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Las Noticias
Fall 2001
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Letter from Bill Stanley, LAII Interim
Director
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A warm welcome to both new and returning students. As our
established students know, and new students are quickly discovering, UNM is a great place
to study Latin America. Our faculty and library resources are unparalleled, LAII's
friendly and efficient staff provides a supportive environment, and SOLAS helps create a
sense of community among students across programs and disciplines. One of my
greatest pleasures in working at LAII is getting to know our students. Please don't
hesitate to seek me out to discuss matters big and small.
Like most people in the US, I spent too much time in front of the television and online in
September. It seemed urgent to figure out what these shocking events were going to mean
for me, for the country, and for friends in various corners of the world. Now that
we've had some time to reflect, it appears that nearly normal life will go on in the U.S.
unless there are further major attacks. There will also be some losses of civil liberties,
and some serious debate in the US about how our foreign policy makes friends, makes
enemies, and identifies and responds to non-state threats.
What do these events mean for Latin American studies? In the wake of the September
attacks, Latin America has been eclipsed by events in the Muslim world; this is likely to
continue for some time. As the climate of crisis wanes, however, attention of U.S. policy
makers will return to the building ties with Latin America. Before the September
attacks, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas received a high priority from the Bush
administration; I expect that this priority will re-emerge a year or more from now, with
all of its complex implications for the US and Latin America. In this more insecure
climate for the US, however, contradictions between free trade and the restricted movement
of peoples in the Americas will become more acute and politically more problematic.
For more than a decade, liberal, formally democratic political regimes have controlled
most countries in the Americas. This is an important achievement, especially in
contrast to the dark period of authoritarianism in the 1960s and 1970s. The prevalence of
democratic governments in the Americas compares favorably to political conditions in the
Middle East, most of Asia, and Africa; it also makes international war less likely in the
Americas than elsewhere. Yet liberal political institutions in Latin America coexist
with states that are too often illiberal in their actual treatment of citizens: many Latin
American states do not consistently grant individuals equal protection under the
law. This contradiction may worsen in coming years as an indirect result of the
attacks on New York and Washington. US and Latin American security authorities worry
that Latin America could become an occasional safe-haven for Al-Queda and related
organizations. This concern will lead to pressures to strengthen internal security
institutions. Past efforts in this area have too often prioritized the security of
the state over the safety and individual rights of citizens, especially when done in
haste. The next few years may be a dangerous time for civil liberties in Latin
America.
My general point is that this is a very important time to study Latin America, even as the
focus of public and press attention is elsewhere. Many of us who work on or in Latin
America have been astonished by the outpouring of sympathetic email messages from friends
in the region. I hope we will find ways to build on this good will toward the US to
construct stronger cultural, economic, social, and political ties with the region.
While some folks in the US will be inclined toward a combination of militarism and
isolationism, people who care about other world regions can work to foster deeper mutual
understanding and respect with our fellows abroad.
Bill Stanley
Interim Director
Latin American and Iberian Institute
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Hello new and returning students
Welcome back from what I hope was a wonderful summer and welcome to all new
students. Although I had a great summer, I admit that it is good to be back.
This is turning out to be a busy semester in terms of classes as well as SOLAS
activities. Monica's letter will give you a good idea of the various
activities in store for SOLAS. I also want to welcome my co-editors for this
year: Pat Hughes, Rachel Archer, and Monica Delgado. Without them, Las Noticias would be much less.
(Continued on
page 4)
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Las Noticias Estudiantiles
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Bolivian Studies Association Conference
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NOTE: The deadline for article
submissions has passed but you can still take advantage of the opportunity to attend this
interesting conference.
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From March 15-16, 2002, the Bolivian Studies
Association will hold its first conference, to be hosted at Loyola University in New
Orleans. The conference will feature paper presentations, social and networking
opportunities, and the General Meeting. In this meeting, all members meet with the
Executive Committee to discuss issues of importance to members and the institution at
large.
The Bolivian Studies Association will hold its conference every eighteen months. Host
institutions and sites may be proposed in any country in which there are members, although
every other conference will be held in Bolivia.
If you are interested in forming or chairing a section of the conference, submitting a
paper, or otherwise becoming involved, please send an email to info@bolivianstudies.org.
(Continued on
page 7)
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(Continued from page 5)
tribal councilman
and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Petuuche Gilbert. Mr. Gilbert shared many great stories
about his Peace Corps experience in Venezuela. I also found time to compete at the Pikes
Peak Ascent race, where I completed the 13.2 mile uphill course in 3:22:10. Looking
forward to another great recruiting year here at Peace Corps.
Sue Taylor
I spent seven weeks in Mexico this summer studying at the UNAM's CEPE (Centro de
Enseñanza para Extranjeros) campus in Taxco. Taxco is a lovely colonial town in the
mountains south west of Mexico City. In addition to getting to know Taxco well,
including the silver shops, I took a couple of weekend trips to Cuernavaca and Mexico
City. I had the opportunity to see the Ballet Folklorico as well as the
Anthropological Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Museo Robert Brady and the Palacio
Nacional and Museo Bellas Artes, both of which have wonderful Diego Rivera murals
along with other well-known Mexican muralists. I also spent some time on a Saturday
night watching and listening to the Mariachi bands in Garibaldi Square while they waited
for people to come by and offer them a job for the evening. It was a fun and
rewarding experience to get a closer glimpse at how the people in Taxco live on a day to
day basis as well as getting to know students from other US universities.
Rossana Ramirez Robertson
This summer I spent about 3 weeks in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, as part of the Allen F.
Stamm Travel Graduate Fellowship. During this time, I visited several urban slums of
Rio, known as "favelas", to conduct an informal study of a project that is
trying to integrate the favelas into the urban fabric of the rest of the city. My
primary focus was to find out about the effectiveness of this project in terms of urban
integration. I was also interested in finding out if the physical improvements of these
communities are increasing the cost of living there, potentially leading to displacement
of very low-income residents.
Larry Larrichio
Along with the work I did at the Colombian National Archives, I did a five day
mountain bike trip along parts of a colonial period road that I am studying in the central
range of the Colombian Andes.
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