as well. In general ranching causes massive green house gas emissions, in a country which relies on beef as a huge export such as Argentina one can only imagine the large amount of green house gases emitted by their cattle industry. Not only does the cattle industry release insane amounts of greenhouse gases, they also lock cows in small areas where the feces of the animals accumulates and is eventually filtered into the groundwater. This means that the groundwater in the area gets polluted with gases such as methane and nitrous acid which makes the land dangerous to live and produce beef on.

Example of one of many kinds of Argentinian cattle farms

In general environmental issues are a problem world wide and Argentina is no stranger to the damage of deforestation, pollution and the toll that their exports take on the environment. Moving forward Argentina is taking a stance towards using new renewable energy resources, as a fairly windy and sunny country president Mauricio Macri has stated that he wants to push towards solar and even wind energy as an energy source instead of fossil fuels. This is truly amazing considering that Argentina relies of fossil fuels for two-thirds of its power and it shows their dedication in changing the entire basis of their countries source of energy. While this does not take away from the large issues of deforestation or the glaring environmental issues in the production of beef and soy, it illustrates that as a country Argentina is truly willing to work towards a better future and that unlike many other countries in the world have started to make changes to better the world.

Summary Factoid Questions:

Q: How many acres of rain forest has been turned into soybean farms in the last decade?

A: 2.5 million and counting!

Q: What rain forests in Argentina are slowly being destroyed?

A: The Chaco and Yungas rain forests

Q: What exports of Argentina are slowly destroying their environment?

A: Soybeans and beef

Works Cited

Greene, Caitlyn. “Beyond the Amazon: Deforestation in Argentina.” The Argentina Independent. The Argentina Independent, 12 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2017. http://www.argentinaindependent.com/socialissues/environment/beyond-the-amazon-deforestation-in-argentina/

Rossi, Leonardo. “The Cattle Industry in Argentina Is Changing Rapidly – Not for the Better.”D+C. Development and Cooperation, 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 05 Apr. 2017. https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/cattle-industry-argentina-changing-rapidly-not-better

Mander, Benedict. “Financial Times.” Argentina turns to renewable energy. Financial Times, 9 June 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017. https://www.ft.com/content/c6e58576-2da1-11e6-bf8d-26294ad519fc

“Environmental Problems in Argentina.” WWF. WWF, Web. 05 Apr. 2017. http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/argentina/environmental_problems_argentina/

 

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Author: Ravi Musalin

Co-Authors: Anna Woodworth, Mishelle Perez Gonzalez, Leah Jacob

Students in Paraguay have mobilized one of the largest’s protest movements in Paraguay’s history. They are demanding a significant reform to Paraguay’s largest public university, the National University of Asunción, otherwise known as UNA.  Protesters across the university’s 12 schools demanded four basic reforms to the university.  First, they are looking to eliminate the absolute majority held by professors in the university governing assembly, which is composed of elected professors, students, and alumni from each of the 12 schools. Second, they want term limits for university leadership positions.  Their third demand is to institute a ban on the “personal appointees,” otherwise known as “cargos de confianza,” of university leaders running for and occupying elected office in university governing bodies. Lastly, they are looking for the creation of an independent electoral commission to regulate university elections.  These protests began on August 24th of 2016. Although the students participating in the protest became involved for vastly different reasons, they share the common frustration with the self-interested elite of the university. Currently, the university has not compromised with the protestors. They recently refused to consider the protestors reforms for a third time.

 

 

Protests in 2016 intensified when a group of teachers and high ranking government officials began to make reforms to the university without consulting with the students of the university.  Students argue that teachers shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions concerning the university without input from the students. One of the main grievances students had were the lowering amount of investment in education.  Paraguay spent around 3.9% of its GDP on education, with that amount falling every year.  In comparison, other South American countries in the region spend, on average, 5.2% of their GDP on education. In terms of billions of dollars, this 1.3% difference is especially significant. As part of a solution to their issues with the education system, protesters demand an increase of about 50 million dollars on education in 2017. This increase would be less than 1% of Paraguay’s GDP. The Paraguayan government’s lack of investment, along with the fact that Paraguay is considered the country with the worst education in the world by The World Economic Forum, further fuels the frustrations of students. The UNA students have remained adamant in their protests, demanding that their reform requests be met by the government.

 

Summary factoid questions:

  1. Why did protests intensify in 2016?  Teachers and high ranking government officials began to reform the university without consulting with the students of the university
  2. What was one demand made by the protestors in 2016? An increased investment in education of about 50 million dollars in 2017

Sources

  1. “Paraguay’s Student Spring.” NACLA. N.p., 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
  2. “Paraguay’s University Students Are Protesting against Corruption.” Equal Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

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Author: Mishelle Gonzalez Perez

Co-Authors: Leah Jacob, Anna Woodworth, Ravi Musalin

Campesinos recorren las plantaciones de soja de los brasileños, aledañas a las tierras de Guahory (Paraguay).

(Santi Carneri)

Background:

Only a 2.5% of the population owes an 85% of the agricultural land in Paraguay, making it one of the countries with the largest land estate in Latin America. These large estates have forced the inhabitants of these lands to leave, so they can exploit it for soy and grains. According to Santi Carneri, the prices of these acres raised from 200 dollars to more than 1,200 dollars in 2004. In 2012, there was a violent attack on farmers in Curuguaty by special operation police forces called Grupo Especial de Operaciones (GEO), as they tried to displace 60 campesinos that occupied 5,000 acres of highly contested land. This attacked led to the death of 11 campesinos and 7 police officers. Shortly after this event the congress impeached the center-left President Fernando Lugo (Carneri).

Rosa Agustina, una mujer campesina de Guahory (Paraguay), muestra las heridas de los golpes de la Policía al día siguiente del desalojo.

(Santi Carneri)

#Somosobservadores Campaign:

After 5 years, no officer has faced any charges, nor have they been investigated for the deaths of the 11 campesinos that were executed that day. There has been another 115 cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances of social movement activists and peasants leaders resisting the militarization of their communities (Carmona).Yet 13 campesinos are now facing criminal charges for the deaths of the 7 officers killed the day of the attack.
Last year, on the steps of the Asuncion’s courthouse, a strike raised with the chants “Dictatorship, Never Again!” after the court ruled three more campesinos guilty of the death of the six police officers in Curuguaty (Hill). Each farmer got a sentence of up to 35 years. Local social movements were criminalized by the government to protect their own economic and political interests. These occurrences led to the up-rise of the #somosobservadores campaign, an independent citizen monitoring initiative aiming to fight for the rights of the inhabitants of these lands and the victims of the Curuguaty massacre (Carmona).

(Santi Carneri)

These convictions and the lack of justice for the victims of the Curuguaty massacre, have raised concerns about the strength of the Paraguay’s judicial system, as everyday more campesinos are forced off their lands. Recently, a group of 150 armed officers assembled to displace 50 campesinos in Guahory which is owned by Brazilian estates. The community resisted against them and many of the victims were hurt, injured, and even persecuted. After these lands are taken, only 6.3% of the land’s cultivation goes towards rural farming families; an amount that is insufficient to feed the country (Carneri).

1. Why did the campaign #somosobservadores rise in Paraguay? What was it?
2. What percentage of the population in Paraguay owns 85% of the agricultural land?

Carmona, Armando. “USAID and the Criminalization of Social Movements in Paraguay.”Truthout. N.p., 12 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Carneri, Santi. “Fotos: Tierra Muy Fértil, Pero Muy Mal Repartida.” EL PAÍS. Síguenos En Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Facebook Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Instagram, 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Carneri, Santi. “La Codicia Por La Tierra En Paraguay.” EL PAÍS. Síguenos En Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Facebook Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Instagram, 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Hill, Toby Stirling. “Paraguayans Lose Faith in Justice System That Values Land over Law.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Aug. 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

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Author: Leah Jacob

Co-Authors: Mishelle Perez Gonzalez, Anna Woodworth, Ravi Musalin

According to the Third National Census of Indigenous Peoples in 2012 there were 115,944 indigenous people in Paraguay. This census said there were 19 indigenous peoples that belong to 5 linguistic groups: Guaraní(Aché, Avá Guaraní, Mbya Guaraní, Paï Tavytera, Guaraní Ñandeva, Guaraní Occidental), Maskoy (Toba Maskoy, Enlhet Norte, Enxet Sur, Sanapaná, Angaité, Guaná), Mataco Mataguayo (Nivaclé, Maká, Manjui), Zambuco (Ayoreo, Yvytoso, Tomáraho) and Guaicurú (Qom). The Mennonites are a group of German-speaking minorities that are from the Chaco region.  The Chaco region has the biggest diversity of indigenous peoples, while the Orientation region has the highest amount of indigenous peoples (52.3%). The indigenous peoples live in 531 communities and 241 villages (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs).

Problems The Indigenous Peoples Face

During a visit to the Ujeslavos community by the Special Rapporteur, she found that the practices dealing with employment and health-care services deny indigenous employees of adequate social protection. The Special Rapporteur also found that the temporary employment arrangements limit the workers’ social security benefits and their health care coverage under the Ayuda Mutua Hospitalaria insurance program. The indigenous people have declined in poverty rates, but it is still very high. The rate of poverty for the indigenous peoples is 75% and extreme poverty rate is 60%. Extreme poverty for children under 5 years old is 63% and the chronic malnutrition rate is 41.7%. The indigenous people believe that the scarcity of food security and access to clean drinking water is a big recurring problem. This poverty is mainly due to the lack of control that indigenous peoples have over their lands, territories and natural resources (Human Rights Council, 2016) . The indigenous peoples have small parts of their land, that do not match the amount of their traditional territories. This leaves the land to private parties such as soy growers, cattle ranchers, large agro-industrialists who are mainly responsible for deforestation. From 2006-2010 a tenth of the Chaco region was converted into farms and 1.2 million hectares of forest were destroyed (Forest Peoples Programme, 2015).

The Guaraní People

Summary Factoids

What is one minority group in Paraguay? The Mennonites.

What is the reason the indigenous peoples think is a recurring problem? Lack of food security and access to drinking water.

What effects have the private parties owning the indigenous peoples land had? Poverty for indigenous peoples and deforestation.

 

Sources

“Indigenous peoples in Paraguay.” International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

“Report: The situation of indigenous peoples in Paraguay.” Victoria Tauli-Corpuz United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Human Rights Council., 13 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

“The Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Paraguay: Their lands and the Laws that Would Protect Them.” Forest Peoples Programme. ENEWSLETTER., 14 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

 

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Author: Anna Woodworth

Co-Authors: Mishelle Perez Gonzalez, Leah Jacob, and Ravi Musalin

Violence Against Women: A Snapshot

From January 1st to January 30th of this year, there have been six registered femicides in Paraguay. Lawmaker Rocio Casco, head of the legislative commission of Equity and Gender in Paraguay, recently stated that violence against women in Paraguay has risen 32% from 2015 to 2016. According to a report from the Attention Service for Women of the Women’s Secretariat, the number of cases of violence against women in the Southern Cone country have increased from 420 in the year 2000 to 1390 in 2007 to October. Amidst a nation of massive political and class divide following a 35 year dictatorship, there is little institutional aid for the women of Paraguay in the face of violence and inequality.

Women’s Reproductive Rights

The sign reads: “You’ll forget it, me, I will remember it for the rest of my life,’ at a demonstration regarding sexual abuse in front of the attorney general’s office in Paraguay. Courtesy of the Associated Press.

Lawmakers of the landlocked country have recently scrapped a bill which would address gender violence. In a country where abortion is not legal, this bill would have allowed women suffering from the results of an unsafe abortion to seek free medical help without being reprimanded. According to Miriam Gonzalez, a member of the group Paraguay Coordination for Women, “a quarter of women’s deaths in the country are due to consequences of unsafe abortions.” Another staggering statistic states that over 1 in 20 girls in Paraguay under the age of 20 have given birth; in rural areas of Paraguay, this age lowers, such as in the Atlantic forest where a quarter of these girls are aged 14 or younger. These data suggest that reproductive rights beyond contraception and sex education may be beneficial for Paraguayan women: currently, abortion is illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk; this may be attributed to the country’s predominantly Catholic demographic.

https://youtu.be/J9QGvtz3DLA

In early 2015, a story came to light of a 10-year old Paraguayan girl who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. At 5 months pregnant, she and her mother, also supported by Amnesty International, asked the government to be allowed an abortion. Health Minister Antonio Barrios, however, denied her request for abortion, stating that “there is no indication that the health of the [girl] is at risk … therefore we are not, from any point of view, in favor of the termination of the pregnancy.” The girl’s mother was later arrested for failing to protect her daughter from her rapist. The girl gave birth in August of that year by cesarean, and she and her baby were reported to be healthy. This fortunate outcome is in contrast with the estimated 70,000 young girls who die each year from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. This story is further explained in the video above.

Equal Land Ownership for Women

Women outside the Agriculture Ministry and the Rural Development and Land Institution in Asuncion. Courtesy of the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Land, as a dividing factor amongst many Paraguayans, is unsurprisingly also a major issue for the women of Paraguay. On March 8th of this year, International Women’s Day, women of rural Paraguay participated in a demonstration outside of the Agriculture Ministry and Rural Development and Land Institute in the city of Asuncion. Concepcion Meza, a San Pedro province farmer, stated that women are not recognized as food producers and are not granted land titles as men are by government agencies. This unequal distribution of land contributes to the class inequality between rural and urban Paraguayans while targeting indigenous, rural Paraguayan women who have little access to other means of income or subsistence compared to their urban counterparts.

Summary Factoids

  • When is abortion legal in Paraguay? When the mother’s life is at risk.
  • How many femicides occurred in January of 2017 in Paraguay? Six.
  • Why did women protest outside of the Agriculture Ministry and Rural Development and Land Institute in Asuncion? The government doesn’t recognize them as food producers and they are not granted land titles.

Citations

Carneri, Santi. “The battle to end unbridled discrimination in Paraguay.” Equal Times. Equal Times, 22 Feb. 2017. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Hanna, Jason, and Rafael Romo. “Paraguay man arrested in rape of girl, 10, who became pregnant.” CNN World. Cable News Network Turner Broadcasting System, 10 May 2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.

Hill, Toby Sterling. “Generation of hope: the girls challenging misogyny in the heart of rural Paraguay.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited , 24 Oct. 2016. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.

Latin American Herald Tribune. “Women Demand Equal Land Ownership Rights in Paraguay.” Latin American Herald Tribune. Latin American Herald Tribune, 8 Mar. 2017. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.

TeleSUR. “Paraguay’s Congressman Gut Gender Violence Bill.” TeleSUR. La nueva Televisión del Sur C.A. , 10 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). “Paraguay: Country Assessment on Violence Against Women.” United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (2008): 1-56. 25 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.