Stanford University Press Blog

Intervention and Displacement

How U.S. involvement in Central America pushes children and families to migrate.

by LEISY ABREGO

There is no doubt that violence and extreme insecurity are significant and immediate driving factors in the migration of children and families from Central America today. Since the early 1990s, when the United States began deporting gang members to the region, gangs have proliferated in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—the three countries with the highest numbers of child migrants in recent months. But gangs are not the root cause of migration; they are merely a symptom of a long and continued history of U.S. intervention.

Any time Central American leaders sought to reduce poverty, redistribute unused lands, or tax foreign companies, the CIA removed those officials.

For over a century, the United States has looked to the Central American region, with its arable land and geopolitical significance, as its backyard and a source for cheap labor. In a January 1927 Memorandum, Undersecretary of State, Robert Olds declared that the United States controls “the destinies of Central America and we do so for the reason that the [U.S.] national interest absolutely dictates such a course… Central America has always understood that governments which we recognize and support stay in power, while those which we do not recognize and support fall.”

Indeed, U.S. intervention has been evident throughout the region: From orchestrating Panama’s independence from Colombia to building the Panama Canal for shorter transoceanic trade routes, to ousting presidents whose policies threatened U.S. companies’ local profits. Any time Central American leaders sought to reduce poverty, redistribute unused lands, or tax foreign companies, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and sometimes also its military, removed those officials and installed new U.S.-amenable presidents. This happened as early as 1909 to remove José Santos Zelaya in Nicaragua and again in 1954 to remove Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. As recently as 2009, the United States tacitly supported the coup against democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. In each of these cases, the region was politically, socially, and economically destabilized with dire consequences for vulnerable populations. 

Fútbol in Argentina: A Common Passion for a Country of Immigrants

Fútbol has provided a unique arena for immigrants to immerse themselves in Argentinian culture.

by RAANAN REIN

Colombia's President, Juan Manuel Santos, asked Colombia's soccer coach, the Jewish-Argentine Jose Pekerman, to stay on after leading the national squad to and through the most successful World Cup in history. Pekerman is the most recent example of Jewish Argentines' involvement in football since its early days in South America.

There was no Hank Greenberg, Red Auerbach, Moe Berg, or Mark Spitz in Argentina, although this does not mean that no Jews made names for themselves in Argentine sports. Prominent Jewish footballers have included, among others, Leopoldo Bard, the first team captain and president of River Plate; Ezra Sued, a striker on both the Racing and national teams; Aaron Werfiker, stopper on the River and national teams (his fellow players had trouble pronouncing his name, so they called him “Pérez”); Miguel Reznik, who played for Huracán; and, more recently, Juan Pablo Sorín, midfielder for River as well as a Spanish team. All these figures challenge the still very common myth that Jews did not participate in Argentine football.  At any rate, simply buying a ticket to a game, learning the names of all the members of a team, following the sport in the media, or rooting for your favorite team or player was enough to make you an active participant in Argentine popular culture.

Club Atlético Atlanta is a predominantly Jewish fútbol club, and still today a fan favorite for Argentina's Jewish fútbol fans; pictured here in 1936

Most books about Argentine football tend to claim that religious and ethnic differences have not been issues in Argentina's national sports. This claim is not confined to sports history. The fact is that many intellectuals in Latin America reject ethnicity as a significant analytical category (unless they are discussing the indigenous population or people of African descent), even if they themselves are part of an ethnic minority. Thus, football is presented as a channel of social mobility based on talent alone and as the sport that best represents some of the most cherished Argentine values and character traits, irrespective of the players’ ethnic origins.

Prize-Winning Beach Reading for the Intellectually Curious

Looking for something to fill that beloved L. L. Bean tote bag you haul to the beach every summer?  Look no further!  SUP's summer reading list has something for every taste:

 

 Sure it might take up most of the space in your beach bag, but according to the WaPo Book World's "10 Books We've Loved This Year," James Hershberg's Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam is worth it!

  We also recommend:

 Ottomans, Brothers: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine, by Michelle U. Campos, winner of the 2011 National Jewish Book Award in Sephardic Culture, sponsored by the Jewish Book Council.

 Shiping Hua's Chinese Utopianism: A Comparative Study of Reformist Thought with Japan and Russia, 1898-1997, winner of the 2011 Distinguished Research and Publication Award, sponsored by the Association of Chinese Professors in Social Sciences (USA).    

 
Shahla Talebi's Ghosts of Revolution: Rekindled Memories of Imprisonment in Iran, co-winner (Gold Medal) of the the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards (Autobiography/Memoir Category), sponsored by the Independent Publisher Book Awards, and Honorable Mention, for Biography & Autobiography, in the 2011 PROSE Awards (PSP Awards for Excellence), sponsored by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division, Association of American Publishers.           

 Marisa Abrajano's Campaigning to the New American Electorate:  Advertising to Latino Voters, winner of the 2011 Best Book on Latino Politics Award, sponsored by the APSA Latino Caucus.           

  Larry Wolff, The Idea of Galicia: History and Fantasy in Hapsburg Political Culture, winner of the 2012 Karl von Vogelsang Staatspreis, sponsored by the Bundesministerium fuer Wissenschaft und Forschung. 

The Battle for China:  Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945, edited by Mark Peattie, Edward Drea, and Hans van de Ven, winner of the 2012 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award (non-US category), sponsored by The Society for Military History.

 John Richardson and Justin Powell's Comparing Special Education: Origins to Contemporary Paradoxes, winner of the 2012 Outstanding Book Award Contemporary Issues in Curriculum category), sponsored by the AERA Division B.

 Richard Graham's Patronage and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Brazil, winner of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by the Brazilian Studies Association.            

 Erik Kuhonta's book The Institutional Imperative: The Politics of Equitable Development in Southeast Asia, shortlisted for the 2012 Comparative Politics Prize, sponsored by the Canadian Political Science Association.           

 Robert Rhoads and Katalin Szelényi's Global Citizenship and the University: Advancing Social Life and Relations in an Interdependent World, winner of the 2012 Outstanding Publication Award, sponsored by the AERA Division J.          

Illicit Flirtations: Labor, Migration, and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, winner of the 2012 Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award, sponsored by the ASA Labor and Labor Movements Section.

Leo Chavez on Arizona's new Immigration Law

The nation is stirring over Arizona's new immigration law that allows authorities to question anyone that they suspect is in the country illegally. Some say it's a good idea to investigate suspects while others think it's merely an excuse to for authorities to question people based on their Hispanic appearance alone.

Leo Chavez is the author of the book The Latino Threat, which investigates how stereotypes and prejudices have plagued the immigrant population and redefined what it means to be American. Chavez was recently interviewed by the Huffington Post and uses his expertise in the subject to shed light on the issues at stake in Arizona immigration.

Read the Huffington Post interview  here.