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Sorry for the Inconvenience – Brazil is Under Construction

written by thegeneration

Photo Credit: Beraldo Leal, June 17, 2013, under Creative Commons License

by Michelle Sinness

Contributing Writer

When Brazil won the Confederations Cup final soccer game on Sunday night, June 30th, 2013, the streets of Brazil’s first capital city, Salvador, erupted into a celebration. Fireworks illuminated the sky, and cheers, laughter, and applause resounded through the small bar where over one hundred people were gathered to watch the match on two small televisions.

However, it was not only the win that was cause for celebration. Periodically, during pauses in the game and during halftime, the television coverage cut to the protesters that were marching outside of the stadium. Just as they would if Brazil had scored a goal, the people that were gathered in the bar jumped out of their seats to whoop and cheer in support of the protests. The movement that recently exploded onto the streets of Brazil had become a source of pride.

Soccer has been a part of Brazilian national identity since the 1930 to 1954 military dictatorship used the game to unify the population and construct a strong sense of nationalism. The arrival of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and World Cup in 2014 seems long overdue for a country that lives and breathes soccer. Most Brazilians are proud to finally have the opportunity to host the games and consider it a testament to Brazil’s place as an emerging world power. Hosting the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic games is an integral part of Brazil’s soft power approach to foreign policy as the state continues to lobby for Security Council reform and equitable IMF representation.

The shining new stadiums that have been constructed in many capital cities are not enough, however, to mask the crumbling infrastructure that surrounds them. Taxpayers have footed the bill for the FIFA preparations, but few expect to see any return on their investment. In fact, the vast majority of Brazilians will not be able to afford to attend a single match in the new structures. And while the construction projects have offered short-term employment to some, the benefits will hardly be long-term. The stadiums are expected to remain vacant for decades to come, and the people that sold tickets and popcorn will return to their previous jobs or go back to being unemployed. Nevertheless, in a matter of several months and several billion dollars, the colossal structures were erected. This was no easy feat for a country where bureaucracy burdens reform and corruption hinders progress, and Brazilians took notice.

One June 13, 2013, frustration over lack of infrastructural improvements turned into fury when several states enacted a bus fare increase. Residents of Sao Paulo that make minimum wage spend an average of 26 percent of their income on public transportation to get to and from work. A group of disgruntled students in Sao Paulo took to the streets, igniting a movement that took the Brazilian government and the world by surprise.

Over the course of the summer, the demonstrations grew to be the largest in Brazilian history, surpassing the 1992 protests that brought about the impeachment of President Collor de Mello. Although the movement lacked central leadership, demonstrations were effectively organized in cities across the country via social media. The majority of the protesters were educated, middle class Brazilians, yet they were fighting for causes that more directly affect the poorest sectors of Brazilian society. Perhaps this is because the height of the protests occurred while university students were on winter break, and wealthier Brazilians could afford to take time off from work to participate in the movement while poorer Brazilians could not. Regardless, Brazilians strategically capitalized on the worldwide media coverage of the FIFA Conferations Cup and the World Cup preparations to amplify their voices and make their demands heard.

The demonstrators that swarmed the streets in June and July had three main demands: the elimination of bus fares for students, more money for healthcare and education, and political reform to reduce governmental corruption. Brazilians bear a tax burden comparable to that of Germany, yet do not see the investment of their money to improving hospitals, schools, or infrastructure. Valéria Figueira, a Brazilian supporter of the movement who lives in Salvador, said, “I am angry every day that I pay first world taxes to live in a third world country. That’s why I admire and support the movement completely. It’s interesting to note that there are so many middle class and upper-middle class youths demanding lower prices for a public transportation system that they don’t even use. This is because they were educated, which is, unfortunately, an opportunity limited to only a select class of our society.” Brazil has the lowest rates of college enrollment in Latin America, and its public education system was ranked 39 out of 40 in an evaluation by the Economist Intelligence Unit last year. Clearly, Brazilians have reason to be upset.

The initial effects of the movement were impressive. President Dilma Rousseff was slow to react at first, and her approval rating plummeted. When she finally held a press conference to address the protesters’ concerns, President Rousseff commended them for exercising their right to demonstrate and promised that her government would work to control inflation and reform healthcare, education, and public transportation. Several states retracted the bus fare increase, and Rousseff’s cabinet met to discuss and implement further reforms, such as increasing the amount of government funds allocated on public transportation and infrastructure. As she prepares to campaign for reelection next year, Rousseff will need to implement much-needed economic reforms and streamline public spending in order to regain the public’s trust.

Although the movement made progress on some of its demands, it has struggled to keep its momentum going since the Conferations Cup has ended. The protests have largely died down and are no longer making national and international headlines. Whether the protesters are satisfied with their gains or they are just waiting until the spotlight returns to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup is yet to be seen. Whatever the outcome, the protesters’ strategic capitalization on a moment in history when the whole world was watching Brazil was powerful. Brazilians effectively held the games hostage in exchange for social reform, setting a precedent for future World Cup host countries and sending a powerful message about the balance between international soft power interests and national development.

The Brazilian flag was raised after Brazil won the Confederations Cup final game, and the people gathered in the small bar stood to sing the national anthem together. With tears glistening in many of their eyes, they sang the chorus with a glimmer of hope for the future of their country:

O country vast by nature,

Fair and strong, brave and colossal,

Thy future mirrors this thy greatness.

Michelle Sinness is a first year MA student in Latin American Studies at UCLA, specializing in Brazil. She spent the summer in Salvador, Brazil under a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship.

October 22, 2013 1 comment

Security Security and Conflict

The Specter of “Foreign Influence” – Boogeyman of 21st Century Authoritarians Everywhere

written by James Walker

by James Walker
Editor

During the seismic shifts in the Arab world over the past few years the question has often arisen as to what an Islamic democracy would look like in Libya or Egypt or Tunisia. Gallons of ink have been spilled in earnest discussions in the West over whether the forces at play in the Arab Spring would bring about “true” democracies — meaning ones that we in the West are comfortable with — or “Islamofascist” pseudo-democracies. Reductionist thinking suggests that those are the only two possible outcomes — either proto-Western satellite states or Islamic theocracies in the throws of religious fervor, along the Iranian model. However, just occasionally you could hear a commentator suggest a third possible alternative — the so-called “Turkish” model of mildly Islamic democracy.

For over a decade an openly Islamic party has dominated Turkish politics, albeit one that promotes a vision of “conservative democracy” and the Turkish state as the guiding principle of government. The Justice and Development Party (JDP) is led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, an energetic and (some would say) increasingly autocratic figure who has managed to maintain a popular base in Turkish society, even though the country has a strong secular tradition dating back to the founding of the state at the end of the First World War … until now, that is.

Over the past two weeks, what started out as a simple protest against the development of a small park in Istanbul has grown into a full-fledged national emergency. Thousands of protesters have gathered in Taskim Square, Istanbul to protest not only the heavy handed response from the government to legitimate protests, but also the aggressive suppression of freedom of speech and political opinion. Erdoğan has wasted no time in sending in the riot police; saturating the area in tear gas, arresting hundreds of protestors, doctors, lawyers, and reporters; and strictly curtailing the domestic reporting of the incident. The situation changes so rapidly, that by the time you read this it will have already shifted again into the next phase.

From the safety and comfort of California, it is difficult to see what we as students can add to the analysis of this event — evolving as it does by the hour. However, in an effort to show solidarity with the youth of Turkey who stand together in the face of clear oppression, let us look at the language of Erdoğan and place it in the historical and political perspective it deserves.

On June 7, Erdoğan gave a speech at a mass rally, suggesting that the protestors were violent criminals who should “have their hands broken” and that they were part of a grand conspiracy to undermine the Turkish state by “outside forces.” Who exactly these forces were is hard to pin down, but the inference was that both Marxist/Leninist terrorist groups, and the Western media were responsible for the civil unrest in Taskim Square. He has singled out the BBC as a force bent on meddling in the domestic affairs of the state on the basis that they have devoted extensive coverage to the protests, unlike their Turkish counterparts. The other major foreign influence identified was social media, and in particular Twitter, presumably because it offers the people of Turkey an avenue of self-expression that is not subject to government oversight or control.

As must be clear by now, these claims are becoming something of a trope in the world of desperate authoritarianism. A quick review of the past few years will demonstrate the highly selective company among whom Erdoğan places himself with the use of such populist rhetoric:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran — during the “Green Movement” uprising of June 2009:

“Bullying powers, including the United States, must correct their behavior, language and thoughts with regard to the Iranian nation…Today, those making accusations against the Iranian nation or other nations have been unmasked.. …Inside the country, their agents were activated. Vandalism started. Sabotaging and setting fires on the streets started. Some shops were looted. They wanted to create chaos. Public security was violated. The violators are not the public or the supporters of the candidates. They are the ill-wishers, mercenaries and agents of the Western intelligence services and the Zionists.”

Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan — during the contested, fraudulent elections of April 2010:

“No doubt, there was huge fraud. There was vast fraud. The fraud is not by the Afghans. This fraud has been done by the foreigners…including officials of the U.N., the European Union and the embassies here in Kabul… this election was occurring during a time where there were threats from the terrorists…It was not only the threat from the terrorists. But seriously, it took place under the threat of foreign interference.”

Muammah al-Gaddafi, “Leader” of Libya — during the “Arab Spring” uprising of February 2011:

“Those who have come on to the streets are under the influence of drugs supplied by al-Qaeda… It’s al-Qaeda. It’s not my people. They came from outside… There is an intention to colonise Libya. And this makes the Libyan people want to fight the new colonisation by the West.”

Bashar Al-Assad, President of Syria — during the ongoing civil war, June 2012:

“What we are facing is a conspiracy of sedition, division and destruction of our homeland … This crisis is not an internal crisis. It is an external war carried out by internal elements… The masks have fallen and the international role in the Syrian events is now obvious.”

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia — speaking to the FSB about expanding the definition of treason and the registration of NGOs, February 2013:

“Any direct or indirect interference in our internal affairs, any form of pressure on Russia, our allies and partners is unacceptable… no one has the right to sow hatred, stir up society and thus threaten the lives, well-being and peace of millions of our citizens … Neither does anyone have a monopoly on speaking in the name of Russian society, especially structures financed from abroad and serving foreign interests.”

Quite why leaders in the 21st century still feel able to draw such a fine distinction between the domestic realm and the shadowy powers of “the rest of the world” is something of a mystery. Attempting to hold back the tide of public opinion, especially in the globalized age of social media, internet access to uncontrollable news sources, and widespread diasporas, is as futile now as King Cnut’s attempting to hold back the tide. At least in Cnut’s case, he was making a point about “how empty and worthless is the power of kings,” something the current crop of rulers might want to take into consideration.

During the debacle that was the Gaddafi regime’s response to the will of the people, a wise, respected, senior Islamic politician went on-the-record and stated that, “One cannot establish future, liberty, stability, peace and justice on blood.” That man was Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Let us hope that he is able to take his own advice, not only for the sake of Turkey but also for the sake of the “Turkish Model.”

James Walker is a first year MA student in Political Geography at UCLA, and an Editor for The Generation. He is also a lifelong political activist, and a firm supporter of the Occupy Gezi movement — #occupygezi, https://www.facebook.com/OccupyGezi

All quotes taken from the BBC, MSN, The Guardian, The Moscow Times, and Al Jazeera.

June 24, 2013 1 comment

Europe Featured Security and Conflict The International Economy Uncategorized

The New Spanish Housing Crisis

written by thegeneration

by Ferran Masip-Valls
Contributing Writer

Suppose you purchased a home on a loan in 2005 with an estimated value of $500,000. Fast forward to May 2013 and the home has been devalued to a measly $100,000. Yet, your monthly mortgage payments reflect the initial value of the home and you are no longer able to afford them due to unemployment. Eventually, you must approach the bank and hand over the keys of your apartment, accepting that you are now just another unemployed and homeless Spaniard, amongst hundreds of thousands. Sounds all too familiar for those in similar predicaments living throughout the Western world. According to the current Spanish banking system, after giving back the goods you mortgaged for the loan, you still must pay the remaining sum. For all the previous homeowners, this means the remainder of the “original” value back to the bank—plus interest. This is the all too common scene in Spain: unemployed, homeless, and owing hundreds of thousands to a bank that also owns your apartment.

A key factor in understanding the current housing crisis in Spain is to understand its history. This bubble, that began in 1985, became known as the “Spanish Miracle”: a process that placed a post-dictatorship country with a third world economy into the top ten economies in Europe over a few short years. However, with the bubble-burst in 2008, it became painfully clear that most of the “Spanish Miracle” was just smoke.

When the collapse of an economy is directly related to a basic need, there are always direct consequences for the general population. At the end of 2012, the Land Registry Information Service announced that an eviction happened every 15 minutes throughout Spain, which is outright alarming for a country with less than 50 million inhabitants. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Spain, the Spanish now boast 3.4 million empty houses, 13.7% of the total housing available.

Even after the damaging effects of the mortgage crisis, the Spanish banks continued to provide loans. One must understand that they too had their own assessment and taxation companies that allowed the banks to establish the prices for homes. In short, the banks were encouraging individuals to buy and invest beyond their means. Money has stopped flowing, unemployment has reached astronomic levels (27% in the overall population with 57% of youth unemployed) and the general Spanish population is struggling to pay the unrealistic mortgages. Common sense (and European law) states that when one cannot pay one’s mortgage, one must give the apartment or home that one bought to the bank that issued the loan. The debt is then paid. Nevertheless, in Spain, the banks thought differently.

This irregularity is attributed to the set-up of Spain’s political, legal, and economical forces having the same faces. CEOs and other figures inside the corporate and banking system were politicians beforehand, and vice versa. The same happens within the legal system. This leads to a lot of “friendships”: which in practical terms mean an astonishingly high level of corruption and impunity to certain individuals and private companies. All the while, one out of five Spaniards live below the poverty line.

April 13 occupation in Sabadell, Spain.

In response, a gathering of common people who want to take action against those unfair evictions and current circumstances came about: “Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca” – “Platform of those Affected by the Mortgage” (PAH). It is neither politicized nor centralized and it does not have legal status or clear leadership. Separate groups in various cities have been able to gather more than 1.5 million signatures to change the mortgage laws to make evicted people debt-free after eviction. This is a group of dedicated people who advocate for rationally using the estimated 3.44 million empty homes and apartments, now owned by banks, as social rents. Further, the PAH engage in “escarche”: going to a prominent politician’s house who is related with the origin of this problem and putting protest stickers on his door while holding a small demonstration.

The absurdity of it all becomes strikingly clear when observing the People’s Party, who have held the majority in government since the crisis began, and their reactions to such “escarche” movements. This April, Maria Dolores de Cospedal, Secretary of the People’s Party, made accusations such as “escarche is pure Nazism,” “the People’s Party voters would rather go hungry before stopping to pay their mortgages.” Other People’s Party members have gone to the extent of relating the PAH to terrorist groups.

In the streets of Spain, evictions occur every day; however, so do social movements. For example, on April 13, the PAH occupied a brand new, but vacant, 40-apartment building in the city of Sabadell owned by Caixa Penedes (a Spanish bank). The PAH opened its doors to homeless families after employing a selection process to grant homes to those most in need. Shortly after opening its doors, the police arrived and the peaceful occupation came to a screeching halt through an irregular procedure. Initially, one of the PAH’s lawyers was there to provide representation and act as a mediator to smooth the process should the police arrive, and did so when it happened. Everything seemed to proceed as planned. The surprise arrived the following day when two of the PAH’s members learned that they were facing criminal charges. The police also charged the lawyer, a third party, with disobedience and resistance to the authority. The lawyer is now facing trial, with the police seeking to place her behind bars for six months to one year. In defense of the lawyer, stand the PAH members as well as other “formal” organizations such as the Lawyers Guild and the City Council of Sabadell. Housing is currently a pressing issue in Spain—with the unaffordable mortgages and high unemployment, one must question when this social crisis will transform into a mass revolt. On the other hand… Hey! It’s cheaper to buy a house now! So invest, invest, and invest! I’ll lend you the money, because, well, I’m telling you, it has to work, it’s perfect, and it can’t fail!

Then, one wonders, why people in Spain are not happy.

Ferran Masip-Valls is currently living and working in his native Spain. He is a part of the unemployed under 30 crowd, even after having worked on four continents and completed five university degrees. He most recently completed a MA from Teachers College – Columbia University.

Photos by Elia Gran.

May 6, 2013 1 comment

Security and Conflict Society and Culture

Egypt: Remembering the old and approaching the new

written by thegeneration

Woman marching from Mohandiseen into Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011. Photo taken by Sallie Pisch.

The Generation welcomes its newest contributor, Sallie Pisch, to the team! Sallie currently lives in Cairo, Egypt, and is an extremely talented writer. Exactly one year after the January 25 uprising in Egypt, she reflects on the overall situation on the ground in Cairo. The following video was put together by Sallie using her personal video clips that she filmed on January 25th.

By Sallie Pisch

Egypt is approaching the one-year anniversary of the January 25 uprising that sent shockwaves through the region and captured the attention and the hearts of the world. But has anything really changed in the Arab world’s most populous country?

Walking the streets of Cairo, it’s hard to tell.

Africa’s largest city, home to roughly 20 million, is still dusty and crowded. Emissions from cars long past their prime choke the air as those same cars, pedestrians, and the occasional donkey-cart choke the streets. Children still go to school; old men still sit in traditional ahwas drinking tea and smoking water-pipes; upper-class twenty-somethings still frequent trendy cafés and nightclubs and spend enough money nightly to feed a small army.

The changes are subtle, but they’re there if you know where to look: the colors of the Egyptian flag painted on bridge supports and curbs, anti-regime graffiti scattered across the city, BBC Arabic playing in a café instead of MTV Arabia.

In 2010’s parliamentary elections, voter turnout was roughly 10 percent (despite government claims that it was 25 percent). In the first round of parliamentary elections in 2011, voter turnout was roughly 60 percent.

There were irregularities in the 2011 elections – polling stations opening late, illegal campaigning on election day, the use of religious slogans. But there were no reports of ballot-stuffing and no one died as a result of scuffles between supporters of opposing candidates.

What’s more, even those skeptical of Egypt’s transitional process know there IS a process. In 2010, many Egyptians didn’t even know parliamentary elections were happening. Today, from cab drivers to political gurus, every Egyptian knows who the political players are and what they think of them.

This is perhaps the most important change, and the thing that will keep Egypt moving forward despite the challenges: today, Egyptians care.

Regardless of how the political process moves forward (or doesn’t), no one can take back the feeling of national pride Egyptians felt during those 18 days of demonstrations in 2011. For the first time in decades, Egyptians found their voices.

When police forces withdrew from Cairo on January 28 after hours of bloody clashes with demonstrators, Egyptians stepped up to the plate. They organized neighborhood watch groups and checkpoints that were manned around the clock.

For the first time in their lives, young men who were born and lived their entire lives under the regime of Hosni Mubarak felt like their streets were their own, and watched over them with pride.

Egyptians remember that feeling. They also remember the apathy, helplessness and frustration they felt before. Many are still frustrated with what they perceive as an unfinished revolution, with many goals still unmet. But they no longer feel helpless.

That pride, as well as the memory of apathy, is what will sustain Egypt through a long, complicated and sometimes controversial transitional process.

January 24, 2012 0 comment