Volume 8 Issue 3, Fall 1998

Hemisphere

Volume 8 | Issue 3 Article 1

1998 Volume 8 Issue 3, Fall 1998

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f The Second Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies March 18-20, 1999

Cuban Research Institute (CRI) Florida International University Miami, Florida

CONFERENCE THEMES

The Island Compared. The traditional single focus on Cuba tends to portray the topic of analysis as exceptional and exclusive to the island. A comparative approach to Cuban studies highlights both similarities and differences with other cases.

Revisiting the Republic. Studies of Cuba have been marked by and have revolved around the Cuban Revolution. As a consequence, the Cuban Republic in its political, social and cultural dimensions has been understudied.

Power and Resistance - Narratives and Counternarratives. How have power and resistance been manifested in the Cuban context over time?

Cultural Unity. Do Cubans share a common culture? Have Cubans and Cuban- Americans developed divergent cultures? This theme brings together issues of culture, nation, diaspora and transnationalism.

For more information, contact: Cuban Research Institute Florida International University University Park, DM 363, Miami, Florida 33199 Voice: (305) 348-1991, Fax: (305) 348-3593 E-mail: [email protected]

Lisandro Perez, Director 1999 Program Co-Chair de Arag6n, Assistant Director and CR1 DamianUva Fernandez, 1999 Program Co-Chair A MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAS

Volume 8 " Number 3 Fail 1998 Hemishr http://Iacc.fiu.edu

FROM THE EDITOR Eduardo A. Gamarra 3

COMMENTARY The Rediscovery of Latinos Jorge Ramos Avalos 4 Winds of Change Uva de Aragon 6

REPORTS Stones in the Water Terry Rey 8 Guatemala's Critical Juncture J. PatriceMcSherry 12

SPECIAL REPORT: THE SANTIAGO SUMMIT Beyond the Washington Consensus William C. Smith 16 Islands Apart Emilio Pantojas-Garcia 20 Mercosur in the New Global Order HilioJaguaribe 24 Canada's Southern Exposure Peter McKenna 26

FEATURES Distant Brothers Manuel Orozco 30 Lives at a Crossroads Sarah Mahler 36 Bridging the Ideological Divide Manny Hidalgo 40

LITERARY FEATURE Lengua Franca Te'resa Palomo Acosta 44

PHOTO ESSAY Life on the Margins JanetJarman 46

REVIEW FORUM Identity Crisis M. Karen Bracken 59

PUBLICATIONS UPDATE Latinos in the US Marian Goslinga 62

ON THE COVER Woman with Child and USA T-shirt. Photo: Janet Jarman. A MAGAINE F ILtE AMERICAS L'cC emisphere Providing Leadership in the Field of Latin American and Caribbean Studies for Two Decades EDITORIAL STAFF

LATIN AMERICAN AND FoundingEditor Anthony P. Maingot CARIBBEAN CENTER Editor Eduardo A. Gamarra Associate Editors Mark B. Rosenberg F lorida International Lniversity, a pub- Richard Tardanico Patricia Price lic institution of higher education in ManagingEditor Alisa Newman South Florida, has devoted resources Art Editor and effort to the study of Latin America and Pedro D. Botta Book Review Editor Ivelaw Griffith the Caribbean. From the resulting synergy, the Latin American and Caribbean Center Bibliographer Marian Goslinga (LACC) came into existence in 1979. As a CirculationManager Marla M. Iaryczower federally supported National Resource Center for Language and Area Studies, CONTRIBUTING EDITORS LACC has a mandate to promote graduate and undergraduate education, faculty David Bray Walt Peacock research, and public education on Latin Janet M. Chernela Lisandro Perez American and Caribbean affairs. Carol Damian Ana Roca Damiin J. Fernandez Andrea Mantell Seidel CENTERS AND INSTITUTES Sarah Mahler Victor Uribe " Summit of the Americas Center Ted Young " Cuban Research Institute * Intercultural Dance and Music Institute EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD * Florida-Mexico Institute * Florida Caribbean Institute Don Bohning Guido Pennano * Hemispheric Center for Environmental Ettore Botta Alejandro Portes Technology Wolf Grabendorff Sally Price Alistair Hennessy David Ronfeldt ACADEMIC PROGRAMS IN LATIN AMERICAN Harry Hoetink Selwyn Ryan AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES Franklin W. Knight Steven E. Sanderson * Master of Arts Program Vaughan Lewis Saskia Sassen " Undergraduate/Graduate Certificate Larissa A. Lomnitz Andres Serbin Programs Abraham F. Lowenthal Carol A. Smith " Certificate Program in International Terry L. McCoy Lourdes Sola Business Andres Oppenheimer Yolande Van Eeuwen * Foreign Language and Area Studies Robert A. Pastor Arturo Villar Fellowship Program Anthony J. Payne Juan Yafes

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS " Journalists and Editors Workshop Hemisphere (ISSN 08983038) is published three times a year by the Latin " Telecommunications Development American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. Copyright © Program 1998 by the Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International " Teacher Training Workshops University. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Hemisphere is dedicated to provoking debate " Americas Internet Seminar on the problems, initiatives, and achievements of the Americas. Responsibility for the views expressed lies solely with the authors. PUBLICATIONS Editorial, Circulation, and Advertising Offices: Latin American and Caribbean * Hiemsphere Magazine Center, Florida International University, University Park, Miami, Florida 33199. * Occasional Paper Series Tel.: (305) 348-2894, Fax: (305) 348-3593, E-mail: [email protected] * Position Papers and Market Briefs Website: http://acc.fiu.edu/hemisphere/hemisphere.html e Newsletters and Websites Regular Subscription Rates: US, USVI, PR and Canada: $20 a year; $36 for two years. Elsewhere: $27 a year; $50 for two years. Please make check payable to Latin American and Caribbean Center Hemisphere. Florida International University University Park, Miami, Florida 33199 Tel. (305) 348-2894/Fax (305) 348-3593 F R O M T H E E D I T O R

n this issue we are pleased to provide thoughtful analysis of the role and contribution of Latin American immigrants to the United States. We begin with Jorge Ramos' commentary on the "rediscovery" of Latinos in the US. The well-known anchor of Univisi6n's nightly newscast concludes that "white Americans refuse to accept that the US stopped being a predominantly Anglo country a long time ago." The subsequent articles reveal the growing significance of Latinos in both economics and politics. The picture that emerges of Latinos in the US is complex and diverse. Sarah Mahler's essay on Salvadorans, for example, analyzes the experiences of a recent wave of immigrants to this country. While Salvadorans may not yet be as visible as other Latino immigrant groups, Mahler points out that they may well surpass Cubans numerically in the next census. Her article is complemented by Manuel Orozco's research on Central American immigrants in general. Orozco discusses the com- monalities and differences among these groups and concludes that fears that immigrants from these countries will lead inexorably to the "thirdworldization" of the United States are misplaced. Manny Hidalgo and Uva de Arag6n provide interesting glimpses of the changing nature of Cuban Miami and of Cuba itself. Both authors conclude that the younger generation of Cubans and Cuban-Americans represents new hope for dialogue and rapprochement between the two communities. Finally, Janet Jarman's photo essay presents a magnificent portrait of the trail of a Mexican family from the border to their new life in the United States. A special report section analyzes the Summit of the Americas process, which began in Miami in 1994 and brought together the heads of state of 34 countries of the region in Santiago, Chile this past April. We are especially pleased to publish a translation of Hdio Jaguaribe's critique of the region's general movement towards a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Jaguaribe argues that for the Mercosur countries, entry into an FTAA will constitute an act of historical suicide. Peter McKenna discusses Canada's new role in the Americas, noting that it has already become a major regional actor. Emilio Pantojas-Garcia's "Islands Apart" reminds us that the Caribbean is also an important but neglected player in the unfolding FTAA. Bill Smith adopts a more theoretical approach that analyzes the implications of the Summit accords for combating poverty and inequality in the Americas. We were delighted to read the many messages and letters sent to Hemisphere regarding our issues on sustainable development (volume 8 number 1) and neoliberalism (volume 8 number 2). The editors are pleased by both the congratulatory and the critical responses received, as they indicate to us that Hemisphere is being read in many places and by a wide variety of audiences. Generating debate on the issues that affect the Americas is our central objective. We hope that this issue is in keeping with this goal.

Eduardo A. Gamarra

Hemisphere Volume Eight, Number Three 3 C 0 M M E The Rediscovery of Latinos Jorge Ramos Avalos

Migration concluded that approxi- ter, so should the mayor. But for a last. The network mately 105,000 undocumented variety of reasons, both historical and NNrecently has discoveredreported the us at Mexicans enter the US every year. immigration-related, the Mexican- extraordinary growth of These immigrants lack permission to American community has yet to C this country, but work reach the level of political mobiliza- the Spanish-language work legally in media in the US, a phe- they do-and lots of it. The flow can- tion achieved by Cuban-Americans. nomenon that is not new but which not be halted with laws or 10-foot Part of the problem is that Mexican- CNN-along with millions of North high walls along the border. Illegal Americans have traditionally resisted Americans-has only just noticed. immigration is a problem of supply the idea of becoming US citizens. The tone of the report was one of and demand; as long as there are This is beginning to change, thanks amazement: CNN as a modern-day excess workers in Latin America and to a new Mexican law allowing dual Columbus. available jobs in the US, people will citizenship. The fear that the US will This is but one example of the find a way to cross the frontier. deny certain benefits and social ser- ongoing cycle of alternating interest By the year 2010, Latinos are vices to legal residents has also con- and neglect which shapes attitudes expected to be the country's biggest tributed to produce record numbers towards Latinos in this country. But minority group. There is strength in of applications for American citizen- there are more and more Latinos in numbers, and this demographic ship. the US, and wherever you look, their importance is behind the still limited For the time being, however, the presence is making itself felt. For a political power of Latinos in the US. Latino residents of San Antonio, number of reasons-political and Chicago, New York, San Francisco economic power, as well as sheer MIAMI AS PROTOTYPE and other cities still have a long way numbers-they are not so easy to If all Latinos voted as faithfully as to go before they attain the political overlook anymore. do Cuban-Americans in South power of Miami's Cuban-Americans. Florida, the history of Latinos in this Why be more like Miami? For one THE LARGEST MINORITY country would be quite different. thing, it is the only city in this coun- According to official census figures, Cuban-Americans represent more try that treats Latinos like first-class there are more than 30 million than half of the population of Miami- citizens. In schools, restaurants, gov- Latinos in the US, representing more Dade County, and at election time ernment offices and movie theaters, than 10% of the total population. they turn out in force. That's why Latinos receive equal treatment. However, the true figure is almost South Florida's top political posts are (Please note that residents of other certainly higher, since official surveys held by Latinos, and Latino concerns cities are urged not to emulate do not include illegal immigrants. are a high priority for all candidates, Miami's corruption scandals and Moreover, the Latino population is regardless of their race or ethnic ori- electoral frauds). growing at faster rate than other eth- gin. The political might of Cuban- The success that Latinos have nic groups; on average, Latinos have Americans is felt as far away as achieved in Miami has yet to be more children than US whites or Washington, D.C., and plays an repeated at the national level. If African-Americans. The National important role in shaping US policy Latinos make up 10% of the US pop- Center for Health Statistics reports toward Cuba. ulation, then they should occupy a that in 1995, Latinos accounted for Miami is the best example of what proportional number of Senate seats. 18% of all births in the US. could and should happen in other At present, however, there is not a In addition, the 1997 joint US- cities where Latinos are poised to single senator with the last name Mexican Binational Study of become a majority. Almost 40% of Perez, Suirez or Rodriguez. the population of Los Angeles, for example, is Latino. For the city gov- MONEY TALKS Jorge Ramos Avalos is a journalist and ernment to be truly representative, Latino demographic growth has co-anchor of Univision's nightly news- four out of every 10 municipal offi- had a more direct impact when it cast. cials should be Latino; for that mat- comes to the economy. Like an ad

4 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three N T A R Y

America's fastest-growing minority still comes as a surprise

for a used-car dealership or mattress Latinos don't just determine what economy. In the most extensive study emporium, the US has made it very gets shown on television in many to date, the National Academy of clear that "what counts here is cash!" major cities in this country; they also Sciences estimated that immigrants to The most listened-to radio stations have a strong influence over the type this country-mostly Latinos- in Los Angeles broadcast in Spanish, of merchandise that is sold in stores. contribute $10 billion a year to the much to the chagrin of their English- Already more tortillas are sold in the nation's economy. In other words, language competitors. And for the US than bagels, and more salsa than immigrants are big business. Entire evening news, most Angelinos tune in ketchup. Big stores like Sears have sectors of the economy, such as the to one of several choices in Spanish. found it necessary to adapt to Latino textile, agricultural and service indus- It goes without saying that the tastes and styles, which means more tries-including restaurants, hotels Spanish-language media dominate black brassieres and fewer pairs of and cleaning services-depend on the market in Miami. So why is checkered pants. Latino workers, especially illegal ones. English-language ad space still more All of this can be attributed not In addition, thousands of US families expensive? only to a Latino cultural invasion, but leave their children in the hands of Unfortunately, big audiences don't to growing consumer buying power immigrant nannies and day-care necessarily mean big income. Many on the part of Latino shoppers. A workers. All of this adds up to a level US companies are still reluctant to recent University of Southern of Latino influence that would have invest in Spanish-language advertis- California study found that the aver- seemed incredible only a few years ing, although there has been signifi- age annual income of Latino males ago. cant progress in this area. According increased from $14,900 to $18,900 in to the New York Times, in 1997 AT&T the last 10 years. The same study con- IDENTTY CISIS invested $1.4 billion in ads that tar- cluded that immigrants in California The discovery and rediscovery of geted Latinos, a 14% increase over are learning English and escaping Latinos will continue indefinitely in the company's spending the year poverty at an unprecedented rate. this country, especially in those areas before. Other companies are follow- Latin American immigrants make without a strong Latino presence. ing suit. an enormous contribution to the US But as Latinos continue to grow in numbers and political clout, it won't be necessary for CNN to let the world know that we're here and we count. To reach this level of acceptance will be an uphill battle, full of roadblocks and obstacles. The anti- immigrant and anti-Latino sentiment in this country-manifest in all its racial bigotry in California's Propositions 187 and 209-is still run- ning strong. The US is in the midst of an identity crisis; it doesn't dare look in the mirror to see its own mul- tiracial and multicultural reflection. Many white Americans refuse to accept that the US stopped being a predominantly Anglo country a long time ago. That's why Latinos are constantly being rediscovered, and why Mexican-American participants in a Cinco de Mayo parade in Santa Barbara, the rest of the country is always so California flaunt their dual identity. surprised to see us. U

Hemisphere * Volume Eight, Number Three 5 Commentary

Winds of Change Uva de Arag6n

ith the fall of the ing the government from the people, American community as a homoge- Berlin War and shouldn't we do the same? Many who nous bloc. The common stereotype is the collapse of the made the trip describe it as an experi- of a group of rabidly anti-communist, Soviet Empire in ence that changed their lives. conservative Republicans who sup- the late 1980s, The visit also had a powerful port violent methods and harsh legis- Cuban-Americans impact on those who stayed at home, lation such as the Helms-Burton Act began to speak enthusiastically about their eyes glued to the television to overthrow the Cuban government. a post-Castro era. Many in the com- screen. The spectacle of thousands of This description fits a vocal portion of munity expected that the Cuban Cubans attending Mass across the the community, the so-called "hard- regime would soon succumb to the island, singing religious songs and liners." And yet, a substantial percent- same pressures that had defeated applauding the pope's homilies-so age of Cuban-Americans disagrees communism in most of Europe. Few different from the official govern- with these goals, favoring instead a imagined that a different series of ment slogans-and, above all, the peaceful transition characterized by events would play a potentially more shouts of "Libertad!Libertad! Libertad!" gradual change, reconciliation, cultur- decisive role in shaping the island's made Cubans on this side of the Gulf al and academic exchange, and future. feel they were witnessing a miracle. bridges between the island and exile Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba Many of those who didn't make the communities. In both communi- last January spawned a major polemic trip regretted their decision. In a sur- ties-for the exile community is, in in Miami, the US city with the highest prising turnaround, several leading reality, a reflection of Cuba-the offi- concentration of Cuban-Americans. critics of the cruise publicly apolo- cial discourse often contrasts with On the one hand, those opposed to gized for their mistake. deeper popular undercurrents. Proof the visit argued that the pope's pres- The pope's visit was magical in yet of this statement lies in the fact that ence would legitimate the Castro another way: It brought different the first to violate if not the letter, regime, thereby prolonging the suf- generations together. Grandmothers then the spirit of the US embargo fering of the Cuban people. These who had taught their children to pray against Cuba are those Cuban- critics vehemently objected to plans to the Virgen de la Caridad,parents Americans who visit or send hard cur- by some Cuban exiles to travel to the who never let go of their nostalgia for rency to their families back home. island; ultimately, the pressure they the old country, teenagers trying to Both family visits and remittances are generated was so strong that Miami come to terms with their own identi- relatively recent phenomena, but the Archbishop Clemente Favarola was ty-all joined in a tearful embrace. ideological differences they reveal forced to cancel a cruise he had The miracles of faith and technology have long characterized the exile reserved for hundreds of the faithful. allowed them to share a transcendent community. For supporters, on the other hand, moment with their countrymen in The post-papal era is part of an the pope's visit marked a crucial turn- Cuba. ongoing process of change, whose ori- ing point. People who otherwise The months have passed, and on gins can be traced as far back as 1978. would never have thought of return- the surface things haven't changed That was the year that the Castro gov- ing to Cuba under the current regime much either in Cuba or in the exile ernment convoked a "representative" felt a desire to join the pope in prayer community. The pope's visit and the group of exiles for a dialogue that in the country of their birth. If the magic it generated have begun to resulted in the release of a number of pope is willing and humble enough seem parenthetical. If we look deep- political prisoners, some of whom had to hold a dialogue with Castro, they er into Cuban and Cuban-American been in jail for the past 20 years. The reasoned, if he is capable of separat- society, however, certain changes are regime also agreed to allow the apparent. return of the gusanos-or "worms," a Any analysis of these changes must pejorative way of referring to Cuban Uva de Aragon is assistant director of take into account the unfortunate exiles-now metamorphosed into the Cuban Research Institute at Florida tendency, both in this country and "butterflies," who were invited to visit International University. elsewhere. to view the Cuban- bearing gifts and photos of their

6 Hemisphere 9 Volume Eight, Number Three Commentary

Cuban-Americans in the post-papal era

exiles-one of them 73 years old- taking a boat to Cuba in a symbolic gesture of defiance towards the Castro regime. The clearest fact to emerge from this confusion is that a greater variety of voices is being heard in Miami today. Cuban intellectuals participate in seminars and colloquia, and artists from the island perform without sparking violent protests. Only certain venues-most notably, the radio-have been slower to reflect changing attitudes. Furthermore, the death last November ofJorge Mas Canosa, the leader of the Cuban- American National Foundation, houses, cars and other fruits of the regime, but they had grown up eating prompted widespread speculation American Dream. These concessions treats at Coppelia-a famous Havana concerning the decline of the more poked the first holes in the carefully ice-cream parlor-and listening to the orthodox camp of the exile commu- constructed wall designed to separate revolutionary songs of Silvio nity. A broader perspective on such Cubans from their diaspora. Since Rodriguez. It was impossible for events, however, suggests that they then, an invisible web has linked them to reject everything connected owe more to an ongoing, complex Cubans on both sides of the Straits of to post-revolutionary Cuba without process of change than to the death Florida, enabling dialogue at the denying their own pasts. of a single man, much less one who humanitarian level. These changes in the composition was a master at changing tack accord- The more than 100,000 marielitos of the Cuban-American population ing to the prevailing winds. who arrived on US shores in 1980 have been accompanied by significant Today, those winds are blowing tid- made an additional impact on Cuban- transformations on the island itself. ings of peace. Cubans everywhere American relations. The Mariel Many Cubans feared-and others are fed up with empty rhetoric and boatlift forced the old guard of hoped-that the fall of communism senseless violence; they are setting Cuban exiles to confront the reality of would mean the end of the Castro aside their guns for a chance to an island that many had last seen over regime as well. While the official enter into a meaningful dialogue. two decades earlier, while the new rhetoric remained as strident as ever, The fall of communism has left an immigrants' efforts to maintain their underneath the surface the popular ideological void in Cuba, while in ties to relatives and friends increased discourse began to soften, and rela- the United States, the economic suc- the level of contact between Havana tions with family members abroad to cess achieved by many Cuban- and Miami. The same trend become less tense. Americans has done little to com- occurred in 1994 following the mass The range of contradictory events pensate for the lack of a country arrival of balseros, refugees who made reported by the Miami press reflects they can call their own. This anxiety the crossing in makeshift boats and the complex reality of Cuba and the has been aggravated recently by the rafts. Cuban-American community today. anti-immigration sentiment sweep- In contrast to the entrenched exile In the same week you can read about ing across much of the US. The community, most of the new arrivals performers from the island drawing pope chose the right time to preach had never know any other Cuba than crowds of Miami fans more interested love and reconciliation; in Cuba and that of Fidel Castro. They may have in music than in politics, and a surre- the US, his message did not fall on had political grievances against the al invasion attempt by three aging deaf ears. U

Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three 7 R E P Stones in the Water

Terry Rey

ousted democratically Haiti as a nation bears the scars of debilitating psychological elected Jean-Bertrand he military regime that trauma. These scars represent a formidable obstacle to social T Aristide from power in a September 1991 coup reconciliation and a stable democratic society based on the rule ruled Haiti until a US military intervention returned the of law and respect for human rights. priest-turned-president to Port-au- Prince in October of 1994. During the army's three-year reign, the pop- human rights abuse and their fami- Razafimbahiny, who headed the ular sector of Haitian civil society, lies; 2) troublesome trends in the use UN/OAS Human Rights Civil decidedly pro-Aristide and anti-junta, of unnecessary force and the abuse Observer Mission's Medical Unit was subjected to a brutal campaign of power by members of the current during the height ofjunta violence, of organized violence and human Haitian National Police (Police correctly draw attention to the sober- rights abuses. Estimates indicate Nationale Haitienne, or PNH); and ing fact that when assessing "the 5,000 summary executions or disap- 3) the spectacular failure of the affected community...that constitut- pearances; hundreds, if not thou- Haitian judicial system to prosecute ed the target of the repression, it is sands, of victims of politically moti- human rights violators from both the civil society itself that is in question." vated rape; at least 250,000 internally coup and post-coup periods and to In effect, Haiti as a nation today displaced refugees, with tens of thou- guarantee the rights of the citizenry. bears the scars of debilitating psycho- sands more transformed by the ter- Unless these problems are resolved, logical trauma. These scars repre- ror into "boat people"; widespread Haiti seems likely to regress into yet sent a formidable obstacle on the torture and atrocities; and thousands another human rights nightmare. path to social reconciliation and a of families left to fend for themselves stable democratic society based on after breadwinners were forced into RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR the rule of law and respect for hiding. REHABILITATION human rights. At this juncture in While it may be that "by mid-1996, Abuses committed by the Haitian Haitian history, assert Marotte and human rights violations... had Armed Forces (Forces Armees Razafimbahiny, to the traditional list declined so propitiously" that we may d'Haiti, or FAdH) and their paramili- of fundamental human rights must now speak of Haiti's "relative free- tary supporters against members of be added the right of victims to reha- dom from human rights abuse," as Haiti's teeming web of grassroots bilitation. The first step, they argue, seasoned Haiti observer Robert organizations and their families were "is the recognition of this rehabilita- Maguire puts it, three grave prob- so widespread from September 1991 tion as a right and a priority." lems face Haiti's fragile democracy to September 1994 that a recent Thanks to the efforts of Marotte, and seriously threaten its improved study found that fully 80% of the Razafimbahiny and the USAID- human rights climate: 1) the lack of Haitian population was either direct- financed Human Rights Fund, extensive psychological rehabilitation ly or indirectly victimized. This fig- important groundwork has already of both direct and indirect victims of ure might be greeted with skepticism been laid for the establishment of a by all but the victims and their fami- national Haitian center for the reha- lies themselves, their communities, bilitation of victims of organized vio- Terry Rey is assistantprofessor of and the network of Haitian and lence. A conference on rehabilita- African and Caribbean religions at international NGOs that, greatly tion held by the Fund in Port-au- FloridaInternational University and a overwhelmed, struggled to provide Prince in March 1997 attracted rep- former professor of sociology of religion at them with care and support. resentatives of the Haitian govern- L'Universitid'Etat d'Haiti in Port-au- Commenting on the enormous size ment, the Haitian National Truth Prince, where he worked for five years as of the coup-period victim pool, Drs. and Justice Commission, the UN, the a human rights activist. Cecile Marotte and Herv6 OAS, the European Union, the

8 Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three The ongoing struggle for human rights in Haiti

Children at a relief center, Gonaives, Haiti. The army's three-year reigin from September 1991 to October 1994 produced at least 250,000 internally displaced refugees.

American and other embassies or further this goal. More significant, human rights NGOs have focused consulates, the Harvard School of however, was the unprecedented will- their efforts primarily on issues of Social Medicine, and leading Haitian ingness to work with US-supported redress for violations committed by activists, attorneys and health profes- organizations demonstrated by some the former junta. Unfortunately, sionals. Though overall the event was of the most important Haitian abuses did not end with President tempered by a pessimistic tone, sever- human rights NGOs. These groups Aristide's dissolution of the FAdH al important steps were taken toward traditionally mistrust any initiatives soon after his return. While cases of the center's realization. The partici- linked to American influence. systematic, state-sponsored, politically pants almost unanimously affirmed motivated human rights violations the need for such a program and THE POLICE FORCES have been relatively few in the inter- established important national and Since the restoration of deumocrat- im, an increasing number of griev- international collaborative links to ic order in October 1994, Haitian ous abuses implicating members of

Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three 9 Reports: Haiti

the US-trained PNH is cause for serious concern. A January 1997 Human Rights Watch/Americas report noted that trends developing in the PNH's abuse of power were alarming." Recent calamitous police operations to quell social unrest in Mirebalais and Milot (in February and March 1998, respec- 1U tively) hardly allay such concerns; through July 1997, the Human Rights Fund documented over 200 cases of alleged violations committed by PNH agents, ranging from sum- A mary executions and torture to extortion and intimidation. Tellingly, the Fund's legal assistance b program for victims of police brutali- ty was paralyzed by the almost cate- gorical unwillingness of Haitian attorneys to take on cases against

_ _ _ --- accused officers out of fear of retri- bution. It thus appears that intimidation techniques mastered by the FAdH have been adopted by elements of the PNH, which only stands to reason, since the PNH itself ------absorbed over 700 ex-FAdH members into its force, and many PNH leadership positions have been filled by former soldiers. Another reason for "alarming" trends in human rights abuse committed by PNH officers is the haste with which the initial PNH contingents were trained and fielded. Instead of the customary 12 months of training, the first rookie cadets were deployed after only four months. "We were stupid," says a US official of that approach. Human rights violations implicating members of the young police force are attributable at least in part to the remunerative advantages of collaborating with drug cartels and smugglers. Poor administrative and material support to officers in the field and frustration with an ineffec- tive judiciary are also important factors. Many officers, especially in rural posts, complain that urban PNH administrators ignore their The future of the human rights struggle in Haiti will depend on homegrown forces for requests for supplies and to be paid change and genuine national will. on time. Weak or corrupt supervi-

10 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Reports: Haiti

sion has resulted in no fewer than to prosecute criminals successfully. not turned over to Haitian authori- seven entire contingents deserting This situation understandably breeds ties until Washington had ample their posts, while other PNH units frustrations within the PNH. As time to delete sensitive material, and have been bought out by traditional weak administrative, material and the bulk of these materials reported- power-wielders, including land judicial support structures erode ly remain in US custody. Those barons and drug dealers. PNH abus- PNH morale even further, we can engaged in the struggle for justice es tend to be geographically concen- expect to see an increase in human and human rights in Haiti thus con- trated in epicenters of black market rights abuses by the police forces. vincingly argue that in spite of hav- smuggling, such as Petit-Goave ing ousted the oppressive putschist (whose first PNH chief was arrested ASSESSING THE ROLE OF THE US regime from power, the US has, in for complicity in such activities), and Successful judicial reform is per- the larger context, ultimately failed the cocaine ports ofJacmel and haps the key to creating a sociopoliti- the Haitian people. Bainet. In June 1994, several Bainet cal climate in which respect for In the long run, the human rights fishermen and their families were human rights in Haiti can move struggle in Haiti must be won by arrested and interrogated by PNH from the episodic, where it seems Haitians with sincere international officers as to the whereabouts of now to stand, to the foundational. support. For the time being, Haiti cocaine that had evidently been The title of Amnesty International's relies on foreign donors to fund tossed overboard when a drug deal January 1997 report, "Haiti: A such vital programs as training of either went bad or came under sur- Question ofJustice," reflects the cen- new PNH recruits and officers veillance at sea. Four of the victims, trality of this issue. US Mission already in the field, material support one of them five months pregnant, rhetoric also indicates that reform- for the national civilian police force, were allegedly tied to a tree in the ing and strengthening the judicial victim rehabilitation and aggressive back yard of the local police station system is high on its list of priorities judicial reform. There is no foreign and beaten for three days, while a for Haiti. Washington's commit- substitute, however, for the other 10-year-old boy had a pistol fired ment to justice and human rights in critical requirement for progress: beside his ear in an attempt to make Haiti, however, is questionable at genuine national will. This force for him divulge information. He suf- best, given US complicity in training change must be homegrown and fered permanent hearing loss and and supporting some of the most fla- generated through a "de- the pregnant woman lost her baby. grant human rights abusers. dichotomization" of Haitian society. While such cases implicate obvi- Perhaps more dreaded than the Responsibility for this task, as ously corrupt and immoral officers, FAdH were their paramilitary sup- Maguire rightly notes, belongs to even the best-intentioned recruits porters, many of whom were mem- both the powerful and the dispos- work under arduous conditions and bers of the Revolutionary Front for sessed, and involves "the need for sometimes snap under pressure. the Progress and Advancement of those Haitians long accustomed to Such cases often result in excessive Haiti (Front Revolutionnaire Pour regarding the majority of their fellow use of force or disregard for citizens' l'Avancement et le Progres d'Haiti, citizens as draft animals for the use rights. For example, in Port-a- or FRAPH). The leader of this in the creation and continuation of Piment, a southern coastal town of group, Emmanuel Constant, has their own well-being to recognize the 5,000 inhabitants where there is no revealed that he was on the CIA's legitimate aspirations of those peo- electricity, the PNH contingent has payroll during his organization's ple to improve their lives." At the neither a single flashlight nor a func- reign of terror. Rather than assist same time, Haiti's marginalized peo- tioning vehicle with which to cover the Haitian judicial system in bring- ples must "demonstrate openly and the vast zone under its jurisdiction. ing Constant to justice for perhaps with increasing determination their In August 1996 officers there justi- thousands of cases of human rights intentions to engage in change con- fied shooting an unarmed man who abuse, the US State Department structively, not destructively." At pre- was demanding payment for having allowed him to slip out of Haiti in sent, Haitian social reality can be fixed the police motorcycle tires. As December 1994 and settle in summed up in the words of an old their sergeant explained, "We had Queens, New York on a tourist visa. Creole proverb: Roch nan dlo pa kon not been paid in four months at that US authorities have since denied doulh roch nan soley (the stone in the point in time, so he could not be tol- Haitian government requests for water knows not the pain of the erated for his impatience!" Officers Constant's extradition, instead grant- stone in the sun). Until this situa- who follow legal arrest proceedings ing him a work permit. FRAPH doc- tion can be reversed, true respect often see their prisoners go free due uments seized during the US mili- for human rights in Haiti will surely to the inability of the justice system tary intervention, moreover, were remain elusive. U

Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three 11 Reports: Guatemala

Guatemala's Critical Juncture

J. Patrice McSherry

from military rule uatemala'shas been slow transition and G difficult, at times traumatic. Today the country stands at a critical juncture, when the danger of reversals is palpable. In December 1996, the mood was opti- mistic as the government of conservative president Alvaro Arzn and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), the umbrella insurgent organization, signed final peace accords. This historic agreement represented the hopes of a large majority of Guatemalans for social justice, the rule of law and political democracy after 36 years of internal war. Thousands of people marched and rallied in the central plaza of the gritty capital city the night of the official signing. An unaccustomed sense of liberation and hope permeated the air. Since then, conditions have deteriorated rapidly, putting at risk the peace process and the slow transition from authoritarianism to democracy. The heavy hand of fear Guatemalans. Implementation of owned plantations. Combined has descended again, due to the the peace accords has been delayed police and army forces patrol the assassination of several public fig- by the right wing in Congress, which streets, especially at night. The army ures and renewed threats by shad- is blocking required constitutional thus continues to exercise an inter- owy groups, as well as a plague of reforms. (The accords specify fun- nal security role, and the new civil criminality that makes daily tasks a damental changes to the 1985 con- police force incorporates retired sol- treacherous undertaking for most stitution, a holdover from the mili- diers, undermining the accord on tary state that institutionalized the the military's role in democratic military's counterinsurgency mis- society. Disillusionment with j Patrice McSherry, assistantprofessor sion and ideology). Civilian institu- democracy and the peace process is of political science at Long Island tions are weak, the military and spreading among the population. University/Brooklyn, is the author of intelligence forces remain powerful, The case of Guatemala demands a Incomplete Transition: Military Power and the Arzn administration has rethinking of concepts of democra- and Democracy in Argentina (St. shown authoritarian tendencies. cy that make free elections and civil- Martin's Press, 1997), and a number of Life has not improved for the ian institutions their central defin- articles on the role of the military. She majority, and desperate campesinos, ing features. These are necessary thanks Radl Molina Mejia fir his com- led by a former Catholic priest, have but insufficient components of ments on this article. resumed their invasions of elite- meaningful democracy. This article

1 2 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Reports: Guatemala

Rethinking concepts of democracy

Since the Guatemalan peace accords were signed in December 1996, conditions have deteriorated rapidly, putting at risk the peace process and the slow transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Life has not improved for the majority; civilian institutions are weak, and the military and intelligence forces remain powerful.

report documented in graphic Two days after the report was pre- detail the repression in Guatemala sented, Bishop Gerardi was blud- and the destruction of whole com- geoned to death in his garage. The munities and tens of thousands of murderer or murderers used a con- lives by the armed forces and associ- crete block to smash his face and ated police, intelligence and para- skull. Nothing was stolen. military organizations during the Almost immediately the police 1980s. The report was based on tes- arrested a local indigent, Carlos timonies gathered by church volun- Enrique Vielman, even though he teers during the previous three has a crippled right arm-making it years in remote regions of the coun- virtually impossible for him to have try, often in local Mayan languages. committed the crime. REMHI worked independently of Developments over the next the government and the military, months caused the Office of and its efforts were separate from Human Rights of the Archbishop of those of the Truth Commission Guatemala (ODHA) and other established with the help of the human rights leaders to voice suspi- United Nations as part of the peace cions that military intelligence offi- accords. cials were attempting to derail the The REMHI report made clear investigation. the utter depravity of military coun- Government officials implied terinsurgency strategy in the coun- from the outset that the murder of tryside: the scorched earth tactics; Bishop Gerardi was a common argues that a modicum of social jus- the targeting of indigenous children street crime. In contrast, ODHA tice and the rule of law are also and pregnant women (often killed argued that the crime was not an essential requisites of democracy. with machetes); the calculated isolated event, but indicated "the Despite the formal transition from dehumanization of victims, who persistence of sinister, clandestine, military to civilian rule in 1986 and were made to dance, perform sexu- violent groups disposed to collect the renewal of regular elections, al acts, or cook for soldiers in the the highest social cost in human democracy remains thin, and pre- midst of massacres; the use of inde- lives in order to recuperate the carious, in Guatemala. scribable tortures to create terror in power that has been ebbing, not the community. In a penetrating only economic and political power THE GERARDI ASSASSINATION: analysis, the report showed how "in but also, especially, the power to EVOKING THE LEGACY OF FEAR the first years of the 1980s the policy decide with impunity the life and In April 1998, Guatemalan of counterinsurgency was converted death of Guatemalans." Not until Auxiliary Bishop Monsignor Juan into terrorism of the State, bringing June did authorities announce that Gerardi presided over a public pre- with it a process of massive destruc- they were considering the possibility sentation of the report of the tion." In its essence, the report was of political motivation. Members of Catholic Church's Project to a stunning indictment of the nation- the presidential guard on duty the Recover Historical Memory al security state and the armed and night of the crime were called in for (REMHI) in Guatemala City. The security forces. questioning on June 2. The guard

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 13 Reports: Guatemala

- N .'V

<~' 2

During Guatemala's civil war, the military counterinsurgency strategy in the countryside involved scorched-earth tactics, the targeting of indigenous children and pregnant women, and the calculated dehumanization of victims.

is commanded by the Presidential ing to other investigations were Guatemalans suspected that an offi- General Staff, a military unit with a stolen. These incidents lent cre- cially sanctioned coverup was in history of human rights violations. dence to accusations by opposition progress. Vielman's defense attorney insisted Congressman Amilcar Mendez that Terror and impunity have long that the murder was a "crime of pas- key figures in the Public Ministry- been potent weapons for social and sion" and hinted that it might have which is leading the Gerardi investi- political control in Guatemala. resulted from a homosexual tryst. gation-are linked to military intel- Today, many Guatemalans believe The church rejected his accusations, ligence, and were in the past that powerful organizations within as did some government officials. involved in organizations that car- the country's political, military and Edgar Guti6rrez, director of the ried out disappearances and mur- economic elites continue to employ REMHI project, said publicly that ders. a strategy of selective political vio- Vielman's lawyer was spreading mili- In a stunning announcement in lence to impede democratization, tary disinformation and implied July, ODHA said that two military block socioeconomic and political that military intelligence was officers-one a high-ranking, active change, and bolster their own employing a "psyops" (psychological duty officer in the Presidential power. The military's tendency to operations) strategy to cover up the General Staff-were involved in the regard legal political activity as sub- crime. assassination and were known to the versive also perpetuates an atmos- Also in June, six houses linked to government. Several days later, in a phere of fear in Guatemala. ODHA activists or employees were spectacularly large operation, police According to an intelligence docu- broken into and searched, and com- arrested the other priest living in ment leaked to the newspaper El puter files on the Gerardi case and the bishop's residence and detained Peiddico in 1997, the armed forces video cassettes of exhumations relat- his cook and his dog. Many continue to conduct surveillance

1 4 Hemisphere * Volume Eight, Number Three Reports: Guatemala

against student organizations, credibility of the electoral process. why), and if social resources include unions and the URNG (now form- The poor turnout also reflected the political and economic goods, then ing a legal political party) despite reawakening of fear and disillusion- surely democracy means a more the peace accords. ment with the governing party's use egalitarian distribution of both. The bishop's murder was one of of old methods of electoral manipu- This, in turn, implies a broader con- several recent assassinations that lation. As the 1999 presidential cept of democracy. Certainly for seemed calculated to resuscitate elections approach, FDNG leaders people who have struggled and died fear. In May, the victims included are proposing an electoral alliance in order to achieve it, democracy the mayor of Santa Cruz del of center-left forces-including left- means much more than an electoral Quiche, who was associated with the ist parties, popular organizations system: it symbolizes less inequality, center-left Frente Democritico and the URNG-to oppose PAN less exploitation, more fairness, Nueva Guatemala (FDNG), and the and the extreme right Frente more freedom and more justice. In district prosecutor of Retalhuleu Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG), other words, a procedural frame- (whose docket included the case of the party of former military dictator work is necessary, but content and Efrain Bimaca, the guerrilla who Efrain Rios Montt. substance are also required. The was married to US lawyer Jennifer Meanwhile, common crime and act of voting is instrumental; people Harbury). Death threats were sent delinquency are epidemic. Armed do not vote simply for the joy of to FDNG candidates immediately individuals and gangs enter buses casting ballots, but in the hope of before the June municipal elections, and assault and rob passengers, peo- improving their lives. Without made in the name ofJaguar ple are robbed in the streets and meaningful socioeconomic and Justiciero, a death squad linked in kidnapped in their cars. Former political change, elections become the past to sectors of the military. military personnel are widely sus- pro-forma and the system loses legit- Also in May, Father Pedro Nota of pected (and sometimes document- imacy. REMHI left the country after received) to be involved in criminal gangs The rule of law is another funda- ing death threats. Late in the engaged in drug trafficking, car mental component of democracy. month a bomb destroyed the house theft rings, extortion-kidnappings The rule of law signifies equality of an FDNG mayoral candidate in and other crimes. The absence of before the law-one standard for Dolores, Peten. Threats were sent basic public security has political rich and poor, rulers and ruled-as to a number of prosecutors in the effects, as a frustrated public begins well as enforcement of citizenship Public Ministry, many of whom said to associate democracy with lawless- rights and limits to the arbitrary they would resign without govern- ness. There are indications that exercise of state power. In Latin ment protection. In June, human some Guatemalans might accept a America, however, democratic pro- rights and Mayan leaders were sub- return to la mano dura, or hard-line cedures have often coexisted with jected to death threats and surveil- rule (for example, by voting for double standards and impunity for lance by armed men, and in July, Rios Montt's party), a situation that the powerful. In Guatemala, the another priest was wounded by would benefit the most reactionary rule of law remains tenuous. Rights armed gunmen. elements of the elite. are violated and public insecurity prevails; impunity shields those who THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: AN CONCLUSIONS commit atrocious acts. The REMHI EXERCISE IN ABSTENTIONISM Contemporary scholarly concepts report speaks of the deep and unre- Elections in 30 municipalities of democracy generally emphasize quited need for justice in took place on June 7 in the midst of procedural requirements, such as Guatemala. Without justice and the threats against opposition candi- free elections and constitutional rule of law, without basic rights, dates and charges that the govern- institutions. According to this view, democracy is hollow. ing party, the Partido de Avanzada democracy is the framework of insti- Democratic organizations and Nacional (PAN), was engaged in tutions and practices that permits individuals in Guatemala are striv- fraud, intimidation and vote-buying. people to choose their rulers freely, ing for a democracy of social justice, PAN won 22 of the towns. In quite separate from issues of socioe- political inclusion and basic rights. Chinautla, five opposition parties conomic equality. Simultaneously, powerful forces are challenged the election results and The case of Guatemala, among acting in subterranean ways to demanded that they be annulled. others, suggests that this definition retain their hegemony and impede The degree of abstentionism-only is too narrow. If politics is about social change. The shadow of the some 35% of the electorate voted- how scarce resources in society are past still hangs heavily over indicated that citizens doubted the allocated (who gets what, how and Guatemala. U

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 15 S P E C I A L R E P O R T : T H Beyond the Washington Consensus William C. Smith

enced a number of doctrinal shifts, democracy and combat- highlighting the salience of several ingails forpoverty strengthening rivaled eco- themes (e.g., the need to fight cor- C nomic integration and ruption and protect property rights) trade-related issues for absent in the original version. The center stage at the reforms proposed offer few improve- Santiago Summit. A foretaste of this ments over the original model. discourse came shortly before the Strengthening political parties and Summit at a meeting of the the electoral system, guaranteeing Montevideo Circle in Brasilia, where the independence of the judiciary, International Monetary Fund direc- increasing transparency and efficien- tor Michel Camdessus, Inter- cy in public spending and other pri- American Development Bank presi- CUMBRE orities of the Southern Consensus dent Enrique Iglesias and Brazilian are welcome, of course. And yet, at president Fernando Henrique least a mild case of collective schizo- Cardoso joined the rising chorus of DE LAS AMERICAS phrenia is evident in the calls for politicians, international technocrats new, innovative strategies to combat and academics proposing a "new CHILE 1998 poverty, reduce inequality and generation" of reforms for Latin strengthen civil society, while simul- America. All seemed to agree on taneously reiterating the neoclassical the need to overhaul the region's promote wealth distribution. core of the Washingtonian formula democratic political systems, which Will this embryonic "Southern for economic reform. Any signifi- were portrayed as the primary obsta- Consensus," as President Cardoso cant accomplishments in the areas cle to state reform and better living dubbed the convergence of views, of inequality, poverty and democracy standards for the majority of the be any more successful in combating will require transformations in the population. "In conditions of stable poverty and reducing inequality state systems and political growth," Iglesias said, "it could take than its predecessor, the now economies of the region far more the continent many years-between cliched Washington Consensus? sweeping than the limited reforms 50 and more than a century, Will the agreements signed by the agreed upon in Santiago. No quick depending on the country-to give hemisphere's presidents in Santiago fix-conceptually or in the policy all citizens a minimum level of well- usher in bold new strategies to pro- realm-will be sufficient. being on current wealth distribution mote sustainable growth and reduce trends." Citing survey data showing poverty and inequality? REVISITING OLD DEBATES: NEW that only 27% of Latin Americans Sadly, the answer to both these THEORIES OF GROWTH WITH EQUITY were satisfied with democracy, questions is probably "no." With the focus on hemispheric Iglesias warned that new measures Pessimism regarding the outcome integration and globalization, we were urgently needed to create jobs, of the Santiago Summit is warranted frequently lose sight of the enduring improve health and education, and given the close family resemblance debate over the supposed trade-off of the Southern Consensus and between growth and equity. other so-called "second-generation" Following the 1950s thinking William C. Smith is professor of political reforms to the failed Washington espoused by Simon Kuznets and science at the University of Miami's Consensus. Since it was first codi- Nicholas Kaldor, mainstream econo- School of InternationalStudies, where fied in 1989 by economist John mists and social scientists long he edits theJournalof Interamerican Williamson as the least common believed that poor countries under- Studies and World Affairs. He is the denominator the D.C. policy com- going rapid growth had to accept a author of numerous books and articles munity would support, the widening gap between the haves and on Latin American political economy. Washington Consensus has experi- have-nots. Within this context,

16 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three S A N T I A G O S U M M I T

Dissenting thoughts on democracy, equity and market economics

inequality was not usually seen as a other words, greater equity may bers of the middle or upper class in problem. A market-friendly eco- actually stimulate economic growth, the formation of social and human nomic regime based on "getting the not retard it. capital, such as literacy and health. prices right" was presented as the Although economists have not The poor also "save" by devoting sine qua non for achieving internal explored this angle, political scien- more family resources to children, and external macroeconomic equi- tists note that the new growth theo- feeding them better, taking them to librium, attracting domestic and for- ries differ significantly from their health clinics and sending them to eign investment, opening the econo- neoclassical predecessors concern- school. Therefore, less inequality my to international trade, and so ing the potentially more expansive together with greater investments in on. Only after growth takes off, role they implicitly ascribe to the social and human capital may be according to this perspective, is it state, public policies, and the con- just as important as investment in possible to address the ills of pover- scious choices of social and political factories and machinery in raising ty; in the meantime, modest "com- actors. Conventional approaches productivity and spurring more pensatory" social policies targeted at advocate rather passive state poli- dynamic economic growth. the most vulnerable groups may be cies, holding that economic growth Contrary to the neo-utilitarian, necessary for political reasons, but is a result of the accumulation of antistate bias of the Washington expenditures must be strictly con- physical capital and an expansion of Consensus and most of the rhetoric trolled in the interest of fiscal aus- the labor force, combined with an of the Santiago Summit, one of the terity. "exogenous" factor-technological implications of the new growth theo- In the 1990s, new empirical progress-that makes capital and ries downplayed by the World Bank research and theorizing on growth labor more productive. In contrast, is that the "magic of the market" or and the importance of "social capi- the new growth theories attribute the "invisible hand" unfettered by tal," plus the lessons of East Asian increases in productivity not to government simply won't do. development trajectories (which exogenous factors, but to "endoge- Reconsidering the role of the state relied on the redistribution of assets, nous" ones related to the behavior as part of a broader, more ambitious massive investments in human capi- of public and private actors respon- strategy of human development also tal, and strategic state policies to sible for the accumulation of pro- means rethinking the kinds of correct market failures and create ductive factors and knowledge. democracy capable of formulating competitive advantages), have seri- These behaviors are not immutable; and implementing a new growth ously eroded the conventional wis- they can be changed by deliberate strategy that puts combating poverty dom of Kuznets' "inverted-U" shifts in strategy and policy. and reducing inequality at the cen- hypothesis and its neoclassical Even if the old consensus on ter of the political agenda. In short, premises. Many social scientists now growth, poverty and inequality although the range of options may perceive that greater income equali- becomes obsolete, forcing greater be highly constrained, there are ty is not only compatible with but equality by any means available is important choices to be made. perhaps even a prerequisite for not a viable strategy for sustainable Making choices necessarily means faster growth. According to this development. The policies imple- that politics-not some allegedly major shift in economic thinking, mented to reduce inequality matter inexorable market logic-must the right policies-heavy emphasis greatly. A democratic reform agen- assume command in devising devel- on universal education and social da respects macroeconomic equilib- opment strategies for growth with policies with substantial grassroots rium while pursing strategies and greater equity. involvement-make it possible to policies that both empower the poor achieve both higher growth and and invest in projects that promise DEMOCRATIC SCENARIOS AND THE lower inequality. A direct cause-and- relatively quick and visible payoffs in "HIGH ROAD" TO GLOBALIZATION effect relationship may even exist terms of improved equity and equal- Democratic politics are compati- between policies that reduce ity. Poor people invest proportional- ble with a wide variety of capitalist inequality and faster growth; in ly more of their income than mem- models. Each of the contemporary

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 17 Special Report: The Santiago Summit

variants-ranging from the Anglo- American model and the social democratic capitalism of Western Europe to Asian models of state-led, S1 = Organic crisis but market-friendly capitalism-are 83 groping toward an accommodation S2 = Fragmented, exclu- with the forces of globalization. sionary democracy Although it may be true that global- U ization inevitably entails a certain S3 = Inclusionary demo- degree of convergence, there will U. M S4 cracy continue to be considerable nation- C al and regional variation in terms of S4 = Dual democratic policies, institutional forms, and pat- regime terns of income and wealth distribu- B tion. Cutting through a complex set B = Tensions worsen as of debates, the basic choice is U performance improves between "low road" versus "high road" strategies of incorporation C = Strategic juncture into the globalization process. Sl forcing government Several years ago, Argentine politi- response cal scientist Carlos Acuna and I spec- ulated about three broad democrat- sociopolitical conflict ic scenarios for the specific case of Latin America (see Figure 1). The first of these scenarios can be said to of market reform with stable, rela- Southern Consensus the only realis- involve a "low road," the second a tively consolidated, but fragmented tic option? Perhaps, but a more "middle road," and the third a "high and exclusionary democracy (S2). utopian posture is also an alterna- road" strategy. Considering its success in combin- tive. Why not adopt a high road In the context of market-oriented ing dynamic growth with lower route to democracy as the superior restructuring and accelerated glob- unemployment and declining pover- strategy for integration with global alization, the most probable sce- ty rates, Chile can be considered an market forces? The logical outcome nario for Latin American societies example of this middle road strate- of this utopian proposal is a scenario will be a "low-low" road strategy gy. But Chile's route to neoliberal leading to an inclusionary democra- leading to dualistic democracies restructuring with democratic con- cy (S3). Although seemingly "unre- (S4), in which political elites pursue solidation is not Latin America's alistic" in the present economic cir- Hobbesian strategies. This involves most probable politico-economic cumstances, it can be argued on establishing alliances with strategic future. On the contrary, successful normative and political grounds that minorities for the purpose of neoliberal revolution most likely will this scenario offers the best chance excluding the majority of the continue as an exception in the of addressing issues of poverty, equi- remaining social actors by disarticu- region. There is much to admire in ty and sustained growth under lating and neutralizing their capacity Chilean democracy, but it must be democratic conditions. It may be for collective action. A dual logic of recognized that part of its success in useful to go into some detail con- state power and unequal distribu- the 1990s is the consequence of cerning this reasoning. tion of resources facilitates political some of the most perverse aspects of Returning to point C in Figure 1, and economic stability in this sce- the authoritarian legacy inherited in this inclusionary scenario elected nario. According to this elitist logic, from the Pinochet regime, a legacy presidents and their economic and dualistic democratic regimes place that in many ways has been pre- political teams could choose to the transition costs of structural served and reproduced under abandon Hobbesian strategies. This adjustment as well as the long-term democratic conditions. would imply the reformulation of costs of opening the economy on If the Chilean middle road is not the decision-making process by the poor and unorganized sectors of replicable in other Latin American strengthening political parties and society. countries, then isn't resignation and fundamental social actors and incor- An intermediate, middle road sce- acceptance of modest proposals porating them more fully into the nario combines a full-blown variant such as those contained in the process of policy design and imple-

18 Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three Special Report: The Santiago Summit

mentation. This strategy represents tion. Historical comparisons and tempted to transgress social agree- an attempt to base democratic sta- the expected consequences of labor ments. Greater embeddedness of bility on broad social and political union participation in the decision- state institutions in civil society pacts that would assure major col- making process indicate that the would also endow elected officials lective actors that their interests distributional properties of the with the capacity gradually to would not be seriously hurt by the social democratic scenario would be reduce the risks of investment and market reforms associated with less regressive than either the low provide incentives for social actors structural adjustment and economic or middle road strategies. Equally to choose cooperative strategies opening. The logic underlying important, strong economic perfor- over confrontation, thus helping to democratic consolidation coincides mance with more equitable distribu- institutionalize distributional con- with social democratic models of tion of income and wealth, plus the flicts within the emergent democrat- capitalism. It also resonates with abandonment of Hobbesian pos- ic order. Here parts of the the general thrust of proposals call- tures, implies a relative deepening Southern Consensus and Santiago ing for, in Marcelo Cavarozzi's of procedural democracy. Summit proposals for state reform words, "the building of a new devel- The problem, as noted earlier, is and an aggiornamentoof democratic opmental state [that] has to reside that in Latin America this maximal- institutions are highly relevant. The in a mix of de-regulation and re- ist version of social democratic class challenge will be to ensure that regulation. It requires that the state compromise is probably not feasi- these institutional reforms go walk a narrow path of letting the ble. Nevertheless, it is important beyond conventional neoclassical market operate without choking it for political and policy reasons to perspectives to probe the limits of and, at the same time, playing a underscore the possibility of a mini- the social and political implications coordinating and overseeing role malist version of this scenario under of the new growth theories. that private firms left to themselves prevailing conditions. A more flexi- Strengthening procedural and sub- would not assume." ble, minimalist version of S3 would stantive democracy is the means to The advantage of the social require the initiation of closely achieve great equity in social democratic path is that, in common interrelated, long-term transforma- arrangements, and both are essen- with the Chilean middle road, this tions that would point in the direc- tial to achieving economic high road strategy can lead to a tion of maximalist objectives: state dynamism in the regional and glob- politico-economic equilibrium with reform, negotiation with and al orders. lower levels of social and political strengthening of collective actors, It is possible, and even probable, conflict and better economic per- politico-institutional reforms rein- that the project for a minimalist formance than at point C. As in S2, forcing parliamentary mechanisms, high road social democratic sce- important economic reforms (con- and the expansion of citizenship nario will fall short and constitute trol over fiscal deficits, privatization, rights. In fact, if electoral dynamics an equilibrium by itself, albeit a opening of the economy, etc.) may in the context of "encompassing" weak one. Still, if the goal is to be completed. Since the high road institutional arrangements compel a avoid low road outcomes while approach envisions more active gradual broadening of the reform pointing middle road experiments, state participation in the implemen- agenda, Chile could possibly go such as Chile, in a more progressive tation of social policies and growth beyond the middle road equilibri- direction, then even modest levels inducement than do the um and advance toward the high of redistribution and economic Washingtonian or Southern ver- road scenario. If this were to hap- growth under more democratic con- sions of economic reform, there are pen, the political and symbolic sig- ditions are not to be disdained. theoretically persuasive reasons to nificance of the Chilean model Deepening democracy beyond the believe that it is capable of generat- would radically change from its cur- electoral sphere and aggressively ing a stable macroeconomic equilib- rent status as exemplar of neoliber- combating poverty and inequality rium with dynamic growth. Such alism. should not be seen as "add-ons" growth would be similar to that In short, a successful post-neolib- espoused for ethical purposes or to achieved in the middle road option, eral reform agenda could initiate a bolster the legitimacy of schemes but with a greater emphasis on trajectory of democratic deepening. for market-driven reform. Strength- equity and more generous and The key reforms would rearticulate ening democracy, attacking poverty expansive compensation (via safety societal actors, enabling elected and reversing egregious social nets, social investments, skill officials to accumulate sufficient inequalities are prerequisites for retraining, etc.) for the "losers" in political legitimacy and administra- sustainable growth in a globalized the process of competitive integra- tive capacity to sanction those hemisphere. U

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 19 Special Report: The Santiago Summit

Islands Apart Emilio Pantojas-Garcia

ince the early 1980s, the Group of Three (Mexico, CBI. The rapid growth in apparel neoliberal views on eco- Colombia and Venezuela); the reac- assembly was fueled by another spe- nomic policy have tivation of the Central American cial preference program known as acquired increasing promi- Common Market; the creation of GAL (Guaranteed Access Level pro- nence throughout the the Association of Caribbean States; gram, or "807a" for its section in the world. The notion of the and a proposal for a Caribbean US Customs Code), which ensured superior efficiency, rationality and Community single market are exam- unrestricted access to the US market dynamism of the private entrepre- ples of the scramble for position by for apparel assembled in the neur and the marketplace has Caribbean Basin leaders. Caribbean Basin from fabric made become the dominant weltanschau- and cut in the US. Under this pro- ung among economic development THE CARIBBEAN PATH TO FREE TRADE gram, exports of assembled apparel experts and policy makers. This In the 1980s, Caribbean policy from the Caribbean to the US more shift in the development paradigm makers and entrepreneurs than doubled in only four years, has resulted in the adoption of embraced a set of pseudo-neoliberal from approximately $1.1 billion in regional, subregional and suprare- policies effecting a shift from state- 1987 to $2.5 billion in 1991. By gional policies aimed at trade liber- directed to market-centered devel- 1995, 807a exports to the US had alization, the impact of which is opment strategies. The new policies risen to $5.5 billion. highly debated. Most recently, the were not anchored on the principles Yet, in spite of growth in particu- second Summit of the Americas in of free trade, but on preferential lar industries, the early impact of Santiago, Chile brought together treatment of Caribbean commodi- these preferential regimes on export hemispheric leaders to discuss the ties by developed countries. The production was disappointing to US potential consequences of these tandem of preferential regimes that and Caribbean policy makers. policies. The following is an served as the framework for this cre- Between 1984 and 1988, US attempt to examine some of the ole neoliberalism started with the Department of Commerce figures implications for the future develop- launching of the Caribbean Basin showed that overall exports from ment of the insular Caribbean. Initiative (CBI) in August 1983, fol- CBI countries to the US declined The signing of the North lowed by other similar programs. from $8.9 to $6.2 billion. Exports American Free Trade Agreement Despite the free trade rhetoric that rose to $8.4 billion in 1991, but this (Nafta) was received by Caribbean surrounded them, these measures was partly due to the addition of political and economic leaders with constituted a neoprotectionist pack- Guyana to the list of CBI countries a forceful request for trade parity. age that fostered a process of eco- in 1988. In the short run, CBI- This request resulted in the intro- nomic restructuring centered induced exports did not compensate duction of a bill in the US Congress around labor- and import-intensive for the decline in traditional known as the Caribbean Trade export processing industries, known exports. Although by 1994 Security Act. It and other initiatives as maquiladoras. Maquila-type opera- Caribbean Basin exports to the US have sought the liberalization of tions with limited backward produc- had reached $12.2 billion, assem- regional trade to pave the way for tion linkages to the domestic econo- bled apparel accounted for $4.6 bil- accession to Nafta or full participa- my multiplied in newly established lion-more than one-third-of this tion in a Free Trade Area of the free trade zones (FTZs) in the amount. The value added by assem- Americas (FTAA). The creation of Caribbean. Among the products bled products was, on average, a that benefitted most from the CBI meager 25% or less, resulting in an and the new offshore sourcing estimated foreign exchange earning Emilio Pantojas-Garciais director of the arrangements were light manufac- capacity less than that of traditional Caribbean Resource Center at the tures and agroindustrial products. agricultural exports. University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, The apparel industry, the category US manufacturers have tradition- where he specializes in political sociology of light manufacturing that grew ally considered Caribbean coun- and the sociology of development. fastest, was not even covered by the tries-with the exceptions of Haiti

20 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Special Report: The Santiago Summit

The Caribbean struggles to keep pace with free trade

The Caribbean tourist sector is highly transnationalized and depends on imports for food, beverages and equipment. Resort-based complexes have homogenized their product to the point that it would be hard to tell the difference between a vacation in Cancun or in Barbados. -

and the Dominican Republic-to be - relatively high-cost producers, due to comparatively high wages and levels of unionization. Trade prefer- ences were designed so that Caribbean-based US and local manufacturers could establish operations able to compete in the US market with Asian- and Mexican-based manufacturers. But the CBI/GA!. regime was too short-lived to allow the Caribbean islands to become important competitive export platforms for assembly manufacturing. The enactment of Nafta just 10 years r after the CBI reestablished the corn- parative disadvantages of Caribbean countries as maquila-type export platforms vis-a-vis Mexico. In the short run, Mexico's low wages and proximity to the US, corn- bined with Nafta duty-free treat-

ment, give it a nearly insurmount- i; able competitive advantage over the Caribbean. In the textile industry, for example, freer market access under Nafta caused the value of Mexican textile and apparel exports to the US to grow exponentially, while the combined value of the four larger Caribbean exporters sagged. From 1994 to 1996, figures from the US International Trade Commission show that the value of Mexican textile and apparel exports to the US grew by 123%, while the combined exports of the Dominican -- -= - f

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 21 Special Report: The Santiago Summit

Republic, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Haiti increased by only 14%. In light of these developments, it seems clear that for the insular Caribbean, trying to maintain a competitive advantage in low-wage, labor-intensive maquiladoras is a self-defeating strategy. The only way to remain competitive as maquila export platforms is to deepen the social and economic disadvantages of the working population. Low- wage industries will continue to grow in those countries where policy makers are willing to go along with wage-lowering policies such as continued currency devaluations, reduc- tions in public services, and minimum or nonexistent fringe benefits. Clearly, the Caribbean must adopt alternative policies to compete in Despite the initial promise of export assembly manufacturing, Nafta merely accentuat- the new climate of economic ed the comparative disadvantages of Caribbean countries as maquila-type export plat- restructuring. forms vis-d-vis Mexico.

THE CARIBBEAN IN THE EMERGING HEMISPHERIC ORDER more complex transnationalization turnaround times, greater design The analysis of the still-emerging of economic space and further the flexibility, higher quality and so on. global division of labor, based on lib- vertical integration of production If the above arguments are cor- eralized trade and the freer flow of into vast global commodity chains. rect, then the crown jewels of the investment across national borders, What role will the Caribbean play new international trade agreements cannot be conceived as a mere geo- in the trend toward globalization? are the liberalization of trade and graphic reshuffling in the economic The drive towards free trade is investment in knowledge-intensive specialization of some regions. We accompanied by the emergence of industries and services. The cre- are witnessing a set of technological, new technologies and management ation of an FTAA will shift the com- institutional and economic transfor- practices within transnational corpo- petitive advantage to postindustrial mations that allow for greater global rations which enable the adoption activities; knowledge, technology, mobility of the factors of production on a global scale of flexible produc- creativity and management exper- (particularly capital and technology) tion and just-in-time industrial orga- tise, rather than location-specific fis- on a larger scale than ever before. nization. In this context, we can cal advantages, will be the key to suc- The various international agree- expect a retrenchment of traditional cess in the twenty-first century. In ments, treaties and institutions- assembly manufacturing activities the Caribbean, this trend can be such as the International Monetary relying on location-specific FTZs and defined as peripheral postindustrial- Fund, the General Agreement on the restructuring of labor-intensive ization. The emerging crop of Tariffs and Trade, and the World assembly manufacturing on a global maquiladoras will focus on knowl- Trade Organization-are helping to scale. Once goods and capital can edge-intensive industries and ser- implement and reinforce policies at move under global conditions and vices whose main imported inputs a level above and beyond the power supranational rules not easily affect- are knowledge and technology and of national governments. These ed by changes in national govern- whose main exports are royalties, emerging supranational regulatory ments and their policies, then pro- fees and profits. frameworks increase the freedom duction sourcing will shift more easi- The Caribbean already has com- and security of movement of ly and constantly from country to parative advantages in tourism and transnational corporations and open country or region to region, both banking, and has made substantial up nationally controlled resources. within and even between trade progress in telecommunications. In They simultaneously facilitate the areas, in search of lower costs, faster the 1980s, and in some cases earlier,

22 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Special Report: The Santiago Summit

many Caribbean countries devel- of a postindustrial strategy cannot overcome, small- and medium-sized oped banking facilities that served be premised on low wages as the key farmers in, for example, the as tax havens for international com- competitive advantage for establish- Windward Islands could meet many panies and entrepreneurs involved ing low-end tourism operations, of the needs of tourist resorts in in legal tax evasion schemes and electronic sweatshops or paper com- Barbados, Curacao, Antigua, outright illegal activities, such as panies that front for tax evasion and Martinique, Puerto Rico or even drug trafficking or money launder- money laundering schemes. Cuba. Freer trade could facilitate ing. At the same time, a successful Instead, the Caribbean needs a poli- Cuban imports of Venezuelan oil package tour resort-based tourist cy designed to exploit niches of and capital to produce fabricated industry developed in the Caribbean competitive excellence. The quality metals using surplus industrial as an alternative to other, more of human resources, infrastructure capacity. Or, a business alliance expensive destinations for North and services should be considered could be established between Puerto American tourists. And in the area essential components of any devel- Rican scientists and Cuban laborato- of telecommunications, domestic opment strategy. If the weather is a ries to take advantages of the exist- and international companies devel- natural comparative advantage, it ing pharmaceutical infrastructure oped a network of processing cen- need not be squandered and sold on both islands. In the area of ser- ters for "800" and "900" lines, driven cheaply in all-inclusive tourist pack- vices, a Caribbean broadcasting by demand from companies and ages with few linkages to local pro- company could promote the expan- individuals who peddle a gamut of ducers and providers of services. sion of the Caribbean entertainment services, ranging from psychic read- Policy makers and entrepreneurs industry by encouraging programs ings and party lines to illegal gam- should look at people as a valuable and newscasts from various islands. bling. resource. Trained health care spe- Joint program production could be Thus far, peripheral postindustri- cialists, who usually migrate to devel- established among French-, English- alization in the Caribbean has pro- oped countries, could get well- and Spanish-speaking groups ceeded along the lines of traditional remunerated jobs in specialized throughout the hemisphere. economic asymmetries. The retirement communities and med- The future is full of opportunities, Caribbean tourist sector is highly ical facilities in the warm tropics. but if we reproduce the asymmetri- transnationalized and depends on Cuba has already developed the con- cal schemes of the past we will only imports for food and beverages, cept of medical tourism, which gen- be changing production styles while equipment, etc. Resort-based com- erates foreign exchange by provid- maintaining the skewed socioeco- plexes have homogenized their ing world-quality medical care to for- nomic order of nearly five decades product to the point that it would be eigners at costs that are a fraction of of development economics. We hard to tell the difference between a those in the US, Canada or Europe. need to think of ways in which the vacation in Cancun or in Barbados, And instead of gamblers, psychics private, public and social sectors can except for the phenotypes and and pornography dealers, more sta- interact to produce viable economic accents of the hotel attendants. ble and profitable businesses should enterprises that serve not just eco- Most jobs created in the tourism sec- be promoted in the Caribbean nomic niches but wider social and tor are low-end positions with heavy telecommunications industry. economic needs. Innovative think- seasonal variations, while telecom- Caribbean policy makers, business- ing and daring actions could result munications and data processing people, intellectuals and grassroots in the creation of an economic have witnessed the development of leaders should build a diversified space for small- and medium-sized what Barbara Garson calls electronic and creative economic strategy from producers now relying primarily on sweatshops: low-end repetitive jobs the ground up. Free trade should the informal sector for their liveli- created to provide international ser- not mean economic regimes in hood. To succeed, any effort in this vices to individuals and companies. which the key competitive advantage direction should be anchored in the rests on the social, economic and accumulated knowledge and experi- ALTERNATIVES FOR THE FUTURE environmental disadvantages of ence of nongovernmental organiza- Caribbean development is not large sectors of the population. The tions and grassroots enterprises. simply an abstract moral issue of goal of any development policy There are no easy solutions, but the social justice, but rather a crucial should be to take advantage of trade overwhelming concern of policy practical issue if economic growth is liberalization to promote commerce makers must be to create a develop- to become the basis for providing an between and among Caribbean pro- ment strategy that benefits the adequate living to the working pop- ducers and consumers. If tariff bar- majority of the Caribbean popula- ulation of the region. The adoption riers and political differences were tion. U

Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three 23 Special Report: The Santiago Summit

Mercosur in the New Global Order

HilioJaguaribe

ithin the next 10 to 20 years, the As long as North American companies remain more competitive post-Cold War than their South American counterparts, an FTAA is incom- world will face a choice between patible with Mercosur interests. two main alternatives for structuring the international system. The first is a type of Pax opposed international involvements be sure, Rome first had to conquer Americana, which implies the expan- that imply high financial costs, tax its empire, including Gaul, Hispania, sion and consolidation of the United increases and loss of American lives. Egypt, Dacia, Britain and the Asian States' existing global hegemony. At the same time, politico-military lands along the Mediterranean. The second is the formation of a conditions favor US hegemony and Once the military phase of conquest multipolar system under the direc- have allowed the US to formulate, was completed, however, local elites tion of a world council composed of and partially implement, such a pro- welcomed the Pax Romana. It pro- several great powers, operating ject. This fact can be explained by vided them with protection against through the United Nations. the nature of the "center of power" barbarian invaders, equitable judi- Whichever scenario prevails, it will in the United States, consisting of cial and legal systems, personal safe- almost certainly include elements of the technocratic elite-which con- ty, expanded commerce, local devel- the other. US hegemony must take trols the media and crucial access to opment, and access to culture and into account the interests of the information-and the elected offi- education. Those who accepted European Union, Russia, China and cials under its sway. This center of Greco-Roman culture gained new the UN. Likewise, any multipolar power understands that as long as social mobility, without regard for system that emerges will reserve a American companies are able to racial discrimination. The empire key role for the US. compete with Japan, the process of collapsed due to the internal deca- globalization will automatically favor dence that set in during the third PAX AMERICANA US economic hegemony. The Gulf century, when the Pax Romana dete- The prospect of US hegemony War helped convince this group that riorated into an oppressive regime. seems plausible if we consider that times have changed since the In other words, Rome fell when it such a state of affairs is already well Vietnam War: The US now has the was no longer attractive to the on its way to realization. And yet, ability to liquidate the vital centers provinces. the consolidation of this system of any of its enemies-especially in Unlike the Roman Empire, the US depends on domestic conditions the Third World-at a very low cost, imperial project has no appeal for and a favorable international envi- almost without loss of life or interna- provincial elites. The US does not ronment, both of which seem to be tional risk. view its dominion as an empire to be working against it. Even if domestic conditions were administered equitably and rational- The US does not display the conducive to a sustained US imperi- ly, but rather as a venture designed domestic sociopolitical conditions al project, the idea has not been to benefit US companies. The favorable to the formation of an greeted favorably by the rest of the underlying philosophy seems to be, imperial project. Unlike all other world. Some of the reasons for this may the best man win. If the successful empires to date, the US is rejection can be found by looking at provinces lose, it is because they are a democracy. Since the Vietnam the Roman Empire, the greatest not competitive enough to keep up War, the American people have imperial project in world history. with changing global conditions and The main difference between the therefore deserve their destiny. Pax Romana and a possible Pax HilioJaguaribeis dean of the Institute Americana is the fact that Rome rep- A MULTIPOLAR SYSTEM of Political and Social Studies in Rio de resented an extremely attractive Multipolarity represents a possible Janeiro, Brazil. opportunity to provincial elites. To alternative to US hegemony. The

24 Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three Special Report: The Santiago Summit

Why South America should reject the FTAA

economic strength of the European MERcosuR's PosrnIoN Union appears to favor a multipolar More than merely system, as does the emergence of a means to expand two great powers: Russia, assuming exports and eco- it recovers from the chaotic transi- nomic develop- tion from totalitarian communism ment within its to democratic capitalism, and borders, China, if it continues the extraordi- Mercosur gives nary development begun under member coun- Deng Xiaoping. Other potential tries (Argentina, players on the world stage include Brazil, Paraguay India, the Mercosur trading bloc, and Uruguay) the and the Islamic countries- opportunity to especially if they form a union play an influential among themselves. role in world affairs. International rejection of US In the likely event that hegemony is an important factor the pro-euro countries of favoring multipolarity. Any exter- Europe develop a common American nal policy the European Union external policy, Mercosur could investments in adopts is bound to be more attrac- offer important economic, political Latin America. But the tive to the rest of the world; even and cultural advantages to consoli- mere fact of a common market does the US might view such a policy as date this position. not attract investors, except in such an acceptable alternative to its own Clearly, among the two competing cases as the US and Mexico, where a dominance. And yet, the scenarios for the emerging global common border exists. Increased Europeans have been unable to order, the countries of Mercosur pre- foreign investment is a viable agree on such a policy. This is fer a multipolar system, with the new prospect only within large, protected because external relations, more so avenues of influence it offers. To be markets, open only to those foreign- than economic interests, are to a in a position to advocate such a sys- ers willing to engage in production large extent determined by socio- tem, Mercosur must consolidate and within their borders. Without tariff cultural affinities. Viewed in this expand the area under its control, barriers, North American competi- way, Europe is firmly divided with the inclusion of Chile, Bolivia tors would inundate South American between the Continent and the and, ultimately, all of South America. markets with goods and services at island nations of the United It must also prepare for a flat-out the cost of domestic producers. An Kingdom. In sociocultural terms, rejection of the Free Trade Area of FTAA would reduce Mercosur's England is much closer to the US the Americas (FTAA) proposed by industrial capacity, resulting in than to the rest of Europe. The the Summit of the Americas process. increased unemployment. Continent itself is split along As long as North American compa- If Mercosur were to enter the numerous lines; some countries nies remain more competitive than FTAA, the prospects of a multipolar favor the single euro currency, their South American counterparts, world system would be drastically while others reject it. If the euro an FTAA is incompatible with reduced. South American coun- supporters predominate, the proba- Mercosur interests. In an attempt at tries hoping to reap the benefits of bility of formulating a common diplomacy, Mercosur's members multipolarity and exert a minimum external policy will increase. have avoided a direct statement of of international influence must It is in this context that Mercosur, this position, instead attempting to firmly reject entry into such an although still only a modest player delay the FTAA negotiations. agreement, concentrating instead on the world scene, could play an FTAA supporters argue that the on the expansion and consolidation ultimately decisive role. accord would increase North of Mercosur. U

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 25 Special Report: The Santiago Summit

Canada's Southern Exposure Peter McKenna

ernments, and a posting to be deftly tion. Finally, the crushing debt crisis Minister Jean Chretien of avoided by career foreign service of the 1980s, which spawned a series Canada,January with 1998, a coteriePrime of officers. With endemic poverty, bru- of painful neoliberal adjustment pro- Inprovincial premiers, business- tal military governments and devas- grams throughout the region, pre- people and university presi- tating civil wars in Central America, cipitated a number of trade and dents, led the largest-ever the region presented more problems investment reforms which were Canadian trade mission to Latin than promises. Interestingly favorably received by officialdom in America. The "Team Canada" mis- enough, the intensification of Ottawa. In short, this confluence of sion, which involved high-profile vis- Canada's relationship with the factors has enabled the wider its to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Americas can be traced back to the Canadian-Latin American relation- Chile over a 13-day period, resulted Cold War, and especially Canada's ship to virtually "take off" in the post- in some $1.1 billion in signed busi- initial involvement in the debilitating Cold War period, culminating in a ness contracts and letters of intent. conflicts in Nicaragua and El push to strengthen and deepen a The Canadian government also Salvador. Serious concerns about variety of diplomatic, economic and received firm assurances that mean- regional security, human rights and political linkages. ingful negotiations would soon begin migration flows brought Central In part, Canada's decision to join on a trade and investment agree- America directly into contact with the Organization of American States ment between Ottawa and the mem- Canadian interests. The search for (OAS) in January 1990, after more ber governments of Mercosur, an stability, economic recovery and an than 40 years of steadfast aloofness important customs union and trade end to violent conflict manifested from this body, was a response to the grouping of Brazil, Argentina, itself in Canada's participation in the growing aperturain Latin America. Paraguay and Uruguay. The trip 1987 Esquipulas II peace process. After taking its vacant chair at the gave Canada a chance-in light of This, in turn, had the bureaucratic OAS Council table, the Canadian President Clinton's failure to secure derivative of creating, for the first government demonstrated its com- "fast track" negotiating authority time, a cadre of Canadian foreign mitment to both the Organization from the US Congress-to indicate policy officials with an intimate and the region by playing a high- its implacable support for a pro- knowledge of, and responsibility for, profile role in restoring deposed posed Free Trade Area of the inter-American affairs. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Americas (FTAA) by the year 2005. Of course, the end of the Cold Aristide to power. In addition, there More important, it represented the War-and the East-West prism was a dramatic increase in the num- growing salience of Latin America in through which much of Latin ber of official visits by senior the conduct of Canadian foreign pol- America was viewed-set the stage Canadian government officials to the icy. This salience was clearly mani- for Canada's growing role in hemi- region, with particular emphasis on fested in Canada's active role at the spheric issues. Not only did this dra- Mexico. In fact, by the beginning of April 1998 Summit of the Americas matic structural change diminish the 1994, Canada, Mexico and the US in Santiago, Chile. perceived national security pretext had concluded the most significant for US involvement in the region trade accord in the world-the CoLD WAR SPARKS INTEREST and thereby open up some diplomat- North American Free Trade It is worth remembering that up ic space for Canada, it also moved Agreement (Nafta)-with a com- until the mid-1980s, Latin America the focus away from sterile bined GDP of over $1 trillion. was of little interest to Canadian gov- political/ideological considerations to more critical economic questions. ECONOMIC AND POLImICAL Moreover, as military governments SIGNIFICANCE PeterMcKenna is assistant professor of gave way to civilian and more democ- In an age of globalized markets political and Canadian studies at ratic regimes, Canada gained an and declining trade prospects in Mount Saint Vincent University, opportunity to help foster and con- Europe, Canada's economic relation- Halifax, Nova Scotia. solidate the process of democratiza- ship with Latin America has taken

26 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Special Report: The Santiago Summit

Latin America's northernmost neighbor takes an interest in hemispheric affairs

Parliament House, Ottawa. There is a real sense in Ottawa political circles that Canada can make a difference in the region, carving out a niche role for itself while benefiting enormously from expanding a variety of contacts with the countries of the Americas.

on greater importance. Canadian foreign investment in Chile (with that strong government-to- businesspeople have finally "discov- which Canada signed a free trade government relations hold the key ered" Latin America's numerous agreement in late 1996), Brazil and to unlocking the door to trade and trade and investment opportunities, Argentina. Two-way trade with the investment opportunities. In addi- and have aggressively sought to capi- region as a whole has shown steady tion, closer official linkages bolster talize on Canada's positive image progress since 1994, growing from Canadian foreign policy by identify- and reputation in the region. Since $8 billion to almost $11.1 billion in ing like-minded countries willing to the introduction of Nafta, two-way 1997, with Canadian exports increas- collaborate in multilateral fora such trade between Canada and Mexico ing from $1.7 billion to more than as the United Nations and the OAS. has increased dramatically, growing $3.3 billion last year. These relationships serve as an by some 30% to reach approximately Politically speaking, Canada's important counterweight to $4.7 billion in 1996. Canadian relationship with Latin America has Canada's closest ally, the United investment in Latin America, while expanded substantially in terms of States, sending a pointed message to still far from reaching its full poten- high-level visits, ministerial Washington not to take Canadian tial, surpassed $845 million in 1996, exchanges and official contacts. interests and support for granted. a substantial increase from previous Clearly, Canada's motivations for Symbolically, then, it is important for years. In addition, Canada ranks at enhancing personal and political ties Canada's political leadership to or near the top in terms of trade or with the region stem from a belief strengthen contacts with I atin

Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three 27 Special Report: The Santiago Summit

America as a means of reaffirming Canadian independence and reduc- Canada's opposition to the Helms-Burton law has helped solid- perceived depen- ing the country's reputation in Latin dence on its superpower neighbor. ify the country's positive and constructive Canada's membership in the OAS America, in stark contrast to the often "bullying" approach has also helped to revitalize this body. Canada is the OAS's second ascribed to the US. largest contributor, and its active, constructive and vocal participation-albeit tinged with a certain also rank first in terms of hard- an investment protection agreement, amount of caution-is evident with currency carrying tourists to the international terrorism and drug regard to a host of issues, from OAS country. The Canadian government, smuggling, Chretien raised the issue reform to security-related matters. in anticipation of an inevitable end of human rights. He presented Canadian participation has been to the US embargo, clearly hopes to Castro with a short-list of political most animated with regard to the take advantage of its existing pres- prisoners whose release is being integral question of democratic ence on the island to increase the sought by Canada and met with development. As the driving force market share Canadian businesspeo- Cuba's Catholic Cardinal, Jaime behind the establishment of the OAS ple have already carved for them- Ortega. Canadian officials also met Unit for the Promotion of selves. with Cuban dissidents, and Chretien Democracy, Canada is a firm believer Canada's Cuba policy of "construc- himself lectured the Cuban leader in stabilizing the region, thereby cre- tive engagement," or "principled on the kinds of liberalization need- ating the conditions for peace and pragmatism," was significantly com- ed before other governments will economic development. plicated by the March 1996 Cuban roll out the hemispheric red carpet. Liberty and Democratic Solidarity In the end, the prime minister came CUBA POuCY (Libertad) Act, commonly known as away with no major breakthroughs, Perhaps the most controversial the Helms-Burton law. From the despite a vague promise from Castro aspect of Canada's broadening rela- outset, Canada criticized the anti- to consider signing the International tions with Latin America is its Cuba law, and took its case to the Covenant on Economic, Social and approach toward Castro's Cuba. Not highest levels of the US government. Cultural Rights. only did Canada refuse, in the face Ottawa has not been satisfied with Critics and supporters will certain- of intense US pressure, to sever the Clinton administration's willing- ly disagree over the success or failure diplomatic relations with revolution- ness to waive some of the law's more of the visit, but there is no doubt ary Cuba in the wake of the Cuban objectionable provisions, and contin- that both countries derived certain missile crisis, but it has maintained ues to seek ways to rescind or amend tangible benefits, in addition to cordial and friendly relations with it, including the possibility of a Nafta strengthening a longstanding diplo- Havana ever since. In fact, in challenge. Canada's opposition to matic, political and economic rela- January 1997 Canada's foreign minis- Helms-Burton is based on the tionship. The meeting further ter, Lloyd Axworthy, took a well- "extraterritorial" reach of the law, its cemented Canada's trade and invest- publicized trip to the island to meet contravention of OECD trade and ment stake in Cuba, sharply contrast- with senior Cuban authorities investment rules, its negative implica- ed Canada's policy of "constructive (including Castro himself). He tions for Canadian investors in Cuba, engagement" with the confrontation- came away with a 14-point joint dec- and its domestic political signifi- al and isolationist approach adopted laration which included a pledge by cance. Interestingly enough, this by the US, and resonated positively both parties for increased coopera- opposition has helped solidify amongst the Canadian public. In tion on the issue of human rights. Canada's positive and constructive turn, Castro enhanced a close politi- Moreover, officialdom in Ottawa, reputation in Latin America, in stark cal, commercial and technological much to the chagrin of Washington, contrast to the often "bullying" relationship with a member of the G- has steadfastly opposed the US eco- approach ascribed to the US. 8, acquired a certain amount of nomic embargo against Cuba and The sharp differences between the international legitimacy and the island's continued isolation in US and Canadian approaches to the respectability, and gained another the hemisphere. For this reason, "Cuban problem" were highlighted platform from which to condemn Canada has become Cuba's largest by Prime Minister Chretien's two-day the US economic embargo. In trading partner and greatest source official visit to Cuba in late April of short, the visit allowed Canada to of foreign investment. Canadians this year. In addition to discussing reaffirm its economic relationship

28 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Special Report: The Santiago Summit

came way with an agreement to launch serious talks in September to negotiate an FTAA by the year 2005. r Canada was selected to chair the first 18 months of the discussions, and thus will be in a strong position to influence the shape and direction of the talks. Second, Canadian officials were successful in their efforts to expand the Summit agenda beyond trade matters to include a social action plan to address the issues of poverty, human rights and indigenous peoples, democracy, education and health care. Despite opposition from a number of Latin American countries concerned about interfer- - ence in their internal affairs, Ottawa and Washington secured agreement on including formal links with environmental, labor, business and academic groups in ftture trade talks. Finally, Canada will chair a meeting of hemispheric trade ministers in 1999 and, more important, will host the next Stmmit of the Americas in 2001. In closing, it is clear that Latin America in the 1990s has become increasingly more salient to Canada's foreign economic policy. This trend is likely to continue well into the next millennium, as the possibility of a hemispheric free trade arrange- ment keeps Canada's attention firm- Open-pit nickel mine near Moa, Cuba. In recent years, Canadian firms have invested ly focused on this part of the world. heavily in Cuba's mining sector There is a real sense in Ottawa political circles that Canada can make a difference in the region, carving out with Cuba before the US embargo is programs. However, while ensuring a niche role for itself while benefit- rescinded, while Cuba underscored stability and respect for democratic ing enormously from expanding a the antiquated and absurd nature of principles in the region is an impor- variety of contacts with the countries US policy towards the island. tant consideration for these of the Americas. Canada must con- Arguably, the most unexpected enhanced military contacts, Canada's tinue to broaden and deepen these (and unstated) linkage between overarching objective is to increase linkages if it hopes to reap the trade Canada and Latin America has been the likelihood of securing additional and investment rewards in the short in the military-security domain. trade and investment opportunities and long term. Ultimately, however, With Canadian security interests in Latin America. Canada's future role as a legitimate inextricably linked to events in the inter-American partner will be a Americas, Ottawa is now actively THE SUMMIT AGENDA function of Ottawa's level of interest seeking to intensify military ties with This goal was made clear at the and political commitment. If this these countries through various joint Santiago Summit of the Americas, political will is not forthcoming, naval exercises, peacekeeping activi- where Canada fulfilled a number of Canada's most recent "discovery" of ties and military officer exchange its stated policy objectives. First, it the Americas could be for naught U

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 29 FEe A I Distant Brothers

Manuel Orozco

undreds of thousands of Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Salvadorans fled their countries in the 1980s, mostly for the United States. Most were escaping various forms of political instability and repression, as well as economic crises and social injustice related to the civil wars in the region. Two-thirds of the Central Americans in the US in 1990 had immigrated to this country in the 1980s, helping to explain the fact that the vast majority of Central Americans in this country are foreign born (see Figure 1). This article addresses a range of issues that have influenced the devel- ii opment of three groups of Central Americans-Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Salvadorans-as a political diaspora in the US. The dis- b cussion points to five major conclusions. First, the international interests or priorities of Central R Americans are country-specific, rather than regional. Second, although Central Americans in the US share mainstream foreign policy objectives, their efforts have not been incorporated into the US foreign policy establishment. Third, efforts V to advance these foreign policy interests are relatively recent, organiza- tionally weak and lack broad consensus. Fourth, for most Central

Manuel Orozco is a researcher at the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) in Austin, Texas and a political consultant on Latin American issues. Research fJr this article was drawnfrom a lamer T RPI project and from independent Florida state representatives Lincoln Diaz Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen join research on Nicaraguans in the US. Nicaraguan immigrant organizations in a rally on Capitol Hill. Miami's

30 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three The CentralAmerican diaspora

Nicaraguanpopulation has used its electoral support as a bargainingchip in efforts to change immigration policy for Nicaraguans. Photo courtesy of FraternidadNicaragiiense.

Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three 31 Features: Central Americans

Americans in this country, international mobilization is secondary to US domestic concerns. Finally, the U Born US Foreign Born Source: US Census of Population implications of Central American and Housing (1990), SSTF 3. ethnic mobilization for the US 90%- national interest, especially in cities with large Central American popula- So%- tions-such as Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C.-are compatible with the liberal American ethos, tending toward increased incorporation and democratization. The sources used to reach these conclusions include the available literature on the "Latino diaspora"; demographic and economic data

from the US Census, World Bank 30f 0- and International Monetary Fund; F 0 w 0 0 w w F w and interviews in 1997 with Central 0 Z .vi J American diplomatic officials, US s 0 0 s r _ an I State Department officials, US con- ]0%- I r I I gressional representatives, the lead- 0 c. 0 ers of more than 30 US-based Central American organizations, US Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama All Central All embassy officials in Central America America Hispanics and representatives of Latin American NGOs. Central Americans in the US are Salvador, mostly in the areas of edu- INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE also interested in political stability. cation and health care. And as CENTRAL AMERICAN DIASPORA Their experiences in war-ravaged already mentioned, the various A clear indicator of the impor- countries make Central Americans Central American chambers of com- tance Central Americans attach to sensitive to current events in the merce play a key role in forging busi- maintaining links to their home region. Central Americans in the US ness ties between the US and Central countries is their financial commit- show particular concern for peace America, helping to connect small ment to relatives living in Central and democracy in their home coun- US-based Central American business- America. As Figure 2 shows, the tries, in the belief that stability in the es with businesses in their home amount of money migrants send to region is the key to ensuring its countries. their families in the form of remit- progress toward democracy. tances often exceeds total US foreign Most Central American organiza- COUNTRY-SPECIFIC POSITIONS aid. tions in the US were formed to pro- On the whole, Central Americans The factors motivating Central tect the interests of the emigrant in the US express their international Americans to preserve their ties to population in this country. These interests in the context of specific their homelands include such key groups include immigrant services countries. There are few examples issues as immigration, development organizations such as the Central of groups advocating a regional for- and trade. Immigration policy espe- American Resource Center eign policy or international position, cially has been a key rallying point (Carecen) and the Fraternidad even with regard to economic inte- for Central Americans in the US. Nicaragiense. However, growing gration with the US. Nicaraguans, Development, another main con- numbers of community organiza- Salvadorans and Guatemalans have cern, is normally viewed in a humani- tions are attempting to involve them- concentrated their efforts on main- tarian light, with emphasis on educa- selves more directly in Central taining connections to their individ- tion and health care. Chambers of America. US Salvadoran communi- ual homelands, without integrating commerce serve as liaisons to pro- ties in particular have produced a their interests regionally. mote trade between Central America recent surge of associations that pro- A few factors help explain this and the US. mote community development in El country-specific pattern. First, the

32 Hemisphere 9 Volume Eight, Number Three Features: Central Americans

also exists among the country- specific chambers of commerce. The Salvadoran, Guatemalan and US Aid Honduran chambers teamed up to $3.3 billion create a regional Central American Chamber of Commerce, which is credited with various investment pro- Remittances $748 million jects. GUATEMALA INTERNATIONAL LINKS AND THE US FOREIGN POuCY ESTABLISHMENT US Aid $1 billion EL SALVADOR Recent research and interviews with State Department officials point to four major issues dominating US foreign policy agenda toward Central America: immigration, democracy, Remittain $1 billo trade and development. These concerns are the same ones expressed by Remittances Central Americans in the US; howev- $4.5 billion NICARAGUA L 1 er, most foreign policy lobbying is carried out by international organizations or by Central American-based groups, and not by Central * Aid data lir the 1980-1994 period. El Salvador remittances, 1978-1994; Guatemala, 1988-1993; Nicaragua, 1980-1994. Americans in this country. Sources: World Bank, OECD. Interviews with US foreign policy officials involved with Central American affairs confirm this point. nations of Central America reflect and Salvadorans have occasionally One official commented that the very different social and political joined forces to influence legaliza- "civil society and NGO groups that experiences. In general, tion and asylum policy, particularly approach the USDOS or an embassy Nicaraguans identify themselves as during the battles over the on behalf of those countries tend to exiles from communism, Salvadorans Immigration Act of 1990, and be European or US-driven." This as refugees from civil war, and Central Americans in general have source added that "you will see the Guatemalans as victims of ethnic per- sometimes formed alliances with more educated Central American secution. These differences come other immigrant groups to present a migrants taking up those causes. But into play when different nationalities united front against the anti- for the time being, it's been US peo- consider working together. immigration backlash. More recent- ple through an organization like Central Americans in the US also ly, after gaining passage of the 1997 Amnesty International or the tend to be concentrated in different Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central Washington Office on Latin geographical areas. The majority of American Relief Act, Nicaraguans America-you know, big umbrella Nicaraguans reside in Miami, while supported similar legislation for organizations-who have done the over half the Salvadorans and Hondurans. lobbying." Guatemalans in this country have set- Other cases of regional or semi- The absence of systematic ethnic tled in California. The rest are scat- regional cooperation have emerged lobbying of the foreign policy estab- tered among other major cities, in recent years. One involves the lishment does not, however, imply including Washington, D.C., which relationship between the Salvadoran that Central Americans in the US do has an especially large Salvadoran American Health Foundation not influence official channels. population. There have been few (SAHA) and the American Nicaraguans in particular have infor- opportunities for regional interests Nicaraguan Foundation (ANF). mally lobbied foreign policy officials to develop, given that these groups SAHA influenced and participated in over property rights, politics and do not interact regularly. the creation of the ANF in 1992, and human rights conditions in An important exception to coun- together the two groups helped cre- Nicaragua. They influenced the try-specific concerns is reaction to ate a similar health assistance organi- drafting of the Helms Report in US immigration policy. Guatemalans zation in Guatemala. Cooperation 1992, which warned the Chamorro

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 33 Features: Central Americans

government that US aid to Nicaragua would depend on improved political Immigrants do not represent a threat to national unity and conditions and the return of proper- identity; Central Americans ty confiscated by the Sandinistas. in this country are interested in Local organizations have also success- becoming a part of US society, and their interests in their fully lobbied mayors and governors home countries are similar to those of the US foreign policy in areas with large Central American populations. In Chicago, for exam- establishment. ple, the Association of Salvadorans in Illinois (ASI) lobbied Senator Luis Gutierrez over Salvadoran migrant lived (the average life span is less erally uninvolved in diaspora affairs, issues. After visiting El Salvador and than three years). They do not but who may mobilize under crisis. learning about poor conditions in mobilize in a unified manner, and in As Shain asserts, they "are mostly that country, Gutierrez supported most cases devote more time and part of an 'imagined community,' to the extension of temporary protect- resources to domestic activities than use Benedict Anderson's expression, ed status for Salvadorans. international issues. However, the often existing only in the mind of Nicaraguans have had similar success increasing number of these organiza- diasporic political activists, as well as in lobbying Florida state representa- tions suggests that in the future at home or host governments." And yet, tives and the mayor of Miami, using least one group-Salvadorans-may this imagined community is often their electoral support as a bargain- strengthen its institutional basis. surprisingly effective; for example, a ing chip in their efforts to change Four types of organizations mobi- Salvadoran organization in Miami immigration policy for Nicaraguans. lize the efforts of diaspora popula- with only three active members rou- The foreign policy interests of tions to reach out to their home tinely draws close to 100 people to its Central American immigrants often countries: community-based organi- events, thanks to the pull of rear- coincide with mainstream definitions zations, NGOs, business organiza- guard members who volunteer on a of US national interests, at times tions and professional associations. short-term basis. indirectly advancing US interests in Of these four, community-based Central American diaspora organi- Central America. How then can one organizations are the most numer- zations are largely comprised of four explain the absence of effective for- ous, yet they have the smallest mem- kinds of core individuals: community eign policy lobbying? One reason is bership. Hometown associations leaders, intellectuals and artists, lead- that Central Americans in the US often depend on the personal drive ing exiles and wealthy immigrants. have not prioritized international of their president or founder. In Generally, these core individuals rep- mobilization to the extent that they other cases, the organization may resent an array of interests and atti- have promoted their domestic inter- exist in name, but in practice its tudes towards their home countries, ests. There also appears to be a link membership is reduced to a handful making cooperation difficult. between historical perceptions of the of people who rarely carry out signif- Salvadorans have been most success- US government and ethnic lobbying; icant activity. ful at developing intra-organizational for example, Nicaraguans tend to Yossi Shain's categorization is use- cooperation. Former Ambassador have a more positive attitude towards ful for describing the varying degrees Ana Cristina Sol was able to bring the US government than Salvadorans of collective participation by Central together (and create) a large group and Guatemalans. Finally, ethnic Americans in these organizations. of Salvadoran organizations with the lobbying may be absent because the Shain describes diaspora communi- purpose of developing a unified strat- organizations that protect Central ties as being comprised of three egy towards El Salvador. Core mem- American interests are still new on groups: core members, rearguard bers agreed that Salvadorans in the the political scene. members and silent members. Core US were an important factor in members are those "organizing elites efforts to rebuild El Salvador after THE RECENT ORIGINS AND LIMITED who are intensively active in dias- that country's civil war. They also CONSENSUS OF INTERNATIONAL poric affairs" and who are in a posi- agreed on the need for a unified ACTIVISM tion to appeal for mobilization of the nation, an ideal which involved The groups and associations that larger diaspora. Rearguard members reuniting hermanos ausentes ('distant link Central Americans with their are those who are available to be brothers') with their relatives at home countries are recent innova- mobilized when the active leadership home. Salvadorans are now the only tions. Most came into being after calls upon them. Silent members are group of Central Americans with a 1990, and tend to be small and short- a larger pool of people who are gen- national organization to represent

34 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Features: Central Americans

their interests in the US. To date, indigenous population (which more concerned with US domestic efforts to develop a larger appeal accounts for the majority of affairs than with their home coun- among Central American groups Guatemalan emigrants). tries. And fifth, factors such as con- have been unsuccessful. The cases of Nicaragua and tinuing polarization of the home Guatemala suggest that the level of country and attitudes towards emi- DOMESTIC CONCERNS PREDOMINATE political polarization in the home grants contribute to the lack of inter- While most Central Americans country may help explain interest in national mobilization. claim that home-country issues are external mobilization among emi- What implications do Central important to them, their priority grants. In El Salvador, which has American diaspora politics have for remains the host society. As one experienced the least polarization the US? This question is particularly Nicaraguan leader in Miami put it, after its civil war, peaceful conditions relevant given the rising political and "Nicaraguans look first at the stock have provided an important incen- economic power of Hispanics in the market in Wall Street rather than at tive for returning 6migres. US. By 2050, the Census Bureau pre- the inflation rate in their home Nicaragua, on the other hand, dicts that the United States will be country." Among their priorities, US remains polarized along the lines of 52.8% white and 24.5% Hispanic. Nicaraguans, Salvadorans and sandinismoversus somocismo. In The largest expansion of Hispanics Guatemalans list legal residency in Guatemala, political splits have grad- will take place in California, Florida, the US, decent employment, the ually diminished as the country Texas, New York and Illinois (all education and welfare of their chil- recovers from conflict. Guatemalan swing states in US presidential elec- dren, and improving their position organizations have shown an interest tions). State forecasts for the year in US society. in returning home, and long-term 2040 estimate that California's popu- The attitude of Central American exiles have visited the country to lation will be almost 50% Hispanic nations and governments towards show support for the peace process and 30% white. These demographic emigrants is another factor in the and newly emerging civil society. changes have led scholars such as diaspora community's relationship Perceptions of emigrants are also Samuel Huntington and politicians with the homeland. This attitude affected by government outreach like Pat Buchanan to warn of a varies from country to country. In efforts, or the lack thereof. Only El "thirdworldization" of American Nicaragua, where emigrants repre- Salvador has made an effort to link democracy that will undermine sent more than 20% of the total pop- Salvadorans living abroad to their Western liberal values. ulation, the Nicaraguan diaspora home country, through consular The previous discussion of Central passes relatively unnoticed at the offi- campaigns designed to reach out to Americans in the US reaches at least cial level. Popular opinion of emi- hermanos ausentes. In neither two conclusions that contradict these grants is mixed; some are critical of Nicaragua or Guatemala do such warnings. First, despite their interna- those who fought with Somoza and efforts exist, although the local for- tional interests, Central Americans in helped create the contra forces, while eign affairs offices of these countries this country seem most interested in others are indifferent (despite the have attempted to introduce similar becoming part of US society. fact that Nicaraguans abroad send programs. Second, Central Americans' interests millions of dollars home in remit- in their home countries are similar tances). Residents of Managua refer IMPLICATIONS FOR THE US: CREATING to those of the US foreign policy to returning 6migres as "Miami SPACES FOR SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION establishment, suggesting that immi- boys," thus setting them apart from The previous sections have identi- grants have the potential indirectly to the native population. In contrast, fied five major points of discussion. further the US agenda abroad. the Salvadoran government regards First, Central Americans are country- Immigrants do not represent a threat Salvadorans living in the US positive- specific when expressing their inter- to national unity and identity; ly, with the understanding that citi- national interests. Second, although instead, given the growing number zens who left during the civil war are Central American organizations with of diaspora organizations, the US helping to rebuild their country with links abroad address concerns similar should develop outreach programs remittances and other material sup- to those expressed by the US foreign to facilitate their organized participa- port. Finally, Guatemalans generally policy establishment, their activities tion in domestic as well as interna- display an attitude of ignorance and are not integrated into official US tional issues. Incentives to trust the indifference towards their country- policy. Third, Central American dias- US government, as well as a policy of men abroad. This phenomenon is pora organizations are new, and are partnership towards Central partly explained by the disregard of only beginning to make their impact America, are essential to this endeav- nonindigenous groups for the felt. Fourth, Central Americans are or. U

Hemisphere . Volume Eight, Number Three 35 Features: Salvadorans

Lives at a Crossroads

Sarah Mahler

mosaic has a new and ~heimportant Unitedi ingredient:States' ethnic T Salvadorans. The 1990 US census counted 565,000 Salvadorans in this country, although some scholars say the number is closer to one million, equivalent to one-sixth of the total population of El Salvador. Even if we accept the lower figure, Salvadorans are the fourth largest Latino population in the US; if the higher estimate is true, Salvadorans may well surpass Cubans numerically in the next census.

WARTIME EXODUS Most Americans are not aware of the growing presence of Salvadorans in this country. The reasons are sim- ple: Salvadorans are among the most recent newcomers to the US, Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled to the US in the 1980s, escaping the civil are highly concentrated in a few war in their country. After a peace agreement marked the end of the conflict in metropolitan areas, and tend to have little economic and political clout. According to the US Immigration ing the years of the Salvadoran civil Washington's Columbia Road and and Naturalization Service (INS), war (1979-92), when over a half-mil- Hempstead, Long Island-are fewer than 30,000 Salvadorans immi- lion refugees streamed into the US. marked by Salvadoran storefronts grated to the US prior to 1970. This Several hundred thousand more and pupuseias (restaurants). small group included diplomats and have arrived so far in the 1990s, No large-scale national studies of students, as well as some workers both legally and illegally. Salvadorans in the US exist to date; recruited to work as domestics and Salvadorans are residentially con- in the meantime, census records in factories. During the 1970s, how- centrated. Nearly 50% live in provide the best available data. ever, political and economic unrest greater Los Angeles, 1 1% in New According to census figures, four in El Salvador and severe govern- York, 9% in Washington, D.C., 8% in out of every five Salvadorans in the ment repression led thousands to San Francisco and 7% in Houston. US are foreign born. They are flee their homeland. Most migrants These concentrations are distinctive: equally divided between males and headed for the US; by 1980, the Washington is famous for its ties to a females, and their median age in number of Salvadorans in this coun- region on El Salvador's east coast, 1990 was 26, seven years younger try had swollen to at least 100,000. while the Long Island community is than the overall US population. The greatest exodus occurred dur- made up mostly of peasants from Two-thirds of adult Salvadorans have the eastern mountains. Los Angeles not completed high school, and only attracts a larger cross-section of the 5% are college graduates. Not sur- Sarah Mahler is associate professor of entire country. Ethnic neighbor- prisingly, they work disproportion- sociologV/anthropology at Floida hoods-the Pico Union district of ately in manufacturing and service InternationalUniversity. downtown Los Angeles, jobs, with only 6% in managerial or

36 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Features: Salvadorans

Salvadorans in the US

Unfortunately for Salvadorans, the mid-1990s were a bad time to seek favors from the INS. The US passed new, highly restrictive immigration legislation in 1996 that severely altered the political asylum process. Consequently, most new asylum cases that came before the courts were denied on the grounds that Salvadorans had no compelling reason to stay in the US, given that the civil war in their country ended in 1992. Migrant organizations coun- tered that a whole generation of Salvadorans had grown up in the US and should not be deported to a "homeland" they barely knew. Even the Salvadoran government rallied to the cause, arguing that the country was in such a state of ruin from the war that it could never absorb hundreds of thousands of return 1992, many protested new immigration laws requiring their deportation to a home- migrants. land their children had never seen. Photo courtesy of Carecen-San Francisco. Three successive Salvadoran presidents and their diplomatic corps lobbied the US Congress to win perma- professional occupations. Twenty- systematically denied political asylum nent status for the migrants and, per- two percent of Salvadoran families throughout the 1980s. haps more important, to safeguard live below the poverty line, with a Owing to their undocumented sta- the estimated $1.2 billion in remit- per capita income of $7,200 (com- tus, Salvadorans were precluded tances sent back to El Salvador each pared to a national average of from many jobs and access to gov- year. This figure dwarfs other sources $14,420 in 1990). In short, ernment services, pushing them of foreign currency and represents Salvadorans are a working poor pop- deeper into poverty. In the early 11% of El Salvador's GNP. In June ulation. 1990s, after a decade of court cases 1997, President Armando Calder6n filed against the INS by immigrant Sol retained a US law firm and lob- LEGAL QUAGMIRE advocacy organizations, Salvadorans bied key congressional figures, while The Salvadoran civil war was noto- were offered temporary legal status the Salvadoran Embassy embarked rious for the brutalities committed and work authorization for the dura- on a public relations campaign to against civilians. An estimated tion of the war. Upon termination improve the image of Salvadorans in 75,000 people died, most at the of the temporary program (TPS), the US and to make Salvadoran hands of the Salvadoran military. they could apply for political asylum migrants themselves feel more warm- Regardless, the US supported the under a revised asylum process. ly toward their national heritage. government with billions of dollars Nationwide, some 187,000 The collective contributions of in military and economic aid as part Salvadorans applied for TPS; after grassroots and government lobbying of its Cold War containment strategy. the program and several extensions paid off, albeit modestly. In Because of this support, Salvadoran finally ended on September 30, November 1997, Congress passed the refugees who made it to the US were 1995, many filed new asylum claims. Nicaraguan and Central American

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 37 Features: Salvadorans

Relief Act, which offered full legal status to some 50,000 Nicaraguans and relaxed "suspension of deportation" standards for another 250,000 Salvadorans and Guatemalans. In effect, the law allows Salvadorans who meet certain eligibility requirements to apply for legal status if they have lived in the US a minimum of seven years, display good "moral conduct," and can show that deportation would cause them severe hardship. When the new procedures take effect in late 1998, an estimated 150,000 Salvadorans and 200,000 of their relatives may ultimately benefit. Salvadorans who arrived in the US illegally after 1990, however, are unlikely to find relief in this legislation.

THE CHALLENGES AHEAD Even as they overcome significant Many Salvadorans in this country areforced to choose between living with precarious legal barriers, Salvadorans face an legal status in the US or returning to a land where security and opportunity are as array of challenges, not the least of which is generating enough income to support themselves and their fami- reconstituted gangs adorns walls even are no exception; flows of people, lies-both in this country and El in small towns, and gang-related money and information knit together Salvador. A study by the California- crime is prevalent in the cities. El Salvador and the US on multiple based Tomis Rivera Policy Institute Although gangs contribute to the levels, from kinship and diplomacy to found that Salvadorans spend about postwar crime wave, decommissioned international trade. Some observers 10% of their income on remittances soldiers deserve more blame. After have argued that mass migration has to relatives, one of the highest pro- the war, many turned to thievery, tar- transformed Salvadoran society more portions of the different migrant geting return migrants in particular. than the civil war that provoked the groups studied. The impact of these Present murder rates are equal to or migration in the first place. payments is so great that some 17% exceed those experienced during the Transnational relations have also of households in El Salvador depend war. These conditions frighten many opened up entrepreneurial niches, upon remittances for survival, Salvadoran migrants, particularly such as those occupied by interna- although this figure varies widely by women, and discourage them from tional couriers-people who earn region. In one community studied by returning. Many people are forced their living flying between countries the author, one-third of schoolchild- to choose between living with precari- carrying letters, remittances, videos ren reported that their fathers lived ous legal status in the US or return- and Salvadoran delicacies. in the US; one-tenth said that their ing to a land where security and Increasingly, Salvadorans are forming mothers were in this country. Virtual- opportunity are as scarce as they were hometown associations that raise ly all the students depended on during the civil war. money in the US to fund projects in remittances to finance their studies. their communities of origin. Other Along with remittances have come TRANSNATIONAL LIVES groups, such as the Salvadoran other, less welcome imports. Remittances and gangs are only a American National Network (SANN), Thousands of Salvadoran gang mem- few aspects of the transnationaliza- address the common needs of all bers-primarily from Los Angeles tion of Salvadoran life. In an age of Salvadorans resident in the US. and Washington-have been deport- telecommunications and transporta- SANN is also cultivating relations with ed back to El Salvador in recent tion advances, many migrant groups the Salvadoran diplomatic corps as years, to a homeland many cannot actively maintain a variety of links to well as organizations within El recall. In El Salvador, graffiti from their countries of origin. Salvadorans Salvador, so that important issues

38 Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three Features: Salvadorans

finally, the pair arrived across the border, but the smugglers who called Yolanda would not let her speak to them. She borrowed huge sums of money and flew to Texas to find her family. Unfortunately, the new arrivals were too late to qualify for TPS. L In 1992 Yolanda gave birth to her second son, a US citizen. As he grew up, the family remained divided by immigration status. In 1997, Yolanda r ~ began to feel herself weakening and suffered occasional trembling in her muscles. She has no medical insur- ance, so she went to a local clinic and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The doctors would like to treat her with a new, aggressive drug therapy, but Yolanda cannot afford the med- ication. She dares not apply for government assistance or Medicaid, scarce as they were during the civil war. Return migrants are the frequent victims of because it could jeopardize her appli- escalating crime in El Salvador: Photo courtesy of Carecen-San Francisco. cation for legal residency-applicants deemed likely to become "public charges" are often rejected. So she affecting all Salvadorans can be When they fled the country Yolanda takes a series of vitamins each day, addressed transnationally. was so frightened of the trip over- has cut back on her work schedule, land-particularly through Mexico, and hopes that a solution will present THE HUMAN DIMENSION where many Central Americans on itself by the end of the year. Salvadorans have traveled a rough their way north are stripped, In the decade since her arrival in road, and have much to celebrate searched and raped-that she left the US, Yolanda no longer fears the during the September 15 indepen- her young son in the care of a neigh- violence and repression that drove dence day parades they hold in many bor. her from her homeland, but her life US cities. They also have a long road Upon arrival in the US, Yolanda is nonetheless a difficult balancing ahead of them and many roadblocks became a nanny for a middle-class act. Her future, and that of her fami- to overcome. Theirs is a majority Long Island family, while Edgar ly, is at the mercy of forces largely working poor population; immigra- found work as a pool maintenance outside her control. Her situation is tion status for many is still tenuous, laborer. It pained Yolanda to spend not unique; many Salvadorans in the and they face raising children in her days caring for another family's US would identify with her predica- some of the most depressed areas of children when she had no idea how ment. Most express profound long- the US. It is a reality that can best be her own son was being treated. Her ing for the lives they lived in El captured by a personal vignette. employers agreed to sponsor her for Salvador prior to the war, especially Yolanda Pacheco (a pseudonym) legal residency in 1990, but by 1998 the closeness of their family ties and came to the US in the late 1980s dur- her residency interview had still not community events that punctuated ing the height of urban fighting in El been scheduled, owing to a huge the routine of everyday life. But at Salvador's capital city, San Salvador. backlog in these types of applications. the same time that they wax nostalgic, Her husband, Edgar, witnessed In the interim, Yolanda and Edgar they are grateful to find a degree of numerous massacres and was in con- applied for TPS and obtained work safe haven from El Salvador's trou- stant danger of forced recruitment permits. In 1991 they paid for their bles in the US. Despite past and pre- into the military. Yolanda never knew son, accompanied by Yolanda's broth- sent hardships they have faced in this if Edgar would make it home from er, to attempt his own undocumented country, most find hope in the work in the evening, a fact that frayed crossing into the US. For two anx- prospect that their children's futures their nerves to the breaking point. ious months they heard nothing; will be brighter. U

Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three 39 Features: Cubans and Cuban-Americans

Bridging the Ideological Divide Manny Hidalgo

a recent balmy a historic visit to the island, criti- Cuba and the Cuban-American Onevening in Miami cized the denial of basic freedoms community, and one which degen- Beach, hundreds of for Cuban citizens. The commander erated into an almost personal feud, people gathered for of the Cuban military, Fidel Castro's involved the animosity between a concert by a visiting brother Ra6l, sat uneasily during the Fidel Castro and the recently musician from Cuba. mass, an unimaginable event several deceased founder of the Cuban Issac Delgado played his vibrant years earlier when Catholics could American National Foundation salsa rhythms to a packed house at not join the Cuban Communist (CANF), Jorge Mas Canosa. In the Onyx night club and in one Party and the state was officially 1994, The New Republic published an night shattered the ice that has kept atheist. article that described Mas Canosa, so many other Cuban musicians After decades of mutual hostility, son of an officer in Fulgencio from performing in the city with the the Cuban government and the Batista's army, as the caudillo of largest Cuban population outside of Cuban exile community appear to Miami. The article was the subject the island. Less than two years ago, be engaged in a genuine process of of a successful lawsuit by Mas Miami fans attending a similar con- ideological and social change. Too Canosa, who objected to the use of cert by a Cuban jazz pianist were the many significant social interactions the word "mobster"in the title; targets of rocks and eggs thrown by are taking place between the exile however, it convincingly chronicled angry Cuban-American protesters. community and island residents to the Cuban-American leader's Other events were routinely can- be dismissed as insignificant. As attempts to ruin or discredit others celed after bomb threats were Damiin Fernindez argues, it is pre- who opposed his strategy of forcing phoned in or Molotov cocktails were cisely at this level of "lo informal" Cuba into economic, political and hurled through windows in protest. where the "politics of passion- social collapse. To further this goal, Not a single protest occurred at politics construed as a moral impera- Mas Canosa built a vast network of Delgado's concert. The crowd of tive for absolute ends-and the poli- political allies in Miami, young expatriates danced as if they tics of affection-politics based on Washington, D.C. and other politi- were dancing for the first time since an instrumental logic justified by cally important cities. Among the leaving Cuba. After the first song, a who you know and who you love- politicians The New Republic charged medley of popular salsa tunes from combine to subvert the institutions with benefiting from Mas-controlled Cuba and the US, Delgado summa- of modern nation states as they sow contributions were, from Florida, rized this historic breakthrough by incivility in social and political Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen saying, "Here or in Cuba, we are all relations." This article takes and Lincoln Diaz Balart, Senator part of the same family-we are all Fernandez's statement a step fur- Connie Mack and Governor Lawton Cubans!" ther, arguing that the social interac- Chiles; from New Jersey, Another landmark event tions taking place between Cuba and Representative Robert Menendez occurred in Cuba itself earlier this the exile community are indicative and Senator Robert Torricelli; and year. Cuban dissidents and their of an evolving relationship between Senator Ernest Hollings of South families listened in shock and sub-elite sectors across the ideologi- Carolina. Mas Canosa was able to delight as Pope John Paul II, making cal divide. This interaction may penetrate the inner circle of the help resolve the ongoing conflict Clinton administration and secured between intransigent elites in Cuba de facto control of Radio and TV Manny Hidalgo is a graduate student in and Miami whose values are no Marti, as well as the right to control Latin American and Caribbeanstudies at longer congruent with popular val- who in the Cuban-American com- Florida InternationalUniversity. He is a ues and expectations. munity would gain access to the founding member of Cubans and Ameri- White House. When the president cans for EducationalExchange (CAFE), THE POLITICS OF PASSION convened a meeting in Washington an organization that promotes interna- The most famous example of the to discuss changes in US policy tional student exchange with Cuba. standoff between dominant elites in towards Cuba after the balsero crisis

40 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Features: Cubans and Cuban-Americans

Forcesfor reconciliation in the Cuban and Cuban-American communities

Monument to the Cuban rafters, Little Havana, Miami, Florida. A growing number of Cubans and Cuban-Americans are more interested in pragmatic and constructive dialogue and exchange than in the divisive politics of the last 39 years, responsiblefor such tragedies as the sinking of boatloads of exiles fleeing the island.

of 1994, the gathering included itate peaceful change.- When CANF from any attempts at dia- only those exiles who endorsed the Clinton's special advisor on Cuban logue with the Cuhan government. CANF party line. This occurred affairs, Richard Nuccio, convened a More important tihan his hatwed for despite a poll taken by The conomins/ follow-up meeting in Miami, only Mas Canosa and the CANF, howev- in July 1994, which found that four CANF-approved guests were invited. er, is his coutinuied persecution of out of five Cuban-Americans in Fidel Castro responded to \las residents of Cuba who have strug- Dade County favored "negotiations Canosa with his own verbal attacks gled to open nore space for an with the Cuban government to facil- and by routinely excluding the independent civil society, especially

Hemisphere * Volume Eight, Number Three 41 Features: Cubans and Cuban-Americans

in both the Cuban and Cuban- American communities to the point that it began to alienate more moderate groups and individuals. In the last few years, this alienation has led to the emergence of sub- elite sectors in Cuba and Miami that pose a real challenge to the 39- year-old status quo. The recent activities of these groups indicate that growing numbers of Cubans and Cuban-Americans are more interested in pragmatic and con- I41 structive dialogue and exchange than in divisive and essentially destructive politics. Such politics, critics argue, have sunk more than 11 million Cubans into economic misery and left 1.5 million Cuban- Americans disillusioned and frus- Children at the Lenin Monument, Cuba. The pope's recent visit to Cuba and his pub- trated. Cynics have even proposed lic criticism of the Castro regime was but one indication of a more open attitude the classic conspiracy theory that towards dialogue and negotiation in Cuban society. the ideological divide has been arti- ficially maintained para la gente que vine del cuento-by those who have since the collapse of the Soviet Cuban were killed. The incident found a way to benefit from the Union in 1989. The Castro regime touched off a firestorm of protests continued state of polarized rela- has repeatedly jailed Cuban human in Miami and the passage in tions. The very fact that this type rights dissidents, accusing intellec- Washington of the Helms-Burton of direct criticism is growing among tuals and artists of collaborating Act, which tightened and codified people in both communities sup- with forces in the US to weaken the US embargo towards Cuba. ports Anthony Maingot's assertion and/or topple the Cuban Moderates went into hibernation as that "there is no ignoring that Revolution. The most famous dissi- emotions in both Cuba and Miami today the truly dynamic society dent roundup occurred in the ran high. which is taking shape, contrary to weeks preceding a February 1996 The Cuban government respond- the wishes of both leaderships, is conference organized by Concilio ed to the passage of the Helms- the social interaction (which is Cubano, a new umbrella coalition Burton Act by cracking down on what makes society) between the of human rights groups. The coali- members of Cuba's civil society it exile community and the island res- tion announced its plans to meet deemed counterrevolutionary. The idents." well in advance and asked official targets of this repression included Perhaps the best example of elite permission from the government to certain NGOs, such as the transition in the Cuban exile com- hold the conference. And yet, most Washington-based Pax World munity came immediately after the of the conference leaders were Service, and the Center for the pope's visit to Cuba, when the arrested and sentenced to 14 Study of the Americas (CEA) in CANF experienced a falling-out months in prison for contempt of Havana. Many of the CEA intellec- with its congressional supporters. authority. tuals were dispersed to other acade- The controversy developed when On the day the conference was mic organizations, and a general the CANF's new executive director, supposed to convene, Cuban forces freeze ensued on the study of the Jose "Pepe" Hernandez, declared shot down three small Cessnas pilot- internal Cuban economic, political the organization's support for a bill ed by members of Brothers to the and social struggle. drafted by Senator Jesse Helms to Rescue, a nonviolent resistance send humanitarian assistance to group in Miami led by Mas Canosa THE POLITICS OF PRAGMATISM Cuba through the Cuban Catholic ally Jose Bastlto. Three Cuban- Such instances of repression rein- Church. The CANF was attempting Americans and one expatriate forced the intransigent elite stance to discredit the Castro regime by

42 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Features: Cubans and Cuban-Americans

offering support that Cuba would Research, which revealed that 56% pursuing a peaceful transition to have to refuse due to its political of Cubans in Miami favored allow- democracy through dialogue was implications. ing US companies to sell medicine clearly widening. As anticipated, Castro immediate- to Cuba. Another 44% supported ly dismissed the offer as "repug- food sales to the island, while 52% FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR CHANGE nantly cynical." In a surprise twist, favored "establishing a national dia- Scholars have expressed some former CANF congressional stal- logue among Cuban exiles, Cuban concern about future generations warts Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz Balart and dissidents, and representatives of of moderate elite leaders in the Menendez also rejected the propos- the Cuban government." Cuban-American community. al and refused to endorse or spon- Along with various other organi- Second-generation Cuban- sor it in Congress. That the CANF zations, including Cambio Cubano, Americans have been raised in a would advance legislation without Christian Democrats, Radio political culture quite distinct from the unconditional support of the Transici6n and Radio Progreso, the that of their parents, and many are only three Cuban-American mem- CCD has attempted to establish a "burned out" on the topic of Cuba, bers of Congress was unprecedent- dialogue with Cuba to achieve a which is discussed ad nauseam in ed. Hernindez was publicly livid peaceful transition to democracy their households. Ruben Rumbaut and the elite guard in Miami began on the island. These efforts have predicts that a "post-exile Cuban- showing signs of internal discord. met with great enthusiasm from the American generation will see itself While CANF elites battled with Vatican, the Cuban Conference of mostly and natively as American, their erstwhile allies in Congress, Bishops and at least 135 members with or without the hyphen, and another organization emerged to of the US Congress who support that (they) will see Cuba nostalgi- fill the vacuum. The Cuban the Dodd-Torres bill. These efforts cally as origin but not as destiny, as Committee for Democracy (CCD) coincide with the easing of restric- the past and wished-for future of was founded in 1993 and describes tions on travel and cash remit- their criollo parents-but not as itself as a nonprofit organization tances to Cuba and permission for their own." Yet, recent data show seeking "a peaceful, negotiated US pharmaceutical and medical that the second generation is eager transition to democracy in Cuba." equipment companies to sell their to pursue a dialogue with Cuba. A On March 31, 1998, 160 CCD- products there. 1997 Cuba Poll conducted by the affiliated Cuban-Americans from Perhaps the biggest surprise was Institute of Public Opinion Miami and their non-Cuban Fidel Castro's generally positive and Research at Florida International American allies flew to Washington, conciliatory reaction to these over- University revealed that Cuban- D.C. on a chartered plane to partic- tures, which came in stark contrast Americans born in the US were ipate in a National Day of Advocacy to the views expressed by the three more open to dialogue and ending and Education on Cuba. The dele- Cuban-American congressional rep- the US embargo than any other gation was received by Senator resentatives, the CANF and group polled. They were also the Christopher Dodd and Brothers to the Rescue. Their group most in favor of playing con- Congressman Esteban Torres, who views were best expressed by temporary music from the island have sponsored the Senate and Ninoska Perez-Castell6n, a CANF on Miami radio stations and allow- House versions of bills intended to director, who said in a radio inter- ing Cuban musicians to perfom in lift restrictions on the sale of food view that the administration's the US. and medicine to the island. This moves were prompted by "a collu- Taking this data into considera- meeting marked a new milestone in sion of characters-fakes and tion, it is plausible to conclude that the relationship between moderate opportunists who want to do busi- new generations of sub-elites in sub-elite Cuban-Americans and gov- ness with Cuba." Cuba and Miami may succeed in erning elites in Washington. For A poll conducted by Univisi6n's finding the common ground that the first time in Cuban exile politi- Miami affiliate on the evening after eluded the majority of their par- cal history, a group of moderate the US policy changes were ents. It will be in this context that political sub-elites led by the CCD announced revealed that out of a new relationship between Cubans had emerged to represent the views 22,000 callers, 68% agreed with the and Cuban-Americans will be built of moderate Cuban-Americans in president's actions. The gap and nurtured in a spirit of peace Miami. These demands were cap- between the Cuban-American elite and reconciliation. Such are the tured by a 1997 poll conducted by in favor of the US embargo towards hopes and aspirations of millions of Florida International University's Cuba and the sub-elite sector in Cubans and Cuban-Americans Institute for Public Opinion favor of normalizing relations and across the ideological divide. U

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 43 L I T E R A RY Lengua Franca

Teresa Palomo Acosta

Las girls van de compras para gourmet food Lipstick numero tres*

It's Irene who first tells me Time to let my lips be plain and clean. to check out the canned tripas Say they're mine to do with what I want, or was it canned menudo? In the aisles of which is to leave them alone, beginning now. el supermercado. Time to let my labios rest in their light mud brown Y de volada I call las girls- and gentle pinkish wrinkles. who are game. Once in the tiendota, Time to end the six dollars they run ahead of me, and ninety-five cents bargain deals duck down the "Spanish" food aisle. in which I've invested Faint olores of comino y ajo in cellophane wrappers from my fourteenth year, arise from neatly stocked shelves. mas o menos, until now. Time to eat the food I want Reaching for cans of tripas y jalapenos en sauce, and drink the water I need we throw them, one after the other, without requiring into our supermercado shopping cart. the holy pencil to rake itself De volada, as if we were in a concurso for the umpteenth time for premios for more cans of comida mexicana over my lips, which are trying stacked in a shopping cart in under five minutes. to tell truths these days. Yes they are. Al fin del cuento My Pesina, Palomo, Alderete, Acosta la cart parece un piramide anciano labios. but without So deliciously and plainly bold. las explosiones del olor of home cooking the arroz y fideo. *This poem is part of a series offour related works.

No, these are merely botes full of chismes Without a reason for being, except for dinero para los conglomerates, except for time to waste in the post modern vida Chicana that las girls endure every day.

Teresa Palomo Acosta was born and raised in McGregor; Texas. She received a B.A. in ethnic studies from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.S. in journalismfrom Columbia University. Herpoetry and short stories have appeared in print since 1976 and have

44 Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three F E A T U R E

Spell my name A dazzling collection of poetry that

My name is Cristina Lopez Gonzalez. brings together major Latina literary That's Cristina without the h figures with intriguing new voices and Gonzalez with a z. (Here a shrug.)

Yo me llamo Josefina Paulette Gomez and there's an accent mark on the o in Gomez but we don't use it. (Here a smile and a tilt of the head towards me.)

I'm Pedro. Last name Rodriguez-which is w-aaay too largo for me. But I'll give it a try. (Here a concentrated frown, pencil midair.)

I'm Nico-well Nicolas; that's the English way of saying it and the Spanish way of spelling. (Here a broad grin.)

Question, Nico: Do you like it that way? Answer: well, yeah. fcQc$§Y @ '( My 'buela insists on the Spanish version. Question, Nico: What do you like? a shrug and a "both.") fir (Here A COLLECTION OF LATINA POETRY

I mind my 'buela. If she says it in Spanish, I say it's a-ok with me.

(Here a spontaneous "Nicolis," ;Floricanto Si! presents poems from forty-seven Latina writers como en Spanish.) from all over the U.S. with roots throughout Latin America. These women have contributed to a remarkable, first-of-its- Here kind volume, one that interprets America, art and love in the mark of Tex-Mex is vibrant new ways. on every tongue/lengua franca. "A mesmerizing, haunting and celebratory collection." Y no importa que digan los jefes, -Marjorie Agosin who bend over the Spanish dictionary, counting every missed syllable. "A rich collection of poems of great range and power." -Dallas Morning News

IN BOOKSTORES NOW www.penguinputnam.com A Penguin Book ( NOW IN BOOKSTORES won numerous awards. She has taught Chicana studies at the University of Texas at Austin and currently serves as a literacy tutorfor Spanish-dominantfirst- and second-gradersin Austin, Texas.

Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three 45 P H

Life on the Margins

Janet Jarman

that one of his former field bosses exceeded 100 degrees had enough work for the whole ashe thetemperature sun pierced the family on a strawberry farm near T earth. A fierce breeze Tampa, Florida. lifted dust from hun- Vinicio had always wanted to dreds of unpaved bring his family to the US, but the roads in Matamoros, a rapidly risks and costs had seemed too expanding city on the US-Mexican high. Although he had a legal US border. These inferno-like condi- residence card and work permit, tions hardly deterred the several and the two youngest children, who dozen families working in the were born on the US side of the municipal dump, who resisted the border, qualified as US citizens, res- stench and heat. Among them idence petitions for Eloisa and the were Eloisa Fernandez, 39, and other children were still pending. three of her nine children. They would be at the mercy of US Together, they and other families border officials if they tried to sifted through the city's waste cross. "They can make up any rea- searching for recyclable items to son not to let you through," Vinicio use and sell. explained. "The ones you really Eloisa and her children lived one have to watch out for are the kilometer from the dump. Each Mexican agents hired by the US day they worked there, seeking government. They're the ones who food for their livestock, clothing to will stab you in the back," he said. reuse, glass and cans to resell. Despite these obstacles, Each month, Eloisa awaited a December seemed like an oppor- check from her husband, Vinicio, tune time to make a move, espe- who worked as a migrant farm cially since the family had guaran- worker in the United States with teed work untilJune. Juan and his their eldest son, Juan. One day, "I father worked quickly to prepare hope we all can live together and their 1977 van for the two-day jour- WORKING. August 1996, Matamoros. find a better life in the United ney to Florida. Marisol, 9, helps her mother, Eloisa, States," she said. Family members packed few per- sort through garbage deposited in the Four months later, in December sonal belongings to avoid looking Matamoros municipal dump. Approxi- 1996, Eloisa's dream became reali- conspicuous at the border. Many mately 50 families work in the dump, ty. Vinicio returned to Matamoros Matamoros residents are permitted collecting metal, cans and other recy- to rest between harvest seasons. In to enter the US to shop inside a 25- clable and reusable items. Sharp mid-December, he received news mile radius, but US patrols are objects, disease vectors, fires and smoke quick to interrogate drivers of over- are among the hazards they face work- crowded and other suspect vehi- ing there. JanetJarman is a freelance photojour- cles. The family also had to pass nalist based in London. She specializes through a second, more difficult in environmental and Latin American immigration station outside this issues and can be reached via e-mail at radius. For this, they waited until [email protected]. This photo essay 10 p.m., when they knew there is part of an ongoing project document- would be a border patrol shift ing the lives of migrant families in the change. It is rumored that officials US. The names used are pseudonyms. are less vigilant during this

46 Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three AA

4a / .~ r, r 4

PRAYING. August 1996, Matamoros. During a prayerservice in the dump, Wisconsin residents visiting a Texas- based ministry pray for Eloisa. At the time, she suffered severe stomach pains and headaches.

Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three 47 Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

MARISOL. August 1996, Matamoros. Portrait of Marisol at dusk as she and family members wait for another rubbish load.

changeover; in this case, at least, them with clothing and other Financial tension and limited the theory proved true. The family household items, and the children work during the summer began crossed the checkpoint successfully began to attend American schools dividing the family. At one point, and continued driving for 36 hours and to learn English. Eloisa nearly returned to Mexico, to reach Florida. There, they At the same time, however, the threatening to take the children began etching a new life for them- small three-room trailer they rent- with her. Eventually, family mem- selves in the state's agricultural ed was too cramped for a family of bers reached a compromise; they heartland. 11. At night, they heard rats run- moved to a small town in Texas, Upon first impressions, the fami- ning between the walls. Eloisa and where Eloisa has sisters. They have ly appeared to be much better off her children felt isolated and remained there for the last year. in its new surroundings. Many homesick for Mexico. Financially, Despite numerous difficulties, other Mexicans had settled in the they could barely break even due mostly related to limited resources, area, from Matamoros and from as to the higher cost of living in the Vinicio and Eloisa are grateful that far away as Guadalajara and US. Monthly rent came to $500. the whole family is together, finally, Oaxaca. Vinicio's cousin and his Weekly food bills averaged $150. in a country where they can find family lived nearby in another trail- During a good week, they could work. "We struggled enough in er, providing a convenient social gross $800 with five family mem- Mexico," Eloisa said, referring over and family support network. A bers working, leaving little oppor- and over again to "el dolor" (literal- nearby community church supplied tunity for savings. ly, "the pain," or anguish) she

48 Hemisphere * Volume Eight, Number Three Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

experienced trying to survive in Matamoros. Contrary to the stereotypes many Americans hold of illegal aliens who cost US taxpayers billions of dollars in social services, Vinicio and his family are proud not to tap into the various government hand- outs available to them. Vinicio cites abundant work opportunities in the US as the primary reason for moving and is certain that his family's situation can improve little by little in this country. "If we keep working together like this, one day we can have something," he once said in Florida. "We could save enough money to build a house out of bloque (cinderblocks or other permanent material) in Mexico." After one year in the US, the family now rents such a house in Texas. Their next goal is to pur- chase the home for $35,000. This dream may take more time. Currently, both Vinicio and Eloisa work nights earning between $5.20 and $5.70 an hour. Eloisa washes dishes in a local restaurant, and Vinicio works at a local chain store unloading boxes from 10 p.m. to dawn. Just recently, they discussed moving to Oklahoma or back to Florida, where they could earn higher wages. This would mean uprooting the children for a third time, threatening their progress in school and their friendships in the Texas town. Despite the modest progress they have made rebuilding their lives in the US, the Fernindez family continues to live a transient existence. For them and hundreds of other Mexican families who have crossed the border into the US, the only certainty remains uncertainty.

COMFORT. August 1996, Matamoros. Marisol fans her four-month-old sister on a hot summer day when the temperature in Matamoros exceeded 100 degrees.

Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three 49 Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

CANDLE. August 1996, Matamoros. Nanci finishes her homework by candlelight. Although city officials installed poles in 1995, cables to carry electricity had not yet arrived a year later

50 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

BATH. August 1996, Matamoros. Kristina and her sisters, Eloisa and Marisol (left to right), bathe outside the home theirfamily built in Colonia de Cambio, close to the municipal dump. Through a hose, they access piped water near their home. The supply is erratic and of poor quality, often forcing them to buy drinking waterfrom private vendors.

Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three 51 Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

CHURCH. August 1996, Matamoros. Marisol daydreams during Sunday school while the teacher warns the children that if they do notfollow God, they will end up like delinquents in the US, who bring guns to school and disre- spect their parents.

A EXHAUSTION. January 1997, Florida. Eloisa appears exhausted after working in the fields all day. Although agricultural labor was "cleaner" than the dump, the work was physically much harder, she said. For thefirst few weeks, she suffered painful skin rashes on herface from the pesticides used on the plants. In addition to picking strawberries, Eloisa has worked assembly jobs manufacturing sports clothing and as a dish- washer in two Texas restaurants.

52 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

STRAWBERRIES. January1997, Florida. Vinicio, 43, picks strawberriesduring a rare winter freeze in Florida. Strawberries are one of the highest-value crops for farmers, but also one of the most fragile. Migrants call them 'frutas del diablo" (devil's fruit), since picking them is one of the lowest paid and most labor-intensivejobs. Workers must bend at the waistfor hours and concentrate on picking berries only of a certain size, firmness, shape and color The fruit is then arranged neatly into baskets to attract the shopper's eye.

Hemisphere o Volume Eight, Number Three 53 Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

FASHION. January 1997, Florida. Sandra, 17, seemed pleased as she and other family members tried on American clothing donated to them by a local church. Such happy moments were few, however; among her siblings, Sandra suffered most after moving. Once very religious and a promising student in Matamoros, Sandra ceased attending church and school upon arriving in the US. Almost immediately, her role shifted to primary caretakerand cook, while her parents labored in the fields and her younger siblings attended American schools. Her situation worsened after the move to Texas, leading her for a time to contemplate suicide. In an attempt to separateherselffrom herfamily completely, Sandra recently moved in with her boyfriend, Hugo. The couple expect a child in November

54 Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

RUN. January 1997, Florida. Kristina, Marisol and Pedro race through the yard surroundingtheir trailerhome in Florida, where they had much more space to play than in Mexico. The ground was soft and sandy, instead of the mud and broken glass that surrounded their home near the dump in Matamoros.

Hemisphere . Volume Eight, Number Three 55 Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

AMERICAN SCHOOL/FIRST DAY January 1997, Florida. Marisol waits outside with other classmates on her first day of school in the United States. She and siblings Pedro and Kristina seemed nervous yet excited on this day. This particular school in Florida caters to migrant children.

OA*

56 Hemisphere . Volume Eight, Number Three Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

BUS/FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. January 1997, Florida. On the way to school, children observe their new classmate.

Hemisphere 9 Volume Eight, Number Three 57 Photo Essay: Life on the Margins

BUBBLES. June 1998, Texas. In front of their house, Kristina (left) and Eloisa Fernandez discover bubble blowing with soap given to them by a neighbor:

58 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three REVIEW FO R Identity Crisis

M. Karen Bracken

Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration Is Transforming America , by Roberto Suro New York: Knopf, 1998. 349 pages. $18.87

till reeling from the civil rights movement's efforts to end the separate and unequal structure of its race and class system, the United States is in grave danger of repeating the same mis- takes with a new segment of the population: the Latino immigrants of the post-segregation era. The social, political and economic challenges arising from immigration have sparked a national identity crisis and pose a new litmus test for democracy. So argues journalist Roberto Suro, currently with The Washington Post. Suro sets out to demonstrate the effects of this crisis on natives and newcomers alike, and proposes some well-reasoned steps to alleviate it. To make his case he takes the reader on a tour of Latino neighborhoods across the country for a nuanced examination of the condition and context of the "strangers among us.- One of the lasting impressions of this tour is the great diversity of the Latino population, a fact well known to scholars and those who have tried to deal with or organize Latinos as L M N MN V I IIGRATION IS M. Karen Bracken is assistantdirector of the Roger Thayer Stone Center for T R A N S F O R M IN G Latin American Studies at Tulane A M E R IC University. A sociologist, she teachesAIE I AA and researches immigration, race, ethnic relations and women's work in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 59 Review Forum

though they comprised a monolithic Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian par- tion trends. This image suggests a entity bound by common culture. ents, acknowledges that many polarized pattern of highly educated This diversity is less familiar to Latinos never enter the barrio. and skilled immigrants at the top, Americans who rely on shadowy Others achieve the social mobility to with minimally educated and less- stereotypes or their experience with leave it, like other ethnic groups skilled immigrants at the bottom. It one local piece of the vast mosaic. before them. But the extensive is very difficult for those at the bot- Taken individually, the barrios pre- Latino barrios stand apart from the tom to squeeze their way upward sent a gamut of apparent successes surrounding society, and conditions through the narrow waist of the and failures for their occupants. may dictate that they become traps, hourglass. Taken together, Suro proposes, they not ports of entry. This situation is Suro contends that the genera- present evidence for great concern. both self-imposed by those with a tional social mobility experienced by New York's Puerto Rican barrio, sojourner mentality and structurally the last great wave of immigrants to for example, never recovered from imposed by economic changes in this country-embodied in the the drastic loss of manufacturing this country. For the outsider, the process "peddler to plumber to pro- jobs that went south, and remai s barrio denotes otherness, as fessional"-is no longer a viable mired in social disintegration, wl- enclaves always have, while for the assumption for many new arrivals. fare dependency and despair. nd insider, it may demarcate how far The steppingstone blue-collar jobs while the city's Dominican barrio one can penetrate American society. barely exist, and a good education is may be full of infectious energy and Some comparisons can be drawn more important than ever for rhythms, it is infected by a depen- with the squatter settlements of achieving the American Dream. dence on drug trafficking and fly-by- most Latin American cities; no mat- The children of Latino immigrants night businesses. Los Angeles teems ter how crucial the goods and ser- are falling through the cracks, as with eager, low-skilled "enablers" vices they provide, no matter how evidenced by their high dropout who cluster conspicuously in curb- entwined in interactions with other rate and the alienation they express. side labor markets to compete for urban dwellers, residents of these Suro's interviews reveal a generation informal jobs at minimum wage, or areas are somehow always deemed crippled by frustration, alternately arrive inconspicuously at the homes, "marginal," and must fight tooth angry and distraught at the prospect restaurants, office buildings and car and claw to extract resources from of social rejection. Past and current washes of the wealthy. If these the powers that be. efforts to integrate immigrants and floaters are lucky they will land a Since the 1960s, the mechanisms their offspring, to bring them out of permanent low-paying job, join the for leaving the barrio have eroded the barrio and into the national ranks of the working poor and move and the urgency to do so has been community, have been confused at to a bungalow in gang-plagued East tempered by transnationality. Suro's best. At worst, such individuals are L.A. Likewise, Houston's Hispanic concern is that many Latino immi- being prepared for second-class citi- neighborhoods house a cheerful grants, for all of their dynamism and zenry. army of Mexicans and Central high hopes, will be unable to con- While many adult immigrants can Americans who will bag your gro- tribute their best to our nation or favorably compare low-status jobs ceries and sweep your floors, and receive the best that it has to offer. and low wages in the US with what thank you for the opportunity to do They are begrudgingly allowed into they left behind, or choose to defer so. Miami is the exception, a show- the country, only to be denied full material comforts in this country to case immigrant barrio that encom- benefits once they are here. send remittances back home, their passes an entire county, serves as Public sentiment about immigra- children have a different frame of broker for the circum-Caribbean tion waxes and wanes with precipi- reference. They are Americans, con- and rivals the Anglo population for tating events and is closely and fronted with questions of class, race high-income households. inversely correlated with economic and identity which their elders are While Suro's accounts add to our swings at the local and national lev- willing to ignore. They are not understanding of the differences els. And yet, even in good times going back home; they are home, among barrios, his real purpose is to there is widespread resentment over with all of the expectations that this suggest a commonality. From South the profound demographic transfor- magnet country produces but few of Central to Washington Heights, mation of this country. The targets the tools to realize them. Our chal- immigrant neighborhoods may of such resentment are most often lenge as a nation is to prepare them become permanent fixtures of the Latinos, who are more likely to be for productive, fulfilling roles in this urban landscape rather than transi- located at the bottom of the "hour- society, despite our resistance to tional zones. Suro, the son of glass" profile of current immigra- view them as peers.

60 Hemisphere " Volume Eight, Number Three Review Forum

While some observers might average Joe must foot the bill for groups he feels wrongly aid and abet attribute resentment of poor Latino millions of illegal immigrants with illegal immigration. He takes the immigrants to racism, bigotry and few prospects, high fertility rates, bold move of asking US Latinos to xenophobia, Suro considers such urgent needs, a disregard for the law reconsider their advocacy of illegal emotions to be effects rather than and allegiance to some distant aliens, arguing that the backlash has causes. Some of the US public's nation. These critics argue that low extended to legal immigrants as anxiety stems from real or perceived levels of language acquisition and well. And while he urges US citizens competition. African-Americans are naturalization rates among Latinos to take a more democratic attitude especially concerned about losing are proof that they are not commit- toward immigration, he is sympa- newly won ground to the traditional ted to a future in this country, and thetic toward those who have begun and degrading pattern of ethnic suc- so do not deserve valuable govern- to feel like strangers in their own cession. They are frightened of ment resources. Frustration and land. being eclipsed by the sheer numbers anger often blur the distinctions The only shortcoming of Suro's of new minorities and by the "com- between legal and illegal, employed work is that he himself stops at the fort factor" that causes the main- and unemployed, assets and liabili- border; that is, he does not address stream to prefer dealing with new ties, the short term and the long the international dimensions of groups that lack the historical bag- term. Suro concludes that we can immigration. This aspect is notably gage of black Americans. In con- bring these distinctions back into absent from an otherwise compre- trast, whites who express anti- focus by dealing seriously and sys- hensive treatment of the issues. It immigrant sentiments worry that tematically with illegal immigration. would be intriguing to hear what national borders have become irrele- The book's concluding chapters Suro would say to our hemispheric vant, that the government has lost offer a number of logical sugges- neighbors if his policy suggestions control or devotes all its resources to tions for taking back the border. with regard to illegal immigration special interest groups, and that the Suro addresses his arguments to were implemented. U

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Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three 61 P U B L I C A T I J Latinos in the US Marian Goslinga

Bayless, Skip. Beisbol Fever: While Conde, Carlos. Republicans on the fastest growing ethnic African-Americans Are Giving Mend: The GOP Tries to Regain the groupatinos constitutein the United the Baseball the Cold Shoulder, Latinos Support of Latino Voters. Hispanic States. Separated by Are Embracing the Sport in Historic vol. 11, no. 5 (May 1998): 36-41. L Sport vol. 89, no. 4 (April regional differences yet Numbers. united by a common 1998): 30-36. [Mentions that the Congressional Quarterly Weekly cultural heritage, they are a force to percentage of Latino ballplayers in Report. Ketchup to Salsa: Election be reckoned with in US society. Major League Baseball increased Hinges on Changes in Orange Coun- Their influence is felt in politics, from 14% in 1991 to 24% in 1997.] ty, California. CongressionalQuarterly economics, literature, education, Weekly Report vol. 56, no. 21 (May 23, science, art, sports and just about Becket, Diane R. Increasing the 1998): 1371-1375. [In seeking a re- every other sphere of activities. Number of Latino and Navajo run of his race against incumbent Due to Latino pressure and lobby- Teachers in Hard-to-staff Schools. Democrat Loretta Sinchez, former ing, for instance, bilingualism has Journal of Teacher Education vol. 49, Rep. Robert K. Dornan appeals to become an important educational no. 3 (May-June 1998): 196-206. California's Latino community.] as well as political issue which can [Discusses the Latino Teachers no longer be relegated to the back- Project at the University of Southern Cortina, Rodolfo, ed. Hispanic ground. California and the Navajo Nation American Literature: An Anthology. Many US metropolitan areas have Teacher Preparation Program at Fort Lincolnwood, IL: NTC, 1998. 414 pp. a distinctly Latino flavor. Los Lewis College in Colorado.] Angeles alone is home to fully one- Darder, Antonia and Rodolfo D. fifth of the nation's Latino popula- Blank, Susan and Ramon S. Torres, eds. The Latino Studies tion. Other cities with sizeable Torrecilha. Understanding the Reader: Culture, Economy, and Latino communities include Miami, Living Arrangements of Latino Society. Malden, MA: Blackwell, with its high percentage of Cubans; Immigrants: A Life Course 1998. 308 pp. New York, which has attracted many Approach. InternationalMigration Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Review vol. 32, no. 1 (Spring 1998): Davidow, Joie and Esmeralda other Caribbean Hispanics; and 13-17. Santiago, eds. Las Christmas: Chicago, a steady magnet for Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Mexicans. Texas cities such as Bloom, Harold, ed. Hispanic Holiday Memories. New York: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio American Writers. Philadelphia: Knopf, 1998. are also known for their large Chelsea House, 1998. 230 pp. Mexican-American populations. Delgado, Melvin, ed. Alcohol Although the Latino "umbrella" Bonilla, Frank et al., eds. Borderless Use/Abuse among Latinos: Issues embraces all these peoples, for rea- Borders: U.S. Latinos, Latin and Examples of Culturally sons of space, the ensuing bibliog- Americans, and the Politics of Competent Services. New York: raphy will list only those materials Independence. Philadelphia: Haworth Press, 1998. 208 pp. (books and periodical articles) Temple University Press, 1998. which deal with Latinos as a group. Delgado, Melvin. Social Services in The titles below are a sample of the Cardoza Orlandi, Carlos F. Now You Latino Communities: Research and many works published recently on See It, Now You Don't: Mission and Strategies. New York: Haworth Press, Latinos in all walks of life. Ecumenism in a Hispanic/ Latino 1998. 153 pp. Perspective. Theology Today vol. 54, no. 4 (January 1998): 499-507. Delgado, Richard and Jean Stefancic, Marian Goslinga is the Latin American [Discusses Hispanic/Latino Christian- eds. The Latino/a Condition: A and Caribbean librarian at Florida ity as an alternate faith different from Critical Reader. New York: New InternationalUniversity. Latin American theology.] York University Press, 1998. 715 pp.

62 Hemisphere e Volume Eight, Number Three N S U P D A T E

Diaz, Rafael M. Latino Gay Men and Tinajero, eds. Educating Latino in Hispanic children and approaches HIV: Culture, Sexuality, and Risk Students: A Guide to Successful to speech therapy.] Behavior. New York: Routledge, Practice. Lancaster, PA: Technomic, 1998. 192 pp. 1998. 383 pp. L6pez, Jack. Cholos & Surfers: A Latino Family Album. Santa Dominguez, Robert. Hispanics on Gonzalez, Ray, ed. Touching the Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1998. Broadway. Hispanicvol. 11, no. 1-2 Fire: Fifteen Poets of Today's Latino (January 1998): 80-91. Renaissance. New York: Anchor Loya, Gloria Ines. Considering the Books/Doubleday, 1998. 304 pp. Sources/Fuentes for a Hispanic Falc6n, Rafael and Christine Yoder Feminist Theology. Theology Today Falc6n. Salsa: A Taste of Hispanic Guerena, Salvador and Vivian M. vol. 54, no. 4 (January 1998): 491- Culture. Westport, CT.: Praeger, Pisano, eds. Latino Periodicals: A 499. [Hispanic feminist theology, 1998. Selection Guide. Jefferson, NC: also known as "Mujerista theology," McFarland, 1998. takes as its inspiration the writings Falicov, Celia Jaes. Latino Families in of Dolores Huerta, a US Hispanic/ Therapy: A Guide to Multicultural Hornor, Louise L., ed. Hispanic Latina activist; the tragic Mexican Practice. New York: Guilford Press, Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook. figure Malintzin/La Malinche; Our 1998. Rev. ed. Palo Alto, CA: Information Lady of Guadalupe; and the seven- Publications, 1998. 260 pp. teenth-century poet-theologian- Flores, John. Uno, dos, tres ... [Includes sections on demographics, feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.] Hike!: Latinos in the National social characteristics, household and Football League. Hispanic vol. 11, no. family data, education, government Maharidge, Dale. The Sleeping 1-2 (January-February 1998): 30-34. and elections, employment and Giant Awakes: The Latino Vote Is [Traces the history of the NFL start- unemployment, income, crime and Coming to an Election Near You, ing in 1929, when Jesse and Kelly special topics.] and Neither Party Is Ready for It. Rodriguez became the first Latinos MotherJones vol. 23, no. 1 (January- to play pro football. Includes a list- Job, Juan Roberto. Just Because I'm February 1998): 56-62. ing of Latinos in the NFL.] Latin Doesn't Mean I Mambo: A Success Guide for Hispanic McClain, Paula D. and Steven C. Flores, Lauro, ed. The Floating Americans. New York: Ballantine, Tauber. Black and Latino Borderlands: Twenty-five Years of 1998. 241 pp. Socioeconomic and Political U.S. Hispanic Literature. Seattle: Competition: Has a Decade Made a University of Washington Press, 1998. Jones-Correa, Michael. Between Difference? American Politics Quarterly Two Nations: The Political vol. 26, no. 2 (April 1998): 237-253. Gandara, Patricia and Elias L6pez. Predicament of Latinos in New York [Comparing data for 1990 and 1980, Latino Students and College City. Ithaca, NY Cornell University the authors conclude that although Entrance Exams: How Much Do Press, 1998. 246 pp. socioeconomic competition between They Really Matter? HispanicJournal blacks and Latinos still exists, the of Behavioral Sciences vol. 20, no. 1 Kanellos, Nicolis. Thirty Million intensity of the relationship has (February 1998): 17-22. Strong: Reclaiming the Hispanic diminished. In politics, competition Image in American Culture. Golden, between these two groups may be Gonzales, Doreen. Gloria Estefan: CO: Fulcrum, 1998. 166 pp. displaced by increasing competition Singer and Entertainer. Springfield, between whites and Latinos.] NJ: Enslow, 1998. 128 pp. Kayser, Hortense. Assessment and Intervention Resources for Hispanic Miranda, Alexis O. and Debra L. Gonzilez, Maria Luisa, Ana Huerta- Children. San Diego: Singular, Umhoefer. Acculturation, Language Macias, and Josefina Villamil 1998. [Discusses language disorders Use, and Demographic Variables as

Hemisphere 9 Volume Eight, Number Three 63 Publications Update

Predictors of the Career Self- Assimilation on the Importance of Hispanic Dropout Project. Efficacy of Latino Career Counseling Family-related and Nature-related Washington: US Department of Clients. Journalof MultiuIltural Recreation among Hispanic Education, Office of Bilingual and Counseling and Development vol. 26, Americans. Journal of Leisure Research Minority Language Affairs, 1998. 98 no. 1 (January 1998): 39-63. vol. 30, no. 1 (Winter 1998): 47-64. pp.

Mirriam-Goldberg, Caryn. Sandra Sosa, Lionel. The Americano Vigil, Angel. Una linda raza: Cisneros: Latina Writer and Activist. Dream: How Latinos Can Achieve Cultural and Artistic Traditions of Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1998. Success in Business and in Life. New the Hispanic Southwest. Golden, York: E.P. Dutton, 1998. 220 pp. CO: Fulcrum, 1998. 232 pp. Novas, Himilce. Everything You [Translated into Spanish under the Need to Know about Latino History. title: El sueno americano: Como los Weller, Steven. A judge's Guide to Rev. ed. New York: Plume, 1998. latinos pueden triunfar en Estados Culturally Competent Responses to Unidos.] Latino Family Violence. Denver: Perez, Miguel A., et al. Northern Center for Public Policy Studies, California Hispanic Migrant Farm Suro, Roberto. Strangers Among Us: 1998. 75 pp. Workers' Health Status: A Case How Latino Immigration Is Study. Migration World Magazine vol. Transforming America. New York: Zegarra, Gretchen. Educando a la 26, nos. 1/2: 17-23. Knopf, 1998. 349 pp. [Reviewed in familia latina: Ideas for Making this issue.] Parent Education Programs Accessi- Platt, Lyman D. Census Records for ble to the Latino Community. Family Latin America and the Hispanic US Department of Education. No and Conciliation Courts Review vol. 36, United States. Baltimore: More Excuses: Final Report of the no. 2 (April 1998): 281-298. U Genealogical Publishing. Co., 1998. 198 pp.

Ponce, Mary Helen. Latino Sleuths: Hispanic Mystery Writers Make The Caribbean and Crime Pay. Hispanic vol. 11, no. 5 the United States: (May 1998): 44-48. 100 Years of Transformation Riebe-Estrella, Gary. Latino Religiosity or Latino Catholicism? A conference hosted Theology Today vol. 54, no. 4 (January by Lehman College 1998): 512-516. in conjunction with Hunter College and Rios-Bustamante, Antonio Jose and Brooklyn College, with Christine Marin. Latinos in support from Hostos Museums: A Heritage Reclaimed. Community College Malabar, FL: Krieger, 1998. 142 pp. and City College.

Rodriguez, Roberto. Scholars Say October 13 through 1Basta! to Chicano/Latino President October 15, 1998 Shortage. Black Issues in Higher Education vol. 15, no. 7 (May 28, For more information. 1998): 24-56. call (718) 960-8280

Salas, Abel. Chartbusters: Twenty- five Top Latino Music Makers. Hispanic vol. 11, no. 3 (March 1998): Mango Vendo; ender the #s elevated train near Prospet 38-47. Avenue station in The Bronx, paste/ by Danie/ laoben, 199. Shaull, Sandra L. and James H. Gramann. The Effect of Cultural

64 Hemisphere * Volume Eight, Number Three Orlando Centroplex November 10, 11, 12, 1998 Orlando, Florida IMPORT, EXPORT AND INTERNET SHOWCASE

International trade is the dominant force in the global economy, but the complexity of doing business overseas requires constant upgrading of skills, information and contacts. The 1998 Intemational Exporters / Importers Conference is specifically geared towards helping you meet those requirements and helping you build your domestic and international business. World class speakers from the private and public sectors will provide the information and contacts you need to make your business more competitive and profitable. On-site appointments will be facilitated with exhibiting and visiting buyers, vendors, distributors, potential joint venture partners, investors and other attendees who meet your interests and requirements. Complete turnkey exhibit packages are available for new-to-market companies interested in taking their first step in the global marketplace. The Peoples Republic of China has committed to participate, as have Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Tunisia, Turkey and several Caribbean Countries. Mail or fax this form with a copy of your business card to the address below:

Name Please send me details about: Title Q Becoming a co-sponsor Company Q Exhibiting our product line Address Q Attending the conference and seminars City / State Zip Q Advertising in the show program Country Q Speaking at one of the seminars Phone Fax Q Hosting an event PLEASE MAIL OR FAX REQUEST TO: Q Holding a reception EXPORTERS-IMPORTERS CONFERENCE Q Hosting a hospitality suite 242 South Militaryi Trail l atcptn nacutyPvlo Participating in a country Pavilion C Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442 L Phone: (954) 427-9717 " Fax: (954) 427-9178 Q The Catalog showcase Co - Sponsored by: The Exporter Newspaper Master of Arts in Latin American and Y kCaribbean Studies LdCC LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CENTER Florida International University Miami, Florida Cuna Indian, San Bas Islands, Panama

THE PROGRAM The Master of Arts in Latin American and Caribbean Studies is a program which responds to the diversity of disciplinary and subdisciplinary approaches to the study of Latin America and the Caribbean. The program prepares students for doctoral-level studies in academic disciplines and for careers in the public and private sectors. Full-time students can expect to complete the program, including thesis, in 18-24 months.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS The program consists of 36 hours of course work, including a thesis and specialization in a discipline to be selected from the program's core departments (Economics, History, Environmental Studies, International Relations, Modern Languages, Political Science, and Sociology/Anthropology). Students work under the guidance of social science faculty whose expertise includes diverse themes such as the illicit narcotics trade, the environment and sustainable development, migration, commerce and trade. Subregional strengths include the Andes, Brazil and the Southern Cone, Mexico, Cuba and the Caribbean. Financial assistance is available on a competitive basis.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Eduardo A. Gamarra, Graduate Program Director Latin American and Caribbean Center Florida International University University Park, DM 353, Miami, Florida 33199 Telephone: (305) 348-2894, Fax: (305) 348-3593 E-mail: [email protected]