Human Rights in Latin America

1. Human Rights in Latin America Fall 2006 Angelina Godoy agodoy@u.washington.edu

2. Human Rights “from the Bottom Up” • Human rights as a fluid and changing concept in Latin America • Understand human rights as they are lived by people on the ground • Take these expressions seriously even when we may not agree with them • Examine global forces undergirding human rights movements

3. What are human rights? 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights • established rights that every human being should have, simply by virtue of his/her humanity • these include full spectrum of rights, civil and political as well as social, cultural, and economic

4. Types of rights Political rights enable people to participate freely in the political process. -right to participate Civil rights (or civil liberties) are the freedoms to develop views, institutions and personal autonomy apart from the state. Protect the individual from abuses of his/her liberties by the state. -right to fair trial -right to exercise one’s own religion

5. Social, economic, and cultural rights Social, economic and cultural rights include rights to : adequate levels of food dignified housing, and work conditions rights to education, health rights to retain one’s cultural identity UDHR includes all types of rights, but political circumstances especially in the North have led to greater acceptance of civil/political rights as rights

6. Overview of the class Authoritarian period in Latin America -Birth of contemporary human rights movement -Primary concern with civil/political rights: torture, disappearances, extrajudicial executions Contemporary period -Transition to democracy failed to resolve underlying socioeconomic issues -Increasing attention to social, economic, and cultural marginalization as rights issues -New opportunities and challenges for human rights

7. El Alto, Bolivia Bolivia’s largest shantytown, 13,000 feet up 90% indigenous (Aymara) 50% lives on less than USD $1 a day

8. Popular movements in El Alto • El Alto was center of “gas war” 2003-2005 • 80 people killed, 400 injured • Ousted president Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada (“Goni”)

9. Raza insana Mi .38 que no juega El altiplano se une Ecuador y Bolivia Hip hop de lucha De Tawantinsuyo somos los hijos Somos latinos, negros, indios y mestizos Hoy vivimos cambios, complicaciones ¿Cómo no? si somos hijos de violaciones (2x) Insane Race My .38 doesn’t play around The highlands unite Ecuador and Bolivia Hip hop of the struggle We are the children of Tawantinsuyo (the Inca nation) We are latinos, black, indigenous, and mestizos Today we’re living through change, and complications How could it be otherwise? If we are the children of violations/rapes (repeat chorus) Raza Insana, “Hijos del Tawantinsuyo” / Children of Tawantinsuyo

10. Somos hijos de asesinatos y violaciones durante mas de cinco siglos de cultura. Casi estamos extinguidos. Hemos aprendido la vergüenza, la apariencia, el miedo a la naturaleza. Primero nos roban, luego nos cambian la idea de riqueza, ahora empieza a cambiar la cosa. De la tierra la Pachamama nos da su fuerza. Hemos salido de la union Bolivia y Ecuador que flow, luchar en contra del racismo Luego en la sangre, but… Raiz cultural Con mucha humildad Recorriendo muchos caminos, senderos, retos Seguros y perfectos Desde El Alto We are the children of murders and rapes over the course of more than 5 centuries of our culture. We’ve almost been extinguished. We’ve learned shame, superficial values, fear of nature. First they stole from us, then they changed our idea of what “riches” means. Now things are starting to change. From the land, Mother Earth gives us her strength. We have been born of union Bolivia and Ecuador, struggling against racism It’s in our blood, but… Cultural roots With great humility Travelling along many paths, ways, challenges Secure and perfect From El Alto

11. Mi casa, mi hogar Llego y llevo el pensamiento de masacrar Para el mundo Y mashutikangi soy micrófono del imperio inca que eran miles de guerreros. Una nueva invasión hace tiempo que empezó. Ahora tiene que tener claro de que lado estas vos. De Tawantinsuyo somos los hijos Somos latinos, negros, indios y mestizos Hoy vivimos cambios, complicaciones ¿Cómo no? si somos hijos de violaciones (2x) Hijos de la Mama Pacha Cachas el poder y ahora haces masas Nos levantamos y despertamos My house, my home I’ve come and I bring thoughts of massacres To the world (Aymara word) I am the microphone of the Inca empire, which was thousands of warriors. A new invasion started, some time ago. Now you have to be clear which side you’re on. We are the children of Tawantinsuyo We are latinos, black, indigenous, and mestizos Today we’re living through change, and complications How could it be otherwise? If we are the children of violations/rape (repeat) Children of mother Earth You catch power, and now you move masses We awaken and rise up

12. Del sueno eterno trepados en los Andes cielos Hijos de Tawantinsuyo Rompiendo las cadenas de la dominación, ahora en este flow ya doy mi opinión, alze mi voz, y ya sabés Somos los verdaderos pues, Subimos los senderos, luchando con fuerza y valor Resistencia hasta este día Yo, flow, luchando con fuerza y valor Pana ¿Qué pasa? Masa trasmasa Mastico en la casa Quinientos años de prisión Esta es la ocasión donde entra mi flow Esta es la canción Tawantinsuyo Humillación y traición From the eternal slumber on the mountaintops of the Andes, skies, Children of Tawantinsuyo Breaking the chains of domination, now in this flow I´m giving my opinion, I raised my voice, and you know We are the true ones, We walk up the paths, struggling with strength and valor Resisting to this day Struggling with strength and valor What´s happening? Mass mobilizations I chew (coca) at home Five hundred years of prison That´s the scenario where my words are coming from This is the song of Tawantinsuyo Humiliation and betrayal

13. Mi gente despierta, lucha y protesta Causa de los aprovechadores del primer mundo Guerreros de sangre morena Por ellos mi sangre encierra, estoy sintiendo palabras, viendo masacre, fuera de juego Hechos y perfectos Siempre causando injusticia Mi gente se achica Se vuelve suicida Siguen actuando Y encierra mi futuro Dices te juro y lo digo seguro… (palabras aymaras) My people wake up, struggle, and protest Because of those from the first world who take advantage of us Warriors of brown blood For them, my blood closes up, I am feeling words, seeing massacre, out of bounds Facts and figures Always causing injustice My people get smaller It becomes suicidal They keep acting Closing off my future You say, I swear, I tell you for sure… (Aymara words)

14. What does this have to do with a “bottom up” view of human rights? • Take local expressions seriously • Controversy is OK • Purpose of class is not to present solutions to social problems but to trace the human rights struggles people have undertaken in region • Rights require mobilization • Abstract concepts can´t be divorced from political, social context • Human rights are as much about the “law on the street” as the “law on the books”

15. How do Raza Insana understand human rights? • Legacies of historical inequalities • Requiring everyday resistance and rebellion • Shaped by distinct cultural traditions, but also by globalization