Our Brand Is Crisis

          Our Brand Is Crisis is a film that goes behind the scenes to see the work of Americans in foreign policy making and the influence they possess in developing nations around the globe. The movie follows James Carville as he works as a strategist in order to help American educated, Bolivian born Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada run for the presidency. Eventually going on to become president of Bolivia with their help and new policy making. It focuses on the Washington Consensus which was an effect to spread neoliberal policies during the period between 1980 and 2005. This movement was supported and backed by the International Monetary Fund and World bank which both play a major role in macro level global markets and exchange rates between countries. James Cypher talks about this paradigm shift in the policy making of Latin America in his article "The slow death of the Washington Consensus on Latin America." Cypher goes on to say that "The intellectual impetus behind the consensus view clearly flowed from Washington. Equally important, the consensus encompassed key Latin American business elites and transnational corporations particularly in the financial realm.(p.2)" Clearly having these businesses in your back pocket would not hurt when trying to make new policies or in cases such as John Perkins keep the tales of corruption quiet. John Perkins began to write "Confessions of an Economic Hit man" in 1982 but was stopped four times over the next twenty years through the use of threats, extortions, and bribes. This becomes more understandable once Perkins says that two of his clients, the Presidents of Ecuador and Panama, had just perished in a fiery plane crash that was actually an assassination attempt. The reality and gravity of the situation begins to set in once an organization is powerful, rich, and more importantly evil enough to take out anyone in their way. This is a "fraternal group of corporate, governmental, and banking heads whose goal is global empire."(Perkins p.2)
         For over a decade other countries have been using U.S. strategists to help candidates running for anything from public office to the presidency. These strategists work behind the scenes to mold public opinion and making the candidates message loud and clear. In a way they have been spreading their own values and the values and principles of the democracy they grew up in. James Carville has worked on several foreign campaigns helping everyone from Tony Blair run for prime minister to Israel's labor party to the liberal party of Canada before his 2002 run with the Bolivian president.
        Any organization that is backed by companies that control the global market and exchange of funds to the extent that IFG and World Bank do it is clear that the economic and political influence they control could be quite significant. The Washington Consensus generally advises developing countries and emerging economies around the globe. Their advice usually goes along the same lines of: reducing government deficits, deregulate international trade, and to pursue export led growth. Although these policies have worked quite well for America throughout its history the outcome in Latin America has come with more than its fair share of criticism as Cypher points out. Cypher shows us that "According to the Washington Consensus, nations - particularly Latin American nations - that followed the precepts of neoliberal economics could expect to be rewarded by an inflow of foreign funds that would make up for the savings shortfall and energize the economy through renewed investment. The greatest neoliberal fallacy, of many, was the implicit assumption that all capital inflows are equally good and that importing what cannot be made best within a Latin American nation is always and everywhere the epitome of economic rationality."(p.4) Unfortunately this was not the case that played out once all was said and done as Cypher explains. Not all the capital that began flowing back into Latin America was of the same benefit to all the citizens living their. In reality most the money flowed to agriculture, timber operations, and petroleum industry that created few new jobs for the unemployed. The second place the money ended up was in real estate, banks, and stock brokerage companies which inevitably gave vast sums of money to a very small number of people who were already presumably very wealthy to begin with which as Cypher points out does little to nothing in the area of financial stability and support.(p5-6) Lastly, the money was parked in nations offering higher yield on assets. Leading to tax rates maintaining their extremely high levels which starves financial institutions of their ability to bounce back from economic downturns.

La virgen de los sicaros

         Our Lady of the Assassins is an unrelenting look into the violent culture that is plaguing the city of Medellin. The film is following a man named Vallejo who appears to be grief stricken after the loss of his last remaining sibling passes away. He utters that he has nothing left in this world to love and makes it clear that he has come to Medellin to die. Not in the sense that he is sick, but rather that he has done what he wanted to do and is ready to find the place he can call home until he passes away. He moves back to Medellin because this is where he grew up as a child. Unfortunately, Vallejo does not return to the same Medellin that he remembers. He spends many of the first few days meandering around the same streets he used to as a child, finding that the civility and law-and-order he remembers has been all but forgotten. Not long after he arrives, Vallejo is no more than five feet away from a car jacking that occurs at a red light, resulting in the driver being shot and killed. This horrifying scene seems somewhat unimaginable to an outside viewer. All the while Vallejo stands silent and expressionless in amazement at the senseless violence that is unfolding in front of him.
             This seems to be another film pointing out the social problems haunting large sections of Colombia. Such rampant violence being committed by the youth of a society is a disaster that will only continue to spiral out of control. This type of despair and poverty is what leads many of these children into this life. They all work together and teach each other the tricks of the trade which makes the problem compound exponentially over a very short period of time. If an entire generation is behaving in a certain manner, in this case violently and criminally, the next generation is doomed to learn from these behaviors and mimmic them even from a young age. In a way their has always been a struggle of the lower class to succeed through whatever means possible. Hilton's article (p31-33) talks about the countless insurrections and uprising of both the left and right wings, and about the coffee workers movements and quest for survival spanning across decades of Colombian history. In today's culture guns are much more common place and are easy to acquire in underdeveloped and under privileged areas. Leading many children into a life of crime because of it being one of the only ways out and a possible means to some sort of sustainable wealth that was otherwise unattainable. This seems to be exactly what has happened in the town of Medellin and countless other Latin American city's.
             Upon Fernando's arrival back to Medellin he was greeted with the gift of a young man named Alexis who is a street hustler and assassin. Their situations brought them together and Vallejo decided quickly to let Alexis live with him in his deceased sisters' apartment. Although they seemed to have starkly contrasting attitudes and ideas towards life, Fernando begins to change his views to match Alexis' and quickly begins a relationship with Alexis. The comment by the boastful young boy that he impregnated his girlfriend so that there will be someone to avenge his inevitable death is a perfect example of how the youth of a city can be so lost. In situations like this the individuals are living day by day and not even planning on their being a future at all for them. The drug trade is synonymous with violence for one main reason that Vargas captures well in his article stating that much of the violence stems from "Lack of legitimate institutions to resolve conflicts". Going on to say that a "symbiosis developed between export capital derived from drug trafficking and money laundering carried out through the purchase of agricultural lands. This process not only led to a further concentration of land ownership but also created political consequences, including an increase in armed conflicts. (p110-111)" This will always lead to social divides and inevitably lead to a significant increase in crime rates directly reflecting the problem of poverty. As soon as Valejo's relationship begins with Alexis it is snatched away by his murder. Only finding out later that Wilmar, Valejo's new partner, is the gang member who killed Alexis. Continuing the brutality and eye for an eye mentality, Wilmar is killed leaving no end to the violence regardless of who or where you were. This leaves Valejo heart broken and even more distraught than when he arrived in his hometown. A sad ending as he shuts the curtains to his room leaving it up to the viewer to decide if he took his own life or not because of his sadness.
              This cycle of violence is shown over and over again and is clearly crying out for help to stop the senseless acts committed everyday. Showing a case like this from Alejo's perspective speaks perfectly to how many view that film. They are almost in awe at the violence that is taking place right in front of them, much like Valejo is shocked at how much his home town has changed. At the moment the crime rates are just going to continue to climb until this problem is dealt with head on and in a new way. In such a high area of crime there were ironically countless churches on every corner. This seemed to be a counter balance to keep those who are living correctly on the right path and giving them hope that good still does prevail.

Cocaine Cowboys

             Cocaine Cowboys is a documentary centered around the importation of illegal drugs from Colombia and the Medellin cartel into the United States through Miami. This importation funded much of the illegal activities of the Medellin family and also flooded the Miami economy with capital. Although much of the money ended up in the hands of the Colombians, a large majority of it stayed in the United States and ultimately trickled down and was reinvested into local businesses and land in and around the Miami area. This influx of capital resulted in a expansive skyline and countless new banks opening to hold this money. The excess money made from drugs was deposited in these banks and exceeded the average amount taken in annually by six hundred million dollars at one of the banks featured in the film. This is compared to a bank that took in between ten and twelve million dollars total the previous year. Seeing this kind of increase in just a single year clearly points to some sort of illegal activity that is bringing all this income to a certain area. 
               The infamous family behind this import business that exploded onto the scene in the 80's was Ochoa Vazquez along with his brothers and Pablo Escobar. The reason Pablo Escobar and many of Ochoa's close relatives were seemingly the head of the organization was because they were much more active in the enforcement and day to day activities and concerns of the organization. Leaving Vazquez behind the scenes while he called the shots and collected the money. One of the main reasons this was allowed was due to the families close ties to the community and overwhelming influence they possessed because of there reputation and the money they brought into the city of Medellin.
               The import business started in the 60's with the importation of marijuana but really exploded in the late 70's and 80's with the arrival of cocaine. The demand for this product was unparalleled and rivaled every other commodity that was coming into Miami at the time. Obviously with this much money comes an increase in crime because of the inability to resolve conflicts through legal avenues. This inability to come to an agreeable ending resulted in the highest number of murders that Miami had ever seen. One of the main themes in the movie is that with that much money inevitably comes corruption. In the words of Jon Roberts, "Everyone has a price." This seemed to be the case in regard to the Miami of the seventies. In the article, Contras, Cocaine, and covert operations, there is an excerpt from the Kerry Committee stating that "Senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems." Whether the corruption was at the street level with police officers or at the highest levels of the U.S. government these large sums of illicit funds proved to be too much of a temptation for anyone involved.
              This is clearly not just a problem that can be fixed overnight. The challenge is to restore morality and to elect officials who care about their communities as a whole and how they interact with one another and not those who can be bought with a check. Many people have settled into this way of life and accepted the fact that drugs will always make it into the country and will forever be a part of our society. People like to just look the other way and pretend that the problem does not exist. When in reality the problem stretches from poor to rich, through all walks of life, and from country to country. The damage has been done through years of looking the other way or sweeping the problem under the rug, which has led to a mild acceptance all the way to the highest levels. The dfficulty with this point of view is the problem is not going to go away and has already caused irreparable damage to countless families. The article on collateral damage talks about the harm this has done to the government and local communities. Youngers' goes on to say that drug trafficking has "corrupted and further weakened local governments, judiciaries, and police forces and rends the social fabric, particularly in poor urban areas where both drug abuse and drug-related violence are rampant." Whether the harm is simply financial, the ruined lives of the addicted, or the murder of an innocent young child, it all relates back to the drug trafficking industry.

Bus 174

           Bus 174 is a dramatic look at the problem of street children and the results of this problematic situation. The story is about a young boy named Pedro who has fallen into this way of life simply because he had no other choice. He was forced into a life of begging and stealing just to get through the day. The movie is just as much about the epidemic of street children as it is about the hostage situation and Pedro's horrific story. The film also goes beyond that and raises questions about Brazils corrupt and seemingly ill-equiped police officers and shows the tragic living conditions inside the prisons. A sad reminder of where many of these street children pass through or stay for a lifetime. Pedro's story is a perfect example of this because his story speaks for all the "invisible" children living in the streets around the world.
          The main focus of the film was around the epidemic of street children and the environment in which they are forced to survive. In every major city in Brazil there are favelas surrounding the outskirts. These favelas are the slums that many of these generations of kids frequent and grow up around. The article "I saw a City Invincible" sheds light on how this type of urbanization may have started. Explaining that the "Spanish conquerors of the new world rapidly established themselves as urban lords, and in the process, sought to erect barriers between themselves and the masses of Indians that surrounded their enclaves". This is now a widespread reality that can be seen with little effort from the high rise buildings in major cities such as Rio de Janeiro.
           It is important to take a step back and look at the events leading up to the Bus 174 incident before making any judgements. Pedro was a perfect example of the treacherous lives that many street children have to face day after day. These kids are on the streets twenty four hours a day and are forced to figure out a way to get by. Putting so much pressure on young kids will inevitably lead to crimes of necessity. These are crimes that a street kid might commit to have food for that night. This is the sad reality that has to be faced when a community has such a high number of street children. Pedro was like most street children and had never known his dad. His mother, brutally stabbed to death in front of him at a young age. These alone seem traumatic enough to explain nearly any behavior. Unfortunately, Pedro fell right into the glue sniffing culture that is part of the street children phenomena. Many of them using it to escape reality and hunger pains that are a constant reminder of their dire situation.
          Hearing Pedro's story from the friends he made in his life and his loved ones, it is almost impossible to see him in the position of hostage taker. It seemed as though he wanted his story to be heard and hopefully shed light on how monumentally important it was that something was done about it. He asked for a gun and grenade which was never going to be given to him but other than that had no requests. It seemed quite clear that he wanted to let the world know his situation and the unfinished story of The Candelaria church massacre. This put even more pressure on the police officers to resolve the situation peacefully and without incident. Unfortunately, this was the farthest thing from what did occur. After a botched police shot that struck the hostage in the head, Pedro shot three times striking the women in the back. Bringing unparalleled heat directed towards the local police and court system. The Candelaria Massacre had still not been solved before the Bus 174 incident occurred which inevitably led to a public outcrying. It is extremely unfortunate that this is the way that the issue was brought back to the public eye but it certainly needed to be dealt with. In the end all someone can do is learn from the mistakes of the past and try to correct this growing problem around the world.