Fausto Coronel Vega, Grade 12
UWC Mostar
This is dedicated specifically to Latin America.
Before this place was even named Latin America, it was a place meant to thrive, with green forests, jungles, high mountains, rivers, and huge deserts that made this the place where civilizations rose and fell. The Aztecs, the Mayans, the Olmecs, the Caral, the Incas, and the Chavín, called this place home for thousands of years until the Conquistadors from the Iberian Peninsula 'discovered' this gigantic continent. After bringing in the language, slaves, and diseases, it was time for the colonies to exist by themselves. That's why I am surprised and mad when people say "we would have been a great empire/society if it wasn't for the Spanish". I do not get it, what do you mean by "we", we are not indigenous, we have mixed so much within ourselves that nowadays more than 80% of our population are mestizos, we have only been an ethnic community, if you can consider us as such, since 400 years ago, before that, you would not find anywhere on this Earth someone like us. Latin America is in an artificial place that wasn't meant to exist. People like to ask themselves why is Latin America "underdeveloped", while they ignore the fact that our system of governance has been by itself for only a little more than 200 years. To put that into perspective, we were colonies for 300 years. Latin America has its basis in inequality, corruption, racism, sexism, and brutality, that persists, now added up with drug dealing, people leaving looking for better life opportunities, homophobia, femicides, artificial industrial cities designed for the car - with a great environmental impact of course, where monopolies thrive while the working class is exploited. We've tried it all, socialism, communism, civil dictatorships, military dictatorships, coup de etats, capitalism, and any political-economical ideology you can think of, yet here we are all in a very similar place.
We are the bastard children of the western world, yet, I am happy for us, I know that it sounds like a horrible place to live in, but it’s really not, I am faithful in what we are, and how couldn’t I, here you will find people that know what it’s like to struggle, people that dream and work their ass off to get a better place for their children, people tired of not being able to act and live by themselves, of being free. We have a lot to do ahead of us, but we can do it, we want to do it, and we WILL do it. We will thrive.
Image Courtesy: https://anews.mx/nacional/incendian-vehiculos-en-tijuana-mexicali-y-ensenada/
Before this place was even named Latin America, it was a place meant to thrive, with green forests, jungles, high mountains, rivers, and huge deserts that made this the place where civilizations rose and fell. The Aztecs, the Mayans, the Olmecs, the Caral, the Incas, and the Chavín, called this place home for thousands of years until the Conquistadors from the Iberian Peninsula 'discovered' this gigantic continent. After bringing in the language, slaves, and diseases, it was time for the colonies to exist by themselves. That's why I am surprised and mad when people say "we would have been a great empire/society if it wasn't for the Spanish". I do not get it, what do you mean by "we", we are not indigenous, we have mixed so much within ourselves that nowadays more than 80% of our population are mestizos, we have only been an ethnic community, if you can consider us as such, since 400 years ago, before that, you would not find anywhere on this Earth someone like us. Latin America is in an artificial place that wasn't meant to exist. People like to ask themselves why is Latin America "underdeveloped", while they ignore the fact that our system of governance has been by itself for only a little more than 200 years. To put that into perspective, we were colonies for 300 years. Latin America has its basis in inequality, corruption, racism, sexism, and brutality, that persists, now added up with drug dealing, people leaving looking for better life opportunities, homophobia, femicides, artificial industrial cities designed for the car - with a great environmental impact of course, where monopolies thrive while the working class is exploited. We've tried it all, socialism, communism, civil dictatorships, military dictatorships, coup de etats, capitalism, and any political-economical ideology you can think of, yet here we are all in a very similar place.
We are the bastard children of the western world, yet, I am happy for us, I know that it sounds like a horrible place to live in, but it’s really not, I am faithful in what we are, and how couldn’t I, here you will find people that know what it’s like to struggle, people that dream and work their ass off to get a better place for their children, people tired of not being able to act and live by themselves, of being free. We have a lot to do ahead of us, but we can do it, we want to do it, and we WILL do it. We will thrive.
Image Courtesy: https://anews.mx/nacional/incendian-vehiculos-en-tijuana-mexicali-y-ensenada/
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