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As many Latin American countries are moving away from longstanding dictatorships, they still face the challenges of poverty. Structural adjustments imposed by the International Monetary Fund and increased privatization of resources characterize the region’s economic policies. In response, peace and social justice groups challenge these policies by implementing the concepts of worker solidarity, sovereignty, and civic participation.
On this edition of Making Contact, we take a look at workers movements in Argentina and Bolivia. We also investigate how residents of Montreal are using a citizen-based model of democracy from Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Featuring:
Participants of the Argentine unemployed movement “Frente de Trabajadores Combativos”; Celia Martinez and Delia, workers in the recuperated Brukman textile factory in Buenos Aires; Ernesto Gonzales and Candido, workers in the Chilavert printing press; Sebastin Maisa, worker, IMPA factory; Leonilda Zurita, Bolivian Coca leaf farmer; Teodoro Calle, Bolivian street vendor; Luis Sanchez, Bolivian priest and organizer; Felipe Quispe, Aymara Indigenous leader in Bolivia; Dimitri Roussopoulos, publisher, Black Rose Books; Anne Latendresse, professor, l’Universite du Quebec a Montreal; Luc Rabouin, working group member, “Participatory Democracy in Montreal.”
For more information:
Anne Latendresse, author and professor – Montreal
Black Rose Books, Montreal – Montreal
Other helpful links:
www.lavaca.org
www.argentina.indymedia.org
www.fabricasrecuperadas.org.ar
www.ecologieurbaine.net
Tags: globalization and trade, labor, Latin America, privatization
