The Map or the Territory

The Pink Tide rose in Latin America at the beginning of this millennium and by the end of the first decade began to reveal contradictions that have yet to be fully assessed -- or, in some cases, even acknowledged. Clifton Ross, the co-editor of "Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements" (2014, PM Press), offers his perspective on the problems confronting the US anti-imperialist and solidarity movement in North America. Focusing particularly on Venezuela, he discusses hard problems and big questions about the viability of that project and considers a possible approach for US activists to take that avoids enabling dysfunctional policies, while at the same time maintaining a firm stance against US government and other interference. "The Map or the Territory" challenges the anti-imperialist and solidarity left to reconsider and update ideas developed over the course of the twentieth century in the light of globalization and the rise of "progressive" governments that, like their right-wing counterparts in other countries of Latin America, are basing their economies on the extraction resources from the land. The extractivist industries are increasingly bringing the progressive governments into conflict with social movements. In addition, some of the more "radical" governments of the Pink Tide are rooted in populism, and their authoritarian methods of governing have also generated conflicts with social movements and civil society. Taking Venezuela as the prime example of the issues of an economy based on an extractivist model and a populist political process, Ross considers the implications for North Americans interested in doing work with Latin America.
About the Author: Clifton Ross has been reporting on Latin American social and revolutionary movements since 1982. For the past decade he's been traveling to and fro in Latin America doing interviews for a book he co-edited with Marcy Rein, "Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements" (2014, PM Press). His translations include "Light and Truth: Manifestos and interviews on Spirituality and Politics" by General Augusto Cesar Sandino (1984, CO-Press), "A Dream Made of Stars: A Bilingual Anthology of Nicaragua Poetry" (1986, CO-Press); "Quetzalcóatl," by Ernesto Cardenal (1990 New Earth Press; 1994 Stride Publications); and "Voice of Fire: Interviews and Communiques from the Zapatista National Liberation Army" (1994, New Earth Publications), the first collection of EZLN material to appear in English, co-edited by Ross and Ben Clarke. His translations of poetry from Spanish have appeared in a number of publications and online sites including Americas Review, Sniper Logic, The Underground Forest and elsewhere. A sampling of Clif's poetry appeared in the collection, "When Good Dogs have Bad Dreams: Four American Poets" (Stride Publications, 1996) and his collection of interviews with the poet William Everson appeared the same year in the UK with the same publisher in book form as "William Everson: The Light the Shadow Casts" (reprinted in 2012 by Freedom Voices Publications in honor of the centenary of the poet's birth). In 1997 Ross completed work on his BA in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and he went on to get his MA in English at SFSU in 2003. In 2005, along with Genny Lim, Clif represented the U.S. in Venezuela's World Poetry Festival. From 2005-2006 he reported from Mérida, Venezuela and began work on his movie, "Venezuela: Revolution from the Inside Out," which was issued by PM Press in Oakland, California in May, 2008. Clif's book, "Fables for an Open Field" (1994, Trombone Press, New Earth Publications), was released in Spanish by La Casa Tomada of Venezuela (2006). His book of poetry, "Translations from Silence," won Oakland PEN's Josephine Miles Award, 2010. That book was published in Spanish in 2011 as "Traducciones del Silencio," by Venezuelan Ministry of Culture's Editorial Perro y Rana.