Aristotle portrays how a person of good will and good intentions can become his own enemy and bring his own downfall. In this case the hero is Ricardo Martinelli; one of the most giving people Panama has known. Not many people know of the situation Panama is going through when it comes to politics. Being a third world country and having one of the 8th wonders of the world (Panama Canal,2) it is unlikely that Panama passes quietly in the mouth of many other countries and therefore the issue regarding corruption from the past government should be known. Ricardo Martinelli, the ex-president of Panama from 2009-2014 (Wikipedia, 2015) and the leader of the Democratic Change (CD). He is the man that the people chose to change the country and make …show more content…
Working with Citi group as a manager for many years, he decided to buy a business from a friend and become an entrepreneur (Wikipedia, 2014). With a net worth of $865 million before power and a net worth of $1 billion 5 years later. Why is Ricardo a hero? Ricardo has made many changes to the country, from infrastructure to bringing foreign investments and finally building a high way system different from other Latin American countries. Ricardito as many of his close friends call him is a hero because he changed the country drastically during his presidency. Although putting the country in debt he changed the financials, educational, structural, court plans and reforms to suit a country with a huge power; the Panama Canal. People portray him as a bad guy and as a corrupt guy, he is not; there is more to him. Because of the state money that was “robbed” by different members of the government, an investigation started towards Martinelli’s closest friends and workers (Panama Ex Leader, 2015). The former vice president, Juan Carlos Varela and now President of Panama has done nothing but diminish all of what Martinelli did during his time in power. That now is being judged and is in trial because of over pricing certain products of the state. The issue started when the new president came into power; Juan Carlos Varela. Juan Carlos Varela is a …show more content…
His greed took over his judgment and became a man with a different vision on how to run his government. The downfall comes also after the end of his government when the ex president of Panama now the president started to go after all the government officials from the past presidency. President Varela has had a grudge towards Ricardo Martinelli and since starting his presidency (Varela) the only thing he has done is to go after everything Martinelli did rather than doing something for the country. The corruption case towards Martinelli has not reach the ultimate point because there is no much evidence to convict him of corruption. On the other side Martinelli’s close circle is being convicted and the DJI is making them return all what has been stolen plus a few years of house arrest. The fact is Ricardito shows pitty for himself and is no longer the hero he was a few years back when he made his country grow and be in the eyes of many people around the world. We see present the change of fortune of this politicians life; having all the riches any one could want to becoming a political refugee. Aristotle uses a word that defines the time that the Martinelli family is going through and that is “ adversity”. The news show the amount of adversity there is in
The leadership in South America compared to the leadership in Mexico was quite different. But in some areas, where they were compared were very similar. In both places, a Revolution had begun. Starting with how they are both similar, Mexico and South America both wanted independence. They wanted to be free from the old fashioned ways of life, to start fresh and bring in new ideas to their people. In South America, their head leadership consisted of so very popular men named Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin. These men were both wealthy, Simon was a Venezuela Creole, which is a Spaniard born in Latin America, and Jose was a great liberator, or a person who sets people free from imprisonment. In some ways these two men worked together to gain their independence but then again not at all. In 1811, Simon had gained its independence from Spain. A major struggle, that was only the beginning. Simon suffered from many defeats and was exiled twice. But he never gave up hope. In a turning point, Simon led over 20,000 soldiers into Columbia and took a victory from the Spanish Bogota. By 1821 he had won Venezuelan independence. From here he marched into South Ecuador where he met Jose. Simon’s ways of gaining independence was only the beginning of South Americas revolution.
In the beginning, Rafael Trujillo was a fruitful and beneficial leader to the country of the Dominican Republic. Trujillo reduced foreign debt and made the country more profitable, mainly because he was an excellent business man. However with this new prosperity, came the loss of the citizen's political liberties (1 “Rafael Trujillo”). Rafael Trujillo may have made the country more profitable, but he still was getting away with taking away innocent citizen’s political liberties.
Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of the Central American country of Panama, rose to power through the art of destruction deception and detail. Manuel Noriega was able to profit and flourish as Panama’s new leader because of the Cold War environment. Due to the Cold War, its geographical positioning, and financial liberties, Noriega was able to manipulate all parties involved while making him very wealthy, powerful, a political asset, and finally a threat to the United States National Security.
Let me provide some background and supporting information as I give my reasoning about the insurgency rise in his presidency. Rafael Trujillo rose to through the ranks in the Dominican Republic military and was trained by the United States Marines that occupied the country during the World War I era. Rafael Trujillo made such a great impression according to Diederich Bernard he stated, “Seeing opportunity, Trujillo impressed the recruiters and won promotion from lieutenant to general and commander-in chief of the Army in only nine years”.
The “Panama Deception,” directed by Barbara Trent of the Empowerment Project and narrated by actress Elizabeth Montgomery, observes a distinct failure to implement 20th-century democracy in Latin America in the late '80s and early '90s. More specifically, the film documents the U.S. invasion of Panama under "Operation Just Cause” during this period, showing how the cause was anything but just. Rather, the film shows how the Operation intended to impose a biased renegotiation of the aforementioned treaties.
The Allies’ victory in WWII marked democracy’s triumph over dictatorship, and the consequences shook Latin America. Questioning why they should support the struggle for democracy in Europe and yet suffer the constraints of dictatorship at home, many Latin Americans rallied to democratize their own political structures. A group of prominent middle–class Brazilians opposed to the continuation of the Vargas dictatorship mused publicly, “If we fight against fascism at the side of the United Nations so that liberty and democracy may be restored to all people, certainly we are not asking too much in demanding for ourselves such rights and guarantees.” The times favored the democratic concepts professed by the middle class. A wave of freedom of speech, press, and assembly engulfed much of Latin America and bathed the middle class with satisfaction. New political parties emerged to represent broader segments of the population. Democracy, always a fragile plant anywhere, seemed ready to blossom throughout Latin America. Nowhere was this change more amply illustrated than in Guatemala, where Jorge Ubico ruled as dictator from 1931 until 1944. Ubico, a former minister of war, carried out unprecedented centralization of the state and repression of his opponents. Although he technically ended debt peonage, the 1934 vagrancy law required the carrying of identification cards and improved ...
Jose Marti’s was extremely important to the development and freedom of what is now modern day Cuba. In Cuba, many citizens have a strong sense of nationalism. Jose Marti had a strong impact on Nationalism in Cuban society. He states “If the republic does not open its arms to everyone and move forward for the benefit of everyone, the republic will die” (Krauze 17).
Harry E. Canden. , & Gary Prevost, (2012). Politics Latin America. (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
In his first paragraph, he states that, “Barricades of ideas are worth more than barricades of stone.” This shows that ideas can be stronger than force. which is why one of his main points is that America must rely on its own culture and ideas, rather than those of other countries. He provides actual evidence as to why the ideas of other nations are inadequate for The America’s. Marti’s quote, “How can the universities produce governors if not a single university in America teaches the rudiments of the art of government, the analysis of element peculiar to the people peoples of America?” is one example of how he supports his argument that only those with a deep understanding of America can properly govern America. Those who are educated in the ways of Europe or the United States cannot comprehend the needs of Latin American countries. Perhaps his greatest strength is that he compels his readers to take pride in their Latin American heritage. At one point in his essay he states, “…for there are no lands in which a man may take greater pride than in our long-suffering American
Cuban Dictator was overthrown by Fidel Castor. The main problem was that the United States
Jorge Videla was the leader of the military-run government. At the time, it was very easy for Videla to seize power because of the highly unstable condition that Argentina was in, and had been in for decades. In September of 1955 all three branches of the military revolted and forced the president, Juan Perón, into exile. Eleven years later, in 1966, a new leader, Juan Carlos Ongania, imposed the military rule again only to have the former president, Perón, return in 1973, and ...
After gaining independence, Latin American countries had difficulty in how to govern the newly instated states. In the chaos, people took advantage of this and instated themselves as dictators. They had simply took the position from the Spanish that they tried to vanquish (class notes). The power structure remained and the people who fought for independence were largely ignored and continuously oppressed. These dictatorships had remained in power until very recently. Paraguay was finally freed from the dictatorship in 1989 (Chapter
... In addition to being powerful, his ruthless murders made him a dangerous man too. This specific case in Latin American history comes to show how economic “stability” does not always mean happiness and wealth. The Dominican Republic’s economy was stable, but all the wealth belonged to one man, Trujillo. A Nation’s wealth in the hands of one man only means that the Nation’s safety and life-force also rest in his hands.
Political culture traditionally characterized by personalism, the tendency to give one's political loyalties to an individual rather than to a party. Politics from 1968 until his death in 1981 dominated by General Omar Torrijos Herrera, Their form of government is Executive under provisions of their 1972 Constitution, as amended in 1978 and 1983. The chief executive is president of the republic, he is assisted by two vice presidents, all elected by popular vote for five-year terms. The unit of currency is the Balboa which is equal to the United States dollar. Balboas are available only in coins.
Throughout the story, Juvencio seems very selfish. He never cares about anyone besides himself and what happens to him, which causes him many problems with those who care about him. His selfishness creates a divide between him and his family. This is shown in the first few paragraphs of the story, “‘All right, I'll go. But if they decide to shoot me too, who will take care of my wife and kids?’ ‘Providence will take care of them. You go now and see what you can do for me. That's what matters.’” Even this early on in the story, Juan Rulfo shows the reader how self-centered Juvencio is, that he would tell his son to endanger his life to save Juvencio’s own life. Juvencio states to Justino that saving him matters more than the safety of Justino or his family. Juan Rulfo also shows that Juvencio’s selfishness makes his son less ready to help him by describing Justino having an inner conflict about whether to take the risk of helping his father. Justino almost doesn’t help his father, showing that he is losing empathy for his father as a result of Juvencio’s selfishness and self-centered lifestyle. Juan Rulfo uses this scene to illustrate his theme related to selfishness. There are also a few examples of Juvencio’s lack of empathy in this story, including the scene in which Juvencio talks about his crime, showing a total lack of caring for any other human