Part 1: A Hard Look At Latin America

A LEGACY OF INEQUALITY

Over 500 years ago Europeans invaded the Americas. Seeking trade routes and treasure (the Native Peoples resources). They brought guns and metal swords and armor. Using these, and exploiting religious beliefs and local rivalries (divide and conquer), they quickly made themselves absolute rulers over millions of Native Americans. In Latin America, the Spanish rules with a cold, calculated brutality. Native languages, customs, and religions were done away with.

The social structure of Latin America was shaped by CONQUEST. Beneath a veneer of modernity and democracy, the social structure of these countries remains essentially feudal. A small wealthy, ruling elite, mostly descendants of the European conquerors, dominates social, economic, and political life. Although mestizos, Indians, and blacks make up the majority of the population in most countries, they have little voice in the government. The concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of a few forces most of the people into poverty.

This vast inequality gives rise to "social unrest" as the poor struggle for equality and social justice. Unwilling to give up their privileged social position, the elites respond with repression: arrests, torture, and death squads. As President Kennedy observed many years ago, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." Social movements for equality and democracy continue to emerge, generating ongoing conflict in the region. The tragic cycle of revolutions and civil wars in Latin America - Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Columbia, among others - are products of this historically unequal social structure.

Hanging w/Pops is Always Enlightening

Spending time back home visiting with my family, which always leads to lively political discussions, I had occasion to watch President Obama give a press conference with my father. At some point during the broadcast dad asks me if I had seen Richard Pryor as the first black President; I had not.

I immediately googled it and watched the 6 min skit . . . I could not help but make comparisons to the current state of affairs here in the United States and found it to be quite prophetic, see what you think:

Lucious Walker

In 1992 Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., then the Executive Director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), formed Pastors for Peace. An annual pilgrimage of American aid volunteers to Cuba in defiance of the U.S. government's nearly half-century trade embargo. Although Rev Walker passed away on September 7, 2010, his work lives on.

Starting July 2nd, this years Caravan to Cuba gets underway. There are 14 routes this year and they will visit 130 U.S. and Canadian cities. At every stop they will educate people about the blockade and collect construction supplies and tools, medical supplies and equipment, as well as educational and cultural supplies which will be donated to our sisters and brothers in Cuba.

Pastors for Peace offers concerned U.S. citizens an opportunity to demonstrate and enact an alternative foreign policy based on justice and mutual respect. More than 50 Pastors for Peace Caravans have traveled to Mexico, Central America and Cuba - delivering life giving aid and organizing at home for a more just policy toward our neighbors.

Find Out How You Can Help: www.pastorsforpeace.org