200 YEARS OF UNRESOLVED ISSUES IN THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA Master Class "200 YEARS OF UNRESOLVED ISSUES IN THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA"
Dictated by Dr. Juan Romero
On 20 April 2010, at the Auditorio Carlos Marx
of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, Zulia See
(recording and transcription
José Javier León
joseleon1971@gmail.com
www.josejavierleon.blog.com.es)
UBV I deeply thank the spaces provided to us. I have also a commitment in this Bicentennial. Everyone already knows who do not know, I inform I am also a historian and a historian trained in an array rather than what has been the traditional framework of historical interpretation, and that led us to be developing some very important elements from the conceptual point of view on this Bicentennial.
I want to begin by clarifying something that is still ticking in the media, if you saw much of the media yesterday and today, there are two matrices or two major agenda items, first that "there is nothing hold, absolutely nothing, "and second that" if there is something to celebrate is the fact that the revolution of April 19 was a white revolution of aristocrats. " That is no accident, that's part of an array of historical interpretation promoted by the National Academy of History (we faced just to them), and because that matrix is \u200b\u200bdue, in my view, two different semantics, semantics or discourse of domination, oppression, coercion, versus the semantics of the discourse of liberation, the affirmation of humanity. And is that if we sum up the history of humanity, we can summarize about the struggle between these two semantics, the semantics of the oppressor which exploits, which subjugates that oppresses, and semantics, the dialectic of resisting, of which swells, which is rebellious which is opposed to the disintegration of their dynamics, and is actually the struggle between these two semantics we have seen in the history of mankind.
But unfortunately and this is also important to say, those semantics is not in the textbooks with which to teach history to our students, not seen in the textbooks of his brother, his nephew, his godson, his grandson, his son. Semantics that is poured into the official textbooks, and that has been and what I said in the opportunities I've seen Aristobulus, or when I have met with Minister Navarro, I have told, that this has been the great material error and slope of the Bolivarian Revolution. We have not changed at all educational materials with which to continue teaching. If we talk about building a "new man" and talk about building a "new Republican" if we talk about building a "new city", the books that teach this course again man still reflect the old Republican, the old city , an old logic of domination, therefore I insist (that) we have not done much about it.
And in the specific case of the historical process Venezuelan National Academy of History has made the task of imposing the logic of domination, and we subtly IRLA accept, and accept when we repeat phrases like Yesterday I heard this ... official presenter of that speech that "would be to initiate acts of the Declaration of Independence" and unstructured as good historian I am, because it says I can accept that someone who is not close to government, which is not articulated, but someone who is articulate, and repeat the same discourse of domination, it makes no sense. What we had yesterday, which begins to take place yesterday, is the strong start of the breakdown of imperial connection and the working of the road of independence.
addition, and this is important, and from the National Bicentennial Commission we have been discussing with great seriousness, there is the issue to establish, from the semantics of the oppressor versus the semantics of the release, a unit that exists, because although you see all of Latin America celebrates the Bicentennial at the moment, throughout this year, (because) the case in Argentina in May; Quito occurred in 1808 in the First Board or the Board first attempt, in Montevideo in September in Mexico, and so we in all this year but this is so, I called to reflect on this fact: in 2004 took place 200 years, (ie) the bicentenary of the first successful revolution in American Negroid, which was the Haitian Revolution. I saw no acts of commemoration as we're seeing now. Why not see such significant acts of commemoration as we see now? For blacks in the logic of domination do not revolution, because revolution is part of the semantics of epistemic construction of the science of white and white is only able to articulate the logic of domination a coherent, and therefore could not celebrate in 2004 the bicentennial of the revolution arose from a counter-hegemonic space, from a counter-logic from a semantic liberation. Do you see what happened under the table? It was an almost domestic matter of debate among historians on Haiti Bicentennial issue, but I did not see the councils manifests, no pronouncement governorates saw, I saw no statements or speeches of presidents, did not see it, and that means and it's worrying that the discourse of domination, that semantic of domination, walk and crawl among us without our knowledge, the only way is to denounce deconstruct and rebuild from its own denial. Why
also say this? Because from the National Bicentennial Commission and the Commission of the State Authority which I am honored to be a counselor we see with deep concern that even historians our stay in what we call the "fechalización" , and "emeritización." I have great friends I historians deeply committed to this process, I have nothing to doubt his commitment, but his historical discourse, and we agree 15 days ago in a meeting with the President, was the same little story of Emparan and the whole process. To me that history does not help and does not help me not because I ignore it, but I do not know me because without these partners are committed to repeating the discourse of domination that we are facing and to be faced, there is no use talking.
listened to one of these teachers friends talk about the importance of the abdication of Bayonne to explain this process and I told him 'fuck is that you do not realize that what you're saying is that this process of insurgency we would not be possible in Bayonne, in Europe did not give that shit! Do nothing happened here?! "And I said, we can not ignore the international context. One thing is not to ignore the political opportunity in the international context and another thing is to ignore that since the very advent of the Europeans is a process of resistance and Guaicaipuro requirements of Nigale, all this group of fellow American Indians is about one substantial approach will be part of the discourse of emancipation, that is the right to the human condition, and therefore this discourse of emancipation que sí se vale, que sí se significa porque era escrito, resulta que ya estaba ahí en nuestra presencia indoamericana, y cuando decimos nuestros historiadores que la revolución de abril no hubiese sido posible sin la consecuencia del tratado de Tratado de Fontainebleau en 1807 y la Abdicación de Bayona de 1808, estamos sujetando la dinámica propia del cambio y la contradicción a un hecho europocéntrico. Si eso no es reproducción del discurso europeo, díganme ustedes qué es.
Y por lo tanto, los que estamos sosteniendo desde la comisión nacional es que este bicentenario que iniciamos es un ciclo, un ciclo que además hay que conectar con esa lucha de la resistencia, porque la motivación es la misma, is infused into the confrontation between the semantics of domination and the semantics of the release. And on that logic, this approach must therefore understand Andresote rebellions's insurgency José Leonardo Chirinos, the process of the Communards, that we forget. To us forget that a set of targets to shore in 1780 organized an extraordinary experience that will only be equal in the Paris Commune of 1800 and we forget, and is an American experience, nuestramericana, ah, but nobody name it! It does not mean that we ignore the contribution of Miranda and Colombeia approach at all, I'm not saying that what I am saying is that there a set of indicators, a set of features in this dialectic of confrontation between domination and liberation are present long before the April 19, and that therefore means that the struggle continues, the fight makes sense, and in that sense of pending matters, of dialectics of liberation of the oppressed versus dialectic, we must continue to build and reflecting.
But also, I mean something that is substantial, the National Academy of History, call the National Academy of History of Venezuela, call the National Academy of History of Colombia, call the National Academy of History of Mexico, call the National Academy History of Peru, one of the national academies of the story is the same speech: the revolutions of 1810 were white revolutions. And Check it out Check it out in the textbooks. But I go further, to pictorial representations. Look for the two pictorial representations on the two processes that are icons of Independence, April 19, 1810, July 5, 1811, the two paintings by Juan Lovera, see detailed pictures of John Lovell and one woman señálenme appears, a single mestizo señálenme appear painted, one black, one baboon, one Indian, one look for me, cuéntenmelo, I let the fingers, these two them on both. There is not one, because the pictorial representation is also domination, and it was then also in our actions reflect the painting of John Lovell of July 5 and 19 April, without realizing that in this painting is also subjectively domination, because this painting invisible social subjects and that is precisely the interest of the history of domination, invisible, disappearing social subjects.
And it has been, read the Act of 19 April shaping the government and you will see how to appoint Vicente Emparan, how to appoint José Cortez de Madariaga, José Félix how to nominate Ribas, Guild representative brown (if José Félix Ribas was brown I'm catire haired blue eyes and thick hair as well) And why it actually happens? Ah, because the colonial logic browns and blacks do not make the revolution, not in the revolution and the discourse we have been playing.
And this generation to which I belong, which is a middle generation, who had teachers of the highest caliber but today we face today are on the sidewalk in front and we on this side confronting us dialectically Isturrieta Elías Pino, Manuel Caballero, Manuel Suzzarini, Ángel Lombardi, a set of individuals who we owe ... Agustín Blanco Muñoz himself, a great friend and colleague, but today we are confronted dialectically, that generation never said anything about which my generation thought. Since I was a student and worked as a research assistant Ángel Lombardi father, knew that the National Academy of History was 15 volumes of this color (with both hands making a gesture to mark a 20 cm thick) so that you have idea, bringing together what is called Records of Trials and disloyalty among the early eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. To explain to those who are not historians and do not have to cover what we call "hours nalga» es decir horas sentados en un archivo leyendo documentos, los historiadores decimos que a nosotros nos pagan por «hora nalga», (porque) tenemos mucho tiempo trabajando con «esas cosas», resulta que los juicios de infidencias jamás habían salido a la luz pública, los tenía la Academia Nacional de la Historia desde su fundación allá por el año 1888. ¿Por qué la Academia Nacional de la Historia, nos preguntábamos nosotros, nunca hizo una reseña de un documento, nunca presentó un paper en un congreso, nunca publicó un libro sobre los juicios e infidencias? Algo debe pasar, decíamos. Cuando comenzó todo esto de la conformación de la Comisión del Bicentenario that actually began when the commission was formed on the broad investigation into the death of Bolivar and had the honor of being invited to join me along with other historians of my generation, we we proposed in a meeting with the President the need to rescue some files that are in the hands of Boulton in the hands of the National Academy of History, and made special emphasis on the trials of disloyalty, because the smell was telling us that something was there for tragalibros of the National Academy of History not had never published a single line, and we urge the President for over a year and nothing. In October last year we finally responded, issued a decree, the decree came to the National Academy of History, the people of the Archivo General de la Nación with my good friend Luis Pellicer, contemporary researcher with me, took possession of the 15 volumes and start working, reading , to transcribe English paleography feature of the eighteenth century, very complex, first by hand and then a computer, then the scanning process. We just, of the 15 volumes, five volumes scanned and transcribed, and we have achieved with things like this ...
again insist that the invisible, because there appears Emparan, appears José Cortés Madariaga, José Félix Ribas appears, Lino de Clemente appears, starring in the incident, but whites do not appear from shore, do not appear black, brown not appear, do not see the Indians do not appear mixed. But it turns out that the trials of disloyalty do appear. And when we're working on now recently in the beginning of Book VI, the first trial that got us in Volume VI, XVI record, the file of betrayal and trials, is a process to a common type, Carlos Sanchez, 50, butcher, Brown, sons of black or black with India or Indian, and when the trial started reading calls us care deeply, as you all know first plaintiff is a statement by the prosecutor, when we began to read and transcribe the eighteenth century paleography trial Carlos Sanchez, I repeat, a butcher, just imagine most vile trade in the logic of colonial rule that someone who works butchered cattle, is filled with blood and smell all day rotting flesh, no There is nothing more despicable in the deep logic of colonial society breeds the butcher trade. It turns out that Carlos Sanchez, 50, brown, illiterate, without money, is the captain of the militia of brown, is the captain of the militia that were created when the pirates began to invade the captaincy general of Venezuela and were obliged, because white white Creoles and peninsular were very few, to form militias brown.
and Carlos Sanchez, the butcher of 50 years, who could not read and write, which was brown, it was the captain of the militia of grizzly April 19, 1810, and when the prosecutor read the arguments which he will to trial, said Carlos Sanchez, 50, on its own butcher, married, goes on trial for being unfaithful to the king and daring to lay her hands and coerced stop the captain general of Venezuela Vicente Emparan.
Gentlemen, that means that there is a pussy on 19 April without Carlos Sanchez! But as Carlos Sanchez was a butcher and brown, and unworthy, he could not appear signing, Carlos Sanchez was responsible for imprisoning Vicente Emparan when he left the Cathedral of Caracas of the Easter Mass and held under duress to take town meeting, where there do appear to say that whites did not accept their imposition. But it turns out that the minutes of April 19 does not appear Carlos Sanchez, is that in our history books there is Carlos Sanchez, is that if we remove the files to the National Academy of History Carlos Sanchez do not know what exists, and So today plays a major role. Because when we say there through April 19 and Carlos Sánchez people are saying that revolutions are made by groups, and that the revolution do not fuck white that the revolution is not an exclusive pod of the lawyers, that revolution is a collective act that is rebuilding itself, and that is what is being said and understood then why the National Academy of History held tightly controlled that file lawsuits and disloyalty, and then understand much of the position that confronts us today with the National Academy of History, because it means that just as it happened in the Board of Caracas, have happened in Colombia Board could have happened in Mexico Board could have happened at the Board of Buenos Aires, have happened in the Board of Quito, because all in all Ouramérica, and this is another term about which I will discuss (on) the conceptualizations with which we identify in this space Ouramérica least 85% were mulattos, mestizos, blacks, Indians were not white, and it is unfortunate because in addition in the history books of all these spaces Ouramérica repeat that the revolution was made by the whites.
And as we get that view of disloyalty disloyalty judgments are also held in Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Havana, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Paraguay, Nicaragua in El Salvador, Panama, Seville, (there) must be those judgments of disloyalty and precisely one of the first duties we have is that we are preparing the release of 400 000 copies of the documents, transcripts of trials of disloyalty, because who says that we are the only voice allowed historians to write history. I have not said, I have never argued, I think, as I said Achilles Nazoa-in the creative powers of the people, believe in the possibilities of construction, so much so that I've seen. I will introduce here a little anecdote: on Friday made a call through the Ministry of Popular Power for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Popular Power for Culture set of groups, teachers, members of the Center for Community Reflection Fundacite of Productive Innovation Network, Network Technology Literacy, and went 350 teachers, community leaders, community leaders, MACZUL. At 9 and half began with a speech activity to reflect much shorter than this I'm giving and I promise to be short to interact, and organized them into groups based on a set of words and reflect on them: peace , solidarity, citizenship, state, nation, republic, independence, revolution, insurgency, insubordination, freedom. After noon, about three in the afternoon, we were done and they had made their posters to present the experience, stop the comrades in the table of "peace" they had made a special presentation by saying how they understood them peace, saying they understood peace as respect for law, respect for the human condition, and for a companion Wayuu sequita by hunger, little by the hardships of the Sierrita, a village in Mara, and for her after their partners involved, and asked for the floor says: "teacher," I can speak? "," how not to intervene. " "I'm going to defer to my colleagues, although I agree with they say I think it is something essential that we lack peace building "and she says" no peace if we go hungry. " A companion Wayuu, who barely finished with the Mission Robinson (of) culturally assimilated to the management of the charge involves the mastery of Castilian, but for her peace is not law, peace is not starving. I told the mate Nelson Marquez Fundacite I heard that I thought I had to pack my bags and go live on a beach because I have nothing to do in a classroom where groups are able to build sufficiently robust concepts those.
And that reminds me of another story, as I said, 15 days ago we agreed in Caracas at the symposium "From April to April, reaches a revolution" which brought together all those who have formed what we call the network and memory research of historians for the Bicentennial, which currently meets about 50 academic from various universities and about 450 community leaders from across the country, we are organized around the activities of the Bicentennial, and then we had the debate in the Palacio de Santa Rosa de Lima where the minutes of April 19, diagonal the cathedral there in the Plaza Bolivar, and diagonal to the building's France recently expropriated, decided to move to a very populous called Sarria, and Sarria, an area with a large experience in organization, began to deliberate on these concepts. And we discussed how we understood the word independence asked us a humble woman, as about 75 years, marked by the effort of life. We talked about independence, human condition, we talked about independence and full sovereignty, but she asked for the floor and give the word, and when they take part begins by telling us' you the professors I greatly respect, I consider a lot, I know you are male and women are very serious, but the independence of which you speak I've never seen it, I have not been independently to have stopped two of my five children starve me, I have not been independently to be able to complete primary than ever I could, I have not been independent for my children have managed to finish high school, I have not been independent for not having to work washing and ironing Rich's house all my life to medium spice to my children, so teachers that independence of which you speak to me is unrealistic from my point of view. " We did like Condorito, plop!, And then say that the people are not wise, then they say that only from the academic knowledge is produced, and we must listen to these groups reflecting on concepts such as these to understand the great ability they have, and this is critical at this juncture, it is crucial at this historical moment in Latin America, this is key to the challenges we have in the present historical circumstances, because it is an important fact, a significant fact that trying to get across in this discussion Bicentennial:
1. We want to democratize history
out the history of the cubicles where historians accomplished buttock charge per hour, we leave that logic, we want from the authorities, from hindsight, from the present to the past, rebuild those manuals as framed logic of domination, because in these manuals are invisible and invisible sectors, disappearance in these textbooks is not fortuitous, is a mechanism of domination, is a control mechanism.
2. Bicentennial Cycle Cycle
We assume the Bicentennial, and this is important to say, is a cycle, not just today the April 19, 1810, but in 2011 we celebrate the bicentennial of July 5, 1811, in 2012 the loss of the First Republic, in 2013 the bicentennial of the Admirable Campaign, in 2014 the bicentennial of the War on Death Act in 2015 making Angostura, in 2021 the bicentenary of the Battle of Carabobo, in the 2026 the bicentenary of the call Amphictyonic Congress, in 2030 the bicentenary of the death of the Liberator. Is bicentenary cycle is a cycle that should produce a deep reflection, a profound rethinking from the point of view of knowledge and epistemology of the story so manipulative, so comfortable that story, and let the conference, our writings, including (the) of our history cuentico throw the Treaty of Fontainebleau between Napoleon and Charles IV's abdication allowed Bayonne in 1808, which allowed the emergence of the board retains the Rights of Fernando VII, and allowed the signatures of the Proceedings of forming provincial governments.
3. Go beyond the "fechalización" and "emeritización."
This is, again, to go beyond what we call the "fechalización" and "emeritización" that locks us and makes that history is alien to us, that we may see far and we give a damn, we do not absolutely nothing of interest, because in that logic has no value, because there do not appear, this story is not dressed in colors, this story has no ethnic diversity.
4. Liberation versus domination
Fourth, because overcoming emeritización fechalización and is our third major goal in this cycle is to raise Bicentennial Reflection on the Bicentennial as a dichotomy, the dichotomy between the semantics of dominance versus the semantics of liberation, and see this dichotomy in a long time frame, beyond the fact of the date of 1810 or 2010 and see it in the historical process and global nuestromaericano.
5. Dismantling of the scientism europocéntrico
Fifth, and not least significant, we have set ourselves the objective of removing the imported scientific mentality, historical epistemology that it does see that the processes that occurred in Ouramérica are the result of what happened in Europe, that our constitutions are a consequence of the constitutional debate that will produce the promulgation of the Constitution of Cádiz 1812. And our history, because I also say militants are our historians say it, do not realize the ideological trap behind the approach when we historicizing, when historically reconstruct the process from the perspective essentially European. We refuse to
this dynamic, we refuse to build and think the Bicentennial Series from the logic of domination, from the logic of European scientific mentality, and plant a epistemic break with the European scientific mentality, and therefore we say the Science is not neutral, and "we do not assume neutral" and said Benedetti. Welcome neutrality Octavio Paz Welcome neutrality Manuel Caballero, Manuel welcome Suzzarini neutrality, neutrality welcome Ángel Lombardi, who are happy to be neutral, but I'm not going to contribute to a neutral story, I think in the history involved, and committed on these precepts epistemic'm saying. What I am not neutral?, I'm glad not to be.
6.
Ouramérica Moreover, and this leads sixth, to maintain what we call the demand of a nuestramericana, because both have been dominant names are part of that imported scientific mentality. When we speak of Latin America speak of the concept outlined by the French American and you start to build from the invasion of Mexico to Maximilian. When we speak of Latin America and Hispanic America do also from the logic of English rule and we do not realize and we repeat, and therefore, according to Martí, we argue from the National Bicentennial Commission must speak of Ouramérica, that America in black, Indian, mestizo, mulatto, that America mixed, complex and diverse, Ouramérica, not Latin, not Latin America, not Latin America, because that mentality is part of mainstream scientific imported. And speaking key
nuestroamericana leads logically to highlight the presence history of what we call the subordinate subjects, subjects that have dominated the history and appeared in the files and the new research tells us that are and are making history today.
If not, see it in Latin America, rub through the panorama of world news and you will see, you will find how people dress color that is actively articulated and mobilized, and that leads us in this scientific effort to build new categories, and therefore is that we started using Marti, proposing the replacement of the term Latin America or Latin America by Ouramérica, we have to start very important reconceptualization dismantle the structure of scientific domination we teach in our schools and through our history books, and that therefore means that we declare ourselves in permanent combat against an imaginary historiography of domination underlying the official discourse, which underlies the speeches of the academies, which underlies the pompous celebrations.
7. The continuity of the Revolution
Finally, we must praise the continuity of the revolution, and this continuity is given in two conditions were present yesterday and are present today. One, the anti-imperialist character, because nineteenth-century revolutions were breaking the imperial order, and two, the character anticapitalist. Both revolutions, yesterday and today, have that continuity epistemic. Thank
.
