Despite my pride of my Latino ethnicity, there are a number of North American traits that I have retained. One such trait is my concept of location, space, and distance. Growing up in a household with framed maps on walls, I have always had an interest in cartography. Not only can I spend hours looking at historical maps but I have a skill for map reading, interpretation, and navigation. During weekend trips to distant cities, I often arrive with a notepad full of subway routes, road names, and fool-proof directions to points of interest.

One of the most frustrating things about my experiences in Puerto Rico has been the cultural clash in concepts of U.S. and Latino forms of navigation. Roads often have a variety of names and numbers are are most often referred to by nearby points of interest. Reference to exit and road numbers often draw blaunk faces. Time's Tim Rogers in reference to his experiences in Nicaragua states that interpreting such directions "means developing an intimate understanding of the spatial relationships between current and past landmarks, some of which were destroyed more than 30 years ago". New York Time's Stephen Kinzer described it as a "'Socratic' technique, based on first determining what the direction asker knows, then working backwards from there." One such instance occurred this morning when I got lost. (I found the address with ease but was unaware that Ponce de Leon had two 1375's; each on opposite sides of the Metropolitan Area.)

"The Environmental Quality Board, how may I help you?"
"Yes. I'm calling because I have a meeting with you guys at 9:00am. I am here on Ponce de Leon, facing Condado, and can't seem to find your building."
"Um. Where are you?"
"On Ponce de Leon. I'm standing right in front of where your building is supposed to be. I'm staring at a Domino's Pizza" (trying to speak to her under her terms.)
"Well. Your supposed to go as if your going to Caguas. Right next to the Masso and the Botanical Garden."
"Um... is that the Ponce de Leon?"
"I think that's still the Ponce de Leon" (it's funny, cause she works there and doesn't know)
"Well I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand where that is. Can you give me the name of the road that intersects with your building?"
"I don't know the name of the road, honey. It's the road where the Masso hardware store is."
"Is it the Masso that you see when you get off the #18 to get onto the #1?"
"Ummm. I don't know how else to explain it."
"Can you at least confirm your street address for me? What's the number of your building?"
"Um. I don't know. Umm. Let me check." (she fiddles) "1375."
"Okay. Thanks for your help." (frustrated)

Following directions from passer byers and pedestrians is often more complicated than even the most detailed map. Persons will often be more than willing to assist you, but will often give you directions that will totally throw you off course. Someone might tell you "Just take a left, a right, and than another right and your there!" without saying how many intersections or stop lights you must pass. Even when people are more detailed they will revert to the points of interest method of directions giving. "When you see the yellow house to your left, take a right, and then once you read Jimmy's Barbecue pull to the right." These sites are often badly labeled or with official names much more different than the ones neighbors refer them to." Also, even when people don't know how to get to a certain place, they will often give you improvised directions simply to get rid of you.

"To further confuse things," states Rogers, "directions are given in a unit of measurement known as a vara, which is apparently based on the arm length of a former nobleman from some time and some place in the distant past." While Puerto Ricans don't use "varas", it is quite culturally appropriate. Instead of giving my physical address to UPS delivery trucks, for example, I must tell them "Turn into the Mulas Bar, take the private entrance to the left after Tu Amigo Gas and take a left when you pass the McDonald's painted house. My house is at the end." Ironically, many of these streets don't have names due to lack of effort and interest in given them one. Many "legal" physical addresses are riddled with references to a barrio, neighborhood name, closest road number, and the exact kilometer point from that road.

I had spent the first two weeks of February carrying out an intensive investigation for a course of mine on Puerto Rican history. The topic of discussion was the Peninsular War in Spain, the liberal 1812 Constitution that it gave birth to, and its effect on Spain's colonies. It has already been a week or so since I gave my presentation and turned in the paper but thought that some of my readers might enjoy it. Google Print was quite helpful in terms of finding aged documents from the 1900th century, scanned transcripts of letters, and other valuable goodies.

In the paper I attempt to answer the contradictions of the legislative assemblies that drafted the Constitution and present a theory that Spain was in fact not going through an authentic social revolution. The concepts of Quaker economist Jack Powelson and German political scientist Hannah Arendt are applied to the war and incorporated into my own theory.

Below is the introduction for the paper. Click on the PDF icon at the end of this post to download. The paper is in English.

During Napoleon's invasion of Spain during 1808 and 1814, Spain and its colonies found itself among a political chaos. Accustomed to centralized government - where administration poured from the metropolis of Madrid to the rest of Spain and its ultramarine territories - anarchy dawned over the kingdom, as the royal family were easily sacked by the French Army. Just like the French had their sociétés révolutionaires and the Soviets would later have their soviets, the Spanish population would create a series of improvised and spontaneous juntas, consejos, and cortes, which would temporarily supplement centralized government during the French invasion. The following pages explore the foundation, labor, transformation, and democratic qualities of these institutions along with their relationship with each other and their effect on the government of Puerto Rico. During the investigation of the subject, two questions continued to surface; "What are the popular and democratic credentials of these revolutionary organizations?" and "why is it that such organizations proclaimed the democratic sovereignty of the people while simultaneously calling for the return to monarchy?" These questions will be further explored in the concluding paragraphs of this report.

The February 2nd issue of the Economist featured a story on Mexico's drug war and its government's difficulty in tackling the problem. Mention is made of an initiative from Mexico's Congress that would convert the "country's legal arrangements from a Napoleonic-style inquisitorial system to an Anglo-American-style adversial system." Despite such, one expert notes that "It is a problem of corruption, not of a lack of legal powers." I couldn't agree more; the Spanish system of complex (but detailed) civil codes can be as specific and detailed as they want; far from its arbitrary Anglo-American counter-part. Puerto Rican legislators have in recent years boosted traffic violation fines, surpassing many stateside standards, only to see the islands chaotic driving culture remain untouched, as official lack the authority and tools to enforce these codes.

Corruption is rampant throughout Latin American politics. I admit that. Even if you were to sack the entire government bureaucracy and replaced them with honest public servants (even those with passionate ideological or religious motivations, such as revolutionaries and fundamentalists), it wouldn't take long for our old ways to creep back in. I attribute this cycle to our culture, for nepotism, favoritism, and paternalism are cultural traits of our everyday lives. All of the mentioned memes foment corruption and especially bureaucracy. As Plato said, our government is a representation of its people.

The solution? Obviously, legislation and checks and balances won't do the trick. These same laws will be difficult to implement and these traditions will always find a way to creep in. Every Governor Puerto Rico has had in previous decades has promised to govern more efficiently and re-invent government; always with no avail.

We hook up friends with jobs when we work in the private sector, only to scorn our leaders for hooking up theirs with contracts. This will always happen as long as we - in our private spheres - continue to hook up friends with jobs. So then why not eliminate the hook ups that a public sector could give out to his friends? Drastically minimize the need for the public sector to contract the private sector in the first place. I'm strongly opposed to Rossello's monolithic public works not because all of them are unnecessary, but because such large transfers of funds from the public to the private sector make it oh so easy for corruption to take place. Most of the corruption occurring during his administration, I must point out, took place during the realization of such contracts. Cut off a thief's hands and you impede his ability to steal. Take away the jobs, the contracts, and the favors that a public official can hand out, and you have neutralized him.

Aside from being natural nepotists, we are also natural paternalists. Max Weber, Samual Huntington, Lawrence Harrington, and were the most noted scholar to note the socio-economic and political effects of paternalism, often attributing it to our strong Catholic roots. Naturally, we will look towards our Mayors, Legislators, and Governors for hand outs and solutions to our personal problems. (I have had young men who have recently impregnated their girlfriends sit in front of my office desk, wining about how my Municipal government isn't doing anything to help him out of his bind. I laughed, considering the fact that only a few years before I was in the same bind. What did I do? I looked for a better paying job.) But what if we were to take away the power of our Mayors and Legislators? Not by creating new posts or passing their responsibilities to other government sectors, but by decentralizing their power by handing it over to their constituents. I have often spoken of popular neighborhood assemblies that would meet periodically to decide the fate of their proportion of public coffers. If it were not neighborhood assemblies that decided which of their roads are paved, which bridges are fixed, and how they will spend their public dollars, then why stand in line on a Friday morning at the Mayor's office in hopes to win him over to your cause? Do you feel that your tax dollars should be spent on new street posts? Do you want your tax dollars to be equally distributed among the tax payers? Do you want a free handout to pay for a lagging bill? Then present the proposal to your neighbors at your next town square assembly.

The state cannot be reformed. It can only be eliminated.

I read an interesting snippet in Atlantic concerning a new program from Ecuador's left wing President Rafael Correa called "Plan Retorno". A quick Internet search brought up the following:

The program, called Plan Retorno, will be open to Ecuadorean citizens worldwide and will take effect for Ecuadorean-Americans in February. To lure them home, Ecuador will raise or end ceilings on the value of cash and goods they can bring back; offer them attractive loans to build houses and start businesses; and let them ship home their cars without paying the usual high import duties....

In presenting the plan, [the President of Ecuador] described emigration as "the most palpable proof of the political, economic and social disaster" of his predecessors. New York Times.

Agreed. As leftist Mexican Presidential Candidate Lopez Obrador once said, "the best foreign policy, is domestic policy."

The most scandalous [anti-Chavez ad] was an anonymous two-page spread in the country's largest circulation newspaper, Últimas Noticias, which claimed about the Constitutional Reform:

"If you are a Mother, YOU LOSE! Because you will lose your house, your family and your children (children will belong to the state)."...

Although published as an anonymous article, [Elections Commission President] Lucena announced that according to the official tax number (RIF) published with the article, the advertisement was actually placed by the Cámara de Industriales del estado Carabobo (The Carabobo State Chamber of Industry)...

The CIEC is a 71 year-old organization, headquartered in the Carabobo state capital of Valencia, which groups together more than 250 businesses in the region.  Among those are dozens of subsidiaries which compose literally a who's who list of some of the largest and most powerful US corporations, including (among others):  Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Bridgestone Firestone, Goodyear, Alcoa, Shell, Pfizer, Dupont, Cargill, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Novartis, Unilever, Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, Citibank, Colgate Palmolive, DHL and Owens Illinois. Venezuelanalysis

PRESIDENT Hugo Chavez has threatened to nationalise the Venezuelan subsidiaries of Spanish banks Banco Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, if Spain's King Juan Carlos does not apologise for telling Chavez to "shut up". BusinessDay

I'm all for nationalizing banks, but I don't think his reasons are any good.

Just skimming through my daily Latin American news:

Ecuador

An assembly elected to rewrite Ecuador's constitution has dissolved the country's opposition-dominated Congress on its first day of work....

In April, nearly 80% of voters backed his call for an assembly that would bypass Congress and rewrite the constitution. In September, voters then chose assembly members, giving 80 of the 130 seats to his Alianza Pais party. BBC

Venezuela

Marisabel Rodríguez, former wife of President Hugo Chávez, Thursday said it would be hard for the ruler to accept a likely defeat in a referendum next December 2 on his proposed changes to the Constitution, which include his indefinite reelection. El Universal

I must say that this is probably one of the most ignorant things I've ever read in a professional news agency. Chavez is eliminating term limits; something that is very much different then "his indefinite reelection". Puerto Rico along with many developed nations lack term limits; while many U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia and even European Union members Spain and the UK still have paper kings and queens still lingering around.

Plus, check out this interesting article on Chavez's bartering experiment from Reuters.

Brazil:

Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to make his first visit as president to a favela, or shanty town, in Rio de Janeiro.

The favela of Cantagalo has been the scene of recent clashes between police and drug gangs, but no exceptional security measures will be in place. BCC

I'd like to see a U.S. President talk through a slum with "no exceptional security measures".

Nicaragua:

A Nicaraguan appeals court Wednesday blocked a recently approved law designed to keep President Daniel Ortega from creating citizen councils as part of his government...

Under a measure passed by lawmakers, the councils would be allowed to exist just like any other politically active group, but could not be directly linked to the presidency...

Ortega said late Tuesday that he would create the councils Nov. 30, no matter what Congress decided.

"They are making a huge mistake in denying the right of the people to organize," he said. "It's absurd." International Herald Tribute

What makes these citizen councils any different from Sila Calderon's Comunidades Especiales?

Colombia:

Despite far-right President Álvaro Uribe's attacks, Colombia's left opposition Polo Democrático swept the Oct. 28 elections for Bogotá's Mayor - the second most important political position in the country...

As a result, the Polo Democrático increased its vote in the capital from 797,000 to 915,000, and became the largest single party on Bogotá's asamblea, while defeating all the rightist parties in 17 of the city's 20 zones to more than double its representation on the city's local juntas. This success has positioned Garzón as the obvious choice to be the Polo's candidate in the next presidential elections, although the party's current national leader, Carlos Gaviria, has strong support amongst the activists...

Gaviria is considered more radical than [current mayor] Garzón, and has the support of Colombia's influential Communists, but workers organised in the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores union confederation lean towards former union president Garzón...

The Partido Comunista Colombiano, standing candidates as part of the Polo Democrático, won more than 20 positions throughout the country, including local mayors, state asamblea representatives and consejo positions on Bogotá's asamblea. Upside Down World

Mexico:

A broad electoral reform that infuriated Mexico's broadcast industry by barring political parties from buying radio and television advertisements will take effect on Wednesday.The reform attempts to level the political playing field by requiring television and radio stations to broadcast 48 minutes of free political advertising each day and forbidding parties from buying their own air time. AP

Amen.

Regional:

Leaders of 19 Latin American countries met with their counterparts from Spain, Portugal and Andorra at the 17th Ibero-American summit on 8-10 November in Santiago de Chile...

However, this diversion has not erased regional attention from the summit's 15 agreements, including the Multilateral Social Security Convention to allow nearly 6 million migrant workers in Latin America, Spain and Portugal to transfer social security benefits between their nations. Hardbeatnews

Until Wednesday is the 19th Annual Puerto Rico Cinemafest in San Patricio  Plaza. I've had the chance to see four movies so far, and plan to knock another four out before it's over. Hay que aprovechar, I think, for things like this happen only once a year.

The first film I had the opportunity to see was "El Bufalo de La Noche" from Mexico. While the movie was well done, the actors were curious indeed, and the quality of the film was top notch, the storyline itself was quite frankly... shitty. The "big" secret of the movie is nothing big at all and fails to leave one gasping in shock. (Some dude has recently killed himself and the film doesn't seem to tell you why. It turns out that it was because his best friend had slept with his girlfriend. See? The movie sucked so much that I don't even flinch when telling you the ending.) Now seguro you won't see it.

One thing that caught me as amusing was how the main character was a total looser (didn't study, didn't work, looked rather unclean and smelly, and still lived with his mother) but had an array of ladies ready to drop their panties for him.You'd think that if his more attractive, cleaner friend would have had half his game that he wouldn't be stressing over his girlfriend's cabroneria.

The second film was "Soñar No Cuesta Nada". This was less of an artsy flick and more of a comedy for the masses. "Por fin un negro!" I belted, for the movie portrayed a great representation of Afro-Caribbean Latino racial make-up as opposed to the more Spanish metropolitan middle class in Bufalo'. The depiction of traditional Colombian rural villages, institutional corruption, and Caribbean humor was quite refreshing, after seeing a video as cold and gris as Bufalo'.


Check the later if you can or find it via torrent.

Despite the controversy which the opening of "ALBA Houses" across Peru has created in congress and among political leaders, they have continued to run and continue to be established in Peru.

Peru's Prime Minster del Castillo has stated that the establishment of ALBA Houses in Peru are ways that Hugo Chavez is attempting to tamper with Peru's government...

Regional governments and authorities allowing the establishment of the ALBA Houses in their regions have explained that ALBA is a social program which is attempting to help Peru's poor. Hundreds of Peruvians have already gone to Venezuela to have free medical attention provided. Many have returned thanking President Hugo Chavez himself. Living in Peru

Not only do such services demonstrate excellent examples of how social programs can be adopted on a regional and continental level, but such move also has its obvious political effects. I've heard of similar occurances in PRD-controled areas of Mexico. While I aknowledge such efforts as being "cheap politics", it can't be as bad as USAID, VOA radio, and other U.S.-funded international aid efforts.

Bolivian President Evo Morales uses sometimes the security services provided by the Venezuelan government for budgetary reasons, AP reported...

According to the newspaper, the US authorities were surprised because the Bolivian president arrived in a Venezuelan plane and escorted by Venezuelan guards...

"It is a question of economic resources. We lack budget to take 10, 12 or 15 security officers and perhaps this is why the president flew onboard a Venezuelan plane. Perhaps it was because of this," Minister of Defense Walker San Miguel told the newspaper. El Universal

Now, while I know that this really looks bad and only feeds Evo critics who rant on about how MAS is secretly funded by Venezuela, I don't think it's necessary for me to point out how many times U.S. military units have been dished out to hold up puppet Presidents throughout the Third World. I think that this is a bit agressive on behalf of Hugo Chavez, and despite the fact that the U.S. does the same on a larger scale (through the presence of military bases and institutions like the ex-School of Americas), I think that it's bad publicity for the Latin American left.

Venezuelan non-governmental organizations warned Friday that President Hugo Chavez's proposal to prevent "political associations" from accepting foreign donations may strangle pro-democracy and human rights groups. AP

Amen. Proceed.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's conservative president shocked Latin America last week by asking to join a development bank central to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's drive for left-wing integration in South America.

But the move by Alvaro Uribe, Washington's top ally in the region, was only the latest in a recent series of friendly gestures toward his anti-American ideological opposite.

As the U.S. Congress reevaluates its aid to Colombia and threatens to reject a free trade deal over human rights concerns, Uribe is reaching out to Chavez, even asking him to mediate a deal to free hostages held by Marxist rebels. Reuters

The integration of the Americas and is independence from the Western-dominated IMF and World Bank can be goals attained apart from leftist and rightist ideologies.

I also think that the results of Chavez's intervention between the Colombian government and the Marxist rebels will be quite positive. I think that the long-term result of such talks will be the integration of the rebels into the Colombian political process. "Look how I did it without having to carry out a 40 year revolution," I imagine him saying.

President Hugo Chavez has proposed slashing Venezuela's working day to six hours to turn its socialist revolution into a paradise of leisure - with one exception.

Under a new draft constitution debated in congress this week everyone will have more time for recreation and relaxation. Guardian International

Amen. In fact; in a few years drop it to 4 hours a week. I find it ironic to think that as our civilization continues to make drastic technological advances, that we continue to work long hours despite the fact that we are using more and more computers and machines that can do the work of a thousand men. We are many times more productive than before their implementation, but our workweek does not reflect that aumento.

"Chávez' regime is heading for fascism," said Vargas Llosa, unleashing the applause of part of the audience.

He added that Chávez turned out to be a dictator who amended the Constitution to remain in office. El Universal

Chavez is not eliminating elections. He is eliminating term limits. Term limits did not exist prior to FDR in the United States. Australia, France, and Italy do not have term limits. The interesting thing about it, is that the issue will be put up to a referendum prior to becoming law. Elections will continue on a normal basis. What is eliminated are term limits. I've heard plenty of Democrats in recent years wishing that term limits were abolished so that Bill Clinton could have ran again.

Correa arrived in Caracas late Thursday to pay an official visit that, according to analysts, is aimed at proposing Venezuela to rejoin the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).

The Ecuadorian ruler claimed that "being a Bolivarian person is identifying oneself with the 21st century socialism, which is neither an entelechy nor a manual, but a doctrine that was born out of necessity and dreams."...

During a ceremony in the Military Academy, just before the premiere of a film called Miranda is back, Correa asserted, "We are one single fatherland, the great fatherland of Martí and Bolívar. This part of America was Bolivarian in the past and will be Bolivarian in the future. We are not flinching at the pressures of the oligarchy." El Universal

Seven South American countries will create a new development bank. Following a meeting in Brazil, finance ministers said the Bank of the South would play a "central role in the new financial architecture of the region". The bank will have its headquarters in Venezuela, the country that originated the idea. BBC

Wonderful. A regional, continental bank would be a wonderful alternative to the IMF.

CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Venezuela is considering rejoining the Andean Community because leftist leaders in Bolivia and Ecuador who have resisted free trade deals with the United States could help to transform the regional economic bloc.

Chavez, who pulled Venezuela out of the five-nation bloc in 2006 after Peru and Colombia signed trade pacts with Washington, said on his weekly broadcast program that he was studying "the possible path toward a new Andean Community." AP

Amen. I actually opposed Venezuela leaving from the start. I rather have one leftist member than none.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said he was looking at several ways to find more resources, including the creation of new taxes. Such a move would be aimed at encumbering "excess expenses."

Chávez announced the likely tax on expenses during his radio and television show Aló, Presidente (Hello, President). He underscored that his administration was reviewing the background to determine the rate of the tax to be levied on excess expenses.

According to Chávez both individuals and legal persons "spend and spend." The he said that the tax on expenses is levied both in the capitalism and in communism. El Universal

I'm all for such types of taxes, but I think they should be tied into something more than the products costs. For example; I'm all for luxory car taxes considering the fact that most luxory cars take up more space and deteriorate public roads quicker than smaller compact cars.

I work within my Municipality's external funding division so I always receive information on the latest state and federal grants that are available to the United States and its territories. Ever once and a while a headline such as the following will catch my attention:

"Building Stronger and More Representative Political Parties in Peru"

A "Democratic Initiative", this fund of $2,400,000 will go towards a "Foreign Assistance" program for the above cause. Obviously this fund isn't meant to be invested in the current political parties, considering the fact that both the ruling party and the primary opposition party are of the political left. The primary pro-U.S. party is a sad sight; loosing in the first round of the most recent elections.

Not too long ago U.S. initiatives were put into place in an attempt to consolidate Nicaragua's right-wing parties in order to defeat leftist Daniel Ortega. Documents obtained from the Freedom of Information Act in 2004 showed that $5 million was given annually from USAID to organizations in Venezuela, most notably to the anti-Chavez organization Sumate. These examples are peanuts when compared to the bloody coups, contra wars, puppet states, and invasions, but they are far from kind efforts to spread democracy.

It's no surprise that the U.S. is not happy with Peru's political parties, but should it even have a say so? Chavez is often blasted for using his nation's oil wealth for international social programs, but USAID can openly intervene in a sovereign nation's partisan politics?

Don Kulick carried out a detailed study in 1997 of transvestites in Brazil. Kulick's findings were interesting, as they enforced and revealed a number of cultural perceptions existing in Latin America towards sexuality and homosexuality in specific. "the entire conceptual ordering of sexuality in Latin America differs significantly from North American world-views," states Anthropologist Sheldon Smith. "It is the person who is penetrated who is considered maricon, cochon, joto, marica, frango, or bicha (homosexual). the male lovers, or penetrators, are considered homens (men) and are not homosexual." ("Latin America in Transition", p. 432)

"Grandmother, I read the most interesting observation of Latino perceptions of homosexuality" I said earlier this evening. "Well, what was it?" "Well, according to this one author, Latin Americans tend to label only the receiver of homosexual sex as pato and the giver of sex as the macho, and not necessarily gay." With a confused look on her face she responded, "but he isn't gay." Point proven.

Interestingly enough, a gay person is often referred to as someone who likes to "cogerlo por el culo" or "take up the ass" and not necessarily give. A few months ago when an employee of mine jokingly referred to two other obviously straight employees as a homosexual couple, the two humorously made accusations over who exactly was receiving and who was giving. "Oh no, I'm not the one who gets it up the ass. It's him," as they chuckle.

It was interesting to hear a heterosexual friend of mine (quite heterosexual I might add, according to his frequent womanizing escapades) say something along the lines of, "Today I saw this transvestite. Man was he hot. I swear, with a couple of beers I would have taken him home."

"The best foreign policy... is internal policy."

-Obrador, tonight's presidential debate.