One of South Americas bloodiest periods couldn’t have happened without the U.S.

Chile paid tribute to it 50th anniversary yesterday. Government officials from all over the continent and thousands of people held a moment of silence in front of the Palacio de La Moneda to honor the victims of a bloody military dictatorship.

On September 11, 1973, the palace was bombarded and invaded by Chilean military forces, attempting to remove the then president, Salvador Allende. The president barricaded himself inside the building, broadcasting one last message to his people, before ending his own life.

What followed was a full-on dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet, who left behind at least 40 thousand victims.

The United States involvement in the coup is a well-known fact, and it comes out as one of the country’s most hypocritical acts. In its recent article remembering the coup, the New York Times stated: “While there is no evidence of direct American Involvement in the coup, the Nixon administration made sure to create a coup climate as soon as Mr. Allende won the presidential election on Sept. 4, 1970, according to declassified U.S. documents.”

“Indirect” involvement provided by the United States included propaganda campaigns, instigating a coup, bribing members of congress, blocking loans to Chile, offering secret funds to foment strikes and offering full support to the Chilean military in the case of a strike.

The Times quoted then director of the C.I.A. Richard Helms, they were to “make the economy scream”.

Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, dates U.S. involvement to even before Allende into power, writing that “Meetings between the president of the United States Richard Nixon and the then owner of the El Mercurio newspaper Augustin Edwards dated back to even before Allende was in power.”

Folha went on to conclude, “Said meetings had the goal of finding a way to stop Allende from taking office. In one of these meetings, for example, the assassination of general Rene was planned, a constitutionalist that considered that the military should respect the result of the polls.”

The NY times first acknowledged that the coup had a link with the C.I.A in an article published on September 20, 1974. It says the C.I.A had been financing strike labor unions and trade groups in Chile for more than 18 months before the president was overthrown, with more than $8 million dollars authorized for clandestine activities being used in Chile between 1972 and 1973.

The story also notes, “The Times’s sources, while readily, acknowledging the intelligence agency’s secret support for the middle classes, insisted that the Nixon Administration’s goal had not been to force an end to the Presidency of Mr. Allende”.

All in all, the coup led to a dark period in Chile’s history, where during the 17 years under Pinochet’s government, more than 40.000 people were killed, tortured, disappeared, or were made political prisoners.

In recent years, historical revisionists all over South America have been trying to downplay harsh periods of dictatorship rule that happened inside the continent, (such as Bolsonaro in Brazil), so it’s important more than ever now, that the people don’t let the memories of what happened to fall into forgetfulness, and to ensure such years should never happen again.

World’s Largest ‘Baby Exporter’ Confronts Its Painful Past

The topic of this article has been of major interest for me recently; having just watched a documentary from South China Morning Post on the topic, so I was interested in seeing on how it compared to the stuff I watched.

The article was written by Choe Sang-Hun, who got access to declassified government documents while working on it.

He starts by presenting us to Mia Lee Sorensen, a South Korean that got adopted in Denmark. The lead it’s kind of vague on what the article is about, but I feel like it doesn’t really need to be that complex considering that the title and subtitle are already enough to grab your attention.

The author then proceeds to explain to us the circumstances of South Koreas adoption crisis came to be, and why is it getting relevant again today, I think he really does a good job explaining this first, to then follow up with the main character of the news story, as this problem is not a exactly easy one to get a grasp of. He spends more than half of the article educating us about it, but although it feels like a lot, it is definitely necessary for the understanding of said article.

We are then properly presented to people affected by said crisis, and what they are doing to achieve answers for their struggles, shedding necessary light on this problem.

Overall the article is very well explained, and it leaves the reader satisfied, by choosing to focus more on the problem instead of the people, it avoids the issue of having too much information, or to have to tell two stories at once.

Lastly, the author puts a quote that really makes you think about the issue politically, which was a nice touch.

Compared to the South China Morning Post video, the NY Times article has a better sense of fulfillment, as the documentary choose to focus more in one person, and it doesn’t really conclude her search, because such conclusion didn’t happen yet. By showing more of the issue, I believe the Times articles helps to bring light to a rather unknown problem.

During this assignment we were asked to interview two random people around campus, and acquire two specific items about them.

I was asked to bring back a cell phone photo of my subject and a conversation about sports. Since this was an assignment that we did during class, there weren’t many people around campus, which led me to go to two departments were people worked.

The first person I talked to was Matthew, from the IT department, he seemed kind of busy, so I tried to be quick. Matthew didn’t really watch sports, but he mentioned video games, so I asked which one was his favorite right know and he answered “I’m big on Elden Ring”. He then proceeded to talk about how much he enjoyed From Software games. I then asked to take a picture of him, which led to some natural awkwardness, as is not like I’m a professional journalist with a camera at the moment.

After that I went to Lewis Hall, where I met Reene Bock, to my surprise she said she was a little bit of a football fan, occasionally watching games from the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Minnesota Vikings, but the didn’t seem to be too enthusiastic about the season, as when asked about her expectations she replied, “I’m sure they’ll both lose”. Taking the picture was again a little bit awkward, but at this point, I don’t think it matter.

I had to post the pictures separately, as the file size was to big for Wordle to handle.

One of South Americas bloodiest periods couldn’t have happened without the U.S.

Yesterday, perhaps the most tragic moment in Chilean history celebrated it’s 50th anniversary as government officials from all over the continent and thousands of people held a moment of silence in front of the Palacio de La Moneda, to honor the victims of a bloody military dictatorship.

On September 11^th 1973, the palace was bombarded and invaded by Chilean military forces, in an attempt to remove the then president, Salvador Allende, who barricaded himself inside the building and broadcasted one last message to his people, before ending his own life. What followed soon after was a full on dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet, who left behind at least 40 thousand victims.

The United States involvement in the coup is a well-known fact, and it comes out as one of the country’s most hypocritical acts. In its recent article remembering the coup, the New York Times stated: “While there is no evidence of direct American Involvement in the coup, the Nixon administration made sure to create a coup climate as soon as Mr. Allende won the presidential election on Sept. 4, 1970, according to declassified U.S. documents.”

Said “indirect” involvement provided by the United States included action such as propaganda campaigns, instigating a coup, bribing members of congress, blocking loans to Chile, offering secret funds to foment strikes and offering full support to the Chilean military in the case of a strike. As stated by the then director of the C.I.A. Richard Helms, they were to “make the economy scream”.

A recent article from Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, dates U.S. involvement to even before Allende had stepped into power, saying that “Meetings between the president of the United States Richard Nixon and the then owner of the El Mercurio newspaper Augustin Edwards dated back to even before Allende was in power” and “Said meetings had the goal of finding a way to stop Allende from taking office. In one of these meetings, for example, the assassination of general Rene was planned, a constitutionalist that considered that the military should respect the result of the polls.

The NY times first acknowledged that the coup had a link with the C.I.A in an article published on September 20^th 1974, in which they mention that the organization had been financing strike labor unions and trade groups in Chile for more than 18 months before the president was overthrown, with more than $8 million dollars authorized for clandestine C.I.A activities being used in Chile between 1972 and 1973, but also mentioning that: “The Times’s sources, while readily, acknowledging the intelligence agency’s secret support for the middle classes, insisted that the Nixon Administration’s goal had not been to force an end to the Presidency of Mr. Allende”.

All in all, the coup led to a dark period in Chile’s history, where during the 17 years under Pinochet’s government, more than 40 thousand people were killed, tortured, disappeared, or were made political prisoners.

In recent years, historical revisionists all over South America have been trying to downplay harsh periods of dictatorship rule that happened inside the continent, (such as Bolsonaro in Brazil), so it’s important more than ever now, that the people don’t let the memories of what happened to fall into forgetfulness, and to ensure such years should never happen again.

Can There Be Too Many Cafes in Paris?

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/world/europe/paris-cafes-summer-terraces.html

I choose this article because the title really rubbed me the wrong way, so I thought I should give it a read.

It was written by Liz Alderman and it talks about how a new post pandemic regulation in Paris, brought a bit of movement and new life to the age old city.

She tells the reader how these new cafes have divided the citizens, with some thinking they’re wonderful, while others say that it’s only trouble, noise, an invasion of public space and parking spots.

The article also brings a little bit of the point of view of the owners of said cafe’s, which was pretty interesting in it’s own right.

I honestly just clicked on the article because it managed to get me mad; there’s no such thing as too many cafes, people hanging out in the street and moving is what makes a city feel alive, a complete contrast from the almost apocalyptic scenario we can find here for example. (Have you ever tried actually walking somewhere? I never seen streets so empty and devoid of life). But the article derived from my expectations, as it was not an article of opinion, but one more to the side of reporting.

All in all, I’ve liked what I read.

Yesterday a provisory ban on hand held radar guns was passed as cancer cases grow in the area.

The East Dakota Highway Patrol just ordered a ban which will immediately withdrawal around 70 radar guns from service.

Spokesman Adam Smith spoke to the press saying that “the here is to act on the side of caution until more is know about the issue”; “The whole situation is under review”.

The ban comes two months after three municipal officers filled compensation claims accusing the hand held units of giving them cancer. While research it’s still underway, the ban comes as a provisory measure in an attempt to contain new cases.

Unfortunately for those who were hoping too speed through highways; state troopers will continue to use mounted radar units outside of their cruisers.

He Tracks Elusive Amazon Tribes, but Only From the Shadows.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/world/americas/jair-candor-amazon-tribes-indigenous.html

Interesting people generate interesting stories.

The Saturday Profile was always one of the most captivating sections of the New York Times. The idea of sharing stories of somewhat ordinary people around the whole world is a really good concept, it shows us that everyone has something newsworthy, it helps to raise awareness over a variety of different situations, and it tackles real people, not some weird overblown celebrity.

That being said, I choose the most recent Saturday Profile, which, coincidentally of not, was about a Brazilian. It was written by Jack Nicas and Manuela Andreoni, both of whom are stationed in Brazil.

The article talks about Jair Candor, a 63-year-old who tracks isolated indigenous tribes within the Amazon Forest, in an attempt to preserve and protect them.  It then proceeds to explain for how long Candor has been working on this, and all the difficulties and dangers he faces within his job.

              It does a good job explaining what he does, and the dangers he goes up against, but I feel like it fails to convince the reader on how truly important his job really is, they focus a bit too much what he’s doing it but forget to go over on why he’s doing it, and why is it so relevant.  If the authors were able to convey this a little bit better, I would have no complaints about the article, but as it is, it remains a really good Saturday Profile which brings awareness to one of Brazil’s oldest problems, that of the preservation and isolation of indigenous tribes.

By: Diego Teixeira Setton

Johannes “Jojo” Lang is a 22-year-old senior from Munich, and the current captain of the Morningside men’s soccer team.

              Born in Germany, Jojo has close ties with South America, as his mom is from Peru, he arrived in the United States four years ago and stayed here since then.

              When asked about his quickly approaching graduation, Johanes said that he is unsure about wanting to graduate or not, but expressed his wishes to stay in the U.S. and work on getting a master’s degree.

              On the soccer side of things, Jojo stated that his goals for his final playing season are to do everything within his reach and achieve the best possible outcome, and to most importantly, finish his 4-year playing cycle with a felling of fulfillment and zero regrets.