Ettekal is a third-year business economics student.
By Yashar Ettekal
Daily Bruin Contributor
If you have ever enrolled in a history course, studied physics,
or attended a political science lecture, you know that no action
exists without a backlash, a reaction or a
“blowback.”
For those who are unfamiliar, “blowback” is the
official government term to describe adverse events which occur as
a result of American government actions overseas. Hypothetically,
the recent bombing of the U.S.S. Cole can (“can” being
the operative term, since I am only speculating) be termed a
“blowback” by Middle Eastern groups dissatisfied with
American involvement in Palestinian-Israeli dealings.
Further, blowback is a factor calculated for in covert and
visible government operations by foresighted leaders, or a
bothersome reality ignored by short-sighted demagogues. For
example, government leaders (at least the intelligent ones) know
that by offering support to the Colombian government through the
recent $1.3 billion aid package, Americans face reprisals from
guerrilla groups or drug cartels. In other cases, especially covert
operations, the action inciting the blowback is generally
unbeknownst to the average American while the reactionary force is
plain and conspicuous.
 Illustration by ERICA PINTO/Daily Bruin Although the
reason for the publicity around the reaction, but not the action,
is a valid area of discourse, I will focus on a major topic of
discussion here in California and the border states which deals
directly with blowback as a consequence of our government’s
covert actions in Latin America. This topic also happens to be the
motivation for the erection of 600 crosses on Bruin walk.
As some of you may know, our government took many steps to
curtail the dangerous democratic fever that was spreading
throughout Latin American starting in the 1950s during the
Eisenhower administration. First, in 1954, we overthrew the
capitalist, democratically elected government of Guatemala which
has kept that country bent under the will of the United Fruit
company and numerous American “yes-men” to this day.
Then throughout the 1970s and 1980s, we fueled El Salvador’s
civil war and helped topple their elected government. In the
meantime, Honduras suffered the same fate.
Given this history, it should be no surprise that we are feeling
a bit of a blowback from these and many other Latin American
countries where our forces have intervened. If you are wondering,
this backlash is not in the form of hijackings or suicide bombings.
It comes in the form of millions of desperate people whose homes we
have magically turned to rubble in the name of national
security.
Putting aside the validity of the “we had to do it for the
sake of national security” argument, we all must now deal
with the repercussions of our forebearers’ decisions and
decide what to do with the millions of refugees whom the wonderful
alumni of the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga., did such
a terrific job of terrorizing, brutalizing and dehumanizing.
In this state and others like Texas and Arizona, there are
millions of undocumented immigrants (otherwise known as
“illegals” to right-wing fanatics), who are the
products of our past deeds. They are here because their homelands
became inhospitable after we gave tyrannical army generals a
helping hand.
These people, who wonderful Californians tried to throw of out
schools and hospitals through Proposition 187, generally do the
back-breaking work most people dread such as cleaning houses with
carcinogenic chemicals, mowing lawns while inhaling carbon monoxide
emissions from single-stroke engines, or picking fruit in 120
degree heat while being showered with insecticides. This is a
direct result of the U.S.- backed Latin American dictatorships that
persist to the present day and which have driven millions
northward.
The plight of these people, who we all see, but treat like
background ornaments, is on the conscience of every person who sees
the struggle, adding more weight to their already overburdened
backs. The fruits we eat, the clothes we wear, the clean bathrooms
we use, are brought to us by those who see this life and their
hellish environments in places like the barrios of Los Angeles, San
Diego, Bakersfield, etc., as an opportunity and haven from their
past misery.
Those past lives are documented cases of what we claim to have
done for the preservation of our society, which included support of
events like the decades old civil war of Guatemala which killed
hundreds of thousands of people and forced the flight of many
more.
People who claim that undocumented immigrants are baneful to our
economy, health, livelihoods or our lives miss the point that these
people are here because of our past actions. If we had not
encouraged military juntas or insurgent militia coups, millions
would not be forced to abandon their family, culture, language or
peace of mind to instead adopt a foreign culture, face hostile
natives, learn a new language at age 45 or dig holes at
peoples’ houses for $4 an hour.
To fancifully believe this as a pursuit of the American dream is
nothing short of idiocy. Just as Europe is now filled with
survivors of the Russian system, America too is filling with
survivors of our neighbors’ U.S. imposed impasses.
We need to embrace the displaced and prevent the type of mass
destruction that pushes millions out from their homes. The 600
crosses that represented the people killed since the 1998
militarization of the border by Operation Gatekeeper, are a call to
all Americans to respect life. Six hundred human beings ran and
crawled through mountains and deserts because they were running
away from something.
A primitive response is to build more fences; a humane response
is to embrace. Imagine the point you would have to be in your life
to journey hundreds or thousands of miles, daring death at every
border the next time you hear about a truck full of
“undocumented” families crashing on the freeway during
a high speed chase.
People are fleeing Latin America because we forced them to and
violated their sovereignty, and just as the Germans paid
reparations for World Wars I and II, and the Israelis paid
reparations for the attack on the U.S.S. Liberty, America must pay
for its past mistakes by at least by letting people live their
lives now that they have pieced remnants of their histories back
together.