Protest
So, I’m back in the states visiting with friends & family and doing some work until October 28th. I’ve been bouncing around a lot (from Costa Rica to L.A. to Burning Man and back to L.A. in two weeks) doing the same thinking I did last time about similarities and differences between Latin America and the U.S. Living in Guatemala, one becomes very accustomed to the presence of The Police, The Military and arms in general. Soldiers in camo walk through public parks on Sundays, armed with machine guns. Armed guards stand on the sidewalk outside of banks with their hands on shotgun pumps. It becomes part of the culture, a common sight. Moving from there to Costa Rica was a nice change, as Costa Rica has no standing military and is very proud of that fact. What I was not prepared for was coming back to the states and seeing videos like those below, presenting police action against protestors at the Republican National Convention. I have to say, I forgot that treatment like this happens in my own coutnry when wathcing videos of bloody Gautemalan protests in the 80s. I’ll leave this without too much comment, but the videos below have really struck me this morning.
Gestapo Storm Troopers Launching Grenades at Protesters at Republican National Convention Alternative View-Point.
Cops v. Kids
Cops advance on peaceful protesters at RNC 2008 in St Paul
