Lo Prometido es Deuda

I know, I know.  It's all about gun control and the debt ceiling right now.  But eventually, as this piece from NPR shows pretty clearly, people are going to tire of an administration that talks about immigration reform but does precious little to actually make it happen.  Hay que ponerse los pantalones, Mr. President.   

Rubio on The Daily Show

It says something about how awful our current political media landscape is that this conversation between Florida Senator Marco Rubio and the Daily Show's Jon Stewart is better than anything I have seen in years on a Sunday morning political talk show.  Even though Rubio is charmless and lacks the easy banter of other politicos who have sat across from Stewart, the conversation was informative and provided one of the best explanations of the philosophical differences between the parties when it comes to the role of the government in creating economic growth.  The interview is cut into three parts and I have put links below.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Ecuador Welcomes Assange But Not A Free Press

Many have been celebrating the decision by President Rafael Correa of Ecuador to offer political asylum to Julian Assange this week by declaring it a victory against British and American imperialism.  I'm not sure about that; but I am sure that by allowing Assange to live under the protection of his government, Correa is attempting to make people forget about his own terrible treatment of the Ecuadorean press.  As the Committee to Protect Journalists reported recently, "President Rafael Correa's press freedom record is among the very worst in the Americas."  That's saying something in a region that is home to other opponents of a free press including Cuba and Venezuela.  Assange may be resting comfortably and safely in the Ecuadorean embassy in London but when it comes to press freedom in Ecuador it's clear the Correa government is sticking to the "do as I say, not as I do" axiom of politics.

Mercosur Offers Chávez a Lifeline

Manos a La Obra: Hugo Chávez (left) welcomed into Mercosur.

Six months ago, the smart money was against Hugo Chávez still being alive.  Cancer seemed to have set its sights on the Venezuelan leader and with every trip to Cuba for treatment, rumors swirled that the coup-leader-turned-President was near death.  Fast forward to today and it appears that Chávez is not only gaining the upper hand against the disease but has also managed the sort of economic coup that could help save his campaign for President.  After years of wrangling and cajoling his peers in the Southern Cone, Chávez was finally welcomed into the ranks of Mercosur.  While some business leaders in Venezuela and the region have expressed concerns about allowing Chávez into the two decade-old regional trading bloc, Chávez called his admission into the group that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and a recently-suspended Paraguay, "a blessing."  Of course, Chávez's penchant for populism over policy may eventually wear thin on his fellow bloc members.  As one Chávez critic, Adolfo Taylhardat, remarked to the BBC,

"For Chávez, more than joining a system of economic integration, [joining Mercorsur] is a political end.  He has said that he wants a modern Mercosur and that he wants it to worry more about political issues." 

"Para Chávez, más que la incorporación a un esquema de integración, el ingreso es un fin político. Él ha dicho que quiere un Mercosur moderno y quiere que se ocupe más de cuestiones políticas"

In the meantime, the Venezuelan presidential election is set for October 7th.  And with the Venezuelan economy reeling, the promise of new markets for Venezuela will be an important campaign message for Chávez.  Just when he needed it the most, Chavez has been thrown a lifeline by Mercosur.  A lifeline the Mercosur leadership, especially Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, should be worried he doesn't use to drag them down with him.

Oh Susana!

In the event that you still thought that New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez had a shot at being the GOP candidate for VP, her reaction to yesterday's ACA ruling by the Supreme Court should make you think again.  Here's some of what she said:

“You know, what I think is important is that we provide a system that is available to those that are most in need, making sure that we are not forcing families to buy something that they can’t afford. But, by the same token, I think there are parts of it, for example, you know being allowed to have your child, until they are 26, insure them. They are going to college, etc., I think that’s a good thing. I think the pre-existing conditions, you know, we want to make sure that we’re taking care of people. So, I want to make sure that, is it in its entirety, or are there parts of it that we can keep, to make sure that we’re taking care of that very needy population.”

You can read and see more here.

I guess Team Romney will be looking elsewhere for help with women and Latinos.

H/T nmpolitics.net 

Vlado and the Problem of Truth in Brazil

Vladimir Herzog would have turned 75 years of age today.  If his name isn’t familiar to you, you’re not alone.  Vlado, as friends and colleagues in Brazil knew him, was a journalist, writer, playwright and television personality.  He was also an opponent of the military dictatorship that had ruled Brazil since 1964.  By all accounts erudite and charming, the Croatian-born Herzog seemed to run afoul of his country’s rulers by raising questions about human rights under the regime. 

Vladimir Herzog

 

In the fall of 1975, Vlado was summoned to the offices of the Brazilian DOI-CODI, the country’s feared military intelligence service, to answer charges that he was a collaborator of the Brazilian Communist Party.  Vlado entered the DOI-CODI’s office on October 25^th of that year and after a few hours was found hanging in his cell.  The Brazilian security apparatus declared the death a suicide but Vlado’s wife, family and friends knew better. The picture of Vlado’s lifeless body became the most recognizable image of the brutality of a regime that seemed to escape the scrutiny of neighboring regimes in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

Vladimir Herzog's body hanging in a prison cell of the DOI-CODI, October 25, 1975

During the post-dictatorship democratic transition in Brazil the unresolved death of Vlado seemed to slip from the popular consciousness.  His wife establish the InstitutoVladimir Herzog to keep alive the memory of her husband and to raise awareness of human rights issues in Brazil.  But it was only last month, after the news that the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had opened an investigation of Vlado’s death, that the government of President Dilma Rousseff (herself a victim of the dictatorship’s brutality) decided to finally establish a truth commission to confront the dictatorship’s legacy of abuse and violence.  According to Rousseff,

“Brazil deserves the truth, new generations deserve the truth, and - above all - those who lost friends and relatives and who continue to suffer as if they were dying again each day deserve the truth."

Yet, apparently when it comes to investigating the history of the dictatorship, the truth does not include resolving the death of Vlado Herzog.  Just last week, citing the country's Amnesty Law of 1979 and a 1997 settlement paid by Brazil to Vlado's family, the Brazilian government informed the IACHR that it would not reopen its investigation of Vlado's death.  

One cannot help but wonder what Vlado's would have said about the failure to thoroughly investigate the circumstance surrounding his death; although I suspect that this pearl of wisdom from Herzog should answer that question:

"Quando perdemos a capacidade de nos indignarmos com as atrocidades praticadas contra outros, perdemos também o direito de nos considerarmos seres humanos civilizados".

"When we lose the capacity to become indignant at the atrocities committed against others, we also lose the right the consider ourselves civilized human beings."

Here is hoping that there are enough Brazilians indignant about the death of Vlado to force their government to finally and publicly investigate his death.  I can't think of a better birthday present.  

Is the New York Public Library protecting Mariela Castro?

Like most academics working in New York, I believe that the New York Public Library's research branch on 42nd and 5th Avenue is a pretty special place.  It isn't just the amazing collection of materials housed at the library that makes it one of New York City's most valuable treasures.  I have always thought that what makes the library truly special is how democratic it is.  Sitting at one of the long tables in the Rose Reading Room you are likely to see people of all different races, genders, ages, and classes.  In short, the NYPL is a microcosm for the diversity that makes New York itself so great.  I wasn't surprised, then, when I learned that Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban dictator Raúl Castro, would be speaking at the library on the subject of LGBT rights.  The younger Castro has emerged as a leading voice for LGBT rights in Cuba.  Of course, she is also a leading voice in defending her family's more than fifty-year grip on power in Cuba.  I was looking forward to hearing Ms. Castro and also hearing her answer questions from a wide variety of New Yorkers eager to learn more about LGBT rights in Cuba but also eager to challenge Ms. Castro about her family's rule.  The NYPL had announced on its website that the event would be open on a "first come, first served" basis.  I was planning to be there early.  But in checking the time of the event earlier this week I discovered that the NYPL had changed the nature of the event, instead of being an event that was open to all based on time of arrival, the library's website now declared that attendance at the event required advance registration and that registration was now closed.  I'm not sure what the Library's reasons were for changing the access policy to Ms. Castro's talk.  Could it be that NYPL feared that Ms. Castro would have to answer questions about her family's human rights record in Cuba?  Could it be that the NYPL, that beacon of ideas and debate in Midtown, had decided that when it came to Ms. Castro, too much debate isn't a good thing?  I don't know the answers to these questions.  What I do know is that this change of plans appears to show that the library that I love so much isn't quite all I thought it was.  If the NYPL really cares about ideas and free debate it will honor its original commitment and open its doors to everyone on Tuesday night.