I care about US-Latin American relations. A lot. Important relationships with our neighbors should not be held hostage to late night Twitter rants threatening to overturn good policy changes toward Cuba or to deport people from their communities after they escaped situations of poverty and violence; our neighbor’s societies should not suffer due to campaign rhetoric of building walls and or blowing apart economic and social relationships.
I also care about human rights in Latin America, the rights of migrants, and challenges to security in Latin America. The United States is often deeply implicated in these problems, and we should be a part of trying to improve them. I believe that solid research and dedicated, informed advocacy can make a difference on these issues. The Washington Office on Latin America has been doing this with great integrity for decades.
Because of that, I support WOLA. From here on out, any royalties from my first book, Latin America Confronts the United States, will go to WOLA. Those of you in academia know that’s probably not going to be a lot, but I feel it’s fitting that my research supports this cause in a small way.
I will be joining the Oxford Latin America Centre’s weekly History seminar this Thursday (1 December) to present on my new and ongoing research on the recreation of the Inter-American order in the waning days of World War II. Details are here. The work has been supported by a grant from the British Academy, (soon) by the Truman Library Institute, and (later, for writing) by a University of Reading Research 2020 Fellowship.
Decades ago, Fidel Castro told my mentor, Robert Pastor: “I know what your country’s policy towards me is. It’s to wait for me to die. And I don’t intend to comply!”
Eventually, we all comply with that particular policy. Castro indelibly shaped the lives of generations of his fellow citizens in Cuba, sometimes for better by instilling national pride, increasing national independence, and improving health, arts, and education; and often for worse, by hanging onto power for decades, repressing dissent, and pressing on with disastrous policies that maintained state control but impoverished the country. His is a life that historians will debate for a very long time.
Here are some of the first takes of history:
El Universal (Mexico), with the video of Raúl Castro’s announcement on Cuban TV
Many thanks to CPDOC at Fundação Getùlio Vargas for taking the time to talk with me about my work for their Pocket Talks series. I talk a little about my book, Latin America Confronts the United States, and about the archival research I was doing in Brazil over the summer. It was an honor to spend time at CPDOC as a visiting researcher this summer.
I will be joining the Oxford Latin America Centre’s weekly History seminar this Thursday (1 December) to present on my new and ongoing research on the recreation of the Inter-American order in the waning days of World War II. Details are here. The work has been supported by a grant from the British Academy, (soon) by the Truman Library Institute, and (later, for writing) by a University of Reading Research 2020 Fellowship.
Eventually, we all comply with that particular policy. Castro indelibly shaped the lives of generations of his fellow citizens in Cuba, sometimes for better by instilling national pride, increasing national independence, and improving health, arts, and education; and often for worse, by hanging onto power for decades, repressing dissent, and pressing on with disastrous policies that maintained state control but impoverished the country. His is a life that historians will debate for a very long time.