Unit 5: The Value of Ideas - Latin American Politics and Grammar Study Guide

Characteristics of Democracy and Dictatorship

• Elements of a Dictatorship ($Dictadura$):     * No human rights ($derechos humanos$).     * No voting in elections, or voting is controlled ($voto controlado$).     * Only one opinion is permitted.     * Strict rules ($reglas estrictas$).     * No religious expression.     * Oppression ($opresión$).     * A type of government without different political parties.     * The government controls daily life.     * No free expression ($no libre expresión$).     * No access to information.

• General Responsibilities of a Good Government:     * Fair distribution of society's resources.     * Maintenance of a stable economy.     * Crime control.     * Protection of human rights.     * Maintenance of dominant values in society.     * Protection of civil rights.     * Conservation of the environment.     * Acquisition of new resources or territories.     * Maintenance of peaceful relations with other countries.     * Protection of citizens' health.     * Defense of freedoms (speech, religion, etc.).

The Dirty War in Argentina and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo

• Historical Context ($1976-1983$):     * A military junta governed Argentina.     * Approximately $30,000$ people disappeared ($desaparecidos$), many of whom were intellectuals and students protesting the junta. Most died after being tortured.

• Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo:     * A group of women whose children disappeared. They held demonstrations every Thursday in Plaza de Mayo to protest the military junta.     * These protests helped end the dictatorship and restore democracy.     * While they ceased Thursday demonstrations in $2006$, they continue to protest injustice via their website: www.madres.org.

• Case Study: Video - "En busca de la verdad" (In Search of the Truth):     * The video details the kidnapping of people during the war.     * Pregnant women were kidnapped, and once they gave birth, the babies were stolen and given to other families, often linked to the kidnappers.     * The children were given new names to hide their true identity.     * Horacio Pietra Alacorti (Pietragalla Corti): He discovered the secret of his true identity (that he was a child of the disappeared), which was crucial for him to understand his history.     * Organizations like Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo were formed specifically to find these stolen children.     * The kidnappers (military/police forces) were the culprits; they used to snatch people on the streets or from their homes.

Musical Analysis of Political themes

• "Desapariciones" (Rubén Blades / Maná):     * The Woman (La Doña): Searching for her son, a car business watchman ($celador$), $?$ years old, wearing a dark shirt and light pants. Salió anteayer.     * Brother: Searching for his sister, Altagracia, who has been missing for three days after leaving for school. She was wearing jeans and a light shirt.     * Agustín: A pre-med student described as a "good boy" but stubborn when giving opinions. He was wearing a striped shirt when detained by an unknown force.     * Clara Quiñones: A mother taken as a witness for an issue involving her son. He went to turn himself in the next morning but they claimed not to know who took her.     * Nighttime events: Gunshots, accelerated cars, screams, the echo of boots, and a curfew ($Toque de queda$). People didn't look outside because they were watching a soap opera ($telenovela$).     * Key Question: "Where do the disappeared go?" Answer: "Search in the water and in the thickets ($matorrales$)."

• "Latinoamérica" (Calle 13 feat. Totó La Momposina):     * Identity Metaphors:         * "I am what they left behind… the leftovers ($sobra$) of what they stole."         * "Skin of leather ($cuero$)" to withstand any climate.         * "Peasant labor ($mano de obra campesina$) for your consumption."         * "A political speech without saliva."         * "The photograph of a disappeared person."         * "Maradona against England scoring two goals."         * "The spinal cord ($espina dorsal$) of the planet is my mountain range ($cordillera$)."     * Themes of Resistance:         * Refrain: "You cannot buy the wind, the sun, the rain, the heat, the clouds, the colors, my joy, or my pains."         * References to the "Operation Condor" ($Operación Cóndor$) invading the "nest."         * Message: "The land is not for sale" ($La tierra no se vende$).

Political History of Chile and the 1988 Plebiscite

• The 1973 Coup:     * In $1973$, Chilean generals overthrew President Salvador Allende, establishing a military dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet.     * Allende was killed during the bombing of the Palacio de la Moneda on September $11$, $1973$.

• Documentary: "Chile, la memoria obstinada" (Patricio Guzmán):     * Documents what Chileans remember of the $1973$ coup.     * Finds that new generations know very little about the socialist government of the early $70s$ or the subsequent repression because of an official "conspiracy of silence."

• The Plebiscite of 1988 (Film "No"):     * After $15$ years of dictatorship and international pressure, a referendum was held to decide if Pinochet should stay for $8$ more years.     * Two Options: "Sí" (to stay) and "No" (to end the dictatorship).     * Campaign Strategy: René Saavedra (played by Gael García Bernal) and Eugenio García led the advertising for the "No" campaign. Instead of showing the horrors of the regime, they created an optimistic campaign with the slogan: "Chile, la alegría ya viene" (Chile, happiness is coming).     * Results: The citizens rejected Pinochet, leading to the return of democracy.

Grammar: Subjunctive vs. Infinitive

• Expressing Feelings and Opinions:     * Subjunctive: Used with two subjects when expressing opinions about another person's situation.         * Formula: Subject $1$ + Verb of emotion + que + Subject $2$ + Subjunctive verb.         * Example: "(A ellas) Les molesta que no haya libertad de palabra."     * Infinitive: Used when expressing feelings about one's own situation (one subject).         * Example: "(A ellas) Les molesta no tener libertad de palabra."

• Impersonal Expressions:     * Specific person: Impersonal expression + que + Subjunctive (e.g., "Es una vergüenza que ese político sea corrupto").     * Non-specific: Impersonal expression + Infinitive (e.g., "Es una vergüenza ser corrupto").     * Key Expressions: $es una lástima/pena$, $es una vergüenza$, $es raro$, $ojalá$.

• Conjugating the Present Subjunctive:     1. Take the yo form of the present indicative (e.g., $hablo$, $como$).     2. Drop the -o.     3. Add opposite endings:         * -ar verbs: $e, es, e, emos, éis, en$.         * -er / -ir verbs: $a, as, a, amos, áis, an$.

• Irregular Subjunctive Verbs:     * Ser: $sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean$     * Ir: $vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan$     * Dar: $dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den$     * Estar: $esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén$     * Saber: $sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan$

• Present Perfect Subjunctive ($El pretérito perfecto del subjuntivo$):     * Used to refer to past actions within a subjunctive context.     * Formula: [Present subjunctive of haber] + [Past Participle].     * Haber forms: $haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan$.     * Example: "Es una lástima que mucha gente haya muerto en Argentina durante la Guerra Sucia."

General Latin American Political Trends and vocabulary

• Challenges to Democracy:     * Lack of democratic tradition due to $300$ years of Spanish imperial rule.     * The figure of the Caudillo (authoritarian military leader).     * Enormous wealth gap ($desigualdad$) and control by elites.     * Economic instability.     * Military intervention and "Juntas."     * Corruption: Manifested through favoritism and bribery ($soborno$) due to social hierarchization.

• Regional Contexts:     * El Salvador: High repression in late $70s/80s$. An Archbishop was assassinated while giving mass in $1980$. $20\%$ of the population emigrated.     * Colombia: In November $2012$, President Juan Manuel Santos began peace dialogues with FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, created in $1964$). A major obstacle is the demand for impunity by guerrillas who committed crimes against humanity.     * Ernesto "Che" Guevara: Argentine revolutionary. He fought against injustice and stated: "If there is no coffee for everyone, there will be none for anyone."

• Vocabulary - Political Key Terms:     * Golpe de estado: Violently taking political power.     * Escudriñar / Escarbar: To scrutinize or dig into the past.     * Reacio: Reluctant/unwilling.     * Derrocar: To overthrow.     * Plebiscito: Referendum.     * Derechista: Rightist/Conservative.     * Izquierdista: Leftist/Socialist/Communist.     * La ira: Wrath/anger.     * Desempleo / Paro: Unemployment.