Galeano begins this section by noting the importance of oil, a popular fact. Yet, as Galeano called oil both “black gold” and later the “black curse” I came to see the contrasting views of oil between multinational companies and those in Latin America. This change in diction shows the dichotomy between those who make profits and those who were and still are manipulated and used. Galeano uses two metaphors throughout this piece, one focusing on consumption – a major theme in our class – and the other encompassing multinational corporations as cartels. Using the word cartels implies corruption and dominance of which oil companies like Standard Oil excel in.
This excerpt also discusses the comparison between Latin America and the US in terms of profit and markets through two paradoxes. The price of oil has fallen as the world demands more which Galeano describes as an “odd inversion to the ‘laws of the market’.” Furthermore, as the price of oil falls, people are paying higher prices. This gap in price continues to widen as companies consume Latin America and control the market. Nevertheless, Latin America is used for its resources and labor force while paying high prices as multinational Corporations in the US and Europe make a profit.
Galeano pushes this metaphor further, describing the violence of the Chaco War during which oil companies sparked proxy wars between the Paraguayan and Bolivian people as they watched them die by the hundreds. This all started because Standard Oil wanted a pipeline through Bolivia and Paraguay to a water source. The United States partook in these atrocities as well. Ambassadors pushed policies that would help corporations at the expense of the countries they were sent to and the US prevented and threatened aid packages to countries during negotiations as seen in Peru.
When countries in Latin America begin to nationalize, these corporations – like Standard Oil and Shell – being to worry their profits are threatened, causing them to take action like using resources and jacking up prices as was seen in Mexico and Colombia. In Uruguay these corporations threatened the Uruguayan economy and pushed the government to sign a secret agreement essentially giving control of their oil to corporations. Furthermore, Standard Oil sent in “agents” to ensure Brazil would remain dependent on their oil imports. When looking at these actions, it is hard not to view Standard Oil and other multinational corporations like Galeano does – as cartels.
Throughout Neruda’s Standard Oil Co. Poem, there is this metaphor of the human organs using words like intestines and arteries. While I am not positive of what the metaphor is trying to get at, I immediately connected the importance of organs to humans and the importance of oil to a countries’ economy. The poem focuses on the corruption of Standard Oil, bringing guns and prisoners to oil fields and buying material goods, people, and places while locals and “the poor” hoard what they need to survive – corn. Not only does Neruda depict the US and Standard Oil as corrupt, but also as entities which start wars amongst Latin Americans. The line “A President assassinated for a drop of petroleum” struck me because it links the profit of oil to death; it also claims that oil is worth more than democracy and more than someone’s life. The poem ends by portraying Standard Oil as G-d, shining above the earth and all people.
“I am about to become Tarzan,” says the man at the beginning of the film as he takes off his clothes and swims in the river water. This hints at the idea of becoming one, connecting, with nature and the animals. Once Alan Garcia started speaking, while still showing the wild jungle and construction of infrastructure, I felt like I was watching an investment commercial rather than a documentary. Garcia is essentially marketing his country for investment, exploiting the jungle and wildlife of Peru. At the beginning of the film, there is a scene of suckling pigs in the Amazon, depicting rural life and how humans live basically among the people.
Alberto contradicts what we just heard Alan Garcia promote as he describes the need to protect the earth and pass in on to future generations better than it was given to us. After listening to the importance and sacred value of the forest and the land, the audience is shown the negative impact of oil on the land – the contaminated water and dead fish. Alberto discusses this idea of savage development which is the “accumulation of money and wealth” at the expense of the land and the people. “whether you want or not you kill the rainforest you kill culture, you kill entire people.” This phrase really impacted me because, as Galeano and Neruda described, the oil and the corporations digging up the oil are leaving blood and death in their path; not just the death of humans and trees, but also of the culture of a group of people who are slowly dying off. It is clearly not just the native groups who feel this way, as clips of newscasters play it is clear by their tone that they feel the same way, that private companies will exploit their country.
The film also discusses the Free Trade Agreement between the US and Peru. The president of Peru claims to be very optimistic about the deal as he created laws that impacted native communities in the Amazon to help facilitate the FTA. He weakened communal land ownership, trying to eliminate their communal land. These laws also gave companies the right to exploit the Amazonian resources without consulting the native populations. The FTA essentially sold the land of Peruvians without giving them a say, harming their way of life while giving land and resources to oil companies. Alberto gives a speech to the National Organization of the Native Amazon Peoples, stating that instead of extracting resources from their land, the government should sell the palace and let companies extract from the palace lands. The speech was a call to arms to protect the land given to them by their ancestors for generations. The native protest was a response to a law that affected native people’s rights without consulting them. The law was also unconstitutional. The protest included speakers who discussed the importance of clean water, rights, and land. The speaker they showed was a young girl who at the end stated “ we are Peruvians too” which I found moving because while they do live in the jungle and are natives, they are citizens of the country and this was a call for inclusion in the national identity as well as a request to stop companies from using their land. The protests were broadcast on radios and the television as native populations showed their anger and disappointment in the government. The protest also led to a strike that pushed the idea that multiple laws were violated by the government, that they aren’t heard by the government, that they don’t have a voice. Alberto says they are not against development, they are against putting their lives at risk.
The Prime Minister of Peru eventually agreed to discussions with Alberto in Lima during which an agreement was hard to find. The discussions only came after outrage from local governments due to the blockade of the highway and the impact of limited transportation of goods. President Garcia, in response to the protests, claims the natives want to take the country back to primitive times and that the government cannot lead or have discussions when it has “a gun to its head.” Suddenly there is a declaration of a state of emergency in the Amazon region as government officials say the country cannot exist with this “type of unrest.”
At Station no. 6 the police and native groups signed an Agreement of Understanding to not fight each other because they were all Peruvians who love their country and the native’s right was with the government, not the police. Meanwhile, Alberto reached out to and spoke to every political party discussing their demands and working towards dialogue.
Congressman Belaunde describes what happened within the government as this was going on; the Garcia government was putting pressure on its own party and institutions not to change anything in the laws because the FTA would fall apart. Belaunde describes this as “the greatest fraud” because native lands had nothing to do with the FTA with the US. After the vote to suspend debate on the floor of the government, the protests continued leading to police shooting and wounding many protesters with guns and tear gas. Suddenly a police officer was killed and the police retaliated by stopping ambulances and searching for guns. The protests had turned violent, which I think was inevitable given the unwillingness to compromise on both sides as well as the passion native Amazonians had for their cause.
Alberto denounced the violence of the government, yet didn’t discuss the violence of the others. He claimed that a piece of paper started death. He stated that President Alan Garcia was responsible for the deaths on both sides – the Police and the native Amazonians. However, the government focused on the death of the eleven police officers who were victims of the conspiracy of the native peoples. Congressmen and women painted Alberto as the devil who lied and manipulated the native people as they called for his arrest. The film shows wounded natives laying on mats on the floor and on cloths on the side of the street murdered, as well as police rounding up natives with their hands on their heads.
In response, natives attacked the 38 police officers at Station No. 6, rounding them up and essentially kidnaping them, threatening to execute the officers and their commander if their demands are not met. This death and violence on both sides were not only because of a disagreement between the people and the government but also because of oil.
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