Some Notes and Questions on the Reading for Monday 4/30

 

Our readings for next time are handouts.  You may also find it useful to review parts of Porpora, Chapter 4, and compare his accounts of particular events or issues to the others.

 

1.       "America and the Struggle for Freedom" by George Shultz.  At the time he gave this speech (1985), Shultz was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State.  He is defending Reagan's foreign policy more generally, but we are especially interested in his comments about Nicaragua and El Salvador.

2.       Two chapters from Don't Be Afraid Gringo: A Honduran Peasant Woman Speaks from the Heart, by Elvia Alvarado (1987).    At the time this book was written, Alvarado had been working for some time in the Honduran peasant movement, pressing the government and landowners to implement a land reform law that called for unused land to be given to landless peasants.  At the same time Honduras was the recipient of a great deal of military aid from the US and was the main staging area for the US-financed ‘contra’ forces attacking neighboring Nicaragua.

 

Study Questions

 

 

  1. What claims does Secretary Schultz make about
    1. the role that the U.S. has historically played in the world and in Latin America?
    2. the character of the Sandinista government of Nicaragua?
    3. the "armed resistance" that is trying to overthrow that government?
    4. (in passing) the government of El Salvador
  2. What can you find in the other readings (Alvarado or Porpora) that either supports or undermines Schulz's claims?

3.       How plausible do you find Schultz's case for U.S. support for the rebels ('contras') in Nicaragua? 

4.       What explanation does Alvarado give for the poverty of the people of Honduras?

5.       On pages 26-27 Elvia Alvarado describes some of her hopes and goals.  Do you think her desires are reasonable? Justifiable? Feasible?  What do you think Nietzsche might say to her (and she to him)?  What do you think George Schultz might say to her (and she to him)?

6.       On page 144 she says "Its hard to think of change taking place in Central America without there first being changes in the United States."  What changes do you suppose she has in mind?  Why do you think she believes that change in Central American depends on changes in the US?

7.       What sort of help does Alvarado want from people in the US?

8.       What response do you have to the very direct appeal that Alvarado makes for your help in her struggle?

9.       Is Elvia Alvarado a philosopher?