Does the Goddess of Technology Speak Portugese?

Florianopolis, Brazil

For the first time this trip, there is not an internet cafe within a stone's throw of my hotel. The helpful manager told me there was one - over the hill and towards Juaqina beach. I set off on the half hour trek and wished I had brought my camera. Off the southern coast of Brazil, on a small island surrounded by over 40 beaches and dotted in the middle with lakes, lush green mountains and huge sugar-white sand dunes, Floripanópolis has got to be the most amazingly beautiful place I had never heard of before last week. I couldnt help but climb up the side of one of these giant dunes on the way to the cafe and was treated to the sight of a dozen or so Brazillian kids "sandboarding" down the opposite side. The sand was so fine and white it felt like hot soft talcum between my toes. I would have sworn they were snowboarding on fresh powder - had they not been shirtless and shoeless - their trademark flip flops left on the top of the crest as they strapped into their green and yellow boards and glided down laughing. After hiking back up one ran over to me with a warm smile and offered the board in my direction as if asking me if I wanted to try. I spent the next 45 minutes giggling, gliding, and tumbling down this mountain of shimmering sand in the middle of paradise with new friends - with whom I could barely communicate.

Back on the road, I walked past skinny stray dogs and equally skinny kids spilling out of the favelas and picking through trash together looking for food. I would have missed the internet cafe had I not spotted the small sign nailed to the trunk of a tree. The 'cafe' was in an industrious local's garage and had been transformed into a woking broadband technology center with 6 computers. Fernando worked the desk and was the technological wizard - his mom made coffee and fresh acaí fruit cups in the back. I enjoyed one mixed with banana and guaraná while I waited for a machine to open up. The cafe was bustling and by the furnishings I could see in their house, it looked as if the family had been able to achieve a modest level of elevated wealth. When I was able to get a terminal, I clicked on the universal icon for Microsoft's Internet Explorer and saw the familiar homepage of MSN pop up - but in Portugese. Complete with localized information, today it featured an article with health tips for keeping your body 'beach ready' for summer. It seems that even in these remote corners of South America, the march of technology is advancing - under the flag of large American corporations such as Microsoft.

In 1971, the Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano published the amazing book "Open Veins of Latin America." Subtitled "five centuries of the pillage of a continent," he offers a history of Latin America in writing that flows as smoothly as a bossa nova melody yet delivers a leftist critique every bit as biting and incisive as his prose is suave. He argues that capitalist powers have continually exploited Latin America from the lust for gold and silver that led Spain and Portugal to mine the regions bountiful mountains to the US-dominated multinational enterprises that today continue to export profits while capitalizing on the cheap and abundant labor.

Underdevelopment, he argues, is not a stage of development, but rather its necessary consequence. By feeding and nourishing external development, Latin America locks itself into servitude and impotence. And it has been going on for centuries. In a chapter entitled, "The Goddess Technology doesn't Speak Spanish," he charges that the technological development promoted and advanced by capitalist countires only deepens the dependence of the countries of the region, making them ever more subservient, indebted and controlled by foreign powers. The liberal international system fosters and promotes this agenda, in the name of free trade.

After using protectionism for ages in order to achieve its current state of elevated power, the US now preaches the religion of free trade and rule of law in order to ensure the unfettered ability of its corporations to increase profits through exploitation. The rule of law is often cited in the liberal press and academia as the most necessary element needed to save and modernize the region. The rule of law demands that equal and fair treatment prevail. But what really is delivered? Anatole France aptly pondered that Law - in all its majestic equality - forbids the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under bridges, begging in the streets and stealing bread. Perhaps he should have added copying technology or stealing copyrights.

As if falling into its assigned and legally protected role, in technology as well as previous exercises in externally dominated development, Latin America generously supplies the raw materials and the cheap labor - the profits, however, are almost completely reserved for export. Loans to help promote technological advancement are recieved with assurances that foreign companies - with their momentum and strength - will not be 'unfairly discriminated' against in the allocation of the fruits of development. The transplantation of advanced countries' technology, Galeano argues, is a process of cultural and economic subordination. He claims it also has been shown, after five centuries of creating modernized oases amid deserts of backwardness and ignorance, to resolve none of the problems of underdevelopment. Here in this cafe in the middle of the sand dunes, in this oasis of technology amid a sea of poverty, is foreign technology carrying out its alleged criminal agenda?

In 1970, Galeano was not aware of the current technological advancements in communications technologies. In the 21st century, the internet has been touted by technophiles as a panacea for the world's ills. By breaking down borders of geography and barriers of communication, it is paving the way for greater prosperity for all. One wonders whether this is just another sugar coating for the most recent wave of imperalist exploitation. Who is benefitting from this technological modernization? Is it Fernando and his mom with their garage cafe? Or is it Microsoft, delivering slick local Brazillian content while efficiently exporting the profits and filling the pockets of the world's richest people? Dell? Intel?? As I leave the cafe and walk past the countless skinny dogs and kids from the favelas, I am left wondering.

I'll be MSN you...

The sun was literally baking me. Having devoured yet another 3 dollar steak for lunch and now sitting on the beach under an unwavering heat lamp I felt like I was turning into an empanada. Warm and crispy on the outside and filled with juicy meat on the inside. I had to find some shade. This beach – like the others in this endless line of white sand around a point on the southern coast of Uruguay - was filled for the summer with wealthy vacationers from Uruguay and Argentina. Paradores, or beach huts, were ubiquitous and served up food, drinks, and thankfully, umbrellas to the beachcombers. I sat down under one and ordered an Iguana beer. I doubt anything has tasted so refreshing in the history of human consumption.

I was sitting with another guy I had met. Somewhat surprised to find an American in an area so dominated by Argentines, I was somewhat happy to be speaking in English again. As we nursed a couple of Iguanas, Jason was telling me about his exploits here in Latin America. Studying abroad for a semester while in college, he seemed to fancy himself a new age conquistador. Modeling himself on a Vince Vaughn character out of swingers, he graced me with countless tales of how “money” he was with the “babies” down here. His stories were interrupted frequently as he stared at someone walking by. “Wow, holy shit, um DUDE did you see her? Wait, where was I?...” It was 4:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday and the beach was filling up. While the sun would be setting in Boston it was still high in the sky here. Young people had probably been sleeping all morning after a late night at the discos. They tend to go all night and I informed that it was “social suicide” to ever arrive before 2am. Jason was a bit of an expert. “I was at Mint last night. I was so hammered. It was so cool. And Money!”

As his endless boasts continued, and one unnecessarily loud and graphic story unfolded, I started feeling embarrassed. I wondered whether he had ever actually talked to a woman. I could see that a girl at the table behind him was watching us. She was sitting alone and was not shy about making eye contact. At one point she smiled at me and Jason noticed me looking past him. Swinging around, he gave her a once over and turned back. “DUDE, she is HOT. Was she looking at us?” I hoped she didn’t understand English and started feeling somewhat embarrassed to be seen with this guy. “DUDE, she was totally looking” he panted, “I’m gonna invite her over here.” He then seemed to look me over and gave me what he likely considered a grand compliment. “You know, Brad, you aren’t so bad looking, and in decent shape still, I bet you could score here.”

Before I could say anything, he invited her over and started asking some questions in broken Spanish. “I speak English,” she offered. And with a bit of a smirk, “and I have a boyfriend.” I couldn’t help but smile. “But I’ll join you for a beer if its ok.” Jason seemed befuddled and sat there as if somewhat deflated, so I said of course and pulled up a chair. As she collected her things, he looked at me as if I had betrayed the team. “DUDE, that was dumb, now the babies are gonna think we are taken. I think I will go back down to the beach. She likes you anyway. Come find me when you are done.”

I may have betrayed the team but as he fumbled awkwardly with some money to give me and she gracefully sat down with a smile, I felt I had somehow gotten the best end of this trade. “I hope I wasn’t stopping the party,” she said in clear but heavily accented English, “but you looked like you might need my rescue.” I ordered another beer and asked how she knew English. “I studied my whole life … and my boyfriend is in New York.” I told her of course, I did need saving, and almost forgot that Jason was the one who initiated this. She acted as if she masterminded the whole thing. Soledad was from Argentina, north of Buenos Aires and now worked in the city. She had her dark hair cut in the current fashion with bangs over her eyes and long, unkempt waves down the back. She wore huge oversize avaiator sunglasses and seemed to have practiced her pouty face from glamour magazines. Like so many Argentines, she had vacation in January and descended on these fashionable beaches. “Punta del Este,” she explained, “is like the Hamptons for people from Buenos Aires.”

“I was chatting on the computer before, but then I heard you guys speaking English and wanted to meet you. I hope it was ok that I sat down – I miss speaking English.” I looked to the corner of the parador and saw a lone computer with a sign above it saying INTERNET and charging about a dollar per hour of use. “Don’t you talk to your boyfriend?” I asked. “Not much,” she frowned, “Maybe not for a month or two. Its way too expensive to call. But we chat on MSN messenger every day.” She went on to explain that she dreamed of one day moving to the states and starting a travel company sending tours to South America. “American people would love it here if they knew where to go.” I looked out at the waves rolling while the music played on the speakers and everyone mingled in a continual state of social interaction. I had to agree. Everywhere people were laughing, smoking cigarettes and passing around cups of yerba mate. It seemed strange to me that someone from here would idealize life in New York. She had had another boyfriend from America in college, she explained, but it didn’t work out because she never saw him after he left. “Messenger changes everything,” she told me, “because now I can know what is happening in his life. It is like he is so close. I just ... cant see him."

One café where I live has voice chat also – that is so great when it works.” It seems that in some ways the idea of the internet shrinking the world is true. People like Soledad in Argentina and her boyfriend in New York are now are communicating daily across vast distances and yet somehow still feel close. They feel that the real-time interaction allows a very different connection and closeness than even email and allows for the feeling of conversations at an affordable price. And they are not alone. She told me that many young people here use internet chat, or messaging, to communicate, even within the country. Its informal, casual structure is great for keeping in touch with all your friends. And of the services available? “Everyone uses MSN, although I think there are others.”

I have since noticed that this is true. In the internet cafés, usually over half the people using the machines are chatting on MSN. They are sipping café con leche and giggling at the little emoticons being sent back and forth. Some cafes do have voice chatting and it is somewhat funny to hear blurbs of conversation erupting intermittently from some computers. It is also not just for fun. At a local travel agent in Buenos Aires I asked if she could get deals on hotels in Brazil. After a couple minutes of MSN chat back and forth with a tour operator in Brazil she had found me a cheap hotel on the beach for under 30 dollars a night. I looked at the screen amazed. “Muchas gracias, besos” she had written … and a small yellow smiley face. “I want to go to New York,” Soledad sighed and pouted from behind her huge glasses. “People are so much fashion and exciting. But here is good too, I come every year. Its too bad it is so far for you guys.” We had finished our Iguanas and passed two hours in the parador. The sun was still high in the sky and the beach was full at almost 7pm. People were swimming and splashing, meeting each other and flirting, making plans for late night parties at discos and enjoying their summer. Soon, the masses of vacationers would recede and most would head back to their jobs or schools in Argentina. Most would probably spend the off season keeping in touch by MSN messenger, I thought, until next year when they all come back, donning their designer sunglasses of the moment, and start the fiesta again.

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Bridging Borders?

It seemed like I was standing on the top of the world. Before me, sloping down from the mountains and spreading west toward the horizon in a haze was my first glimpse of Chile. Behind me, a rusty metal sign was bolted into the rock announcing the eastward expanse of Argentina. The road from Mendoza was a spectacularly winding ascent that left the vineyards of the lowlands and the green foothills of the Andes in the distance as it clung to the sides of ever growing mountains. Right before the border we passed the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya, Mt. Aconcagua. At nearly 7000 meters, its peak was covered in snow in the middle of summer. The air got remarkably colder as we reached the Chilean border. Despite the signs marking the territory of these countries, all I could see in any direction, however, were mountains.

Despite sharing the longest border in South America, the trade between Argentina and Chile is remarkably low. Recently only around 6% of Argentina’s exports and 4% of her imports have been with Chile. While there are several reasons for this lack of neighborly exchange, a prominent one is the enormous Andean mountain range that divides these two countries. As trade has traditionally depended on transportation, the difficulties posed by this geological wall have kept transportation to a minimum. The high pass I was standing on was watched over by a huge statue of Christ with a cross clutched in his left arm and his right lifted high into the thin air. There was an abandoned old car, a coffee shop and a few people taking pictures. Despite being one of the most important passes between Argentina and Chile, however, noticeably missing is any railroad link. Today, as trade in information is growing, bits and bytes can zoom across mountains, seas and plains. Even the mighty Aconcagua is unable to stop this digital traffic. From its inception, the internet has prompted people to claim that borders were being erased. People in one land can, in moments, be connected with other people in distant places they have never stepped foot in. Through the magic that is technology, people are supposedly being brought closer together.

But is technology really bringing people closer together? Is it really taking down borders and uniting people from different places and cultures? Or in some way is this technology facilitating the building of virtual barriers? In “The Daily We,” Cass Sunstein warned of the dangers of personalization through technology. (http://www.bostonreview.net/BR26.3/sunstein.html) While offering the promise of transcending limits of geography, the Internet has in many ways had the opposite effect. People now can personalize their music, their news, their entertainment options and even their network of friends. People can choose what and who they want included in their virtual universe – and likewise what and who they don’t. This creates a phenomenon of specialization and fragmentation, he argues, that can be just as dangerous as it is beneficial. While people may have the technology to unite, they are using it to post signs saying, essentially, keep out. Now the American in Idaho can make sure he gets news relevant to his life – he need not be bothered by reports of what is going on in other parts of the world. The Canadian in an internet café in Buenos Aires can sip cappuccinos while chatting with her friends back home about the tango she watched – she need not worry about trying to meet people in the strange country she is visiting. And the Chilean LLM student at Harvard Law School can be comforted by his virtual friendster network of Chilean friends across the globe. It seems a natural consequence of personalization that people will choose to surround themselves with the familiar and comfortable, rather than using the opportunity to reach out across borders and barriers to diversify. Sunstein calls this “group polarization.”

Perhaps, then, what is happening is that this technology is creating borders rather than destroying them. By polarizing groups and allowing people to tailor their surroundings the internet may be pulling diverse people apart rather than together.

Tango in La Boca, Buenos Aires

Plaza del Mayo, Buenos Aires

In Vino Veritas

My plane banked to the left and over the wing rose the majestic peaks of the Andes. Right out my window, and soaring almost 7000 meters into the sky was the highest of them all - the highest in the world outside of Asia - Mt. Acongagua. Its peak remained snow-covered, despite the fact that it is the middle of summer here and the temperature on the ground is over 90 degrees. I planned to trek to the base camp of this giant on my second day in town. First however, I had other plans to take care of. As the plane began its final descent, the green fields surrounding the airport of Mendoza came into focus. Stretching all the way to the foothills of the Andes, and even up to the very edge of the runway, were the areas famed vineyards. The area around Mendoza produces 80% of Argentina’s wine. No small amount, considering that Argentina is the world’s fifth-largest wine producer. Within minutes of town, most of the bodegas offer tours and tastings. It was 9 am. I wasn’t planning on wasting any time.

After checking into my hotel, I immediately set up tours at two of the local bodegas for the afternoon. I had just enough time to walk next door to an open air sidewalk café facing the central Plaza Independencia for some much needed lunch. In somewhat of a rush and not focused on food, I skipped the menu and simply ordered the special of the day for 7 pesos, just over two dollars. What soon arrived was a full cut of sirloin steak, a mixed salad, and a glass of the house red. Barely able to believe what was in front of me, I dug in and may have decided then that I had taken the wrong plane and arrived in heaven. When I was almost finished with the and feast and grinning sheepishly as if I had pulled of some sort of heist, a distinguished looking silver haired gentleman sat down at the table next to me. After ordering the special as well, he turned to me and asked, “Que hora?,” simply, what was the time. As if woken from a dream, I mumbled something back in likely incomprehensible Spanish. Clearly not interested in the answer he leaned back smiling and sighed, “ahhh, time for beautiful women and good wine.” I had read before that Mendoza is known as the “Land of Sun and Good Wine” as it almost never rains in this once-desert land that now supports wine production from a ancient system of river-fed aqueducts. However, as two stunning barely twenty-somethings strolled by as if on queue under the shade of the leafy plaza trees, I was prepared to accept the gentleman’s addition. As I drained the last drop of my surprisingly good glass, however, I had to leave this silver fox to his own people watching. For me, it was time to catch the bus to the first bodega.

Bodega La Rural is a large maker of several esteemed wines including the fantastic Rutini line. It was first on my list however, because it also boasts the largest wine museum in South America. As the lovely Leticia led a small group of us through the museum, she discussed the history of the winery and of Argentine wine making in general. Mendoza is situated perfectly in the rain shadow of the mighty Andes. This means that it gets 350 days of sun a year and yet there is abundant snow fed water very close. The system of irrigation used currently both to water the fields and supply the town is descended from the time of the Incas. The region is especially suited for making great reds. Somewhat ignored in Europe and used basically as a blending grape, Malbec is the pride of the Argentine red grapes. It is a rich versatile red, somewhat similar to a merlot and pairs excellently with red meats. The Cabernet Sauvignons are also robust and fantastic and the Syrah is smooth and spicy and reminiscent of the popular Shiraz coming out of Australia. Aging in French and American oak barrels, once rare is now becoming very common. At the end of the tour we were treated to copious samples of their Rutini, Trumpeter and San Felipe lines of reds which are all widely available and one called Museum, only available at the Bodega. I couldn’t help but walk away with a couple bottles, a huge purple smile and a somewhat tranquil mood as I headed for my next stop.

In stark contrast to La Rural, Bodegas Vina El Cerno is a small, family run winery. Built in 1864, the bodega is romantically tucked away among the vineyards in a tiny building packed with the huge wooden barrels. It is staffed by five people and unlike the polished tour guide in La Rural, here I was shown around by a portly weathered man with hands stained black from wine. He gestured wildly with these black hands as discussed their process saying that everything was done by hand, from the picking of the grapes to the sorting and pressing in old wooden presses, to the labeling of the bottles. The tasting room consisted of a single table and wine poured from small wooden barrels. With fewer than 9000 bottles a year, the wines from this bodega can rarely be found outside of Mendoza and some Buenos Aires bistros. Now, one 2002 Malbec might be seen in my suitcase – and chances are slim it will survive the couple weeks left before I have to head home.

By the end of the second tour and tasting, both conducted in Spanish, I was feeling gregarious and struck up a conversation with another purple-mouthed visitor who seemed about my age. A young lawyer from Buenos Aires, Sebastian was in Mendoza for a couple of days with his girlfriend. “I just closed a deal and we were supposed to go to Brazil for a two-week vacation” he explained, “but my company cut it short and we just had time to come here.” Apparently, heavy demands on lawyers’ time is not solely a U.S. phenomenon. He said he hated his cell phone because his company could call at any time and he would be back on a plane to Buenos Aires. I asked if lawyers here used the notorious Blackberry email devices now toted by most lawyers in the states. “They haven’t arrived yet” he smiled, “but I guess then I will have another wireless leash.” As we enjoyed a glass of Vina El Cerdo Cabernet, we discussed his work and interest in the wine business. Currently working for the large Brazilian petroleum company, Petrobras, he wished to move into a wine company, because wine “tastes so much better then petrol.” He was very interested in the legal issues surrounding the wine import and export business. I asked if he had heard of the case that was recently heard by the supreme court concerning the interstate shipping of wine. “Of course,” he replied, “we think it will be significant for the wine business here if it becomes easier to ship wine internationally.” Widely thought to be significant for internet wine stores, allowing more freedom of interstate shipping, the case could signal a liberalization for international trade as well. Because of the high quality wine that can be produced here so inexpensively, and yet the difficulties and distances involved in obtaining it, Sebastian surmised that the internet could have a dramatic impact on the amount of wine that gets exported.

Until very recently, Argentina’s wine business had been inward looking. As recently as 1987, exports constituted only 1% of the wine output. The vast majority is left for the local market, making Argentina the world’s seventh largest consumer of wine. The local market was also somewhat undemanding, quite willing to wash down the world’s best beef with some of its worst wine. But this has all been changing very fast since ex-President Menem opened up the economy. Since the late 90’s, over a billion dollars has been invested in new over a hundred new bodegas and tens of thousands of new hectares of vineyards. Much of this investment is coming from abroad in the form of the worlds large beverage companies. The local market is also becoming more discerning and demanding. Argentina is set to become a global giant in the wine business. The biggest obstacles have been transportation and marketing. Mendoza has had poor links to Buenos Aires and beyond, and until recently most people had barely heard of Argentine wine. Advances in communication and the opportunities presented by the Internet could have far reaching effects in the success of Argentina’s enhanced venture into the wine market.

Winemaking as well as other agriculture will be crucial for Argentina’s economy to rebound from its recent troubles. Argentina is blessed with plenty of suitable and empty land, a large domestic market and a well educated public. Farmers are good at adapting to changing market conditions and apparently willing to use new technologies in agricultural production. If Argentina manages the development of its wine business correctly, it could be a spark that the economy needs. Much will depend on the ability to generate investment within Argentina as well as from outside. Much may also depend on the international export market. It will be interesting to see the role that the law plays in shaping this environment. The use of the internet for marketing and sales as well will be a relevant and, perhaps key, factor. By the end of my two night and three day stay in Mendoza. I felt like I had completed a crash course on the wine business in Argentina. I had visited several bodegas and had more than my share of free samples. I had also trekked to the largest mountain in the western hemisphere and had some of the best steaks in my life. As my plane departed for the thousand-kilometer journey back to Buenos Aires, soon the vineyards disappeared and the land was empty and open. I wondered how the landscape would change by the next time I visited. I wondered what new bodegas would pop up and what new wonderful bottles of Malbec, Cabernet and Syrah would make their way out and into my local wine shop. I felt sad to leave and wished I could live closer to this oasis of sun and good wine. Until the next time I visit, I may have to settle for being only a few mouse-clicks away.

La Rural, Mendoza, Argentina

Vina El Cerno, Mendoza, Argentina

Che Don't Surf

The mid-day equatorial sun warmed my back through the cool green water. As I paddled out through the incoming set, I could feel the shrimp ceviche settling in my stomach. I looked from side to side, I could not believe I had the beach to myself. Aside from a few fisherman casting lazily on the rocky shore or floating in their worn down boats further out to sea, I was the only person in sight. Past where the waves were breaking, I sat up on my board and gazed landward. Before me lay the small village of Montanita. A few hours west of Guayaquil and up a rural road from the resort town of Salinas on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, this is one of the westernmost points in South America. No paved roads, no ATM’s, and no broadband, but waves that seem to roll perfectly in from the endless sea. At this time in the winter, the swell travels in from the distant northwest, distributing its riches in the famed beaches of Hawaii before sharing some of its bounty with California and Mexico, and finally moving past Darwin’s bizarre Galapagos Islands to make its deposit on the very shore where I floated. With no one to compete with I was able to let countless waves pass me by and wait for the perfect one.

My solace was interrupted by a dive-bombing pelican that came from somewhere way above and behind my head and shot into the water only a foot or two from my side. Its smooth brown head emerged with a fish noticeably still flopping around in its giant neck. I was glad he did not mistake my foot for his seafood lunch. Watching these graceful predators effortlessly drifting above the surf I remembered what I was waiting for. Turning behind me I could see that the perfect wave had arrived.

But this is not a post about surfing. At least not the kind I was doing. This is a post about technology. About the kind of surfing that goes on in the Internet and the role that technology is playing in the development of South America. It is argued that the Internet has the power to be a “revolutionary” force for change in society. With the power to connect distant people, erase borders and create new groups the Internet has prompted technophiles all over the world to surmise that we are witnessing the dawn of a new age. The time has come, they say, that traditional ideas of geography, political power and state control may be crumbling around us in the move to a utopian, connected world. At the recent “Votes, Bits & Bytes” conference at Harvard Law School, a prominent blogger and former CNN journalist, Rebecca MacKinnon, stressed that in emerging democracies especially, we can see the “leapfrogging” political impacts of technology. She pointed to the example of the Philippines, where the government of Estrada was “brought down by SMS text messaging” and contrasted this to the US, where such an impact is hard to imagine. To what extent does technology play such a political role in Latin America? Latin America is certainly a region known for its political instability. In Ecuador alone, a new civilian or military government seems to take control on average every two years. Is this fertile ground for technology to work its magic? Could we therefore be on the eve of widespread social revolution?

In evaluating these ideas it can be helpful to recall previous attempts at revolution in South America. In the mid-sixties, the scent of revolution was certainly in the air. The Argentine leftist Ernesto "Che" Guevarra had teamed up with Fidel Castro and through armed guerilla struggle had succeeded in toppling the government and ushering in a new era of socialist leadership. Fresh from this experience and itching to leave his post as a Cuban government official and “export the revolution,” Che looked outward at the prospects for similar uprisings in other countries. His dream was to bring the revolution to his native Argentina. However, before this he strategically looked to several other places first. In 1965 he looked across the ocean to Africa in a failed attempt to bring the revolution to the Congo. Finding that he arrived too late, he spent a hopeless year there stricken with disease and health ailments that slowed him down and claimed a quarter of his body weight. Under pressure from Cuba he reluctantly withdrew and went back to the drawing board. His next attempt, and the one that would ultimately be his last took him to the interior, land-locked South American country of Bolivia. Here again, the revolution was stopped in its tracks. While Che’s heroic death in 1967 was a rallying point for leftist revolutionaries, it seems in many ways the hope for revolution died with Che. Portrayed by some as a Quixotic adventure doomed from the beginning it is interesting to explore what actually went wrong with his mission.

Che had intelligence, fierce determination and popular sympathy on his side. On the other side stood the military dictators, the U.S. C.I.A., and the inherent difficulties of organization. Of these, it is often considered that problems of communications were the most fatal. In his biography of Che Guevara, Companero, Jorge G. Castaneda has argued that “Communication was the Achilles’ heel of Che’s expedition.” Indeed, despite being there to fight for social change that would have been the dream of Bolivian laborers, Che lacked the tools to get his message to these people. With no understanding of Che’s message and goals, this untapped resource of popular support never materialized. Furthermore, despite representing the front lines of what was a large, international communist movement, Che’s group lacked sufficient tools to communicate with the leadership in other countries that could have provided support or reinforcements. The communications were so bad even internally that when Che felt it necessary to separate his forces at one point, they lost touch and never reunited – coming close enough only to exchange fire.

Ideas now are not as constrained as they were in those days. Communications technologies have advanced in remarkable ways. It is hard to imagine Che and his band of revolutionary guerilla fighters these days having the same difficulties reaching out to the local people or even reaching each other today as they did then. While not suggesting that communications alone would have made Che successful and allowed for revolution to sweep the continent, it is an interesting consideration nonetheless. Indeed, perhaps the most relevant question is not what would have happened to the guerilla fighters if they had more modern technologies, but what role modern technologies will play in the hands of the next Che Guevarra.

The power of the internet and communications technologies for social organization is just becoming realized. In lesser revolutionary hands than Che’s, we have already seen remarkable organizational abilities. Today, like minded groups of anti-globalization demonstrators have used the internet to mobilize in the face of free trade conferences. Even common pranksters have been able to organize “flashmobs” where groups will assemble at a certain time and place – seemingly for no other reason that to show that they can. People are drawn to the increased ability to find and assemble groups through cyberspace. At a recent conference at Harvard Law School, the head of Meetup.org spoke about the potential political ramifications of this rapidly developing method of organization. Not all uses of this cyber-organization have been so benign. In the wake of September 11, with the world on seemingly high alert, fundamental Islamic terrorists were able to use the internet to coordinate the train bombings in Madrid.

In modern Latin America as well, the potential revolutionary uses of the Internet are becoming realized. When the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia put up an official site with news and propaganda, the government was outraged an d demanded it be shut down. When it was discovered that the site was being hosted in Mexico, a diplomatic struggle ensued, with the Colombians using strong pressure on the Mexican government to shut the site down. The Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua was bale to attract significant grassroots support here in the US by means of e-mail and internet bulletin boards. And perhaps most significantly, the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico have long used e-mail and multiple unconnected websites to spread news of their revolutionary struggle and garnet international attention. In the face of strong governmental repression, the Zapatista leader Marcos’ speeches are quickly posted to the internet and disseminated worldwide. It has been said that they are fighting the first postmodern revolution.

But we must remember that the internet and communications technologies are just tools. While they may wield enormous power, the underlying desire or discontentment along with some capable direction must be there in order for this tool to have any effect. Che was known for his theory that the underlying conditions do not have to be present for a movement to succeed. Revolutionaries need not wait for the conditions to be right, they can create the conditions themselves. This was seemingly proven untrue in the jungles of the Congo and Bolivia. We should not expect that a powerful tool will do all the work. But we should also not expect that we sit on the final chapter in history and that people’s appetites for revolution have been forever satiated or numbed. In Latin America and other developing areas especially, the wounds inflicted by imperialism and exploitation still bleed. Anti-American and anti western opinions are gaining momentum and it stands to reason that developments in grassroots communications will only increase this trend. While we may ponder the future wide-ranging possibilities of social revolution aided and shaped by modern technology, it is useful to consider the revolutionary potential of the technology on much smaller scales. Changes in society can occur without toppling or removing governments. In fact, we may be seeing the revolutionary effects of technology already. In the region’s cafes, homes and even the cell phones of everyday people, the seeds of social change may be growing. The use of the internet and communications technologies in Latin America for organizational purposes is still in its infancy. Even compared to the organizational uses we have already seen in more developed areas, the ripples being felt today in Latin America seem impotent.

While the development and use of these technologies may seem like only ripples today, the potential revolutionary effects may prove to be much larger waves. Che didn’t surf – but his successors will. It appears inevitable that the next wave of revolutionary fervor will be influenced and aided by the modernization of communications technologies. As I wait patiently again for the perfect wave to hit the pacific shores of South America, I remember how long these waves have traveled. Sometime before California and Mexico, before Hawaii, they too were just ripples.