Essential Afro-Latino/ Caribbean Current Events

[Yehuda]

Posted by Colin Post on Jun 6, 2016 | 0 Comments

The Afro-Peruvian poet behind Kuczynski’s one-liner

The career of Afro-Peruvian poet Nicomedes Santa Cruz came into the limelight as his most famous line found its way into the 2016 presidential debates.

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski trailed Keiko Fujimori by five points when they entered the final presidential debate in Lima on May 29. An aggressive Fujimori had trounced a non-confrontational Kuczynski in the first debate, and analysts said he needed a miracle to overcome the deficit in the polls to win the election.

Kuczynski attacked early but the Fujimori seemed to score more points in a debate which could have been called either way. But Kuczynski landed his biggest shot of the night in his final statement, when he quoted Santa Cruz’s most famous line from his signature poem, “Como has cambiado, pelona.”

“I say ‘You haven’t changed, babe. You’re the same’,” Kuczynski told Fujimori. Kuczynski’s supporters in the audience erupted in cheers that had to be quieted for him to finish.

“I believe in liberty. I am convinced this liberty is in grave danger in Peru. So I want to call on all Peruvians of all political stripes to defend liberty and use our votes to close the book on the return of dictatorship, corruption and lies. It’s now or never, citizens. Until the last poll, until the last vote. Viva Peru!”

Kuczynski’s final attack prompted hashtags such as #ComoHasCambiadoPelona and #TuNoHasCambiadoPelona. The debate came just six days before June 4, Peru’s Day of Afro-Peruvian Culture and the 91st birthday of one if its greatest 20th century poets, Nicomedes Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz was born in Lima’s La Victoria district in 1925, the ninth of 10 children. After working in his early life as a blacksmith, he was Inspired by Afro-Peruvian poet and musician Porfirio Vasquez to enter the performing arts. In 1956 he traveled the country as a storyteller and minstrel.

After returning to Lima in 1957, Santa Cruz joined the Pancho Fierro Company, later dubbed Black Rhythm of Peru. The group performed “Cards from Pancho Fierro” at the Municipal Theater of Lima in 1957. Santa Cruz made his radio debut in Santiago, Chile.

In 1958 Santa Cruz collaborated on the album, “Gente Morena,” which featured his spoken poetry alongside traditional Afro-Peruvian music. That same year Santa Cruz published his first article, a look at Peru’s marinera music, in El Comercio’s Sunday edition. In 1959 Santa Cruz released “Decimas,” or “Stanzas” in English, an album featuring his poetry including “Como has cambiado, pelona.”

“La pelona,” the subject of the poem, is a black girl from his neighborhood who now treats him poorly as she tries to climb the social ladder to attract a wealthy white man. According to Santa Cruz, she is trying too hard with her stiletto heels and fancy makeup. But he still loves her.

“Despite the tone of protest from many of Nicomedes’s stanzas, his poems are not decidedly political,” Jose Tsang writes in El Comercio. “His art is more of a proud affirmation of Afro-Peruvian identity (he is why the Day of Afro-Peruvian Culture is held on June 4th), solidarity with the barefoot masses, rhyming social commentary, witty autobiography, earthy singing, tasteful gallantry or vital and existential rhythmic reflection.”

From the 1960s until his death in 1992, Santa Cruz released 14 albums and published 11 books. He also lent his voice to countless songs and wrote a regular column in El Comercio on poetry, music and other popular elements of Lima and Afro-Peruvian culture.

“The work and legacy of the most important black intellectual in 20th-century Peru, despite some important recent efforts, remain unknown for most Peruvians,” according to University of Oregon historian Carlos Aguirre.

“A man of commitment and courage, of immense talent and creativity, of sincere dedication to the cause of black emancipation and social justice, Nicomedes Santa Cruz deserves to be recognized as one of the most accomplished poets and intellectuals in 20th-century Peru, someone who devoted his life to the cause of human dignity for all, regardless of skin color.”

Listen to Santa Cruz recite “Como has cambiado, pelona” below.



The Afro-Peruvian poet behind Kuczynski’s one-liner

 

[Yehuda]

Suriname improves governance and strengthens energy sector with IDB loan

CARIBBEAN360 JUNE 9, 2016

THE PROJECT WILL INCREASE SURINAME’S TECHNICAL CAPACITY TO IMPLEMENT A SUSTAINABLE POWER SECTOR FRAMEWORK, WHICH WILL FACILITATE THE EXECUTION OF AN ELECTRICITY SECTOR PLAN, THE IDB SAID.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Thursday June 9, 2016 – Suriname will increase the efficiency, transparency, sustainability and accountability of its energy sector, supported by a US$70 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

It will be able to provide more reliable and sustainable energy to its citizens, and in the process, will both improve the supply of electricity and foster the reduction in its reliance on fossil fuels, the IDB said in announcing the loan.

“Given the absence of an integrated legal and regulatory framework, Suriname has experienced significant challenges with respect to effectively managing the energy sector and ensuring the reliable provision of electricity. Surinamese government agency roles and responsibilities needed to be defined with a strategy as to how to implement the required investments in the energy sector, including least-cost expansion planning, in order to improve the outdated and stressed power infrastructure,” the Bank said.

“The project will increase Suriname’s technical capacity to implement a sustainable power sector framework, which will facilitate the execution of an Electricity Sector Plan that will include a coordinated strategy for the sustainable and efficient development of the power sector.”

The loan also fosters the inclusion of environmental and social sustainability principles within the power sector’s expansion projects; this action will contribute to minimize potential environmental impacts.

The IDB loan is the third in a programmatic policy-based series of independently and technically connected loans to strengthen the country’s electricity sector.

The operation will consolidate the support for regulatory policy reforms and sector decisions envisioned in the programme, including the approval of a sector policy with an accompanying legal and institutional framework, the introduction of cost-recovery principles in the commercial management of N.V. Energie Bedrijven Suriname (EBS), and improvements in the utility’s corporate management and governance.



Suriname improves governance, strengthens energy sector with IDB loan

 

[frush11]

 

[Yehuda]

Jamaica Broilers Making Strides In Haiti

Published: Sunday | June 12, 2016 | 12:00 AM Christopher Serju

The Haitian equivalent of Jamaica's Best Dressed Chicken which is marketed under the brand Le Chic Poulet.

Six years after an earthquake devastated Haiti, the country's agriculture sector is bouncing back and a Jamaican company has been very instrumental in that aspect of its recovery.

"Having gone into production for four years now and gone through the phase of testing the market initially, then into production, growing and expanding, we are in a good position. We are now profitable in Haiti and the prospects in terms of returns look promising," Conley Salmon, vice-president, marketing, feeds and agricultural supplies, Jamaica Broilers Group, told The Sunday Gleaner last Thursday.

The company had gone into the earthquake-ravaged French-speaking Caribbean country in 2010 with the intention of selling baby chicks, broiler meat, feeds and other inputs, now it's producing and selling six million table eggs per month.

Not quite along the lines of its original business plan but Jamaica Broilers is happy with how things have turned out. Fashioned on its very successful Jamaican model, the Haitian poultry operations is also built along the vertical integrate system - hatchery, feed mill, processing facility, and a farm with 250,000 layers in production, as well as table eggs.

BUSINESS MODEL

Dave Fairman, president, Haiti S.A., pointed out the tweaking that was necessary to achieve success on Haitian soil.

"Our model there is slightly different. We actually have what we call the retail segment and the farmer segment. The farmer segment is where we focus on selling chicks and feed and supplies to small farmers, and we sell most of those inputs through distributors across the country.

"So we have about 120 distributors across the country, which are all Haitian-owned businesses. So that's how we provide access to the inputs because the small farmers, the biggest problem for them is access, so we establish the network in order for them to lower the cost to access the inputs and to make sure it's reliable," said Fairman.

For the retail segment, Jamaica Broilers produces a Haitian equivalent of the Best Dressed Chicken, which it markets under the brand Le Chic Poulet.

"It's the same brand logo we use there and we basically have a contract buy-back programme with small farmers whereby we provide them with the inputs. We sell them the inputs - chicks and feed - and we have an agreement to take back those birds.

"We process them and provide a market for them. So we sell that bird in the supermarkets, whether it's whole chicken or in parts - breasts, wings, parts, just like here, and then we have the other segment where we do our own table eggs."

EGG MARKET REALITY

Egg sales continue to run ahead of the demand for broiler meat, a trend which caught Jamaica Broilers off guard, but they were quick to flip the script, to address this market reality.

Ian Parsard, senior vice-president, finance and corporate planning, explained: "When we went over there it wasn't eggs as the main business we were thinking of, it was chicks and feed and getting into chicken. However, after being on the ground we realised the real potential was in table eggs, so we started to switch the focus on growing the table egg business, which continues to outstrip broiler meat consumption."

Jamaica Broilers making strides in Haiti

 

[Yehuda]

Home › News › Reckless deportations from Dominican Republican leaving thousands in limbo in Haiti

JUNE 15, 2016

Where are We Going to Live?: Migration and Statelessness in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has unlawfully expelled hundreds of Dominicans to Haiti who have been caught in the middle of a wave of returns and deportations of more than 100,000 people in recent months, Amnesty International said in a new report a year after the Dominican Republic ended a moratorium on deportations on June 18, 2015.

“Where are We Going to Live?” Migration and Statelessness in Haiti and the Dominican Republic reveals the reckless way in which the two governments are handling the deportation, expulsion and “spontaneous” return of tens of thousands of people from the Dominican Republic to Haiti following an 18-month long regularization plan for undocumented foreigners living in the Dominican Republic.

“Since arbitrarily stripping thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality, Dominican authorities created a human rights crisis that is leaving tens of thousands of people in an absolute and desperate legal limbo,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

More than 40,000 people – including several hundred unaccompanied children -- have been deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti between August 2015 and May 2016, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Haitian civil society organizations.

At least another 68,000 returned to Haiti “spontaneously,” in many cases following threats or through fear of persecution and violence in the Dominican Republic.

Though 85 percent of the total told the IOM they were born in Haiti, 15 percent claim to have been born in the Dominican Republic. The majority are children of Haitian migrants who returned “voluntarily,” but who could be entitled to Dominican nationality. Nearly 1,600 people were verified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as being entitled to Dominican nationality who have been unlawfully expelled from the country.

Around 2,000 people have been living in six makeshift camps close to the southern Haitian border town of Anse-à-Pitre since August 2015. Conditions in the camps are dire with little access to food, water and sanitation or healthcare facilities. For several months, Haitian authorities failed to take leadership in finding a solution and it was only in mid-February 2016 that a plan was set up to relocate all families towards the areas of their choice.

“The Dominican Republic’s opaque way of deporting people and Haiti’s lack of capacity to offer them protection has created a disastrous and chaotic situation. Living conditions in these camps are extremely desperate and the authorities of both countries have failed to ensure the wellbeing of these people.”

The few improvements made by the Dominican Republic in the way they carry out deportations – such as avoiding collective ones and making sure deportations are not carried out at night -- have not gone far enough to ensure the rights of those affected are protected, including by individually screening people to be deported and ensuring that no one entitled to stay in the Dominican Republic is expelled.

Many of the deportations are being carried out without leaving any records. Some of the deportees said they were arrested in the street and taken straight to the border after they failed to produce identification documents on the spot.

None of the people interviewed by Amnesty International were served with a deportation order nor had the chance to challenge its legality in court. None were offered legal aid.

Dominicans of foreign descent

In September 2013, the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic ruled that children born in the country to undocumented foreign parents since 1929 had never been entitled to Dominican nationality. The judgment disproportionately affected Dominicans of Haitian descent and constituted a retroactive, arbitrary and discriminatory deprivation of nationality.

Lacking nationality means not being able to exercise rights and access basic services such as formal jobs, education and health services. Those stripped of their nationality cannot travel safely within their own country and are at risk of arbitrary arrest and expulsion.

Following the expiration of the regularization plan on June 18, 2015, the Dominican authorities said they would not expel anybody who could prove they had been born in the Dominican Republic. They also promised that each case would be assessed individually and that people born in the country would be screened and protected from expulsion.

However hundreds of Dominicans of Haitian descent, and stateless people, have been caught up in a continuing wave of deportations. There is a lack of formal mechanisms for people who have been wrongly expelled to be formally readmitted to the Dominican Republic and claim reparations. In addition, Haitian authorities lack any mechanisms to deal with Dominicans of Haitian descent who have been expelled or have arrived in Haiti, including those who are stateless.

“This crisis was long in the making. It is high time for authorities both in the Dominican Republic and Haiti to take their responsibilities seriously and protect the rights of the thousands of people who have been left in this limbo,” said Guevara-Rosas.

“The newly elected Dominican authorities must take urgent action to tackle this crisis. They must immediately halt illegal expulsions of Dominican-born individuals and make sure that all deportations of undocumented migrants are in line with international law. They must also reinstate nationality to the tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent who have been arbitrarily stripped of it.”

Reckless deportations from Dominican Republican leaving thousands in limbo in Haiti

 

[Yehuda]

VITAL RITUALS OF THE AFRO-CUBAN UNDERGROUND

By Jean-Philippe Dedieu

JUNE 15, 2016

Eba Emerida Augustin and Sergio Ramo, the Queen and King of the carnival group Carabalí Olugu. Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Cesar is a member of Conga de Los Hoyos, a cultural association derived from the Cabildo Congo, a brotherhood of free and enslaved blacks founded in 1616. Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Reinier, a member since the age of fifteen of the Abakuá secret society, in Miraflore, on the outskirts of Havana, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Young farmers wash their horses before sunset, in the Rio la Pastora, close to the city of Trinidad, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Anajulia Hun Carcasses, a follower of the Regla de Ocha, also known as Santería, during the initiation ceremony of her daughter, Eva Isabel. Los Olmos neighborhood, Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

A group of soldiers dressed for a ceremony in the garb of mambises, the anti-Spanish guerrilleros who fought in the Cuban war for independence. Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

An altar to Orisha Oshun, a divinity of Santería, Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Enrique King Bell is a priest of the Regla del Palo religion. Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Reinier, a young Cuban on a Sunday at the Sibooney beach, Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

A street corner in central Havana, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

The rappers La Reyna and La Real, Havana, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

L’Ireme Aberisun, a character in the religion of the Abakúa society, dances in front of the entrance to a temple in Guanabacoa, a township in eastern Havana, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Oneyda, Raoul, and Osmiel, members of the cultural group Lamento Cimarron, which was created by the government in 1998. El Palenque de los Cimarrones cave, Viñales, Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Yrene Vechy, the queen of the carnival group Cabildo Cocoye, Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Young Cubans pose for a selfie during a rap concert at the Brindisi, a private club on the outskirts of Havana, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

A dove attached to the entrance of the temple of the Erume Efo. Guanabacoa, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

The musicians Dairober and Ismel play drums during a Santería ceremony. Santiago de Cuba, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

Mercedes Lugones Marin, center, is the head of the Cabildo de los Congos Reales de San Antonio, a cultural organization founded in the city of Trinidad, Cuba, in 1856, as a brotherhood of freedmen. Trinidad, 2015.
NICOLA LO CALZO / L'AGENCE À PARIS

In recent years the Italian artist Nicola Lo Calzo has documented members of the African diaspora in such places as Louisiana, Haiti, and the archipelago of Guadeloupe. Writing last year in The New Yorker about his recent series from Suriname and French Guiana, Hilton Als noted that Lo Calzo’s images are concerned not so much with the look of these communities as with the legacies embedded within them: “Subjugation, slavery, survival . . . All those disappeared bodies brought back to life by their living and breathing descendants.”

Lo Calzo’s new and ambitious opus, “Regla,” is a celebration of Afro-descended forms of cultural expression in contemporary Cuba. He photographed the elderly leaders of Carnival groups and gained privileged access to the male-only secret society Abakuá, which has its roots in nineteenth-century struggles for emancipation. He photographed the sacred liturgies of Afro-Caribbean religions, including Santería, or Regla de Ocha, along with performances by the young rap artists, or raperos, who are part of the Cuban hip-hop movement , which has faced censorship by the Castro regime. Lo Calzo shows the fluidity between rituals sacred and secular, new and old, revealing how Afro-Cuban cultural forms are inherited from the past and forged anew in the present. These groups and their practices are linked in practical ways: In a statement about the project, Lo Calzo writes that “it is not an unfamiliar sight to come across a member of the Abakuá society who is also . . . a rapero.” They are also linked by a set of values—“spirituality, oral traditions, solidarity, memory, the importance of the individual, and self-affirmation.”

Lo Calzo writes that “there are two Cubas”: “The official one with its myths, its revolutionary heroes and enemies,” and another one, “underground and shrouded in silence and secrecy,” which is “all but invisible to the naïve, foreign eye.” His interest resides firmly in the second world, where marginalized groups have flourished in the face of oppression: subjugation, slavery, survival. But the strength of “Regla” is the way that Lo Calzo, whose process involves conducting extensive interviews with his subjects, finds overlap and exchange not only among Afro-Cuban cultural forms but between the official Cuban narrative and the “silent, ordinary” ones that carry on beneath the surface. In some cases, Afro-Cuban traditions find expression within the confines of state power: Lo Calzo photographs a group of soldiers who perform a daily ceremony dressed in the garb of mambises, the anti-Spanish guerrilleros who fought in the Cuban war for independence. More often, the traditions live on at the margins, acting as a crucial safety net, and a form of resistance, for Cubans living within an asphyxiating social and economic system. This “precarious balancing act,” Lo Calzo writes, has existed throughout the country’s modern history, from Spanish colonial times through the uncertain late years of the Castro era.

Jean-Philippe Dedieu is a CIRHUS Research Fellow at New York University and the author of the book “La Parole Immigrée: Les Migrants Africains dans l’Espace Public en France, 1960-1995” (Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2012).

Vital Rituals of the Afro-Cuban Underground - The New Yorker

 

[Premeditated]

watcha think?
alot of countries on board

 

[Yehuda]

First Latina Superhero to Fight Puerto Rico Crisis, Colonialism

Superheo "La Borinqueña," named after the island’s national anthem | Photo: Courtesy Edgardo-Miranda Rodriguez

Published 15 June 2016

"La Borinqueña" is a hero who represents the island but stands for universal values.
A Puerto Rican artist has created “La Borinqueña,” the first Latina superhero, to bring hope to the Latino community and spark a larger conversation on the future of developed countries.

OPINION:
Politics, Primaries and Crisis in Puerto Rico

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez unveiled the unconventional and original superhero during the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City on Sunday. Although the comic is written in English, it contains some phrases in Spanish.

The NY-based activist worked with artists in Marvel and DC Comics to create a character who would raise awareness on the economic and environmental situations affecting Puerto Rico.

“My activism was always a fire, but given everything that's going on in Puerto Rico it started to burn even brighter,“ Miranda-Rodriguez told teleSUR. “I felt there was something more important that needed to be done.”

Miranda-Rodriguez says has worked for years on issues including freeing political prisoners such as Oscar Lopez Rivera and opposing foreign interventions through the U.S. military base in Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

OPINION:
Decolonizing Identity: US Latinos Rediscover Native Roots

By day, the superhero is Marisol Rios De La Luz, a Puerto Rican woman living in Brooklyn, New York, who goes back to the island and discovers her superpowers. She also has Afro-Puerto Rican heritage, according to the artist.

For Miranda-Rodriguez, who says she was inspired by powerful women activists in the United States, "La Boriqueña" has more than just powers—she embraces values, like selflessness, dedication to family, and patience.

“I think those values are what makes us separate from other cultures, and that those are our powers,“ Miranda-Rodriguez said. “And we do have a superpower, we can vote in this general election coming up, and we can vote people out just as well.”

One of the main issues Miranda-Rodriguez wants to bring into the spotlight is the voting power of the more than 5 million Puerto Ricans who live in the United States. Since those living on the island cannot vote, mainland Puerto Ricans can decide the future of the country.

“It’s like being invited to design a menu for a banquet, and you're at the table, finally at that banquet, and you're not allowed to actually eat anything,” Miranda-Rodriguez said.

OPINION:
Puerto Rico: Troubled Commonwealth or Debt Colony?

Miranda-Rodriguez believes the comic book will inspire young Puerto Ricans to know more about their history, and think for themselves about what is the best status for the island.

“When you understand what's going on from a real human perspective, then you begin to understand what is so important about social justice,” said Miranda-Rodriguez.

The artist says that "La Borinqueña" is a metaphor for everyone in Latin America—a hero who represents the island but stands for universal values.

“I’m not going to say that this superhero is going to resolve the debt crisis or save the world. But I am going to say that she can stand as a symbol for hope, for unity,“ said Miranda-Rodriguez.

Tags

Caribbean | Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico debt crisis | Politics | Arts & culture

First Latina Superhero to Fight Puerto Rico Crisis, Colonialism

 

[Yehuda]

Jamaica prepares to tap into climate change fund

CARIBBEAN360 JUNE 21, 2016

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday June 21, 2016 — Jamaica is preparing to tap into US$10.3 billion available to fund climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.

The country is joining 200 other developing states in formulating viable proposals to access financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Based in South Korea, the GCF was founded as a mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.

Jamaica has, so far, submitted a proposal to the GCF for readiness financing amounting to US$300,000.

According to Principal Director of the Climate Change Division in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Albert Daley, this will assist with financing “to help to put in place the system and the procedures to enable the country to access funding, training, public awareness, and setting up the work programme.”

“We are hoping to get word from the GCF before the end of the month and if that happens, we will be well on our way with some funds to start put in place what we need to do to prepare ourselves to get proposals out, hopefully by early next year and thereafter,” he added.

Daley explained that “this is the preliminary funding necessary to help us get our house in order”.

The principal director said that while there are no time restrictions for submitting proposals, “those who are in the line first are most likely to get the funding that they need”, so Jamaica has to move swiftly to put the appropriate measures in place in order to access the funds available.

“So, we want to get in line very quickly and that is why we are very keen on having this workshop to sensitise our government agencies as to how they can contribute to the process of developing good projects,” he said.

Daley said it is expected that more funds will be made available over time to the GCF. It is anticipated that by 2020, at least US$100 billion will be available each year for climate financing.

“We want to be prepared to be able to access funding that’s available, not just from GCF but any other entity that has funding,” he said.



Jamaica prepares to tap into climate change fund | Caribbean360

 

[Poitier]

11/08/2014
The worst thing about Brazil
POR VINCENT BEVINS




Brazil’s brutal inequality is so ubiquitous that those who live here simply stop noticing it. An unexpected message from abroad serves as a reminder of the topic that is so rarely discussed here, in society, the media, or the current election.

I’ve been living in Brazil for over four years now, which has been incredible in almost every way, including the ways in which I’ve adapted to the local culture. But there’s the bits I don’t like, too. More than anything else, I hate the way I’ve become desensitized to shocking, brutal, and stultifying levels of inequality. I’ve become accustomed to it, as if it were or ever should be normal.

[para ler o texto em Português, clique aqui]

This, most foreigners in Brazil learn quickly enough, is actually one of the required characteristics of being authentically “Brazilian.” True locals understand that extreme inequality is just a fact of life here, and it is bad taste to bring it up or transgress established class boundaries, so much so that an extreme preoccupation with the topic, or wanting to get to know Brazil outside elite circles, are sometimes considered “gringo” things to do. The more I find myself becoming “local” in this sense (and in this sense only), the more uncomfortable I become.


Recently, a flash of realization came, as they almost never do, via a WhatsApp message, sent to my cell phone from a Brazilian friend visiting my home country for the first time.

From New York:

“Wow, I’m really impressed with the social equality here. Congratulations.”

And then: “Blacks are part of society. They aren’t excluded like they are in Brazil.”

For all intents and metaphorical purposes, these messages caused my head to explode.

I was born and raised in the United States, a country which has many, many, very obvious problems – probably more than Brazil – which are mostly irrelevant here. Apart from our famous propensity to bomb countries, killing hundreds of thousands for no discernible positive outcome, social injustice has always been a major problem of ours. We have one of the worst inequality levels among the world’s developed countries, and it’s clear to me we have a fairly serious race problem, especially when it comes to treatment of our black citizens.

Moreover, on the equality issue, our problem is getting worse, so much so that Obama spoke recently of the need to combat “dangerous and growing inequality.”

Maybe not every Brazilian would immediately see things they way my friend did when arriving in the US or Europe. But the fact that a resident of Brazil can feel that New York, of all places, is a beacon of social harmony was a shocking reminder of how deep and problematic Brazil’s inequality is.

But of course it shouldn’t have been shocking. When I arrived here, I was constantly taken aback by elements of a culture that often seemed from another time. Two separate doors for apartments (one for the family, one for the help). Upper middle class youth who had never washed their own clothes or bathroom (let alone held down a job before graduating university), and who could casually drop classist or racist remarks – of the kind that would get you permanently expelled from polite society many places elsewhere – as if it were nothing.

But much of this had become normal for me, as I imagine it had long ago for most Brazilians.

Of course, it’s easy enough for me to deal with this violent prejudice, as a white man who arrived from the US and Europe, locations that much of São Paulo’s upper middle class look up to, but where they themselves, ironically, may be considered crude, reactionary, or racist, and with very bad taste.

You could argue, sometimes correctly, that people like me benefit from this prejudice at times, even if we would rather not. But for the Brazilian friends and colleagues who were unlucky enough to be born with African or indigenous features, or to working-class parents, it’s common to be shouted down when they complain of this class system, as if they were either dangerous Bolsheviks or lazy, self-interested quota jumpers.

It is absolutely true that Brazil is one of the few countries in the world to have improved income inequality in the last decade. But, in the pursuit of both social justice and increasing economic productivity, the country still has a very long way to go. If you look at how the election is unfolding, however, you would think that what the country needs is mostly some technocratic fixes, or a candidate who is less tarred by corruption allegations than the others. If you look at the media, you would think that the social advances made since 2003 were already revolutionary and frighteningenough, or that there wasn’t much to talk about. Of course, if you pick up any major newspaper here, you may come to the conclusion that they are written by the white upper middle class for the white upper middle class, because they are.

Around the ‘rolezinhos‘ which took place early this year, there was a debate as to whether Brazil is an ‘apartheid‘ society. I think that’s the wrong word, as there is no state sanction for the divisions. Another friend suggested we may have a “caste” system, which I think is closer to being accurate. It is at least accurate insofar that the following statement is accurate: For a daughter or son of the ‘middle class,’ the idea of showing up at Sunday family lunch and introducing a member of the working class as boyfriend or girlfriend is basically unheard of. Indeed, I’ve met people from both classes who admit they’ve never had a real, substantive conversation with a member of the other class.

But why don’t we talk about this? Because it’s too obvious.

Follow @Vinncent

The worst thing about Brazil - From Brazil

 

[Yehuda]

Afro-Venezuelans, Colombians to March in Support of Maduro Govt

A supporter honors late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez the day after his death in 2013 in Caracas. | Photo: AFP

Published 21 June 2016

The marches come as authorities move forward with authorizing signatures on recall referendum petitions and the OAS is set to meet to discuss the situation in Venezuela.

Afro-Venezuelans and Colombians living in Venezuela are set to take to the streets this week in support of the government of President Nicolas Maduro and in defense of the South American country’s sovereignty, community representatives announced Monday.

ANALYSIS:
Tackling Racism In Venezuela to Build a Society of Equals

On Tuesday, Venezuelan Afro-descendents will march beginning at 9:00 a.m. local time in the capital city Caracas from the central Diego Ibarra plaza to the presidential palace Miraflores.

The demonstration aimed at rejecting foreign interference in Venezuela’s affairs will also be a display of Afro-descendent culture, according to Venezuelan Vice President Aristobulo Isturiz.

Over half of Venezuela’s population is mixed race, around one-fifth is of European ancestry, one-tenth of African origin, and about 2 percent from Indigenous groups. Despite that diversity, Venezuela’s oil wealth and power structures have long been dominated by a minority, and mainly white, elite.

Meanwhile, the Association of Colombians in Venezuela has announced plans for a march in Caracas on Saturday in favor of the government’s immigration policies. The group announced the demonstration on Monday in conjunction with World Refugee Day.

According to official statistics, Venezuela is home to over 6,000 Colombian refugees, while an estimated 5.5 million Colombian nationals live in the country overall.

The marches come as political tensions continue to run high in Venezuela amid opposition calls to speed up the process toward a recall referendum against Maduro. Electoral authorities began validating signatures on petitions Monday, a precursor for the referendum.

RELATED:
5 Countries That Violate the OAS Democratic Charter

Meanwhile, Venezuela gained overwhelming support in defense of its sovereignty after Organization of American States Chief Luis Almagro invoked the regional body’s Democratic Charter against the country.

The OAS Permanent Council is set to meet Tuesday in Washington at Venezuela’s request to review Almagro’s conduct.

The meeting will be followed on Thursday by a special session requested by Almagro to further address the situation in Venezuela and disputes between the government and the opposition over the proposed vote on Maduro’s mandate.

Venezuela called on Monday for Thursday’s meeting to be canceled, arguing in a letter that Almagro is “not entitled” to convene the gathering, AFP reported.

The recall referendum has become the center of political debate in Venezuela. The opposition argues that the authorities are trying to stall the process, while Maduro says people have every right to demand a vote as long as they wait to go through the proper procedures.

Tags
South America | Venezuela | Nicolás Maduro | Social movements

Afro-Venezuelans, Colombians to March in Support of Maduro Govt

 

[Yehuda]

Trinidad Begins Food Exports to Venezuela


By JEANETTE CHARLES

TAGS

• Food
• International cooperation
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Venezuelan crisis 2016

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley, standing left, in Port of Spain discuss trade agreements (Prensa Presidencia).

Caracas, June 27th 2016 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Trade announced that it has begun the shipment of food and other goods to its South American neighbor.

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Sc00n officially released details of the trade agreement at the Execution of Bilateral Commercial Agreements between Trinidad and Tobago’s local manufacturers and Corporación Venezolana de Comercia Exterior (CORPOVEX) in Port of Spain last Tuesday.

Gopee-Sc00n announced that 12 products from Trinidad and Tobago will be exported over a three month period to Venezuela. In total, Venezuela is expected to receive 600 tons of food from its Caribbean neighbor. Among food products, Trinidad and Tobago will export: ketchup, mayonnaise, flour, white rice, margarine, chicken, powdered milk and spaghetti, Gopee-Sc00n listed.

“The total value for food items alone, once all shipments can be made, is approximately US$ 24 million and 12.6 tonnes in weight. Other items to be exported include bath and laundry soaps and toilet paper worth over US$ 2.5million. Therefore, the total value of this initial arrangement is estimated at US$ 26.9million,” she explained.

Minister Gopee-Sc00n also celebrated the cooperation highlighting that “our history has been a long, cherished and valued one and we are pleased for the deepening of these links to the benefit of the people of both our beloved countries.”

Products will be shipped to three major northeastern cities: Cumana, Carupano and Guiria. Just last month, over 400 people were arrested for ransacking over 100 businesses in Cumana. The Venezuelan government will transport the goods across the country and they will be sold at subsidized prices.

“Today we begin the first provision plan under cooperation and commercial exchange that will allow Venezuela to receive goods and raw materials from Trinidad as well as export [our] national productos,” expressed Venezuelan Finance Minister Marco Torres.

Torres was accompanied by Minister of Industry and Commerce Miguel Pérez Abad, Minister of Fishing Ángel Belisario and governor of Sucre Luis Acuña.

VEMCO Limited, Trinidad Parboil Limited/Old Mac Agro Supplies Limited, Arawak and Company Limited, John dikkinson and Co. (W.I) Limited, National Canners Limited, National Flour Mills, Coconut Growers Association Limited and Nutrimix Feeds Limited are among the Trinidadian businesses exporting their goods to Venezuela.

President Nicolás Maduro visited the island nation last month to finalize what have been referred to as “historic” trade deals in energy, security and commerce.

PUBLISHED ON JUN 27TH 2016 AT 3.45PM

Trinidad Begins Food Exports to Venezuela

 

[Yehuda]

Uruguay Declares July Black Heritage Month

Devotees of the Afro-Brazilian goddess Lemanja perform a ritual in Montevideo | Photo: Reuters

Published 26 June 2016

The South American country population is 88 percent of European descent and 4 percent Black, according to World Factbook figures.
The coming month of July will be declared a Black Heritage Month in Uruguay, which would be held every year, according to government officials Sunday.

GALLERY:
Cuba Holds Its First Afro-Cuban-Electro Music Festival

In an official statement, the municipality of the city of Montevideo expressed its wish to remember the history of the Black community in the country. Previously, the city had turned a deposit which used to house 70,000 slaves during colonial times into a museum.

The center, which operated in 1787, will hold a memorial site built by the Black community and will also be used as a cultural center for the city.

The Ministry of Social Development of Uruguay is leading the initiative and organizing events around the celebration. The work will also be coordinated with organizations from Afro-Uruguayan civil society and the Working Group on Ethnic-Racial Policy.

RELATED:
Meet the Collective Making It Easy to Discover Latin America's African Roots

July was selected as Black Heritage Month since it also holds two other important events: The International Nelson Mandela Day and the historical commemoration of the International Day of Afro-Latin American, Caribbean and Diaspora Women.

This will be the first nationwide edition of the festivities, which will also address issues surrounding education, politics, art, culture, economics and other issues.

The vast majority of Uruguayans, 88 percent, are descendents of Europe, mainly from Spain and Italy. Close to 4 percent are Black, according to the CIA's World Factbook, although some put the figure as high as 10 percent. More than 3 million people live in the country.

In 2008, poverty levels in the white population reached 19.4 percent, while Black population have a 43.1 percent. An estimated 3.4 million people live in the country.

Tags

South America | Indigenous rights | Uruguay | Politics

Uruguay Declares July Black Heritage Month

 

[Yehuda]

Afro-Panamanian Leader: Blackness Is Still Stigmatized

PANAMA CITY – Census data showing that people of African lineage make up only 14.9 percent of Panama’s population do not accurately reflect the ethnic reality of the Central American nation, according to an Afro-Panamanian activist and law professor.

“We maintain that no less than 65 percent of the Panamanian population is of African descent. You only need to step outside and see the color of people’s skin,” Alberto Barrow said in an interview with EFE.

Barrow, director of the Afro Panama Observatory, said the gap between the census figures and his group’s estimates can be explained as a matter of survival: Afro-Panamanians “do not want to be black because that is a synonym for exclusion.”

In a bid to change that mentality ahead of the 2020 census, Barrow has organized a campaign on social media, “Proudly African-descended.”

Barrow’s efforts are also focused on the creation of a government department devoted to the development of Afro-Panamanians, similar to the one that already exists for the country’s indigenous people.

Afro-Panamanian Leader: Blackness Is Still Stigmatized

 

[BigMan]

Afro-Panamanian Leader: Blackness Is Still Stigmatized

PANAMA CITY – Census data showing that people of African lineage make up only 14.9 percent of Panama’s population do not accurately reflect the ethnic reality of the Central American nation, according to an Afro-Panamanian activist and law professor.

“We maintain that no less than 65 percent of the Panamanian population is of African descent. You only need to step outside and see the color of people’s skin,” Alberto Barrow said in an interview with EFE.

Barrow, director of the Afro Panama Observatory, said the gap between the census figures and his group’s estimates can be explained as a matter of survival: Afro-Panamanians “do not want to be black because that is a synonym for exclusion.”

In a bid to change that mentality ahead of the 2020 census, Barrow has organized a campaign on social media, “Proudly African-descended.”

Barrow’s efforts are also focused on the creation of a government department devoted to the development of Afro-Panamanians, similar to the one that already exists for the country’s indigenous people.

Afro-Panamanian Leader: Blackness Is Still Stigmatized

every Panamanian i've ever met was black