Timing couldn’t be better as author, Benjamin Dangl, graces Chabot College with his presence to speak about his book “Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America,” as well as his experiences in our sister continent.
Just a few days before students and faculty headed up to Sacramento to protest the cuts to education, Chabot’s population was shown the potential, social movements could achieve. Dangl, a current resident of Vermont, has spent much of the last ten years traveling in South America; including the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil.
With dynamite being a symbol of popular power, especially in the mining-centered economy of Bolivia, Dangl’s book title has been well chosen. Bolivia’s President, Evo Morales, entered into power by a thrust of a social justice movement, led by the resident, working class.
President Morales has committed to rewrite the constitution; a task that has been accomplished many times but always lacked implementation. He also promises a push for land reform, granting its access, use and protection, for Bolivia’s people.
Recently however, Morales has seen that, responsibility to the people does not end with his entering office. Because of high gas prices and food shortages, the people of Bolivia once again united to show their leader that it is them that he serves and he would be best not to forget it. Dangl then turned his attention to Paraguay, where former bishop, Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez, became the first president in 60 years to win over an election from the rule of the Colorado party.
Large soy plantations are a big factor in Paraguay. Harmful pesticides, not approved for use in the U.S. because of cases of deaths associated with them, are forcing large fearful groups of local farmers to migrate to the cities. In a small, often-flooded part of the city, these farmers have to unite to survive and avoid abject poverty.
“Without community organization,” Dangl says, “you do not get anything.” A great example of this community organization is in Brazil. The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra or Landless Worker’s Movement (MST) was founded in 1984 to settle families on unused land with the objective of occupying, resisting, and cultivating. They have placed over 350,000 families on land, and they have built a school that educates their youth.
“ The media treats MST like a not important movement with only crazy people.” stated Manuela Oliveira, a Brazilian resident in Rio de Janeiro who wrote her thesis on MST. “Their school, I can tell you, is even better than the regular one. They learn lessons for their lives.
“I remember when the ‘march’ in Goias happened,” Manuela continued “every newspaper said negative things about it. They tried to shut them up, but MST is a huge movement and organized. People say that they are violent and aggressive, when they are simply trying to fight for a piece of earth.”
The author has seen this movement make its way towards the U.S. In Miami, the “Take Back the Land” movement is pairing up homeless people with the many foreclosed homes in the area.
“We have to open up our sense of creative approaches and successfully force authority to recognize them,” he added.
There are many examples that students can look to around the world about the power of people. Thanks to Dangl’s presentation, Chabot can expand its knowledge because of his close examination of the social movements in Latin America. Hopefully, guest speakers continue to show up on Chabot’s doorstep and expand student’s minds with practical and real life examples.

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