cocaine cowboys

As the popular Rhythm and Blues singer James Ambrose Johnson Jr. once put it, “Cocaine’s a hell of a drug.” Johnson, better known as Rick James, was absolutely right, cocaine is one hell of A drug, and in Miami in the early 1980’s it was not just a drug, it was the drug.  Cocaine cowboys tells the story of how Latin American immigration and the cocaine industry transformed Miami.   My mom is actually from Miami, and I’ve always thought of it as this beautiful tropical metropolis by the ocean.  She moved here in 1976 just in time to miss all the chaos that went down in the late seventies and eighties.  Its crazy to think that Miami has such an violent and tumultuous past.  The part I enjoyed most but wish they would have expanded on is  the idea that much of Miami was actually built by cocaine money.  I noticed they talked a lot about the great building projects, rise in banks, and cash deposits on houses and luxury items.  I would have liked for them to delve further into some of the building projects in the downtown area.  Are there any records that show these projects were cocaine funded?  Were they directly funded by Cocaine traffickers attempting to go legitimate or were the banks just generous with loans due to the large amount of cash surplus they were receiving?   Are there still rich influential business men and reality speculators in the Miami area that are ex-drug dealers turned legitamite?  But I was super interested in seeing how such a large busting metropolis city was so greatly affected by cocaine.   In a strange way the movie makes you want to go out and start selling cocaine.  It seems so simple, go get a package that worth almost nothing there, and sell it here for thousands.  If anyone wants to go in on a small plane I’m in, I hear the job market sucks out there right now anyways.    But it is  also interesting to see how greatly the Latin American community had on this drug phenomenon.  You have to understand, Columbian and Cuban society is extremely poor and often live surrounded by violence.   When Latin Americans came here they brought the renegade violent lawless cowboy culture they are accustomed to with them.  I’m sure decent paying jobs were hard for Latin Americans to find, and there was so much money in the family business that it was only normal for them to be involved in drug trafficking.  When there is lots of money to be made in an unregulated business, there is chaos and often unregulated regulating.  For many Latin Americans, accustomed to violence, the most obvious way to do this was to take matters into their own hands. We see this with Griselda Blanca, a poor Colombian immigrant who killed her father at young age turned to prostitution and Basically raised herself from a very young age in a violent Columbian society.¹  Once these types of people migrated to Miami and were given the keys to a multi-billion dollar a year industry, they would stop at nothing to ensure they persevered.  I often wonder if  there are any smart drug dealers with Columbian ties, maybe from a business back ground, who came in and said, alright, this killing cowboy thing is not working for anyone.  Yes the boys back home are still getting a good cut, but there is way too much heat on us every time we start killing people and I really don’t want to die.  Let’s call a meeting between the top dudes, there is enough money to go around to everyone if we do this right.  Lets work out some rules and regulations, maybe some checks and balances, combine our resources, set up some ways to filter the money into legitimate business’s In the U.S. and back home.  In a matter of years we can build credibility, and run shit in the American Southeast, and build up our economies back home to a point where we will be making more money on legitimate business than Cocaine.  At that point we’ll sell our business model to the Mexican’s for even more money and eventually the whole Western hemisphere will be running shit  on a global scale.  We just figured out how to end world poverty with cocaine. 

Taylor Ross

History475

Que Viva mexico

Taylor Ross

Que Viva Mexico

Que Viva Mexico is a Russian made docudrama with early western elements. It gives an outside perspective of Mexico’s rich cultural history and traditions. The movie itself has a rather rich history in that it was originally filmed in 1931 by prominent Russian director Sergei Eisenstein and funded by prominent writer Upton Sinclair, who pulled the funding on film only to have it completed by Eisenstein’s co- director Grigory Alexandrov almost fifty years later. This undoubtedly affects the finished piece in a film critics eyes, but does little to take away from the underlying historical significance of the movies major themes. Hart describes the major theme of the movie as an interplay between life and death.(p.20) I feel this is far to general of a theme and does not do justice to the filmmakers actual intention. Yes, life, death, struggle and oppression have been reoccurring themes in Latin American history, but Eisenstein was examining a diverse early twentieth century society who’s customs, traditions, and culture intrigued him and differed greatly from what he or much of the movie watching world had ever seen. His novellas were aimed at discovering this culture by following its history. His chronological narratives show a culture that has rich ties to its earliest native inhabitants. Many of their traditional ceremonies and celebrations have mystical pagan elements that date back to Mayan times. Que Viva Mexico illuminates how various small agricultural villages such as Tuhuantepec have kept up practices that many civilized cultures might find outdated. Yet in more populated areas we see a culture more heavily influenced by European colonization. The Mayan sacrifices of old were performed to appease the gods, much like the bulls who are sacrificed in honor of the virgin Mary. This was a Spanish tradition that corresponded easily in to Latin American culture. Christianity is devoutly practiced and incorporated into celebrations for its triumph over paganism. But the Spanish imported Christian ideas are often practiced with magical or mystical pagan undertones. They use large amounts of song and dance, do animal sacrifices, have mystical ideas on the dead and ghost, and are heavily reliant on icons for traditional ceremonies. Eisenstein focuses on a culture laden with elements of both Spanish Catholicism and ancient mysticism, coupled with the violence and oppression created by tyrannical colonization. It was that tyrannical colonization followed by oppressive rule that created a culture which is desensitized by violence and more enthralled with the ides of life and death. The final three novellas illustrate this part of society. Mexico’s history is littered with violence, from ancient sacrifices and tribal wars, to the devastation brought on to the local inhabitants by European conquistadors, to the revolution in 1910 brought on by years of poor governing. The movie illustrates elements of life and death throughout. He will show living ancestors of ancient Mayans followed by them holding a dead body signifying the death of part of this culture, the celebration of marriage and childbirth followed by ritual killing, and the sacrifices made by those who revolted in order to give birth to free Mexico. The final novella on the Day of the Dead, does a wonderful job at tying all of these themes together. It encompasses the ideas of a culture created out of a mix of
European Christianity and ancient mysticism, while demonstrating their outlook on life and death stemming from years of violence.

Taylor Ross

History475

City of God

City of God

Holy shit! That was actually a really good movie. Not to say the other movies we have watched thus far have been complete crap, but that movie was actually really entertaining and well written and masterfully directed. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Paulo which came out in 1997, was reissued in a reduced edition in 2002. A film by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, City of God reveals what growing up in the Shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro is like. It follows a young poverty stricken group of kids from in the sixties, focusing mainly on and narrated by the character Rocket. I really like how the story spans three decades, enabling the viewer to understand the various obstacles poor Brazilians from these shanty towns faced. In a movie review by Joanne Laurier, a writer for WSWS.org, she criticizes the movie for being passive towards violence and felt psychologically disconnected from the characters. I completely disagree with statement.¹ Yes the movie was brutally violent, but this was not intended to be an exact portrayal of every child’s life in Rio. Meirelles intention is to demonstrate the lawlessness and yes often violent incidents which occur quite often in Rio and more importantly shanty towns. This is an except from the U.S. State Department’s website on International travel.

While crime occurs throughout the year, it is more frequent during Carnaval and the weeks prior. In the weeks before Carnaval 2009, robbers ransacked two tourist hostels. Two U.S. citizens were also shot and killed by off-duty policemen outside of nightclubs after altercations in 2007 and 2008. Though the victims were unarmed, in 2010 the courts upheld verdicts of not guilty by reason of self-defense. Be aware of your surroundings. If robbed, do not attempt to resist or fight back, but rather relinquish your personal belongings. Choose lodging carefully, considering security and availability of a safe to store valuables, as well as location.²

Laurie feels disconnected to such a cold blooded character as Li’l Ze’s, and probably a little leery that one person, such as Rocket would be wrapped up in that much chaos. But the movie is about the City of God. The characters are representative of a vast majority of problems plaguing Rio. Li’l Ze’s character is far too wicked and cold blooded to be represent a single thug in the City of God, yet in order to simplify this story into a captivating cinematic experience, Meirelles uses him to represent some of the worst aspects of these towns which include; brutal poverty, lack of parental guidance, poor gun control, drug trafficking, police corruption, child brutality, and lawlessness of the City of God. I his distance and fragility towards his characters allow the view to focus more on the issues at hand rather than why would that character be doing that. Rocket represent hope and perseverance, by resisting the urge to take the easy way he is able to survive. In the end, out of the seven or eight main characters, four are killed, one is saved by turning to God early on, one gets hooked on drugs, and only Rocket defies the odds. The City of God illustrates the insurmountable odds poverty stricken children in Rio de Janeiro must surpass in order to overcome poverty honestly.

Taylor D. Ross

1. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/mar2004/city-m03.shtml

2. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1072.html

Taylor Ross History475

History475

Gabriela

Gabriela

The 1983 Brazilian film Gabriela focuses on many aspects of Brazilian society in the early twentieth century. In the beginning of the movie a man murders his adulterous wife and his lover. The man went unpunished and the crime was not looked unjustly upon by the town’s people. The man was even praised for doing the right thing by local colonels, who assured the man he did the right thing. This barbaric and inhumane practice was in fact practiced regularly in Brazil during this time period. In Susan Besse’s reading she discusses this issue saying, “that crimes of passion were by no means a new phenomenon in Brazil; according to Portuguese law, a married man who his wife in the act of committing adultery had the legal right to kill both her and her suitor”. Nacib’s mercy on his wife Gabriela and his good friend Tonico after catching them sleeping together, represents a progressive way of handling outdated practices and policies set up by a male dominated society. Also, since Nacib was a foreigner with mixed heritage, this could be viewed as foreign ideas and culture will lead to progress at home. This issue also comes into play with the building of the canal by foreign designers. This idea that outside ideas will help push Brazil forward.

The movie also demonstrates Brazilian inability to progress. As soon as the foreign canal designer is finished with his work he is threatened to leave immediately. One of the colonels does not take kindly to his love affair. The inability of the professor to find a suitor that will marry him and reproduce with him, along with his low ranking social status demonstrate the lack of importance of education. Military men or Colonels ran the town. Finally Nacib’s relationship with Gabriela can be a metaphor for Brazilian society. He is unable to move forward with his life without Gabriela and eventually falls right back into the same tendencies.

Gabriela’s character is a complex representation of women in Brazil. Her sex appeal allows her to move up in society. This sends a strange message to Brazilian women. She embraces her beauty and uses it for her benefit to catch the eye of Nacib and transcend the class boundaries. But on the other hand her characters emphasis is on pleasing her husband and tending to his needs, which belittles women as mere sex objects and cooks. This helps stress the fact that this was a male dominated society and a good women was one who knew how to play her part. In the end the stringent class barriers become to much for their marriage to uphold, resorting in infidelity. The professors two girlfriends are also scandalous and lust driven. The movie paints a picture of Brazilian women who were viewed by men as sex objects and embraced this power, but need to be kept in line because they are quick to cheat.

Taylor Ross

History475

Camila

Camila and Argentina

Maria L. Bemberg’s Camila is the story of two lovers, Camilla a young Argentinian socialite vying for true love falls in love with a Catholic priest, they runaway together and are eventually executed for their actions. The movie is set in the mid nineteenth century in Argentina in a patriarchal society under the rule of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Bemberg explores various aspects of Argentinian society within the love story.

Bemberg looks at gender roles in Argentina, and explores many aspects of feminism. Women had very few liberties in the patriarchal society of Argentina. Marriages were arranged according to social class, women were told what they could and could not read, and the male head of the household made the decisions. Bemberg’s character challenges this way of thinking. Camila represents a new breed of Argentinian women. Bemberg aims to empower women by telling the story from Camila’s perspective. You sympathize with Camila’s desire to read what she wants, love who she wants, and live how she wants outside of her father’s desires. Bemberg uses the patriarchal family structure and female oppression to highlight the broader issue of the Argentinian oppression under the rule of Rosas.

The movie looks at Argentinian society under the rule of Rosas. Hart discusses the importance Rosas played in the film. He mentions that while he is never actually seen, his presence is always weighing on society. He ruled with strict discipline and limitless power. The inability of Camila and Ladislao to escape from his grasp even after moving to a remote village demonstrates his power. The imprisonment and brutal murder of Ladislao and that of the pregnant Camila demonstrate the ruthlessness in which he ruled. The fact that Camila was a wealthy socialite did not even stop him from executing her. While we see plies for mercy from top ranking officials on down to the hesitance of the executioners to shoot Camila, no one dared disobey Rosas order, no matter how inhumane they were. The film was also used by Bemberg to shed light on the much more recent incidents which occurred in Argentina in the seventies and eighties. Bemberg highlights the fear and violence which occurred in the Dirty Wars in her tragic love story.

I touched on the female gender roles in the movie but I think it is also necessary to look at the male characters in the movie. While Camila represents progress and liberty the male characters represent the anchor forbidding progress. Her father oppresses her by telling her what she can and can not do. He is a product of society under Rosa and an enabler of progress. Padre Gannon is villainized as the man who rats them out. All of the male government officials are incapable of doing the right thing for fear of Rosas. All of the men are incapable of making their own decisions even Ladislao who succumbs to his higher authority, Jesus, instead of riding off with Camila the night before their capture.

Taylor Ross

History475

the mission

The mission

The film the mission is a story about Spanish conquest over the Native Americans of Paraguay. It portrays three crucial elements of society at that time; the militaristic Spanish and Portuguese settlers, the Jesuit missionaries, and the native Guarani. The film takes place during a turbulent time, the Guarani War of the 1750’s, and demonstrates the paternalistic attitude some Jesuit missionaries took towards the natives. The films screenplay written by Robert Bolt ultimately aims to demonstrate the brutal and inhumane Spanish and Portuguese colonization of Southern and Central America.

As Saeger points out in his book Based on a True Story, Latin American History at the movies, there are often historical inaccuracies traded for cinematic affects. He notes discrepancies in actual location, native attitudes towards Christianity and compares the on screen society to historical references. This will happen in any major motion pictures portrayal of a historical event. Taken in a broader since Bolts screenplay does do a good job at highlighting the issue of Spanish and Portuguese imperial power the inevitable conquering of indigenous Americans. The movie deals with two facets of imperialism in the Americas, Religious imperialism and military imperialism. It boils down to wealth power and its deterrents, and obviously it would be quicker and easier for the Spanish and Portuguese to gain power through force than religious conquest. Father Gabriel’s character represents the religious Jesuit missionaries who tried feverishly to convert the indigenous people. As Seager points out, it often took decades, even generations for the natives to accept and practice Christianity. You do notice that throughout the movie there was little focus by Father Gabriel or any of his cohorts stressing actual Christian doctrine or practices onto the native people. Their focus was more on understanding and learning about native societies and integrating European ideas of society and religion into the tribes, while making sure to maintain the majority of the indigenous people’s ways of life. The tragic failed military defense strike at the movies climax shows just how much reliance the Spanish and Portuguese imperial powers had on this type of colonization. It also demonstrates how outmatched and under prepared the indigenous people were against European military force, even with the assistance of Mendoza’s military knowledge, home turf advantage, and some modern weapons. I was caught completely off guard by the brutality of the final battle. Bolt strayed away from traditional Hollywood endings in order to ensure his message was historically correct. There was a huge build up to the final battle. You feel like Mendoza’s past military expertise, the making and steeling of weapons, and the heavily fortified and booby-trapped village might actually stand a chance against military action. He also showed the difficulty European militaries had traversing the land in order to conquer menacing natives, as we see in the scene where the Spanish military slowly makes their way up the waterfall . He could have easily gone with a braveheart-esque ending. I was just waiting for DeNiro to blow the bridge after single handedly killing the majority of the invading army, get shot to his knees, bible and Gabriel’s flute in one hand, sword in the other, he stretches his arms out and yells “they can take your village… but they will never take… YOUR FREEDOM!” This of course would be followed immediately by his battle beaten body being riddled with bullets from all angles in slow motion. But in Bolts movie absolutely nothing goes right in this battle. The Spanish and Portuguese did in fact take their freedom by enslaving them, killing them, and conquering them and Bolt wanted to demonstrate this. There are very few instances where indigenous revolts were in fact successful. Kenneth Andrien discusses the Incan revolts in the Northern Andes, which were looked at as some of the most organized and successful indigenous revolts in South America. In both cases the leaders were executed and the revolt was surprised. The Mission’s purpose was to highlight the helplessness of native societies and cruelty of European imperialism.

 Taylor Ross

History475

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!