- How has urban space facilitated protests and revolutions throughout Latin American history?
- Has the preferred urban space for protest changed overtime (ex. from plazas to highways)?
- How has U.S. intervention in Latin American politics shaped the course of protests and revolutions in the region?
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Narrative/Overview
Urban space has long been a moniker of protest and social change in Latin America. The plaza, one the most iconic urban spaces throughout Latin American cities, is often the place of choice of protest, due to its close proximity to government buildings, dense population centers, and other symbols of the establishment in Latin American life. Urban spaces like these have normally been the choice of organized protest, but other areas of the city have started to gain attention in recent years.
The plaza itself is the Spanish term for a town square, the place where commerce and government duties alike are conducted around. Due to its close proximity to both residential areas and government palaces and capitol buildings, the plaza has been the main gathering area for citizens to protest or even revolt in for well over a century. One prime example of the plaza being used as a center for rebellion against a government can be seen in Mexico in February of 1913. Another example is seen during Pinochet’s ascent to the head of the Chilean government, as well as the protests during his reign during the cold war in the 1970s and 80s. Even today, this can be seen with modern protests in Latin America.
Plazas have always been a gathering point for protestors as it is easily accessible. Both protestors, government forces, and the media alike can all access the plaza without many restrictions due to its size. However, oppressive governments have noted this, and have started to restrict free movement more. When a plaza becomes inaccessible, protestors adapt in other ways. A new location preferred by the people has become the road. An example of this can be seen in the People Power Revolution in Manila in 1986. President and dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared a snap election for February of 1986, the first major election held since 1969. Marcos was running against Corazon Aquino, the widowed wife of Ninoy Aquino, one of the most prominent opposition figures to protest the Marcos regime and who was assassinated three years earlier in 1983. After the election results were disputed between the government-run Commission on Elections and the non-profit National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, who called the presidency for Marcos and Aquino respectively, tensions rose as voter fraud became more prevalent. As a result, Aquino called for a boycott and protest against the Marcos regime.
Jaime Cardinal Sin, the archbishop of Manila and a largely influential figure then called for the Filipino people to help support the opposition figures who were being held at military bases across EDSA highway via Radio Veritas, a catholic radio channel. Expecting only a small turnout of support, Cardinal Sin was surprised to see hundreds of thousands of Manila residents of all classes turning out onto the highway to protest Marcos’ government. As more civilians and even soldiers began to join the protests, Marcos was contacted by one of his generals, Fabien Ver, who requested to use lethal force to disperse the protests. However, Marcos gave the order “not to shoot”, and fled the country two days later, although still claiming to have won the election, paving the path for Aquino to be sworn in as president on the same day. The People Power revolution also became known as the EDSA Revolution as the highway became famous for its role in the election, and used as a center for protest as it was the most accessible area.
A more modern example of a non-plaza centered protest is the 2022 election protests in Brazil. Perhaps taking note from the “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa the year before, many truckers began to blockade several key locations and interchanges on the highways around the city of Sao Paulo, effectively forcing the city’s economy into a standstill. This was because of the election that occurred in Brazil this past October, in which left-wing Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, narrowly beat the right-wing sitting president Jair Bolsonaro by a two million vote difference in a runoff election. Supporters of Bolsonaro believed that the election was fraudulent, and that Lula was not the true victor. For the next few days after the election, truckers who supported the sitting president blockaded key interchanges along Brazilian highways, instantly impacting the economy and trade of Sao Paulo and Brazil alike. This new form of protest, which some have labeled as “domestic terrorism”, is becoming increasingly popular around the world, with no exception to Latin America.
Lots of Latin American protests have a common cause, or culprit. The United States, who has interfered in Latin American politics for over a century, has been the reason for many protests either advocating for or rebelling against a US-backed government.
An example of U.S. interference in Latin American politics which led to violence and the overthrow of a government would be the Ten Tragic Days that occurred in 1913. Two years prior, military dictator Porfirio Diaz was ousted from power and democratic elections saw Francisco Madero assume power. Madero’s government was fragile however, with the Zapatistas in the south of the country almost immediately declaring an armed rebellion to push through agrarian land reform. Sensing Madero’s ever decreasing control over the country, Felix Diaz, the nephew of Porfirio Diaz, rallied support not only from other generals such as Bernardo Reyes and Victoriano Huerta (who had previously vowed to protect Madero’s democracy), but also foreign agents, including the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico at the time, Henry Lane Wilson. This was due to the fact that Wilson personally believed that a return to the military junta would better serve American interests, even though the U.S. government did not directly approve of his actions. Military officers who were sympathetic to Diaz’s cause marched on the President’s building, and fighting within Mexico City raged for days. Henry Wilson was not only involved in the initial coup, but also in the aftermath of the overthrow, as an internal dispute broke out between General Diaz and General Huerta, where WIlson acted as a mediator.
Soldiers with guns, Mexico City, 1913.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Decena_tr%C3%A1gica.JPG
The U.S. government, while not actively participating in the build-up to the military coup against President Allende in Chile, was quick to establish cordial relations with Dictator Pinochet after the coup had occurred, and often turned a blind eye to his harsh reprisals against “dissidents”. Similarly to what occurred in Mexico sixty years prior, Pinochet and his supporters targeted the government building in which Allende resided, with constant bombing runs leaving the building in ruins. Allende would issue one final radio broadcast to his supporters before taking his own life. As the government rapidly shifted to Pinochet’s hardline right-wing authoritarianism, the lower-class grew more dissatisfied. Under Allende, they had been guaranteed a higher standard of living and rights, however these seemed to be disappearing through the late 1970s and into the ‘80s. Hours after the original 1973 coup, the Chilean army entered the Poblaciónes, an area where many lived in poverty, and arrested civilians who were accused of having ties to communism and Allende. Many lived in fear of Pinochet’s government for the next decade. However in 1982, an economic crisis occurred which became the last straw for many citizens who began to protest Pinochet’s government openly. Cacerolazo, the banging of pots and pans as a form of protest, was present in the poblaciónes of La Pincoya, La José María Caro, La Victoria, and others. Lots of these protests took place on the roads of the protestors’ own homes and streets..
These are just several examples of how protests have evolved over time, from the Ten Tragic days in Mexico to ongoing protests in Brazil. Over the span of a century, common people have found ways to overcome oppressive governments and show their discontent by protesting in both plazas and elsewhere.
Primary Sources Annotated Bibliography
“Cheryl Shepherd’s Ten Tragic Days Collection: Special Collections and Archives: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.” Site, https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/cshepherd/.
Cheryl Shepherd’s collection of photographs illustrates key events that occurred during the Ten Tragic Days. The collection was originally her father’s, who was living in Mexico city at the time of these events. These pictures demonstrate the actors involved throughout the Ten Days, key locations, and what their goals were. These images can be used by those who are performing scholarly research on these events, or simply by those who are curious about Mexican history.
“Distant Neighbors: the U.S. and the Mexican Revolution.” Distant Neighbors (Hispanic Reading Room, Hispanic Division), https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/mexico/ayala.html.
The Library of Congress’ archives pertaining to the broader Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) showcase documents from the Ten Tragic days, including the proclamation known as the “Plan de Ayala”. In this proclamation, Emiliano Zapata and his followers (Zapatistas) declared their allegiance to fellow Revolutionary Pascual Orozco rather than to President Maduro. This declaration clearly states how the Zapatistas felt about Maduro’s ascendency to President, highlighting the lack of popular support for his regime. This declaration is helpful to those trying to better understand the actors in the Ten Tragic Days and more broadly, the Mexican Revolution.
“Jack Devine: Chile’s September 11th”, https://youtu.be/TKTUo52bpDo
Jack Devine, a CIA agent present in Santiago before and during Pinochet’s 1973 coup, is interviewed by Dr. Moisés Naím, a columnist who is widely renowned in the Spanish speaking community. In this interview, Devine states that it was not the CIA who had allowed a coup, but Washington itself, and states that his presence was only to “support opposition” to Allende. He stresses that the CIA was not responsible for the coup, and only knew of it two days prior.
Secondary Sources Annotated Bibliography
Co.], C.S. Hammond and. “The Mexican Revolution and the United States in the Collections of the Library of Congress Tragic Ten Days Interactive Map – En Español.” Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mexican-revolution-and-the-united-states/interactive-map.html.
In this interactive map, the Library of Congress is able to visually summarize what events occurred during the 10-day period. Sections of Mexico City were highlighted on the map to indicate the locations of major occurrences during the Tragic Days, with brief descriptions written alongside them to further detail what was going on, where it was happening, and when during this sequence did it occur. The culmination of these events was the resulting overthrow and assassinations of President Madero and Vice President Suarez. These maps help break down the events of the period into digestible chunks which increase a scholar’s understanding of what was at stake.
Chassen-López, Francie. “Decena Trágica – the Ten Tragic Days.” UKnowledge, https://uknowledge.uky.edu/world_mexico_revolution/5/.
In this collection from the University of Kentucky, several pictures showcase actors and buildings that were involved during the Ten Tragic Days. We can see two soldiers with weapons laying down, presumably waiting for President Maduro to surrender. We are also shown the destruction of part of the President’s building, highlighting the superiority of the anti-President forces. Finally, we can see the casualties that took place in the plaza (zocalo) that day, with bodies strewn across the ground. These pictures help one researching the event to fully understand the magnitude of the violence.
“Pro-Bolsonaro Protests Escalate in Brazil after Election Loss.” PBS NewsHour, 25 Nov. 2022, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/pro-bolsonaro-protests-escalate-in-brazil-after-election-loss
In this article written by Diane Jeantet, a journalist for the Associated Press, several stories are noted, showing the extent to which some Bolsonaro supporters are going to to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the election, and how Bolsonaro has given little to no condemnation of the events unfolding in Brazil.
Glossary
MEXICO:
Zapatistas- Supporters of Emiliano Zapata, a Mexican revolutionary who called for agrarian land reform and other changes to Mexican society.
Porfiristas- Supporters of the old Diaz military regime
Maderistas- Supporters of President Maduro
Henry Lane – U.S. Ambassador to Mexico during the Ten Tragic Days.
CHILE:
Augusto Pinochet – Chilean military general who ousted the sitting president Salvador Allende in the September 11, 1973 coup.
Salvador Allende – The 28th president of Chile, democratically elected in 1970 and aligned himself with the left. He committed suicide in the presidential palace during the coup against his government three years later.
Población – Spanish for “Population” and a Chilean term for a shantytown, lots of lower-income peoples lived here.
Desaparecidos – “Those who are missing” People that disappeared after Pinochet’s takeover.
CIA – Central Intelligence Agency, foreign intelligence for the USA. Criticized for its role in overthrowing governments in Latin America and elsewhere, it played a major role in the 1973 Chilean coup.
Popular Unity Party – A left wing alliance of political parties formed in 1969, and elected to the Chilean Government along with Allende a year later.
PHILIPPINES:
EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) – Largest highway in metro Manila, gathering place for protests during the People Power revolution of 1986.
Corazon “Cory” Aquino – The wife of murdered politician Ninoy Aquino, she was sworn in as the 11th President directly after the EDSA revolution. Leans center-left.
Ferdinand Marcos – President and Dictator of the Philippines who had declared martial law in 1972 to secure his power. Although his government claimed to have won his reelection in 1986, he fled the country after citizens began to protest the results. He was a strong authoritarian right-wing figure.
BRAZIL:
Jair Bolsonaro – The current president as of 11/29/22. He leans more right-wing in his policies, and has been blamed by critics as the instigator for the ongoing Brazilian protests.
Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva – The former president of Brazil who won the 2022 election and is to take the presidency on the first day of 2023. He leans left-wing in his policies and was involved in multiple scandals and imprisoned in the past.
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