On Thursday, January 21, just as the sun was rising, I arrived at the San Salvador International Airport. As soon as I retrieved my luggage from the carousel and cleared customs and immigration, I took a taxi into the city. The trip is about 50 km, and cost $25.
As the taxi sped along the Panamerican Highway, I saw several maquilas (zonas francas, free-trade zones). One of them stretched on for about a quarter of a mile, just rows of sheds on a barren lot. Many women were outside waiting for the gates to open to let them in to work. I saw no trees, no picnic tables for the workers to have their lunch breaks. I could only assume that they don’t go outside for their lunches. Do they eat at their work tables? Do they not eat lunch at all? These places are well guarded, so dropping in for a visit will not be possible.
The brilliant film, The Corporation, has a segment on YouTube that shows what we are not allowed to see about maquilas in El Salvador and Honduras. Please see it: The Corporation (5/23) Case Histories. And don’t miss Canada’s own Michael Walker, of the right-wing Fraser Institute, explaining in the same clip what a blessing the maquilas are to poor people around the world who are “starving to death, and the only thing they have to offer to anybody that is worth anything is their low-cost labor.” The only person who could believe this garbage is someone engaged in serious self-deception -- perhaps to justify investing in companies that profit from this kind of super-exploited labor.
The sprawling metropolis of San Salvador came into view, obscured by smog and watched over by the San Salvador Volcano (also known as Quetzaltepec). Home to approximately 2.27 million people, San Salvador is a city that has seen better days --before the 1980-92 civil war, before the earthquakes of January 13 and February 13, 2001, before the floods that resulted from Hurricane Ida last November (a disaster exacerbated by deforestation). By most accounts, it's one of the most dangerous cities in Central America.
I've begun my sojourn in El Salvador's capitol city as a kind of pilgrimage to the place where Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated for refusing to be silent about the United States-sponsored repression of Salvadoran campesinos. He has been an inspirational figure to me ever since I saw the 1989 biographical film, Romero (still available to rent in some video stores and now available on YouTube). I want to understand how an ordinary person, who sees injustice but accepts it as the status quo, is transformed into a person who refuses to be silent about these injustices even to the point of accepting martyrdom as the price to be paid for speaking the truth.
Arriving at the Novo Apart-Hotel, I was shown to a comfortable room facing a lovely garden and a swimming pool. At $55 a night, the place was beyond what I’ve budgeted for accommodations during my trip; but with a hot water shower, wifi in the room and a buffet breakfast, it was a nice way to transition into El Salvador. There was a small group of English-speaking people (some of them probably well-intentioned) who are engaged in the missionary business in El Salvador. I appreciated the information they were able to give me about what they knew of the country, its people and their customs; but their El Salvador is not the one I’m looking for.
After a couple of days I moved on to Hostal La Portada. It is here that I am meeting people who are providing me with my initiation into San Salvador.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Haiti's Real Problem
I arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador on Thursday, January 21. But before I write about the beginning of my experience here, there is another topic I want to discuss: the disaster in Haiti.
Across the length and breadth of the mainstream media (which is unfortunately the primary source of “news” for most people), the story of the tragedy is couched in terms of the failure of the Haitian people to govern themselves, with the implication that, for whatever reason, they lack the capacity to do so. Scene after scene is presented showing Haitians failing to take advantage of (or even destroying) their own natural resources or the material aid and technical assistance that is so “generously” provided to them by more (economically) successful nations. Oh yes, we are asked to “pity the poor Haitians,” but we are never told the reasons why their situation was so dire even before the earthquake. And seldom do people ask what is, and has been, going on in the larger scene.
But when we pull the focus to reveal the background forces that have been moving the plot forward, a new picture is revealed: that of systemic racist exploitation. It is a picture that many do not wish to see, perhaps because it reflects their own culpability in the ongoing punishment of a courageous people whose ancestors were the first to successfully rebel against their enslavement and form their own nation. This act of rebellion has never been forgiven by those whose false sense of superiority has been used by colonizers through the ages to justify the exploitation of people seen by them as “different” (and thus inferior to themselves); and, in the case of Haiti, it has been used to render invisible the deliberate undermining of the Haitians’ efforts to create the nation they desire.
The power gained by the early colonizers through the forced extraction of wealth from its rightful owners has been so immense that their descendants (and their minions) have been able to rise to the god-like position of controlling much of the world’s perception of reality itself. This is the primary function of the mainstream media. It is called “propaganda.” It has been used with great success to obscure the unrelenting war against the courageous black people who dared to overthrow their oppressors. It was an example that could not be allowed to stand as an inspiration to others.
At this point, my words are directed only to those who, like me, see themselves, in the words of the reggae group, Third World, as “only someone in an ocean of someones” (from "World of Uncertainty") and who sincerely wish for others those good things we wish for ourselves. For you, perhaps my words are unnecessary (even though we all hunger to see our deepest thoughts expressed by others). Even so, I offer some alternative sources of information about Haiti that may provide you with useful facts to counter the misinformation and disinformation being disseminated about the situation there.
Democracy Now!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million. Democracy Now! has been providing excellent coverage of the crisis. Despite the mainstream media’s portrayal of the 11,000 U.S. soldiers in Haiti as “keeping order,” in fact they diverted planes carrying critically needed supplies to the Dominican Republic. The United Nations (which has been proudly heaping shame on itself since 1994, when it failed to stop the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and again in 1995, when, by its own admission, it "appeased and unwittingly abetted the Bosnian Serb military" in the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims) refused to enter Léogâne, near the epicentre of the quake, saying that "unless they could ensure security, they would not be providing aid there." And yet, DN! hosts, Amy Goodman and Sharif Abdel Kouddous, with a small crew, unarmed and unafraid, walked the streets of Léogâne and spoke with residents who were asking for water, food and shelter (90% of Léogâne's buildings having been destroyed in the quake). This leaves any human being appalled and wondering: could the chicken-shit U.N. not have delivered water, food and tents from the safety of a helicopter?
Consortium News
An excellent article, "Haiti and America's Historic Debt," provides background for understanding the deliberate hindrance of Haiti's self-determination efforts by the United States and the weak response of the U.S. to the current crisis. This is a must-read.
Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine, offers a concise warning that Haiti is about to be the next recipient of "economic shock therapy" in her blog entry, "Haiti Disaster Capitalism Alert: Stop Them Before They Shock Again." If you are unfamiliar with the "Shock Doctrine," please see this short video.
There is a lot of good journalism out there, but you have to look for it. It's time to get off the fence (if that's where you've been sitting). It may not be too late, but we're getting close. With the likes of Pat Robertson spewing racial hatred in support of the global white-supremacist takeover of the world, and its genocidal plan to reduce the non-white population to just the numbers necessary to operate the sweatshops that produce the "goods" (and I ask, for whom are these sweatshop-produced commodities good?) that we consume. Sweatshops are a large part of the wealthy nations' plan for "economic development" in post-quake Haiti.
Here's some news: There's no such thing as "race." We are all human beings, and we'd better start coming together to overthrow our slavemasters. Yes, we have all been made slaves to consumerism. A better future is still possible, and it's up to all of us to create it. Let us make future history one where the Haitian people will be honoured for having been exemplars of the desire for freedom that is fundamental to the human spirit.
Come on, people, let's evolve!
Across the length and breadth of the mainstream media (which is unfortunately the primary source of “news” for most people), the story of the tragedy is couched in terms of the failure of the Haitian people to govern themselves, with the implication that, for whatever reason, they lack the capacity to do so. Scene after scene is presented showing Haitians failing to take advantage of (or even destroying) their own natural resources or the material aid and technical assistance that is so “generously” provided to them by more (economically) successful nations. Oh yes, we are asked to “pity the poor Haitians,” but we are never told the reasons why their situation was so dire even before the earthquake. And seldom do people ask what is, and has been, going on in the larger scene.
But when we pull the focus to reveal the background forces that have been moving the plot forward, a new picture is revealed: that of systemic racist exploitation. It is a picture that many do not wish to see, perhaps because it reflects their own culpability in the ongoing punishment of a courageous people whose ancestors were the first to successfully rebel against their enslavement and form their own nation. This act of rebellion has never been forgiven by those whose false sense of superiority has been used by colonizers through the ages to justify the exploitation of people seen by them as “different” (and thus inferior to themselves); and, in the case of Haiti, it has been used to render invisible the deliberate undermining of the Haitians’ efforts to create the nation they desire.
The power gained by the early colonizers through the forced extraction of wealth from its rightful owners has been so immense that their descendants (and their minions) have been able to rise to the god-like position of controlling much of the world’s perception of reality itself. This is the primary function of the mainstream media. It is called “propaganda.” It has been used with great success to obscure the unrelenting war against the courageous black people who dared to overthrow their oppressors. It was an example that could not be allowed to stand as an inspiration to others.
At this point, my words are directed only to those who, like me, see themselves, in the words of the reggae group, Third World, as “only someone in an ocean of someones” (from "World of Uncertainty") and who sincerely wish for others those good things we wish for ourselves. For you, perhaps my words are unnecessary (even though we all hunger to see our deepest thoughts expressed by others). Even so, I offer some alternative sources of information about Haiti that may provide you with useful facts to counter the misinformation and disinformation being disseminated about the situation there.
Democracy Now!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million. Democracy Now! has been providing excellent coverage of the crisis. Despite the mainstream media’s portrayal of the 11,000 U.S. soldiers in Haiti as “keeping order,” in fact they diverted planes carrying critically needed supplies to the Dominican Republic. The United Nations (which has been proudly heaping shame on itself since 1994, when it failed to stop the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and again in 1995, when, by its own admission, it "appeased and unwittingly abetted the Bosnian Serb military" in the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims) refused to enter Léogâne, near the epicentre of the quake, saying that "unless they could ensure security, they would not be providing aid there." And yet, DN! hosts, Amy Goodman and Sharif Abdel Kouddous, with a small crew, unarmed and unafraid, walked the streets of Léogâne and spoke with residents who were asking for water, food and shelter (90% of Léogâne's buildings having been destroyed in the quake). This leaves any human being appalled and wondering: could the chicken-shit U.N. not have delivered water, food and tents from the safety of a helicopter?
Consortium News
An excellent article, "Haiti and America's Historic Debt," provides background for understanding the deliberate hindrance of Haiti's self-determination efforts by the United States and the weak response of the U.S. to the current crisis. This is a must-read.
Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine, offers a concise warning that Haiti is about to be the next recipient of "economic shock therapy" in her blog entry, "Haiti Disaster Capitalism Alert: Stop Them Before They Shock Again." If you are unfamiliar with the "Shock Doctrine," please see this short video.
There is a lot of good journalism out there, but you have to look for it. It's time to get off the fence (if that's where you've been sitting). It may not be too late, but we're getting close. With the likes of Pat Robertson spewing racial hatred in support of the global white-supremacist takeover of the world, and its genocidal plan to reduce the non-white population to just the numbers necessary to operate the sweatshops that produce the "goods" (and I ask, for whom are these sweatshop-produced commodities good?) that we consume. Sweatshops are a large part of the wealthy nations' plan for "economic development" in post-quake Haiti.
Here's some news: There's no such thing as "race." We are all human beings, and we'd better start coming together to overthrow our slavemasters. Yes, we have all been made slaves to consumerism. A better future is still possible, and it's up to all of us to create it. Let us make future history one where the Haitian people will be honoured for having been exemplars of the desire for freedom that is fundamental to the human spirit.
Come on, people, let's evolve!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Brighter Days Ahead
In these dark days of winter, the need has arisen in me again to travel beyond the boundaries of country and culture to gain a fresh perspective. I’ll be leaving soon for a five-month sojourn in Central and South America. Without wishing to offend anyone in my community, I simply have to get back to the real world, where people are taking seriously the threats facing their communities and are coming together in solidarity to confront them. The New Year’s Eve blue moon seemed auspicious as I moved the last of the contents of my apartment into storage, knowing that if I never returned, I wouldn‘t miss a single item.
But, of course, I expect and hope to return. This community has felt like “home“ to me for almost nine years. I’ve met some kind, generous, open-minded, interesting, spiritually aware people here. I’ve met others who are nasty gossips, chronic complainers and greedy scammers. In some ways, it's a community of opposites. Even so, tolerance is considered to be one of the characteristics of this community, along with a fair degree of love and appreciation of our environment and our lively arts and music communities. There is abundant clean water here. There are mountains and forests, eagles, ravens, crows, seagulls, deer, bears and coyotes, as well as llamas and even peacocks. There are palm trees, and banana trees that grow tiny bananas. On the whole it‘s been a pretty tolerable place to live. On pleasant days, it’s not uncommon to hear people greet each other on the street with, “Just another day in paradise.“
But it’s not paradise for everyone. The natural beauty of the environment aside, for many it’s not even close to paradise. There are residents of this community caught in various “Catch-22” situations -- with their housing, with the medical system, with welfare (“income assistance“ in this province) and with social services -- largely the result of measures instituted by our provincial government. A significant portion of our population is poorly housed, inadequately nourished, under the surveillance of barely functioning government bureaucracies, living with chronic illness and pain, and unable to enjoy the quality of life that many take for granted. Health care is administered by doctors who, in large measure, are more interested in prescribing pharmaceuticals than in advocating for healthier conditions for their patients. The small, beleaguered groups of dedicated individuals who advocate for those being dragged to the bottom of our little society are overwhelmed by the work of navigating complex bureaucracies on behalf of their client-neighbours. Depression is endemic. It’s impossible not to notice the heavily medicated people who walk like zombies among us (not to mention those who self-medicate with crack cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, as well as morphine and other prescription medications easily available on the street). In general, however, most people prefer to ignore our social malaise in the name of “tolerance.” But there is trouble in our tolerant little paradise.
My community seems to lack a sense of connection to the wider world. If North Americans live in a bubble of materialism, we live in a bubble within a bubble. And within this bubble, I am a fish out of water. The common people living in the countries I’ll be visiting have been struggling for many decades to preserve their lands, their water and their cultures from imperialism and corporate exploitation. Until now, it has been pretty much a losing battle. They have been trying to alert us to the dangers they face, and now they are cautioning us that these same dangers are soon to arrive at our doorstep. At this moment, a mining company, taking advantage of the liberalized mining regulations that backed our Premier’s declaration that our province is "open for business," holds a claim to the minerals beneath 19,320 hectares of land in one of our local communities. Although individuals and small groups have spoken out against the proposed mining operations, they have failed to ignite the interest of the general community.
Although the words of environmental activists from so-called third world countries seem to have fallen upon deaf ears until now, recent actions taken by a some of their governments, as well as the worsening social and environmental conditions throughout the so-called first world, offer a ray of hope. Our communities stand at the brink of a new awareness of reality. Perhaps (and I sincerely hope so), we will find a true sense of community in our common struggle to preserve our land and water unpolluted.
But, of course, I expect and hope to return. This community has felt like “home“ to me for almost nine years. I’ve met some kind, generous, open-minded, interesting, spiritually aware people here. I’ve met others who are nasty gossips, chronic complainers and greedy scammers. In some ways, it's a community of opposites. Even so, tolerance is considered to be one of the characteristics of this community, along with a fair degree of love and appreciation of our environment and our lively arts and music communities. There is abundant clean water here. There are mountains and forests, eagles, ravens, crows, seagulls, deer, bears and coyotes, as well as llamas and even peacocks. There are palm trees, and banana trees that grow tiny bananas. On the whole it‘s been a pretty tolerable place to live. On pleasant days, it’s not uncommon to hear people greet each other on the street with, “Just another day in paradise.“
But it’s not paradise for everyone. The natural beauty of the environment aside, for many it’s not even close to paradise. There are residents of this community caught in various “Catch-22” situations -- with their housing, with the medical system, with welfare (“income assistance“ in this province) and with social services -- largely the result of measures instituted by our provincial government. A significant portion of our population is poorly housed, inadequately nourished, under the surveillance of barely functioning government bureaucracies, living with chronic illness and pain, and unable to enjoy the quality of life that many take for granted. Health care is administered by doctors who, in large measure, are more interested in prescribing pharmaceuticals than in advocating for healthier conditions for their patients. The small, beleaguered groups of dedicated individuals who advocate for those being dragged to the bottom of our little society are overwhelmed by the work of navigating complex bureaucracies on behalf of their client-neighbours. Depression is endemic. It’s impossible not to notice the heavily medicated people who walk like zombies among us (not to mention those who self-medicate with crack cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, as well as morphine and other prescription medications easily available on the street). In general, however, most people prefer to ignore our social malaise in the name of “tolerance.” But there is trouble in our tolerant little paradise.
My community seems to lack a sense of connection to the wider world. If North Americans live in a bubble of materialism, we live in a bubble within a bubble. And within this bubble, I am a fish out of water. The common people living in the countries I’ll be visiting have been struggling for many decades to preserve their lands, their water and their cultures from imperialism and corporate exploitation. Until now, it has been pretty much a losing battle. They have been trying to alert us to the dangers they face, and now they are cautioning us that these same dangers are soon to arrive at our doorstep. At this moment, a mining company, taking advantage of the liberalized mining regulations that backed our Premier’s declaration that our province is "open for business," holds a claim to the minerals beneath 19,320 hectares of land in one of our local communities. Although individuals and small groups have spoken out against the proposed mining operations, they have failed to ignite the interest of the general community.
Although the words of environmental activists from so-called third world countries seem to have fallen upon deaf ears until now, recent actions taken by a some of their governments, as well as the worsening social and environmental conditions throughout the so-called first world, offer a ray of hope. Our communities stand at the brink of a new awareness of reality. Perhaps (and I sincerely hope so), we will find a true sense of community in our common struggle to preserve our land and water unpolluted.
I love to travel, but I don't feel like a tourist. My travels are always for the purpose of experiencing and expressing solidarity with other daughters and sons of Mother Earth. In April, I will be in Cochabamba, Bolivia, to attend the Alternative Climate Conference. I hope that my recorded observations will stir a heightened consciousness of the truly desperate condition of our world -- as well as a conscience concerning the role that our (often willful) ignorance is playing in the hardships of the most exploited countries and the hardships soon to befall us. The times they are a-changin’, and the change is not starting in the over-developed countries, where “reality TV” trumps reality. Rather, it’s starting in some of the most economically exploited countries, where true wealth is manifested in the spirit and solidarity of their communities.
I hope to be able to bring some of that spirit and sense of solidarity home with me when I return in a few months.
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