Blog #5:
While watching the two videos, Daniel Sparler's and Al Jazeera Correspondent, I learned so much about Chile because going into this I knew very little.
In the Daniel Sparler's history lecture, Sparler took us through how the government came to be in Chile. Much was taught about how Chile moved from a democracy to being under Allende's rule. Through Allende's time running for leadership, the United States had high involvement in the elections. The CIA especially put forth the most effort in trying to make the media portray Allende as an unreliable individual and even put lots of money into harming Chile's economy in order to provoke a reaction out of Allende. Through all of this Allende remained strong and would not radicalize his people by making them violent and armed. The CIA eventually had plans to kidnap Allende, which unexpectedly led to his death. From here the country moved into the Pinochet dictatorship where he was later voted out in the "No" referendum while remaining the head of military.
Going into this video, I really had no prior knowledge of the Chilean history so I found a lot of the information interesting and helpful. I found it most surprising that the United States was so set on influencing the Chileans to oppose Allende so much that they pumped so much money into false advertising. I found this also to be horrifying because the United States has our own problems to deal with that the money that was used could be of good use for our own people. I thought it was most interesting that Chile was rated so high in their literacy and life expectancy for Latin American countries. I guess I had never thought of them to be so developed before this video.
Much of this information was new so I had several questions along the way, like why did the United States feel the need to intervene so heavily? Also, I had several questions about the importance of the beginning where Sparler spent a great deal of time on poets and famous people of Chile. What impact did those individuals have on the country today? Overall I found this a very informational video that answered a lot of my previous lingering questions.
In terms of the Al Jazeera Correspondent video, I again found much of this to be informational as I had no knowledge of this going into the video. Schaefer had formed Colonia Dignidad, for the people he had convinced to flee Germany with him and stay in Chile. Here, children were taken from their families and kept under his watch. He lured children into his care, making them believe that he intended to treat them properly and could trust them. After he had earned these children' trust, he sexually assaulted them and the kids didn't know any better than this.
I found this story appalling that someone could do this to children and force them away from their families. I also found it horrifying how this is plausible and that no one is willing to speak up for what is right, rather they brush it under the rug. It was interesting how Schaefer was able to pull this all off, but even more interesting how people were able to bounce back from their horrific childhood and become part of their society today.
Some questions I have from this would be how morally disturbed someone would have to be to allow this to happen? Also, I would want to know what was going through Schaefer's head and his reasoning behind all this mess. I would also be curious to hear from others in this situation and how they have been able to bounce back and see where life has taken them.
In the Daniel Sparler's history lecture, Sparler took us through how the government came to be in Chile. Much was taught about how Chile moved from a democracy to being under Allende's rule. Through Allende's time running for leadership, the United States had high involvement in the elections. The CIA especially put forth the most effort in trying to make the media portray Allende as an unreliable individual and even put lots of money into harming Chile's economy in order to provoke a reaction out of Allende. Through all of this Allende remained strong and would not radicalize his people by making them violent and armed. The CIA eventually had plans to kidnap Allende, which unexpectedly led to his death. From here the country moved into the Pinochet dictatorship where he was later voted out in the "No" referendum while remaining the head of military.
Going into this video, I really had no prior knowledge of the Chilean history so I found a lot of the information interesting and helpful. I found it most surprising that the United States was so set on influencing the Chileans to oppose Allende so much that they pumped so much money into false advertising. I found this also to be horrifying because the United States has our own problems to deal with that the money that was used could be of good use for our own people. I thought it was most interesting that Chile was rated so high in their literacy and life expectancy for Latin American countries. I guess I had never thought of them to be so developed before this video.
Much of this information was new so I had several questions along the way, like why did the United States feel the need to intervene so heavily? Also, I had several questions about the importance of the beginning where Sparler spent a great deal of time on poets and famous people of Chile. What impact did those individuals have on the country today? Overall I found this a very informational video that answered a lot of my previous lingering questions.
In terms of the Al Jazeera Correspondent video, I again found much of this to be informational as I had no knowledge of this going into the video. Schaefer had formed Colonia Dignidad, for the people he had convinced to flee Germany with him and stay in Chile. Here, children were taken from their families and kept under his watch. He lured children into his care, making them believe that he intended to treat them properly and could trust them. After he had earned these children' trust, he sexually assaulted them and the kids didn't know any better than this.
I found this story appalling that someone could do this to children and force them away from their families. I also found it horrifying how this is plausible and that no one is willing to speak up for what is right, rather they brush it under the rug. It was interesting how Schaefer was able to pull this all off, but even more interesting how people were able to bounce back from their horrific childhood and become part of their society today.
Some questions I have from this would be how morally disturbed someone would have to be to allow this to happen? Also, I would want to know what was going through Schaefer's head and his reasoning behind all this mess. I would also be curious to hear from others in this situation and how they have been able to bounce back and see where life has taken them.
We got to see a little bit of the politics when we went into that place for political meetings. I am not very interested in politics, but it was a unique experience to get to see a place like that first-hand.
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