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Update on the investigation into the murder of Pedro Zamora
Jul 23rd
This article appeared in The Guardian (23-07-07) about the case of the murder of Guatemalan trade unionist Pedro Zamora.
Delegation to seek justice for Guatemalan trade unionist
Pedro Zamora had just collected two of his children from a clinic in the docklands area of Puerto Quetzal, southern Guatemala, and was driving home when the gunmen opened fire, spraying more than 100 bullets into his pick-up truck. As he crashed into a wall, he threw himself over the children to try to protect them. While he lay bleeding, one of the five gunmen walked up to him and fired a final bullet into his head at point blank range. His three-year-old son, Angel, was wounded.
The killing of Zamora, 36, the general secretary of the Guatemalan dockers' union, STEPQ, on January 15 this year, was the latest act of intimidation faced by trade unionists in that country. The four remaining members of the union's executive have all since received death threats.
Today a delegation of trade unionists and human rights activists from Europe, the US and Latin America is due in Guatemala to urge the government to bring Zamora's killers to justice. Zamora and his union had been in dispute last year with the state-owned port authorities over plans to privatise the port.
His death has highlighted the dangers faced by union activists in Latin America who try to preserve their rights in the face of increasing deregulation and privatisation.
The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) which represents around five million transport workers in 148 countries, says Zamora's death should be properly investigated. ITF general secretary, David Cockroft said: “This was an execution-style killing and the perpetrators and the person who ordered it are still free to go about their murderous business. We don't think that's good enough.”
Sam Dawson of ITF, which has its headquarters in London, said that Guatemala and Colombia were the two most dangerous countries in Latin America for trade unionists. The delegation will visit Zamora's family and meet senior government ministers and human rights groups.
Amnesty International is also calling for action to ensure the safety of Zamora's colleagues, saying that their lives “are in serious and imminent danger”. A spokesperson said they believed there was a “lack of political will [in Guatemala] to deal with the longstanding issues of impunity, a weak judicial system, clandestine groups and hostility to human rights”.
A spokesman for the Guatemalan embassy in London said an investigation into the murder was under way and they were hopeful the killers would be brought to justice. He said that one of the problems was that there were so many other cases to be investigated.
Adoption in the UK: 'Mixed blessings'
Jul 22nd
Just catching up on articles on Guatemala in the UK press. This article was published at the beginning of the month (02-07-07) in The Guardian. It is a really interesting and moving look at the experience of adoption in the UK of a child of Guatemalan origin – “When Kate Hadley adopted her Guatemalan daughter, they both enjoyed becoming part of a new, mixed-race family – but there were unexpected hazards“:
“When my nine-month-old baby daughter came from Central America to live with us in south London, I, like many new mothers, was keen to introduce her to the world. So I took her to meet the local shopkeepers: 7 Star Cleaners, where the Turkish Cypriot proprietors live, eat and alter clothes around a big family table, behind a forest of Cellophane-wrapped hangers, within waving distance of the counter. One of the women beckoned us through, and at her summons husbands, uncles, nephews and aunts swiftly materialised.
They all complimented Rosie on her rose-tinted honey-brown skin – different in tone from their own olivey skin – and gorgeous black hair. I had known this woman for years, was acquainted with her husband before he died of a heart attack, and in spite of her less than fluent English we have a bond: she too knew my husband, two boys and five-year-old daughter Angelica, who had died of meningitis four years earlier. On the day of Angelica's funeral, her family had brought yellow roses to the porch of the church.” [More]
Princess Anne in Guatemala visits Casa Alianza
Jul 7th
Photo: El Periodico
Princess Anne has been in Guatemala for the meeting of the International Olympics Committee. She went visiting various projects in Guatemala including Casa Alianza according to El Periodico:
“La Princesa recorrió los talleres de panadería, corte y confección, bordados y el área de capacitación en máquinas industriales del proyecto ubicado en una colonia popular en Mixco y que alberga a 50 niñas y adolescentes de entre los 12 y los 22 años, algunas de las cuales son madres. Ellas han sido referidas en su mayoría por juzgados de Menores que las consideran en situación de riesgo o de maltrato.”
I love the comments on El Periodico's website:
“Despues de que los ingleses le dieron la independencia a Belice, ninguna personalidad de ese pais deberia ser biemvenida en nuestro pais.”
“Es una verguenza que un personaje de esta naturaleza pidan hacerle reverencias, eso solo cuando pasa una procesión, si viene a Guate que se atenga a nuestras costumbres, que los pendejos ingleses que mantienen a esta familia de gorrones se le hinquen, besen los pies, etc etc, pero en inglaterra, aca nones. (espero que no censuren)”.
Considering the UK's torrid historical involvement in the establishment of Belize, the Royal Family and the British imperial past that it inevitably represents kind of means there's quite a way to go in the battle for Guatemalan hearts and minds.
Background
Organisation of American States Belize-Guatemala
Look for the date 1859…
Official Guatemalan version of history of Belize
Guatemalan version of 1859:
“El general Rafael Carrera, al ascender al poder, buscó encontrar una solución definitiva al diferendo territorial, ya que las presiones políticas que enfrentaba, lo obligaban a dedicar toda su atención a resolver los problemas internos, mientras que Inglaterra presionaba para obtener el control del territorio en disputa. Esto llevó a la negociación y de ella surgió la Convención de Límites, firmada en 1,859 entre Guatemala e Inglaterra.
Las presiones fueron tales, que el presidente Carrera ratificó el tratado el 1 de mayo de ese año, al día siguiente de que se redactara el documento entre los enviados de ambos gobiernos. La cláusula séptima del Tratado determinaba una compensación a cambio de la cesión territorial: la construcción de una carretera, lo que nunca se cumplió.”
Official Belizean version of history of Belize
Belizean account of 1859:
“In 1859, a treaty between Britain and Guatemala defined the boundaries between Guatemala and the Belize settlement: “beginning at the mouth of the River Sarstoon in the Bay of Honduras, and proceeding up the mid-channel thereof to Gracias a Dios Falls, then turning to the right and continuing by a line drawn direct from Gracias a Dios Falls to Garbutt's Falls on the River Belize, and from Garbutt's Falls due north until it strikes the Mexican frontier. ” By Article 7 of the Treaty, both parties undertook to jointly use their best efforts to establish communication by cart road and rivers from Guatemala City to a point on the coast near to the Belize settlement, as a means of improving trade and relations between them.”
Official UK version of history of Belize
UK government's summing up:
“1859 – Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty concluded and ratified. Guatemala agrees to existing boundary with British Honduras as Belize was then called.”
Amnesty International step up lobbying on CICIG in Guatemala
Jul 2nd
Amnesty International have just released the following press release about the CICIG which was CICIACS in a previous encarnation;
Guatemala: Congress must ratify UN-backed commission against impunity
The Guatemalan Congress must urgently ratify the new International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) if the country is to tackle clandestine criminal groups, said Amnesty International today.
Once approved by Congress, the UN-sponsored CICIG will act in support of the Public Prosecutor's Office, suggesting methods of investigation and presenting evidence. The Public Prosecutor's Office will have ultimate responsibility for deciding whether or not to pursue an investigation.
“The existence and operations of clandestine groups severely undermines respect for the rule of law and human rights” said Sebastian Elgueta, Amnesty International's researcher for Guatemala. “The CICIG could become a valuable contributor in the fight against clandestine criminal groups and the impunity they enjoy.”
The CICIG is an extremely important step in the fight against impunity and clandestine groups operating in Guatemala. There is grave concern that if the ratification of CICIG is not made a priority by all political parties, it will fail to advance.
“It is now over three years since initial proposals were discussed to establish an international commission to investigate clandestine criminal groups. The longer discussions and agreements are delayed, the more entrenched criminal networks become in state institutions and the more difficult it becomes to purge the system.”
Amnesty International welcomes the international support that the CICIG initiative has received. The organization calls on the Congress of Guatemala to maintain the engagement of the international community and to show a real commitment to the protection of human rights by approving the CICIG without delay.
Guatemalan Constitutional Court Approves CICIG
May 11th
Organizaciones internacionales felicitamos resolución favorable de la Corte de Constitucionalidad de Guatemala e instamos a la pronta ratificación de iniciativa para combatir la impunidad.
Organizaciones no gubernamentales de Estados Unidos, Europa y Canadá acogemos con esperanza la opinión consultiva favorable a la iniciativa para el establecimiento de la Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG) pronunciado el día de ayer por la Corte de Constitucionalidad de Guatemala.
“La decisión de ayer abre una valiosa oportunidad para que el país, con el respaldo de la comunidad internacional, retome el camino hacia la democracia, la vigencia del Estado de Derecho, y la protección de los derechos humanos”, dijeron las organizaciones firmantes.
Tanto dentro, como fuera de Guatemala, la existencia y el impacto de los cuerpos ilegales y aparatos clandestinos de seguridad son hechos evidentes. En los últimos años, estos grupos han extendido su presencia atacando e intimidando a operadores de justicia, líderes políticos, y defensores de derechos humanos, entre otros. Las actividades de estos grupos han logrado socavar el sistema judicial y perpetuar un clima de inseguridad, generando terreno fértil para la mayor generalización de la corrupción, la violencia y el crimen organizado.
El principal reto para la democracia en Guatemala continúa siendo la consolidación del Estado de Derecho, el cual no podrá fortalecerse mientras persistan deficiencias en el Sistema de Administración de Justicia y se permita a los cuerpos ilegales y aparatos clandestinos de seguridad actuar impunemente.
La CICIG ofrece un mecanismo concreto, puntual e inmediato para fortalecer las instituciones estatales y asistir al Gobierno de Guatemala en su toma de control de un fenómeno que ha impactado a todos los sectores de la sociedad. Romper con la cultura de impunidad y prevenir ataques contra defensores de los derechos humanos y representantes de la sociedad civil son tareas que ya no pueden esperar más.
El futuro de la CICIG queda ahora en manos del Congreso de la República, que puede dar un importante e histórico paso, al aprobar el acuerdo. “La situación actual ha puesto en evidencia que el rescate de la institucionalidad, el efectivo combate de la impunidad, y la consolidación del Estado de Derecho son tareas urgentes e indispensables para la construcción de la democracia en Guatemala y para el efectivo respeto del derecho a la vida”, expresaron las organizaciones.
Esperamos que el Congreso actúe prontamente en pos de los más urgentes intereses nacionales, y decida a favor de la oportunidad que brinda la CICIG para afrontar con firmeza el legado de violencia e impunidad de los cuerpos ilegales y aparatos clandestinos de seguridad.
Organizaciones firmantes:
Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos (WOLA)
Plataforma Holandesa
Diakonia – Suecia
Human Rights First
Iniciativa de Copenhague para Centroamérica y México (CIFCA)
Earth Rights International
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)
Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC)
Foro de ONG Internacionales (FONGI – coalición de 32 organizaciones de Estados Unidos, Europa y Canadá)
Franciscan Mission Service
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
Our Savior's Lutheran Church
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
Casa Alianza rescues three teenagers from commercial sexual exploitation in Guatemala City
May 4th
Human trafficking continues to be an issue in Guatemala, the most frequent manifestation of which being the enticing of young girls into enforced prostitution…
On Friday, 20th of April 2007 Casa Alianza Guatemala in coordination with the National Police, Migration and Public Prosecution Offices raided a brothel disguised as a massage parlour suspected of housing minors for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation in Guatemala City. Two 17-year-old girls were rescued from the premises as a result of this joint raid operation and both were immediately referred to a judge who entrusted them to Casa Alianza for shelter and protection.
The parlour was licensed to operate as a bar and to offer massages but it was evident from the outset that it functioned as a full-scale brothel. The two-storey premises housed roughly thirty girls at any one time and boasted three bedrooms on the upper floor were paid sexual activity apparently took place. The property lacked basic sanitation, there was no running water and bed sheets were stained with blood.
Those in charge were taken by surprise and several arrests were carried out, including a few individuals who were performing what they claimed to be “traditional Mayan rituals” on the roof of the building and who tried to flee the scene by jumping to adjacent houses.
Twenty-five girls were found on site during this raid, including three foreign nationals, namely a Nicaraguan, Mexican and a Honduran girl, who faced immediate deportation, as they were not in possession of valid Guatemalan work permits. The case of the Mexican girl was particularly shocking as she was married to a Guatemalan national and had a nine months-old daughter with this man who married her only in order to obtain Mexican citizenship, according to the girl.
She stated she had been trafficked from Mexico at the age of fifteen at which stage she started working at a brothel in Guatemala City were she met her now husband, the son of the brothel’s owner. Despite being the real victim here, she was deported back to Mexico and guardianship of the baby was granted to her husband, who by all means knew about his wife’s prostitution and benefited from her earnings making it a typical case of pandering.
The Migration and Prosecution Officers failed to properly execute their duties in this raid – by not ensuring that each girl had a legitimate id card proving that they were adults. Several girls appeared to be minors and in possession of fake identity cards but the agents, instead of extending the presumption of being underage privileges to these particularly young-looking girls and ensuring the validity of the documents presented, decided to take the girl’s id documents at face value in a clear violation of Guatemalan youth protection laws.
In Guatemala, adult prostitution is not illegal therefore just moments after the agents left the premises, the music was put back on and business resumed as usual.
On Tuesday 24th of April 2007, In another joint raid operation, a seventeen years-old Guatemalan girl was rescued from a different brothel belonging to the same human trafficking network. She came from a small village and was lured into the Capital city and forced into prostitution in order to pay for debts she supposedly contracted vis-à-vis her traffickers.
Casa Alianza together with other leading Guatemalan NGO’s is constantly lobbying legislators for important changes to the Penal Code. Under the current Penal Code, those guilty of pimping and pandering offences get away with their crimes by simply paying an insignificant fine, which is low even for Guatemalan standards.
In the three years the Guatemalan Congress has failed to pass any legislation that benefit and protect Guatemalan youth. One example of which is the Adoption Act, which has not yet been approved, despite more than 10 years of continued civil society denouncing irregular adoptions presenting characteristics of human trafficking.
Casa Alianza is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of children’s rights in the region.
For more information on the work of Casa Alianza please visit www.casa-alianza.org.uk
Oswaldo Salazar's "From The Darkness" Launched in London
Mar 23rd
We just received the following press release about the new English translation of Oswaldo Salazar's book “Por el lado Oscuro”. Salazar was recently in London to take part in launches of the book that included an event in Canning House and then the Instituto Cervantes. Having read the book – it is certainly a compelling read. And pre-revolutionary Guatemala is certainly an interesting time to look at.
Guatemala has a new master of narrative in the form of Oswaldo Salazar, whose compelling first novel From the Darkness is one of the few works of Central American literature to explore the region's criminal history.
In From the Darkness – the English translation of the prize-winning Por el lado oscuro – Salazar explores the bitterly unhappy circumstances that can make a woman kill, and the unforgiving quality of male justice.
From the Darkness is a captivating story of a murder and the ensuing investigation that became known as “The Gourd Poisoning” in a traditional society unprepared for a crime that lay outside its powers of reasoning. It begins in the spring of 1939 when a man dies in agony at the San Juan de Dios de Amatitlán Hospital outside Guatemala City. His wife and children are accused of poisoning him, shattering the calm of a land kept in fearful order by the cold and tempestuous dictator General Jorge Ubico (1931-44).
Salazar's work touches a raw Latin nerve, giving the reader a unique insight into lost Central American worlds: that of the Guatemalan peasant woman – ignored, abused and constantly judged by her unforgiving male superiors; that of the small, rural Latin American town, where a handful of strongmen oversee all life; and that of the era of military caudillos, dictators whose quest for order and progress shapes all official culture.
The winner of the prestigious 2003 Mario Monteforte Toledo Prize, Por el lado oscuro was translated by Gavin O'Toole and will be published by Aflame Books in March 2007.
The Mexican writer Carlos Montemayor said of this book: “Por el lado oscuro has a magnificent narrative quality, exposition and style as well as a forceful central character, delivering the unexpected features of a species of crime novel within a work of historical reconstruction.”
Oswaldo Salazar was born in Guatemala City in 1959 and has had a distinguished academic career. He took his first degree in philosophy and literature at Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala then studied as a Fulbright Scholar at Boston College in the United States. He currently teaches at Guatemala's Francisco Marroquín University.
Aflame Books is a small, independent UK publisher committed to publishing in English translation works from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
Articles on Gang Culture and Violence in Guatemala
Mar 22nd
World Politics Watch have just published a two-part series on Gang Culture and Violence in Guatemala: Part One and Part Two. It makes for pretty chilling reading.
The series was written by Billy Briggs, the 2005 recipient of Amnesty International's Nations and Regions Award for his reporting on human rights issues. His report is accompanied by photos by Angela Catlin.
Billy says on website about Guatemala:
“I recently visited Guatemala with photographer Angela Catlin to document the escalating violence and human rights abuses in one of the most violent nations in the world. There are more killings per day than there were during the dark days of a civil war that ended in 1996. The killing of women, the execution of selected individuals by elements within the police and military, gang and crime-related killings, 'social cleansing' by vigilante groups, and other acts of random violence have created a widespread sense of insecurity. Guatemala is a nation living in fear.”
You can see his other articles on Guatemala on his website where he's written for The Sunday Herald, The Guardian and The Big Issue.
Will Bush Eat Humble Pie Or American Pie In Guatemala?
Mar 11th
To begin this post here's George Bush getting some practice in at being contrite- this could have served him well before his Latin American trip. The Mayan cleansing to be carried out in Iximche has ran and ran, as have the crosses held aloft by students in Guatemala City. Bush as sinner or 'el Diablo', has captured the public's imagination.
On the day that George Bush will touch down in Guatemala- the agenda for that one hour meeting and dinner with Oscar Berger is doubtless rather full- though no surprises if it turns out to be empty on contrition. Foreign Minister, Gert Rosenthal, hinted they might be discussing ethanol production- but if this interview in Siglo XXI is anything to go by- sounds like policy on the fly:
¿Cuáles son las expectativas del Gobierno?
Es tener una buena visita bilateral y pasar revista a todos los temas. Ellos traen una iniciativa que nos interesa, que es diversificar el mercado energético para elevar la participación de los biocombustibles, llámese etanol. El país tiene posibilidad de ser un importante proveedor, con base en la caña de azúcar. Es una iniciativa conjunta entre Estados Unidos y Brasil.
Es tener una buena visita bilateral y pasar revista a todos los temas. Ellos traen una iniciativa que nos interesa, que es diversificar el mercado energético para elevar la participación de los biocombustibles, llámese etanol. El país tiene posibilidad de ser un importante proveedor, con base en la caña de azúcar. Es una iniciativa conjunta entre Estados Unidos y Brasil.
¿Ellos qué ofrecen?
Brasil tiene tecnología, y Estados Unidos está dispuesto a comprarnos etanol.
¿Cuánta capacidad de producción tendría Guatemala?
No tengo idea.
Here's a better idea from the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (Nisgua) just in case both are prepared to bear their soul a little: they could make a joint declaration to advance the legal cases against General Efrain Rios Montt and members of his military high command. They can't say there's a shortage of information on this one.
Nisgua points out:
“President Bush's tour of Latin America is intended to reestablish U.S. influence in the region, but serious conflicts remain between the image the Bush Administration is trying to portray this week and its actual policies over the past six years. In Guatemala, the Administration has been supporting the physical harassment and suspension of civil rights in rural communities under the guise of the Drug War, pushing for Congress to increase training and funding of the deeply corrupt security forces, and limiting economic opportunities and access to affordable medicines through the DR-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
While international arrest warrants for Rios Montt and his military high command have been in effect in the U.S. since last year, the Bush Administration has yet to publicly acknowledge the warrants or show support for legal initiatives in Guatemala. Given the strategic importance of Guatemala's relationship with the U.S., any message from President Bush supporting anti-impunity efforts and the prosecution of Rios Montt would have a strong impact on the ground in Guatemala.”
But hey, the onus doesn't rest solely with Berger to make a move here. What are the odds of a contrite Bush making a Clinton-style apology for US involvement in these crimes? It's worth reminding ourselves today of what Clinton said in 1999:
“It is important that I state clearly that support for military forces or intelligence units which engaged in violent and widespread repression of the kind described in the report was wrong,” Clinton said, reading carefully from handwritten notes. “And the United States must not repeat that mistake. We must, and we will, instead continue to support the peace and reconciliation process in Guatemala.”
This report from Robert Parry at the time- tracks the journey that led up to that moment the last time a sitting US President visited Guatemala. The Clinton administration had declassified scores of the secret U.S. documents in the late 1990s- the Peace Accords had not long been signed and the Historical Clarification Commission had just reported. It feels a world away now.
Background
Apologizing of course is not with out controversy, William Blum pointed out that: “the word “sorry” did not cross the president's [Clinton's] lips, nor did the word “apologize”, nor the word “compensation”. For other views on the significance of this moment see:
Beatriz Manz “The Legacy of a Coup: A Guatemalan Village Perspective” – Center for Latin American Studies
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 11 – U.S. POLICY IN GUATEMALA, 1966-1996 – declassified during Clinton's time in office.
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 11 – U.S. POLICY IN GUATEMALA, 1966-1996 – declassified during Clinton's time in office.
Then there's this on Bush's track record on apologizing from Robert Parry's report on that V-E Day speech on May 7 2005:
“Bush's troubling message was that the only real U.S. mistake in the Cold War was not to aggressively challenge the Soviet Union right after the defeat of Germany, even if that meant vastly more bloodshed. Bush also expressed no regret for some of the most egregious U.S. actions in the Cold War, such as complicity in genocide in Guatemala, state terrorism in Chile or the fearsome death toll in the Vietnam War.”
Finally, for family precedents, Dubya's dad is quoted as saying the following in 1988 as Vice President:
“I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don't care what the facts are.”
The Road Ahead For Guatemala: Bush or Chavez?
Mar 10th
First off, let's say that we never set out on this blog with the intention of being politically controversial. This is not a Political blog with a capital 'P'.
Now let's explain the images appearance on this blog. Original political satire they might not be. Contemporary political satire they are, popping up in Guatemala and much of America. The anti-Chavez graphic was on Guatemalan blogger Marta Yolanda Díaz-Durán's blog Principios. While the anti-Bush graphic (via Ulises Rodríguez/EFE/Corbis) was sprayed on a wall (and probably is still being sprayed on others) in Guatemala as part of the protests against the US President's arrival in the country.
Leaving the merits of comparing either Bush or Chavez with Hitler to one side, these crafted images represent polar opposites: both suggesting the road to avoid and not necessarily the road to take. Perhaps it's a measure of just how polarized debate has become that both sides equate their nemesis with the closest thing there is to a universally despised icon.
This growing undercurrent towards polarization in politics across the American continent is becoming less of an undercurrent and more of an out and out wave with each passing week. If Bush's uncomfortable foray into Latin America has demonstrated anything- it's surely got to be this growing polarization. Formulating clear distinct political options is one thing, political polarization where citizens are forced to take sides in the battles of others, is quite another. The “you're either for us or against us” philosophy that snuffs out political debate, has got to be one of the least effective ways of sowing peace and social justice out there.
How you personally describe this polarization is up to you: Bush/Chavez; neoliberal/socialist; dictatorship/democracy; populist/unpopulist; petrol/ethanol. May be daring political programmes always tend to create more polarization… may be Latin American politics are that much more polarized already and this current wave is nothing new. Hey, may be I'm hinting at a centre ground that just doesn't exist, and what do I know anyway? In the UK we complain because there's not enough to distinguish between our political representatives- red or blue are both the same is the all too common refrain. If only we could have a little dose of polarized politics to reinvigorate our staid British political culture, some might say.
The point, though, buried in this post is that Guatemalans are second to no-one in understanding the lethal potential of ultimate unfettered polarization fanned by outside powers. Bush and Chavez given the luxury of power and influence beyond their respective borders, may attempt their own disengagement and shun constructive dialogue with each other,* that's their prerogative. The rights or wrongs of that contest aside, when Guatemala decides its own road later this year, as idealistic as it sounds, let's hope the result is a step closer to greater dialogue and social justice, and away from a more bitter intense political polarization.
Background
*Ok, so Chavez might be forgiven a moderate antipathy towards Bush after Bush supported a coup in Venezuela that landed Chavez in jail in 2002. The point is (granted the reality of the situation may mean otherwise) idealistically, whatever is achieved in isolation could potentially be multiplied many times over by cooperating together, guided by social justice concerns.
It's worth pondering the media coverage of Bush's Latin American trip which has been widely accompanied by the dull, unmistakable playground drum beat of “fight, fight, fight”.
Bush greeted by clashes in Brazil – BBC
Bush Deflects Chavez's Verbal Attacks – AP
Bush Refuses to Take Chavez's Bait – AP
Bush Won't Engage in Fight With Chavez – AP
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