Again for those who read Spanish, you might be interested to sign up for a newsletter put out under the name REDESMA. (Go to BoletÃn in the left-hand panel, and click on Suscribirme.)
REDESMA'S coverage is not limited to the Amazon, but I'm hoping that if some of you keep your eyes on this kind of source material, we won't let anything slip by.
Monday, July 14, 2008
latest news from Peruvian Amazon
The home page of this blog mentions the MAP site, and some of you may have subscriptions to their e-mail news service (available only in Spanish and Portuguese). If you've been keeping up, you'll have noticed that there have been demonstrations recently in the town of Puerto Maldonado which is our final stop in the Peruvian Amazon.
To keep up with these issues - if you're not already doing so - you could start with this article (in Spanish) and, as I say, sign up for their newsletter,
To keep up with these issues - if you're not already doing so - you could start with this article (in Spanish) and, as I say, sign up for their newsletter,
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Bolivian and Brazilian presidents to discuss roads on 18 July
Those of you who read Spanish will see from this article that Evo Morales and Lula are to meet in Riberalta, Bolivia, on 18 July to discuss regional integration and, in particular, a road through northern Bolivia to the border with Brazil.
The article also mentions another project, that would link the Brazilian port of Santos with Arica on the Chilean Pacific, this time passing through Bolivia to the south of our area of interest (namely, through Santa Cruz and Cochabamba).
For better or worse, roads and other transnational infrastructure are hot topics in our region. I'll try to keep you informed as to any announcements that come out of the meeting on 18 July.
The article also mentions another project, that would link the Brazilian port of Santos with Arica on the Chilean Pacific, this time passing through Bolivia to the south of our area of interest (namely, through Santa Cruz and Cochabamba).
For better or worse, roads and other transnational infrastructure are hot topics in our region. I'll try to keep you informed as to any announcements that come out of the meeting on 18 July.
Friday, June 27, 2008
uncontacted indigenous groups
Two or three weeks ago, newspapers around the world showed photos of an indigenous community located in the Brazilian state of Acre not far from Peru. Apparently the group had never been contacted by the majority culture (unless you count flying over their village as contact), and the hostility shown by at least two of the men from the community - their bodies painted, they were pointing arrows at the plane - lived up to our stereotypes in a picturesque fashion.
The issues, of course, are complex, if we think about what it means deliberately not to make contact with a community - and ask, also, just why these pictures were released at this time. Possibly the intent was to draw attention to illegal logging in the area, especially in Peru, which might have driven this group over the border into Acre. Certainly it is hard to see their way of life continuing unchanged once the road we're studying is complete. Some of these issues are introduced in an article from the New York Times that you might like to read if you haven't seen the story elsewhere.
The issues, of course, are complex, if we think about what it means deliberately not to make contact with a community - and ask, also, just why these pictures were released at this time. Possibly the intent was to draw attention to illegal logging in the area, especially in Peru, which might have driven this group over the border into Acre. Certainly it is hard to see their way of life continuing unchanged once the road we're studying is complete. Some of these issues are introduced in an article from the New York Times that you might like to read if you haven't seen the story elsewhere.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
who owns the Amazon?
Brazilians are often concerned that other countries have designs on that part of the Amazon basin which falls within its borders; they fear that Americans and Europeans are starting to think of the Amazon as "too important to leave to the Brazilians". That particular quote actually comes from a recent editorial in The Independent, a leading English newspaper.
If you read the whole editorial (which I hope you will), you might find a different way of reading that phrase which sounds a bit less threatening to Brazilian sovereignty. After all, Brazilians themselves have said for years that their forests provide vital services to the rest of the world, and the editorial could be read as agreeing with that stance - saying, in effect, that the rest of the world ought to pay the Brazilians for keeping their forests intact. But the wording is such that it's hardly surprising that Brazilians are sensitive on this score (just as Canadians are nervous about American refusal to recognise their sovereignty over much of the Arctic).
The New York Times ran a similar article not long ago quoting, I believe, Al Gore to the effect that the Amazon was an international asset. What do you think of this idea? If the Amazon belongs to the world, where do you stop?
If you read the whole editorial (which I hope you will), you might find a different way of reading that phrase which sounds a bit less threatening to Brazilian sovereignty. After all, Brazilians themselves have said for years that their forests provide vital services to the rest of the world, and the editorial could be read as agreeing with that stance - saying, in effect, that the rest of the world ought to pay the Brazilians for keeping their forests intact. But the wording is such that it's hardly surprising that Brazilians are sensitive on this score (just as Canadians are nervous about American refusal to recognise their sovereignty over much of the Arctic).
The New York Times ran a similar article not long ago quoting, I believe, Al Gore to the effect that the Amazon was an international asset. What do you think of this idea? If the Amazon belongs to the world, where do you stop?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
recommended magazine on Latin America
I recommend - and subscribe to - NACLA, a magazine on Latin America that comes out, if I recall, about four or five times a year. Admittedly its coverage goes beyond our region of interest, but you are likely to find that it gives you valuable background.
Health warning: it is of a somewhat progressive (leftist) slant, which may not appeal to all readers of this blog. I find it usually thoughtful and well-informed, but some of you may like to dig out a journal with a different perspective and let us know.
Health warning: it is of a somewhat progressive (leftist) slant, which may not appeal to all readers of this blog. I find it usually thoughtful and well-informed, but some of you may like to dig out a journal with a different perspective and let us know.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
National Geographic article on Bolivia
I'm back from a productive visit to the region we'll be visiting in January, and shall have more to say about it in future posts.
For now, let me just draw to your attention an article on Bolivia in the latest issue of National Geographic. I haven't yet had a chance to read it all - you might want to note that there are a number of related articles, which can be found by following the links - but it does seem to be a helpful introduction to the country in which we'll be starting our visit to the region.
As I've found Guillermoprieto's work useful in the past, you may eventually find this article amongst the required reading for our course. In the meantime, however, perhaps you'd like to look at it simply out of interest :-)
For now, let me just draw to your attention an article on Bolivia in the latest issue of National Geographic. I haven't yet had a chance to read it all - you might want to note that there are a number of related articles, which can be found by following the links - but it does seem to be a helpful introduction to the country in which we'll be starting our visit to the region.
As I've found Guillermoprieto's work useful in the past, you may eventually find this article amongst the required reading for our course. In the meantime, however, perhaps you'd like to look at it simply out of interest :-)
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