Latin America Round Up and Chavez Watch

Real quick, because there is not enough time in the day, here are some highlights of what has been going on in Latin America over the last couple of weeks--or at least some of what has been going on. My source on all this is the New York Times, but when I finally get a chance, I'll try to track down some regional sources for their slant.

• Okay, first of all, Argentina has just elected a female president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a powerful senator and also the current first lady. She actually won a senate seat before her husband, Nestor Kirchner got into politics, so she is the real deal. We do however have to watch what deal the Argentines are being sold. As the Argentine Constitution allows presidents to run again after they take four years off, are we looking at an endless rotation of Kirchners? (A note for trivia buffs--Argentina did have a female president in the past, but she was not elected. Juan Peron's second wife, Isabela (not the famous Evita) succeeded her husband after his death in office.) Mrs. Kirchner joins Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, and Portia Simpson-Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica, as a leader of Latin American nations.
  
• Former Shining Path rebels now working with narco-trafficers in Peru killed a police chief last week.
  
• Bolivia's busiest airport was taken over by locals in the province of Santa Cruz, whose leaders want autonomy from Evo Morales' socialist government. The federal government no longer controls it. Since a number of airlines have canceled flights due to demands for cash. Sounds messing. Stay tuned. I need time to investigate this one.
• Wacky, scary Chavez is at it again. Besides trying to adjust the nation's clocks by 30 minutes to increase metabolism, the Venezuela leader is starting his own regional Development Bank meant to diminish the influence of the World Bank, which is under the leadership of the United States. We need to keep our eyes on this one, because big, regional players like Brazil have signed off on the proposal.
• Even more frightening, our favorite Latin American demagogue, Mr. Chavez, has had his puppet government approve amendments to the Constitution, which would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.. Now the voters will have the final say, but we need to watch that major violence does not erupt as the campaign gets underway nor do we want voter-fraud. Is the fix already in?
  

Keep checking back. More news to come.

Joe Biden on Rudy Guiliani: "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence...

...a noun and a verb and 9/11."
These now-famous words were uttered by my man, Joe Biden, during this week's Democratic Debate on MSNBC, just after he called New York's former mayor "genuinely not qualified to be President." And for those of you not following the on-going saga, Rudy Guiliani's machine has been fighting back in a way that belies--fear. And definitely more fear than one would think from someone counted out of the nomination.

Why? Because despite the fact that in the entire two hour debate Biden, a man who sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee for the Watergate Hearings, a man who has stood up to International War Criminals, a man who sponsored the Violence Against Women Act, a man who led the charge to put more cops on the beat in Rudy's New York and other major cities across the nation, a man who helped broker and guarantee peace in the Balkans, a man who has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a man whose plan to bring a political solution to Iraq passed the Senate and which is vocally supported by the other Senators running for President--was given only 6 minutes to speak--spoke well and truthfully.

While his one-liner got all the headlines, and hopefully these headlines will bring people to take a closer look at Joe, he answered another question, one that Mr. Russert asked in a way to 'trap' the Senator, so brilliantly, that I'm going to ask you to take a look:

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Biden, would you pledge to the American people that Iran would not build a nuclear bomb on your watch?

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards each wiggled his or her way out of the question, essentially pledging to do what they could to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Then Russert turned to Biden, and Biden threw the question back in Russert's face.

SEN. BIDEN: I would pledge to keep us safe. If you told me, Tim -- and this is not -- this is complicated stuff. We talk about this in isolation. The fact of the matter is the Iranians may get 2.6 kilograms of highly enriched uranium; the Pakistanis have hundreds, thousands of kilograms of highly enriched uranium.

If by attacking Iran to stop them from getting 2.6 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, the government in Pakistan falls, who has missiles already deployed, with nuclear weapons on them, that can already reach Israel, already reach India, then that's a bad bargain.

Presidents make wise decisions informed not by a vacuum in which they operate, by the situation they find themselves in the world. I will do all in my power to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, but I will never take my eye off the ball.

What is the greatest threat to the United States of America: 2.6 kilograms of highly enriched uranium in Tehran or an out of control Pakistan? It's not close.

(I'd like to credit Joe Traw of Iowa who posted a link on Biden For President - 2008 on Facebook to the Mother Jones website, which is where I lifted this transcription).

Tomorrow, Sunday, November 4th, 2007, Joe Biden will appear on Face The Nation. If don't catch the first broadcast, you'll be able to get it online later. In the meantime, think about this--today Pakistan's Musharraf suspended the Constitution and replaced the head of the Supreme Court of his nation. Do you follow?

Go Joe!

Biden first to receive newspaper endorsement--Go Joe!

Okay, never heard of the Storm Lake Times? Well, I hadn't either, but they have just endorsed Joe Biden for President, so I had to look them up. They are a small, but powerful paper in the county of Buena Vista, Iowa--Iowa folks, is where the Democratic nomination will first take shape. Joe was the first of all the candidates to pick up a newspaper endorsement of any size. He has already picked up an astounding number of political endorsements in the state, so this is a great sign for those of us who are trying to get the word out past the hype of the celebrity candidates.

At least in Iowa, where the voters and the local media get healthy and frequent up-close exposure to all the candidates, Biden is really starting to shine through. In its endorsement of our guy, the paper wrote, "Biden is our choice for the nomination for the powerful personal story he shares, for his deep knowledge of international affairs, and for his long record of exemplary service in the United States Senate". But they also wrote of his connection to the voters as he met with them in their living rooms around their county. They noticed not only his experience, but also his genuine nature and his real effort to connect with the people of Iowa.

Don't give up on Joe Biden. Spread the word!

Biden on Immigration: Go Joe!

Okay, I'll admit it, I did a bit of navel-gazing in my last post, but I am passionate about my students. After I re-read it, I thought, I know a lot about Joe Biden and I have read his biography, Promises to Keep, which I highly recommend and I know he is thoughtful, passionate and pragmatic about just about every major issue, but I did not know where he came down on immigration-- an issue very near to my heart. The stories I could tell you--but that's another blog for another day.

Anyway, his website was void of info, so I did what any curious 21st century type would do--I ran to Facebook-- where David Moss, on the Biden for President-2008 group pointed me to OnTheIssues.org. This is a great resource that shows the voting record of members of Congress on a plethora of issues. Biden voted YES on the fence, but only as it would be a positive tool in fighting drug-trafficking, which is a major cause of violent crime on the border. He voted YES on comprehensive immigration reform, NO on eliminating the "Y" nonimmigrant guestworker program, YES on giving Guest Workers a path to citizenship, YES on allowing more foreign farm workers, No on visas for skilled workers (where you really see wages depressed if you ask me), NO English as a National Language--thank you, since the Founding Fathers left it out on purpose, and I believe intuitively understood linguistics better than any of this alarmist English-only types.

I am still looking for more insight on these issues, but I am glad to see that Joe seems to be taking, a reasonable, thoughtful and principled approach to the immigration question. I will continue to follow this issue and reach out to the campaign when I am able, to encourage a well-formed, public position on immigration reform. Far to many hard-working families' lives hang in the balance--not to mention the soul of our country--founded by immigrants.

Below is an entry I wrote last year, discussing the "English question". The information I have on Joe Biden's vote is from his No vote on June 6, 2007 for the "National Language Ammendment Act" Bill S. Amdt. 1151 to S.1348.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

English the National Language?

It passed in the Senate. But why? Was English in danger? No. I'll bet most people didn't even know that we didn't have a national language. Well, back when we were forming this country and drafting a Constitution it was decided by our wise founding fathers not to have one. First of all, we had just broken away from those taxing imperalists, the English, remember? German was bounced around as an alternative, but cooler heads prevailed. After all, whether or not our founding fathers had studied linguistics, they intrinsically understood that we would speak whatever worked for us--without even symbolically excluding anyone who spoke another native tongue.

What works for us is English. Immigrants learn English--even Spanish-speaking immigrants. In three generations the home-country language dies in any family here unless the latest generation studies the language in school. We have a great, big Spanish-speaking neighbor. Our neighborhood, our hemisphere, is crowded with Spanish-speaking countries, where, by the way, it seems anyone with a little extra cash pays for an English course. Why? Because English is not in danger.

Not only does the rich neighbor, the United States, speak English, but English has become the lingua-franca of the world. Business is conducted all over the world in English. English is the official language of air traffic controlers the world over. It is widely recognized that immigrants must learn English to integrate into the United States, and learning English will benefit them even if they return to their homeland. As a teacher in a public school, I see kids learning English. No, they don't learn it over night. Yes, in their initial years in the U.S. they feel more comfortable with those who speak their home language. Of course they do. They are in a strange place. But they learn English.

So here we are in 2006, trying to make English the official national language of the United States. For more than 200 years we have just let people figure out that English was the language to speak to get things done, to do business in this country. For more than 200 years we made no official, national moves, to intimidate anyone into learning English. We didn't officially rank English above anyone's native tongue on a national scale. So why now? My husband says racism. I can't come up with another answer that makes much sense.

I love my job and immigration.

I have been incredibly busy, but incredibly happy for the last couple of weeks. Part of the reason is because I have created for myself one of the best, most rewarding jobs in the World. Allow me a minute to explain and I'll link it into immigration--I promise.

For a long time I could not resist listening to people who told me I worked to much for too little, that they wouldn't do what I did, that complained about this kid or that kid who didn't show them respect or who didn't show me respect for everything I did for them. Blah. Blah. Blah. Last year, I even had kids who thought I was an idiot to choose to teach high school when I used to work in international banking. And then there are all the colleagues who kept telling me to cut back on what I was doing--of course, everything that they would tell me to cut back on were the things that made my job worthwhile. And, I have to admit, when I'd see people with all this free time (often complaining about how hard they work) or driving a new car (and complaining they don't get paid enough), I sometimes would get sucked into it and think, if these people are complaining, I must really be getting shit on.

And then there were all the colleagues who are just mean to me. Last week, I mentioned, trying to make conversation with a colleague in the Foreign Language Department, that I was tired and looking forward to the weekend. This lovely, constantly complaining individual, did not ask why I was tired or even express concern, she just snapped in an angry tone, "Well, I don't want to sound mean, but you do bring it on yourself". That my allergies, which, trust me, I never asked for, had been making me sick and causing me to be tired, never entered her mind. When I mentioned to two colleagues from my department on Friday morning not to forget that my folklorico team was dancing at the pep rally that day and that it might be fun to see, another colleague snapped in a rather snottish tone, that said she could not be bothered, "I don't go to those things." Okay, forget you know how hard my kids and I work, forget if you don't like football--just think, hey, here are some kids who don't usually get recognized who are doing something positive and it would be nice to take 20 minutes out of your day cheer them on. When I told my husband about the comment, he thought I was upset because this colleague was rude to me after all the work I'd done. But I wasn't. I was upset, because this person, who works in the same public school that I do, who is in a position to understand the challenges some of my kids are up against would rather spend energy snapping at me than walking downstairs to watch these kids succeed at something.

If other public school teachers don't care, then what hope can I hold out for the rest of society? That's what upset me.

I used to ask myself, what do I do to make people so mean? But I have come to realize that I don't do anything except care for things and people other than myself and that that is actually how I take care of myself--by taking care of other people. I grow with them and sometimes I grow past the people around me--past the people who logically would be my peers. It has been happening since I was young. And somehow these people think I am competing with them--trying to be better than they are or trying to do more than they do. But the reality of it is, I am just trying to help those who need my help. I don't really want to compete with anyone. I just want to make it a better school, a better World. I like teenagers, so I start there. I want my kids to realize their potential. That's it.

No wonder, whenever I would take advice from people I worked with who would tell me I needed to cut back on what I was doing to bring down my anxiety, it didn't work. Because I am not like them. To cut down on my anxiety, I need to find a niche where I can make real change and work harder. Do more. And at the same time I have to filter out all the shit and find a way to focus on my priorities with as little outside interference as possible. Because to do less, means I am letting opportunities go by for the temporary feeling of relief. And then I would be faced with the sad result of not acting.

I am the director of Austin High's Ballet Folklorico and I am the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher at my school. I am still teaching Spanish classes, as well. I work with kids, who, in general have a huge amount of unrealized potential, sometimes hidden behind a lot of defense mechanisms, coping mechanisms, low self belief, and a lack of understanding of societal norms and the general big picture. They can be rude, seemingly lazy and definitely short-sighted. At the same time I work with another set of kids who are incredible self-possessed, intelligent and directed, but who due to poverty, language barriers or family issues, are unable to find an outlet to express their talent and rise to the true heights of their potential. Often these two groups are lumped all together, because of some box checked off on a form or because people either don't have the time or choose not to spend their time looking into them deeply enough to figure out their complexities and then work them through it. A lot of people don't have the patience, either, for the long haul fix.

By the nature of my job, I deal with a lot of immigrants. In the past I have addressed policy beliefs. But here, let me tell you what my gut tells me. What my heart tells me. I am so incredibly grateful to be able to work with the kids I do. I am so incredibly grateful to them, many of whom face judgment day in and day out and who live in a state of constant insecurity, for trusting in me. Where my colleagues seem defensive with me--wary, I am surrounded by students who see me. See me. Maybe, because, like them, I don't fit into an easy box. Maybe because they understand that I don't want to be better then them or smarter than them. I just want them to be better and smarter, just like I always strive to be better and smarter. I wish the same thing for everyone and it isn't about competition or someone coming out on top. Its about coming out together, better than when we came in. So now I work through my lunch hour. I work before school and after school and I am tired from my allergies, but I am energized by my work.

One of the nicest things about my job now, is that I deal with fewer kids from families who have taught them that they deserve something. I deal with fewer kids who feel that they should do well in my class because of who they are or at what address they live. I deal with fewer kids who feel I should care at what address they live or who their parents are or how many generations have graduated from the school or gone to college. I deal with fewer kids who think that I was stupid to leave international banking. I deal with kids who understand that all I care about is them--exactly what they are as an individual and what a great individual they can become.

Let's face it, it is not easy to leave everything you know and come to another country and succeed. And if you are a kid, and that decision was made for you--first and foremost, you are not a criminal. It is also hard to focus on a future and on an education, when your family is so focused on making a living in an incredibly insecure situation, which could be taken from you at any time. And don't come at me with, well it is their parents' fault that they are in this insecure situation. Well, maybe so and maybe not. Maybe, for whatever reason, this insecure situation is more secure than the one that was left. But whatever, many of these kids I deal with are Mexican, and in Texas, as far as I am concerned, this was their land first. At the very least, any minor brought to the United States, who makes it through high school, through our standards and who stays out of trouble, should be given a path to legality and eventually citizenship. Of course they should. And why not? I mean, let's face it: Any kid, who despite being pulled away from everything he or she knew, who succeeds academically in a language other than their own, who shows that kind of determination and ability--is a boon to this country. The only way it isn't is if you yourself are afraid to work hard.

Look around, unless your last name is Running Deer, Floating Cloud or the like, the only reason you are not an illegal immigrant is because your ancestors came over, killed the native people and rewrote the laws to suit your needs--or were brought in a slave ship, which should help you appreciate hard work and sacrifice. So now we have people who by and large are coming here peacefully and working hard and Americans are freaking out. Sure there are some bad guys. We are all a part of the human race and the whole of the human race is speckled with bad guys.

So anyway, I have a great job, because I have learned to focus in on people who I believe in and who believe in me and I have learned to ignore the people, who I have figured out are living their lives in fear--fear of someone getting a better deal than they are. I have the best deal, because I don't care anymore about whatever deal anyone else is getting. I just care about my kids.

I am not afraid of losing America. I am not afraid of losing, at all. I am only afraid of not going for it and of not caring enough.