Staff Release: What Does Trump’s FY2019 Budget Mean for the Americas?

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On Monday, February 12, the White House released its budget request for the 2019 fiscal year. The document, which proposes drastically cutting the budgets for U.S. aid to Latin America, simultaneously increases defense and domestic infrastructure spending.

Open Americas firmly believes that any budget reflects the political and personal values of its creators. The very same strong sentiments of nativism, militarism, and U.S. exceptionalism expressed in the FY2019 document are embedded in policy decisions that adversely affect people throughout the Americas.

As it pertains to the relationship that the United States shares with Latin America, President Trump has requested roughly $1.6 billion USD to build 65 miles’ worth of a wall along the Texas-Mexico border and approximately $990 million USD to hire 2,750 new ICE and Border Patrol agents. In the same proposal, the President advocates for a $1.9 billion USD reduction in aid to Latin America, diminishing the United States’ ability to achieve its own regional objectives.

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Medical Adaptation: Traditional Treatments for Modern Diseases Among Two Mapuche Communities in La Araucanía, Chile

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By Rosalie Mattiola

The following text is an excerpt from a research paper written in spring 2017. To read the full text and to see the sources used, click here.

Introduction

Mortality

Between 1997 and 2013, Chile experienced a shift in mortality rates of diseases considered “modern” or “western” like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The number of deaths caused by malignant tumors of the colon, sigmoid, rectum, anus, liver, pancreas, trachea, bronchus, lung, head, lymphatic tissues, hypertensive disease, cardiac arrhythmias, arteriosclerosis, aneurisms, and aortic dissections have dramatically increased in the last two decades. Within 16 years, the number of deaths from cancer of the colon, sigmoid, rectum, anus, pancreas, trachea, bronchus, lung, and head have more than doubled. Those caused by hypertension jumped from 1,700 in 1997 to 4,574 in 2013. Moreover, the number of deaths from cardiac arrhythmia more than tripled in this time (DIES-MINSAL Series Principales causas de muerte tasas según sexo Chile).

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Trump y Latinoamérica: los primeros 9 meses

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Por Blake Burdge, Traducido por William Giller

Argentina

Las relaciones entre los Estados Unidos y Argentina se han mantenido estables bajo el mandato de Trump. Es probable que Trump favorezca al país debido a las estrechas relaciones que tenía con el presidente argentino Mauricio Macri cuando los dos eran empresarios. Trump y Macri se reunieron en la Casa Blanca a finales de abril para dialogar sobre la ciberseguridad bilateral y demostrar un apoyo unido para la restauración de democracia y respeto a derechos humanos en Venezuela.

Los Estados Unidos y Argentina han reforzado relaciones económicas desde la inauguración de Trump. Ambos países han levantado las restricciones sobre varios bienes provenientes del otro país. Los agricultores estadounidenses podrán exportar carne de cerdo a Argentina por primera vez desde 1992, con un mercado potencial de hasta 10 millones de dólares. Lo que es más, el presidente Trump acabó la propuesta que había empezado la administración de Obama para levantar las restricciones sobre limones de Argentina, el cuarto productor de limones más grande del mundo.

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As United States Seeks to Decrease Migration Flow, Message of “Harvest of Empire” More Relevant Than Ever

By Laura Schroeder

The 2012 film “Harvest of Empire,” based on the book of the same title by journalist Juan González of Democracy Now, demonstrates how U.S. policy toward Latin America has created political, social, and economic instability in the region. Directed by Peter Getzels and Eduardo López, it discusses the cases of Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. It also addresses the United States’ role in the military and corporate interventions that have triggered mass migration to the United States. Five years later, particularly given President Trump’s recent backing of the RAISE Act, the central theme of the documentary is relevant: anti-immigrant sentiments in the United States reflect a woeful ignorance of the structural forces that have caused millions in Latin America to flee their homes.

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Reggaetón: The Enemy of Feminism?

By Laura Schroeder

My Big Confession

I am a reggaetón fan. There, I’ve said it.

Nothing gets me dancing quite like the pulsing bass and seductive hooks of popular reggaetón, and there is nothing like a classic Daddy Yankee or Don Omar track to ignite the dance floor with swinging hips and shuffling feet. Perhaps it’s my fond memories of travels in the Dominican Republic and Peru and my Fulbright year in Colombia that feed my affinity to the genre’s dembow beat and frenetically delivered lyrics. Perhaps it’s simply conducive to dancing.

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Voces Escondidas: The Workers of the Informal Economy in Tunja, Colombia

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By Laura Schroeder

Fotografía y diseño gráfico por Andrés Ávila y Alberto Montañez/Photography and graphic design by Andrés Ávila and Alberto Montañez

El propósito de este proyecto es dar a conocer las vidas de los miembros de la economía informal en Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia y mostrar cómo cada uno contribuye a la sociedad y a la cultura; mientras los miembros de la comunidad perciben a los hombres y las mujeres que venden minutos o lustran zapatos como parte de la vida cotidiana, las fotos que tomamos y las citaciones y datos que las acompañan nos ayudan a reconocer la humanidad y el valor de cada cara, cada puesto de trabajo, y cada historia única y especial.

The purpose of this project is to illuminate the lives of members of the informal economy in Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia, showing us how each one contributes to and strengthens society as a whole. While community members see men and women selling phone minutes or shining shoes as part of quotidian life, the photos we took and the quotes and facts that accompany them help us to recognize the humanity and value in every face, every job, and every unique and special history.

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