OVOLA 4

1.       What do you make of decree 2,795? Explain what rational Ubico must have had to implement such a decree?

It is all for power. If the landowners have more power and the government and army support the landowners, then the president can then own the workers financial situation and livelihoods.

2.       Who was Jose Artigas and what did he do.

Jose Artigas was the leader of the first Agrarian Reform in Uruguay.

3.       Galeano ends ch. 2 discussing the backwardness of how many things have operated in Latin America. Give two examples of this backwardness and explain their importance for Latin American society.

One example was the fact that Latin America must import so much food that they could have grown there, which is not sustainable. Another example was when the government in Brazil gave land away then took it back when they discovered coffee was a cash crop.  

Open Veins of Latin America (Cuatro)

1.) What do you make of decree 2,795? Explain what rationale Ubico must have had to implement such a decree.

Decree 2975 was another way for Ubico to gain more control. As Galeano describes Ubico, "Ubico thought he was Napoleon." It was injustice. It allowed landowners to punish workers any way they wanted. Even killing them! It is wrong because first of all, the poor are forced to work on a land because there is no where else to go. They're given nothing. Since many of the poor were forced to work on land like fincas, the decreee made fincas more frightening to live on because it was legal for landowners to kill any innocent worker on the land.  
2.) Who was Jose Artigas and what did he do?

Jose Artigas was the leader of the Agrarian Reform in Uraguay who helped form the first Agrarian Reform in 1952. In Uraguay, the first Agrarian Reform was also known as the Eastern Province. It destributed land to the poor and provided them what was needed to make a living out of.  

3.) Galeano ends chapter 2 discussing the backwardness of how many things have operated in Latin America. Give two examples of this backwardness and explain their importance for the Latin American society.

Galeano mentions how land was freely distributed to anyone in Brazil who occupies the land and produced it. But when coffee became the "King Crop", the government took back the land to cultivate coffee. He also mentions that Latin America spends over $500 million on importing food where they could easily produce themselves. It just shows that their government isn't wise with what they do.

Open Veins of Latin America Chapter Three

1.) "Che Guevara said that underdevelopment was a dwarf with an enormous head and bloated stomach: its spindly legs and stubby arms do not fit with the rest of the body." (page 78). Galeano speaks about underdevelopment of Brazil due to the rubber trade in pages 87-91, the underdevelopment of Venezuela due to the caco trade in pages 91-94, the underdevelopment of El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, and Columbia due to the coffee trade in pages 97-99. Pick one of those sections and write an analogy like Che did that will describe how that industry affected the population. For example the coffee trade in Guatemala was like... Support your analogy with three examples from the text.

Brazil was way too dependent on Coffee. Nearly half of their income came from it. Meaning, if the prices rose, the country will do better off during that time. But if the prices were to drop, they would lose mass amounts of money and have no alternative way of getting it back. The coffee plantations affected the people in Brazil very similarly to what went on in Guatemala. They were paid next to nothing ($.07 to $.15 per day) which led to a high amount of avitaminosis victims. The coffee plant also exhausts the land of its nutrients, making it hard to replant anything on the land it's been on.

2. This chapter really focuses on how a country's dependence on a single crop deforms the economy. How does producing only one crop really distort trade relationships?

Being a single crop economy makes the country have to rely on others for nearly everything. They may be making a lot of money with the crop they're supplying for everyone, but all of that can easily disappear in a matter of days if another large competitor comes in. Being a single crop country, your relationships with other countries are a lot weaker then that of a competitor that supplies them with much more then just a crop like coffee.

3. On page 104 there is an extremely provocative quote for a brutal official of the Columbian war described in the preceding pages. When confronted after the war Galeano quotes him saying that he did not feel individually guilty for the atrocities he committed since the horror of the violence was merely the horror of the system. Respond.

You can't place the blame on a situation like this. Galeano was placed into the environment and he was bound to break under the pressure and follow what everyone else there was doing. But you can't really pardon him because of this. He did it and that will follow him for the rest of his life no matter whose "fault" it was.

Open Veins of Latin America Cuatro

1. What do you make of decree 2,795? Explain the rationale Ubico must have had to implement such a decree. Decree 2,795 declared it leagal for land owners to beable to commit crimes against workers without any legal repercussions. Essentially this meant that a landowner could kill an innocent worker for something as simple as gathering fire wood or just out of spite, with no imminent consequence. I think this is wrong; a prime example of injustice and inequality.The rational behind the whole thing was that the landowners should have the right to do what they want on their own land and it was simply meant to keep out tresspasers and maintain order. If you look at it that way it alsmost sounds like an okay thing but if you look at the deeper meaning, it was nothing but permission to kill. It just gave them away to justify the way the cruel ways they would treat their workers and left the workers with nothing to condem the landowners because thie actions were technically legal.This decree It was just a greater part of Ubicos scheme to control everything and oppress. It makes me wonder what his other 2,794 decrees were.
2.Who was Jose Artigas and what did he do? Jose Artigas was the leader of the Agraian Revolution in Uruguay. He helped to bring about the first Agraian Reform in Latin America. It's main goal was to settle the rural poor on the land and give them the means neccesary to sustain themselves. It was set up so that the land wouldn't end up in the hands of only a few, as it was previously. I found it really interesting that he supposedly always carried a US constitution and wanted to make a government based off the same ideals that our government was founded on. In the end, the same forces of injustice and inequality he was trying so hard to defeat, crushed his efforts and the country went back to the way it was before. This seems to be a common theme in the history in Latin America. Even in Guatemala it doesn't seem like much has changed after the war and all the people who fought to try and change things. Jose Artigas seems like a very good man.

3.Galeano ends chapter 2 discussing the backwardness of how many things have operated in Latin America. Give two examples of this backwardness and explain their importance for Latin American society. On page 126 Galeano writes about how in Latin America it is only 1.5 percent of al the agricultural landlords that own half of the cultivatible land. He also states that only 5 percent of the total land area is under cultivation. The numbers might be different now because this book was written in the 70's but I still think it is ridiculous. I think this is a reality around the whole of Latin America and it is the greatest cause of all it's problems. Because so few people own the land everybody else ends up at thier mercy. The few become rich off the many. When we were in Guatemala it seemed like there was only the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor, there is almost no middle ground. This is a sad truth that describes not only Guatemala but the entirty of Latin America.

OVOLA (three)

1.)    "Che Guevara said that underdevelopment was a dwarf with an enormous head and bloated stomach: its spindly legs and stubby arms do not fit with the rest of the body." (page 78). Galeano speaks about underdevelopment of Brazil due to the rubber trade in pages 87-91, the underdevelopment of Venezuela due to the caco trade in pages 91-94, the underdevelopment of El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, and Columbia due to the coffee trade in pages 97-99. Pick one of those sections and write an analogy like Che did that will describe how that industry affected the population. For example the coffee trade in Guatemala was like... Support your analogy with three examples from the text.

The coffee trade in Brazil was like an ocean of sharks because it caused the local peoples there so many problems but did nothing to the men with ships. 1. Brazil got about half of its export income from coffee. This means that the economy was very dependent on this crop. 2. Coffee brought inflation to Brazil. 3. Many areas with rich, fertile land were used to grow coffee. The production of coffee did not help the people of Brazil or Latin America, it helped the already rich in Europe.    

2.)    This chapter really focuses on how a country's dependence on a single crop deforms the economy. How does producing only one crop really distort trade relationships?

When all of the land in one area is used to grow only one crop, then this makes that country dependent on the imports from other countries. So a country might produce and export a certain amount of product, but then they have to turn right back around and buy basic necessities to live. Also with one crop you have the gamble that the year’s production might not be good or that the rest of the world could flood the market with the same good thereby lowering the price of that good.  

3.)    On page 104 there is an extremely provocative quote for a brutal official of the Columbian war described in the preceding pages. When confronted after the war Galeano quotes him saying that he did not feel individually guilty for the atrocities he committed since the horror of the violence was merely the horror of the system. Respond.

I believe that people do a lot of terrible things for all different reasons. For this specific example I feel as if war gets the best of people. When you are constantly around fighting and killing is would be easy to get caught up in the excuse that you did this because of the war. I have never believed that violence was ever the answer, but you can get pretty warped from the experiences you have to do and witness.  Anger controls action and I am not in any means justifying his actions, however, I can say that I can understand and although it is not the best way to release hostility this type of reaction is common and unfortunately normal.

Open Veins of Latin America (tres)

1.) "Che Guevara said that underdevelopment was a dwarf with an enormous head and bloated stomach: its spindly legs and stubby arms do not fit with the rest of the body." (page 78). Galeano speaks about underdevelopment of Brazil due to the rubber trade in pages 87-91, the underdevelopment of Venezuela due to the caco trade in pages 91-94, the underdevelopment of El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, and Columbia due to the coffee trade in pages 97-99. Pick one of those sections and write an analogy like Che did that will describe how that industry affected the population. For example the coffee trade in Guatemala was like... Support your analogy with three examples from the text.

In 1910 Brazil had almost all of the world's rubber reserves. The price of rubber reached its peak and Brazil became wealthy with all the money they made, but he rubber workers were paid very little for all the difficult work they did. In 1913, Brizilian rubber took a hit. The price of rubber fell a forth of what it was worth three years previously. Six years later Brazil was supplying an eighth of the worlds rubber and after fifty year they were importing half of their rubber from abroad. The reason why Brazil took a hit on the rubber industry is because of a man named Henry Whickham. In 1873 he smuggled a leaf of a rubber tree and started selling and distributing them to buyers which then started their own industry of rubber, leaving Brazil more dependent on other countries.


2.) This chapter really focuses on how a country's dependence on a single crop deforms the economy. How does producing only one crop really distort trade relationships?

The country of Brazil is a great example of a country's dependence on a single crop. Rubber is what made Brazil their money and was the only thing the country relied on with their economy. When Brazil started to take the blow in 1913, the country started to decline because  there were other countries that were also ditributing rubber. Brazil really suffered because of that single crop. They came from being the top producers to the bottom where they ended up relying on other countries to export rubber to Brazil.


3.) On page 104 there is an extremely provocative quote for a brutal official of the Columbian war described in the preceding pages. When confronted after the war Galeano quotes him saying that he did not feel individually guilty for the atrocities he committed since the horror of the violence was merely the horror of the system. Respond.

It was just an excuse for what the Colombian official did. To me that is wrong. It's like someone deciding  to do drugs because it's okay and everyone else is doing it. Does that mean it's okay? ....I think not. Just because it's an excuse doesn't mean it is right. We all know what is right from wrong but we just choose to do things because of how ignorant we are as human beings. We all have choices in what we do and we know what is moral sense. By making excuses means you know it was wrong but the only way to convince others of your actions is to make excuses. To me it is like he knows it was wrong and is guilty deep inside but tries to make it sound okay because it was because of the war.  

Open Veins of Latin America Tres

1.)Che Guevara said that underdevelopment was a dwarf with an enormous head and a bloated stomach; it's spindly legs and stubby arms do not fit with the rest of the body' (Pg. 78). Galeano speaks about underdevelopment of Brazil due to the rubber trade in pages 87-89, the underdevelopment of Brazil due to the rubber trade n pages 87-91, the underdevelopment of Venezuela due to the Cacao trade in pages 91-94, the underdevelopment of El Salavador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, and Columbia due to the Coffee trade in pages 97-99. Pick one of those sections an write an analogy like Che did that will describe how the Industry affected the population. For example the coffee trade in Guatemala was like.... Support your analogy with three examples from the text.

The Cacao trade was like a selfish, frivolous tyrant who only takes from his people. In the beginning of this chapter the plantation owners and how they barely pay their workers any money at all, rather they keep them in debt. They devote all of their land to growing cacao and don't give any of it to the people. All of the cacao gets shipped over seas to get made into chocolate. The people don't even get to reap the fruit of their labors.

2. This chapter really focuses on how a country's dependence on a single cash crop deforms the economy. How does producing only one cash crop really distort trade relationships?
The reason that dependence on a single cash crop deforms the economy and distorts trade relations is because EVERYTHING becomes dependent on that crop. Any change in price or production throws everything out of whack. If something happens to that one crop, the country has nothing else to fall back on. For example, if for some reason the prices fall, then everything is done for. It wouldn't be as bad if they had two or three main crops, that way if the price fell for one of them, the other two could hopefully make up the difference, it wouldn't be as big a blow. The same thing is true in the situation that another country starts producing the same crop and starts to take away buyers.
I thought the story about the British man who smuggled rubber seeds out of Brazil to Europe is extremely interesting.Until this time, Brazil dominated the rubber market and rubber dominated Brazil.Once Europe got their hands on the seeds and offered Brazil competition in the trade market, Brazilian prosperity thus "vanished in a puff of smoke". What was once Brazil's greatest source of prosperity(at least some people in Brazil) became it's ruin. It was only because rubber was its sole cash crop that the crisis hit so hard, if there had been something else to fall back on it might not have been so bad.

3.) On page 104 there is an extremely provocative quote from a brutal official of the Columbian war described in the preceding page. When confronted after the war, Galeano quotes him saying that he did not feel individually guilty for the atrocities he committed since the horror of the violence was merely the horror of the system. Respond.
I feel like there is a truth to the assertion that people do things, sometimes even terrible things, simply because of the power of the influences they are under. You see this in families all the time, if the parents are alcoholics then is it more likely, though not inevitable, that the children will also fall into this habit , you can say its just part of the cycle and I agree that it is very hard to break a cycle. I suppose it is the same in war. People will do terrible things because that's just what war is, and then justify that it isn't really their fault because it is just part of war. But does this make those acts ok? Does this make the person responsible less guilty for what they did? I feel like answering these kind of prompts can get really complicated because I always find so many layers and find it impossible to peel away to the bottom of them. I think it is one thing to say that war is the product of terrible things but it is another thing to say that you are not guilty if you committed crimes during war. Just last night I was reading about the Nuremburg trials and I was very interested by the fact that the twenty Nazi leaders on trial all pleaded Not Guilty. This is maddening. When I read the statement that this prompt refers to I immediately thought of the Nuremberg trials. I don't see how anyone can kill out of cold blood then plead themselves not guilty. You committed the crime, so therefore that makes you guilty.I don't think it is enough to say that killing is just a part of war because it wouldn't be a part of war if people just stopped doing it. But maybe that is too much to ask.