Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20151009

Amy the Nobel Peace Prize goes to a coalition of four organizations, including a labor and Employers Union which had themselves been at odds. Well speak with sarah chayes of the Carnegie Endowment for peace in paris for more. Then, disaster capitalism making a killing out of catastrophe. For three years, ive investigated what happened after the spotlight fades from disasters developing countries. What comes when the money and goodwill ends . It is like a political ngo and these people are employees. They are getting paid often it creates atmosphere reliance on foreign money. Amy well speak with journalist Antony Loewenstein. Then juan Felipe Herrera, the first latino u. S. Poet laureate. He is the son of mexican migrant farmworkers and the author of 28 reasonscluding, 187 mexicanos cant cross the border. It is one of those places where we can really present new ideas to even new audiences. On whatn Felipe Herrera it is like to live outlaw and brown in the United States. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. This years Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a coalition of Civil Society organizations known as the Tunisian National dialogue quartet. The norwegian Award Committee says the prize seeks to honor the organizations contributions to building a pluralistic democracy in tunisia in the wake of the 2011 tunisian revolution, which toppled the countrys longtime u. S. Backed dictator. The quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratic cessation this Democratic Organization was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassination and widespread social unrest. It has established an alternative, peaceful political when thet a time country was on the brink of civil war. Amy more on the tunisian quartet after the headlines. House republicans are meeting this morning after california Congressmember Kevin Mccarthy abruptly withdrew from the race for house speaker, throwing congress into disarray. Mccarthys withdrawal came as he faced increasing pressure from the rightwing faction of his party. He has also come under fire after suggesting the benghazi Oversight House Committee had been set up to discredit former secretary of state and democratic president ial candidate hillary clinton. He announced his decision thursday. I think theres something to be said for us to unite, we probably need a fresh face. I will stay on as majority leader, but the one thing i found in talking to everybody, if we are going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that. Amy two rightwing members of the republican party, utah congressman Jason Chaffetz of and florida congressman daniel webster, are seeking the position of house speaker. The u. S. Commander in afghanistan general John Campbell is pushing to keep more u. S. Troops in afghanistan than planned under president obamas scheduled draw down, following the talibans seizure of kunduz last week. California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez pressed general campbell during his testimony to the House Armed Services committee thursday. Quick so within your current testimony, let alone the testimony that mr. Jones brought before you from before, you basically are saying, i dont know theres longterm viability for the Security Forces, we are paying the majority of that how much money does that mean . To have a force that you dont believe has a longterm viability . Maam how much . That is the question. For calendar year 15, the u. S. Put 4. 1 billion to build the Afghan Security forces. Thank you, thre i have heard this for 14 years. Amy this comes as Doctors Without Borders says 24 of its Staff Members are still missing following the u. S. Airstrike on its hospital in kunduz saturday. Thats in addition to at least 22 people who died in the strike, including 12 medical workers, 10 patients and three from our children. The move is an acknowledgment that the program had failed to create a Ground Combat force capable of challenging isil. The pentagon is expected to officially announced the end of the program today. In iranian general has reportedly been killed by isil in syria. Irans revolutionary guards say general Hossein Hamedani had been advising president Bashar Alassad troops. This comes amid an escalation of the conflict in syria, with the Syrian Government launching a ground offensive against rebel groups and russias launch of cruise missiles into the country earlier this week. New declassified documents show former chilean general Augusto Pinochet directly ordered the 1976 assassination of a chilean diplomat on u. S. Soil. Diplomat Orlando Letelier had served as a foreign minister under president salvador allende, who was overthrown in a u. S. Backed coup in 1973. Letelier fled to the u. S. After being tortured and incarcerated under pinochets dictatorship. He was killed in a car bomb in washington, d. C. , only a mile from the white house. The declassified documents also show pinochet was so concerned about covering up his role in ordering leteliers assassination that he also planned to assassinate his head of intelligence. The guardian has obtained data showing diesel cars from four major Car Manufacturers are emitting significantly more pollution on the road than in their regulatory tests. Tests conducted by the Company Emissions analytics shows that models of mercedesbenz, honda, mazda and mitsubishi all emit far more toxic pollution than previously thought. This comes as volkswagen ceo michael horn apologized for the emissions cheating scandal in his testimony to congress thursday. On behalf of our company and my colleagues in germany and me personally, i would like to offer the sincere apology, sincere apology for volkswagen plus use of programs that suffered amy the guardian reported similar revelations about higher pollution emissions from cars made by renault, nissan, hyundai, citroen, fiat, volvo and jeep last week. Nick molden, whose company has tested the cars, said, the issue is a systemic one. In news from japan, a new study says children who were living near the Fukushima Nuclear plant during the 2011 meltdown have been diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer at a rate between 20 and 50 times higher than children on average. The report will appear in the november issue of epidemiology. Thyroid cancer in children is the one illness the medical world has definitively linked to radiation, based on studies following the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear disaster. The American Civil Liberties union is suing Benton County, washington, for operating a modernday debtors prison. The suit says Benton County routinely fines people more than 1,000 as part of criminal proceedings. If they cant pay, they are sent to jail or forced to work manual labor. Aclu attorney Vanessa Hernandez says, on any given day, scores of indigent persons sit in jail or do manual labor for the county simply because they are too poor to pay the government. In south carolina, the family of unarmed African American walter scott, who was shot in the back by white Police Officer Michael Slager in april, has settled with the city of North Charleston for 6. 5 million. Officer slager was charged with murder after video showed he shot scott in the back as scott ran away. Officer slager remains in jail after he was denied bail by circuit judge clifton newman, who concluded releasing officer slager would constitute an unreasonable danger to the community. Republican president ial candidate ben carson has barked a new round of outrage over comments that the holocaust might have been avoided if agree more guns. He told cnn the likelihood of hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished of the people had been armed. This comes after dr. Carson sparked carson controversy when he told foxnews he would have fought off the shooter who killed nine people at Umpqua Community college one week ago. And in michigan, Governor Rick Snyder has announced that the city of flint will reconnect to detroits water system amid a public heath emergency over contaminated water. This follows more than a year of protests by residents who began experiencing Health Issues after the citys unelected emergency manager decided to begin drawing water directly from the polluted flint river in order to save money. Residents and Community Organizer Leeanne Walters spoke about the contaminated water in a video produced by local journalists kate levy and curt guyette. In the beginning of april, we found out my child had lead poisoning and that is when the city came out and shut my water off. On detroit, we do not have these issues. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show with the Norwegian Nobel Committees announcement that this years Nobel Peace Prize goes to a coalition of Civil Society organizations known as the Tunisian National dialogue quartet. The move comes nearly five years after a tunisian Street Vendor set himself on fire, sparking the arab spring that included the ouster of tunisias longtime, u. S. Backed dictator zine El Abidine Ben ali. Question rate, tunisia sarah chayes ratified the constitution that included provisions guaranteeing freedom of speech, freedom of religion, gender equality, and protection of tunisias natural resources. The prize was announced at 5 00 a. M. Eastern time this morning in oslo. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the nobel peace awardedr 2015 is to be to the Tunisian National dialogue quartet for its decisive contribution to the building of a literalistic democracy in tunisia in the wake of the revolution of 2011. The quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratic process was in danger of collapsing as the result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. Instrumental in enabling tunisia in the space of a few years to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction, or religious belief. Amy the Tunisian National dialogue quartet is composed of four organizations the tunisian general labor union, the Tunisian Confederation of industry, trade and handicrafts, and the tunisian human rights league, and the tunisian order of lawyers. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee Said it hopes its recognition of the quartets achievements will serve as an example that will be followed by other countries. For more we go to paris to speak with sarah chayes. Senior associate, democracy and rule of law program at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. Author of, thieves of state why corruption threatens global security. Welcome back to democracy now can you talk about the significance and who is the Tunisian Coalition who have just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . I would love to. I am really delighted to hear of this award. This one rectification, if i may. For once, the United States was not a primary backer of the finale regime. This is one dictatorship that actually were not guilty of. Wasarticular, it was france the Principal International backer of that regime. But the quartet is really remarkable was the first of all and that you named the four organizations. These are quite organizations with a long history in tunisia. Civilre wellestablished society organizations, but not the type we usually think of when we are your usually using the word Civil Society. It is a bar association, innocence, lawyers, and the Employers Union is sort of like a chamber of commerce, and then the leftleaning labor union and the human rights league. I think the really interesting element of this is that it is the first time i can think of that the nobel prize has been awarded to a set of organizations or a set of parties that had to make peace internally first before it could make peace and externally. In particular, the Employers Union and the labor union. They were in conflict continuously, essentially, from tunisias independence until 2013. So i think they lead by example in a really important way. So i think that is the significance of who these recipients are. Amy compare what is happening in tunisia because tunisia sparked what happened in egypt with the arab spring across the middle east. I think that is precisely be second really important element of this award, is the impact on piece is demonstrable. You have two countries, tunisia and egypt, that were suffering the same bill, which is to say a cryptographic and autocratic government. Both winter revolution. In both cases, psalmist party eventually Islamist Party eventually emerged. In the case of egypt, which is practically a neighbor, the very same summer you had a coup andnst the Islamist Party then you had a massacre, basically, the army gunned down or the police gunned down hundreds of supporters of that Islamist Party in the streets of cairo. And since then, what youve had is a restoration of an authoritarian military government together with a really hot insurgency that is comparable to the 1990s in egypt, where in tunisia, largely because of the incredibly just significant efforts, i think that is another interesting point i will come to maybe next, is how hard the members of the leadership of these four organizations Work Together with tunisian politicians to achieve a different outcome. 2011i want to go back to when i spoke about the arab spring with wikileaks founder Julian Assange about the role the diplomatic cables wikileaks released played in the tunisian uprising. The cables were then spread forms,online, and other translated by a little internet tunisleaks. Presented a number of facets, sort of that everyone could see, no one could deny that the ben ali regime was fundamentally corrupt. Not that the people there did not know it became undeniable to everyone, including the United States. And the United States, or lease could be department, read that if it came down to supporting the army or ben ali, they would probably support the army, the military class rather than the political class, so that gave the activists and the army a belief that they could possibly pull it off. Intellectual. Was and was making a difference and was stirring things up in tunisia. And then you have this action by a 26yearold computer technician who said who self in december 2016 december last year, and was hospitalized and died on june were fourth. And that taking that intellectual frustration and irritation and hunger for change and a deniability to an emotional, physical act on the eets is then wiped changed then what change the equation. Amy that was wikileaks founder Julian Assange, in the event we did in london when he was under house arrest, though not yet having gone into the Ecuadorian Embassy or he has asylum. Couldchayes, if you respond to the significance of those documents that were released . What i heard from tunisians at the time was precisely the way they pointed to the last of u. S. Support for the dictatorship of ben ali was what they found to be particularly striking. Detailedwere very passages within those documents that showed exactly both what the u. S. Know about how the government was functioning and it this taste for that fortioning this taste that functioning. According to traditions i spoke at the time, really encourage them to kind of make a move. And i found that interesting because at the time, or in previous years, i have been living in afghanistan and there was a similar situation where you had a kleptocratic government basically, but it really was supported by the u. S. Government and so i found it quite interesting to hear the hesitation that tunisians had prior to reading or seeing the wikileaks information as to whether the u. S. Would come in and back ben ali or not. So it just goes to show in a letter places in the world, people assume that the u. S. Is much more actively engaged were involved in what is going on then the u. S. Often actually is. Amy just reading from the huffington post, it says there is a Popular Uprising against the ben ali regime commenced last month this was a few years ago commerce weight in support of the regime by passing a budget resolution that in the did 12 billion in Security Assistance to tunisia. One of only five foreign governments, the others provided direct taxpayerfunded military aid. This was to keep it in power as the uprising commenced, to keep ben ali and power. That, im not sure i buy that. I was checking into that at the time and what i found was that most of the assistance. Most of the assistance that kind of assistance is programmed years in advance. And when i was actually urging after the revolution had taken place at the time i was working in the u. S. Government, for there to be a significant support for postben ali tunisia, it turns out to be very difficult to move things quickly. I frankly doubt that that particular program was voted as a result of, you know, in a warned today for a couple of day one to two day nor a couple of day period the difficulties ben ali was encountering. And secondly, as Julian Assange his interview with you, there was a distinction between the military and the ben ali regime. In fact, ben ali have been starving the military. His own base of support was not the military. It was the police and other special services. So it is if anything, the military was against ben ali, not in favor of ben ali. Amy what will be Nobel Peace Prize mean for tunisia . I think it is a really important sort of mark of moral authority. Incentive structures in this world are created by reinforcing and rewarding positive actions and by ideally sanctioning negative actions. So often we have seen in the last number of years negative actions receiving positive reward, be it monetary or otherwise. And in this case, i think really pointing to little tunisia and remarkable past it has followed, it is imperfect path. It is done successfully, i think, directed the economy problems that led to the revolution in the first place, which is to say massive crony capitalism and corruption. That hasnt been significantly addressed in the political process that is taken place, but at least you dont see the kind of limiting of Civil Liberties and civil rights that you have seen and a lot of other places. And so i think it is meaningful to tunisia, and i would just say that some of the more material forms of reward would also be helpful like private Sector Investment and things like that. Amy although in july, tenacious parliament overwhelmingly passed terror legislation that allows police to detain suspects without charge for up to 15 days or without access to a lawyer, also allows prosecutors to seek the Death Penalty in terror cases. I do think that is very problematic and i think it is part of a sort of elevating of terrorism at the only threat worth addressing, and in addressing income a lot of damage can be done if it is addressed wrong. Amy sarah chayes, thank you for being with us senior associate, democracy and rule of law program at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. Author of, thieves of state why corruption threatens global security. When we come back, we will be joined by investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein about his book, disaster capitalism making a killing out of catastrophe. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When disaster strikes, who profits he echoed that is the question asked by journalist Antony Loewenstein in his new book, disaster capitalism making a killing out of catastrophe. Traveling across the globe, he examines how companies such as g4s, serco, and halliburton are cashing in on calamity. He describes how they are deploying forprofit private contractors to war zones and building forprofit private detention facilities to warehouse refugees, prisoners, and asylumseekers. Now loewenstein has teamed up with filmmaker Thor Neureiter on an upcoming documentary by the same name. It will chronicle how International Aid and investment has impacted communities in haiti, afghanistan, papau new guinea, and beyond. This is the trailer. For three years, have investigated what happens after the spotlight fades from disasters in developing countries. What comes when the money and goodwill ends . Ngo in these an people are employees. Theyre getting paid very said salaries. Often natural and manmade disasters make reliance on foreign money. When aid runs out and most ngos move onto the next disaster, probusiness policies are created in the name of recovery. This investigation is taken into the streets of haiti, the mountains of afghanistan, and papa new guinea were have met the people caught up in the struggle between recovery in the policies that cater the before interest. Cater to the foreign industries. Amy the trailer for the forthcoming documentary based on Antony Loewenstein plus new book, disaster capitalism making a killing out of catastrophe. Author,st and Antony Loewenstein, think for joining us. Explained disaster capitalism. People make money from his re. I focus particularly on afghanistan, haiti, papua new guinea, greece and australia. Immigration is a key part of that. , as youe Key Companies said in your introductory, who very happy about the massive influx of refugees, warehousing refugees is a huge profit making business. I was focusing on that, going to these places and sing these effects on immigrants and those who work in a centers, like haiti, after the earthquake in 2010. Guinea, a situation where you had massive mining interest in others making a fortune from mining. For me, it was about making the connection between various Different Countries and corporations and saying, not arguing afghanistan is the same as greece, but office and corporations are at play and Effective Corporation has become more powerful than the state, which to me, is a problem. Amy i want to ask about a place some call the onetime of a of the pacific, paid for by the Australian Government and run by an australian contractor, transfield services, but located offshore on papua new guineas soil. The prisoners are not accused of any crimes they are asylumseekers from warravaged countries who are waiting indefinitely for their Refugee Status determination. Earlier this year, democracy now spoke to australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson about manus island. I have spent time in west papua and refugee settlement camps, so i can speak with firsthand experience that png is not capable of accepting asylumseekers. 90 who have come by boat to australia have been determined to be refugees in the past. It is unlawful fors to continue to sit asylumseekers to conditions the u. N. Has found him out to inhuman integrating treatment. We are in breach of our international obligations. It is a problem. One thing i should also say, australia for the pastor has been sending thousands of refugees to essentially prison camps in these islands. They run for profit. It was g4s coming out transfield. In a recent senate report, found clear evidence often refugees are being raped and tortured. These are not allegations, this is a fact. One guard said he saw evidence of waterboarding. Often we have a situation where the Australian Government, which increasingly is being used by the European Union as inspiration for how to deal their refugee crisis, the key point about the offshore detention camps and onshore in australia is they are privately run. It would not make a difference if it was publicly run, they should not be there in the first place, but straw you once and accountable system. Wantst australia cannibal system. Journalists cant get there. You can visit as a tourist, but you cant get into the system. They charge 8,000 to apply for the visa. Theif you dont apply for visa, which you wouldnt, you dont get that money back. When youre outraged, but like in europe and in u. S. After decades in our country have privatized detention camps, sadly, a lot of of people regard as people as a threat who need to be essentially seen as a number and thats all. It is a massive problem. Amy i want to go to the larger issue up forprofit prisons. Last month, the vermont senator Bernie Sanders, the democratic president ial candidate, introduced new legislation aimed at banning government contracts with private prisons. Sanders said banning forprofit incarceration is the first step to ending the system of mass incarceration. Quotes as a first step, we need to start treating prisoners like human beings. Private companies, private corporations should not be profiteering from their incarceration. Amy that is president ial candidate Bernie Sanders, also senator. One of the things that is less talked about in the u. S. , jeb bush, hillary clinton, marco rubio have taken massive amounts of money from the private Industry Private prison industry. In the book, i visit some private detention camps in georgia, particularly run by cca , and in these centers, human rights are also health care is that, food is that, Mental Health is bad. I can australia and u. K. And elsewhere amy ccas Correction Corporation of america. Indeed. They have no incentive to provide decent care. Profit and costs are the most important. Putting aside the rights of refugees and immigrants himself, what i also find in the book is the guards were working in the centers without proper training or almost by definition going to abuse refugees. I think Bernie Sanders call was an important one, but sadly, no other major candidate has agreed. I think one of the interesting things the u. S. As we move forward with your president ial campaign, someone like donald trump who talks, as we know, about potentially getting rid of 11 million and document of migrants, the private prison industry is very excited about his presidency and they are scared of any serious reform in the u. S. With a major companies, talk about in the reports, serious reform, in other words, less people locked up, is bad for business. Leasthe last 20 years, at 30 million to 40 million has been spent. One thing that comes out of my book in my investigations is this is legalized corruption. It is not illegal for cca to assist congress in the campaign. In state after state after state, it is a mass incarceration culture. Sadly, under president obama, no serious look at removing that incentive. Commerce approved quota that every single night there are 34,000 refugees locked up in the u. S. Every night. Amy Richard Sullivan from the intercept, i believe, of the lobbying Group Capital council, is a bundler for the clinton campaign. Overng in 44,000 44,000 in contributions in a few short months. Sullivan is also a registered lobbyist for the geo group, comfy that operates a number of jails, greeting immigrant Detention Centers for profit. That is the nexus im talking about. This sort of thing is not illegal. It is legal, but the problem is almost by definition, that means major candidates, hitler are clinton, jeb bush, particularly marco rubio, as taken massive contributions and effect is without those contributions, the policies would be different. Obviously. Amico i want to turn to afghanistan. Wednesday marked the 14th anniversary of the u. S. War in afghanistan, which began october 7, 2001. President obama declared an official end to the u. S. Combat mission in afghanistan last year. However, the u. S. Has around 9800 troops. And according to Foreign Policy magazine, there are three times as many forprofit private contractors in afghanistan than u. S. Troops not including the contractors supporting the cia, state department, usaid, or other government agencies. Antony loewenstein, you traveled to afghanistan and spoke to some of these contractors what did they tell you . They worry about the war winding down. Theyre scared, i was there in 2012 and this year in may and 2015, and one of the things that many of them were saying both in 2012 and in 2015 is that they realized u. S. Is winding down its war, but ultimately as you say, obama has declared the war finished. It is being rebranded. The occupation continues. Theres talk about possibly raising troops. The Afghan Security forces which i might add were trained by private companies, dyncorp train the iraqi Security Forces and the Afghan Security forces. Massive failures on both front. It is had no impact on tank were getting more context, i might add. The attack on the Medical Center goes to the heart of that. There is a reduction in space for humanitarian activism. When i was there this year with my film partner, thor, we were looking at what afghanistans will look like in the next five or 10 years. The resource industry is what the governments talk about. Apparently, there are 4 trillion of resources under the the grant in afghanistan, mostly untapped, this underground in afghanistan, mostly untapped. About an hour from kabul is the largest coppert development in the world. The nexus between private security and Mining Industry in the country is devastating for the local people. Amy i want to go to testimony just yesterday in house. General John Campbell is pushing to keep more u. S. Troops in afghanistan than under president obama scheduled draw down following the taliban seizure of kunduz. Brenda sanchez pressed general campbell during his testimony to the House Armed Services committee thursday. So within your own current testimony them let alone the testimony that mr. Jones brought before you from before, you basically are saying, i dont know that theres a longterm viability for the Security Forces. We are paying the majority how much is the majority . How much money does that mean to have a force that you dont believe has a longterm fidelity viability . How much . That is the question, how much . The calendar, for date when he 15, 4 . 1 billion to the the Afghan Security forces. Thank you. 4. 1 billion. General, i have heard this. I have heard this for 14 years. Amy this comes as Doctors Without Borders says 24 Staff Members are still missing following the u. S. Airstrikes on its hospital saturday, in addition to at least 22 people who died in the strike, including 12 medical workers, 10 patients including three children. The testimony shows is the u. S. Has over 100 billion since 2001. Even u. S. Government itself, the Government Armed to investigate were money has gone, has found the vast majority of that has gone to corruption, disappeared gone to pay private security. Afghanistan is one of the great disgraces of our time because in many ways, the fact that private companies u. S. Companies, australian companys, british copies have been used as a replacement for government. One of the things that is often ignored, the u. S. Routinely was paying to transport goods from a to b. Afghan security, privacy could you or foreign security, basically give money to pay off insurgents to not hit them, to not attack them. Really, the u. S. Taxpayer is weirdly comfortable or doesnt know about the fact Americas Fighting a war against insurgents that there also paying off to not attack them. It is a crazy situation, but that has been happening for years. Amy i want to end with haiti. It marks the fifth anniversary of the devastating earthquake that killed 300,000 people and left more than 1. 5 million haitians homeless in what was already the poorest country in the western hemisphere. In tent camps housing the displaced, haitian residents said International Donors have left them behind. I message to the International Donors is that the money they gave to help the people in haiti has been put used for the interests of other people instead. It is used to buy luxury cars, paper hotels and the to highpriced restaurants, paid in u. S. Dollars. I dont see a future here. You. t hide anything from theres no tomorrow. Last that the children were to bed without anything to eat. Amy lay out what is happening haiti. Soon after the earthquake in wrote a cable essentially saying a gold rush is on, a gold rush for u. S. Corporations and others. The u. S. Has spent billions of dollars there, mostly for u. S. Contractors. Most of the money the u. S. Has been there since the earthquake has remained in america. Haitians are not being really trained or supported. The solution you Obama Administration gave for haiti pushed by obama, heather clinton, bill clinton, and Chelsea Clinton, were Industrial Parks. Essentially, places haitians can get underpaid to make cheap gap. Ing for walmart and many haitians are also arguing they feel occupied by foreign interests, the u. N. In u. S. Our number ofown times. President clinton was down in haiti giving a speech saying there are two things he cares about in the world, one is his daughters wedding Chelsea Clinton was about to get married and the other is restoring haiti. The legacy of the Clinton Foundation i examined is deeply involved, utterly appalling. Example after example of the Clinton Foundation funding a number of centers that have been affected by chemicals, which i might add, the Clinton Foundation were investing in failed things after Hurricane Katrina as well here in the u. S. Bill clinton, hillary clinton, hasothers dissolution been primarily Industrial Parks. The suggestions we talked about this in the film as well but the solutions for haiti is not to build massive Industrial Parks and make clothing that you and i can buy in the u. S. The solution is empowering locals, speaking to locals and saying, we have a solution that empowers you and trains you. One of the things that comes so clearly, so many haitians feel pretty pissed off that there is little or no encouragement of them will stop and ultimately, haiti really has ever been an independent country. The u. S. Has had involvement there for hundreds of years. Any haitians ultimately feel they need to separate themselves from the u. S. , but america doesnt actually do that the view that as a viable option. Economicallyo viable for a market to let it go. Amy finally, where do you see the start history of multinational corporations and the plunder of the most vulnerable . Hearing local stories. One thing i talk about in the book and we show in the film is so many in the media and we are both part of that too often dont report local stories, dont hear local people saying what they want. So when disaster strikes in haiti, the focus on celebrities of focusing on celebrities like sean penn, focus on those who are doing good work, pay them, train them. It is not going to change with u. S. Contractors doing the work. Isony loewensteins new book disaster capitalism making a , killing out of catastrophe. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When we come back, the new u. S. Poet laureate. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We end the show today with juan Felipe Herrera, who recently began his term as the 21st poet laureate of the United States. Some have mexican migrant farm workers, herrera is the first latino poet laureate of the United States. He writes in both english and spanish. His work has been celebrated over the past four decades for its energy, humor, emotion, and ability to capture the consciousness of a crosssection of america. In announcing juan Felipe Herreras appointment as poet laureate, the librarian of Congress Director james h. Billington said i see in herreras poems the work of an american original work that takes the sublimity and largesse of leaves of grass and expands upon it. His poems engage in a serious sense of play in language and in image that i feel gives them enduring power. I see how they champion voices and traditions and histories, as well as a cultural perspective, which is a vital part of our larger american identity. Juan Felipe Herrera is the author of 28 books, including, 187 reasons mexicanos cant cross the border, and mostly recently notes on the , assemblage. He is a past winner of the National Book critics circle award and the International Latino book award, and joins me now in studio. Juan Felipe Herrera, welcome to democracy now congratulations. It is a great honor to be here. Amy what is the main to become the poet laureate of the United States . Means the lives of any generations of latinos in this country and all the writing we have done for so many years and centuries. Amy tell me about your family, where you come from, where your parents came from. Back father came from july huahua late 1800s chi in the 1800s. He was always our labor, a farm worker throughout his whole life. He was a great storyteller and a great pioneer. My mother came from one of the but after thes mexican revolution with my grandmother and my aunt and uncle second before her to join the army in fort bliss. She wanted to be a dancer and poet and singer in a but being the traditional type world, she was kept back from doing that. So she instilled that in me. I always kept her spirit. Amy were you born . In california. In a mission. Next to fresno. Amy you have talked about what it is like to live as an outlaw and brown in america. I have talked about that, yes. Me meansoutlaw for being on the margin and working with other artists and Community Members to bring about change in that manner so that is what ive time with many people. It is been beautiful to be part of the social changes and cultural movements of the 1960s to the 1970s to the present, and to be active to honor our communities and to work with it communities, particular to the word of stories and poetry of inspiration and change. Amy you also said it is living literature every day growing up in a micro family. It is. It is about telling our stories and our songs and are riddles and sayings and proverbs. That is what it is. It is rich, very rich. Amy i want to go to a clip from 1973 when you performed at the festival de flor y canto de atzlan. This is juan Felipe Herreras poem, let us gather in a flourishing way. Let us gather in a flourishing way with some as abriendo los cantos que cargamos cada dia en el young pasto Nuestro Cuerpo para regalar y dar feliz perlas pearls of corn flowing arboles de vida en Las Cuatro Esquinas let us gather in a flourishing way contentos llenos de fuerza to vida giving nacimientos to fragrant rios dulces frescos verdes turquoise strong carne de Nuestros Hijos rainbows let us gather in a flourishing way en la luz y en la carne of our heart to toil tranquilos in fields of blossoms juntos to stretch los brazos tranquilos with the rain en la manana temprana estrella on our forehead cielo de calor and wisdom to meet us where we toil siempre in the garden of our struggle in the garden of our joy. Let us offer our hearts a saludar our aguila rising freedom a celebrar woven brazos branches ramas piedras nopales plumas piercing bursting figs and aguacates ripe mariposa fields and mares claros of our face to breathe todos en el camino blessing seeds to give to grow maiztlan en las manos de nuestro amor readingn Felipe Herrera his poetry in 1973. Your hair has grown shorter, but how has your work changed over the decades . Know, i have lived that bilingual spirit for all people and our people and for poetry for our communities. It has changed because everything changes. I have new experiences and ive seen these things happen and people come to me and tell me their stories and certain things have become more pronounced through time. Amy talk about speaking in english and spanish, writing in english and spanish. It is a beautiful thing. We have many languages in this nation, and we also have living on these things called the borders, on the border. That is where portrait gets reinvented and language gets reinvented. It is part of the chicano Latino Movement of the postcivil rights and about opening our lives and our life, how we live and how we speak and what we see in our experience and our culture. That is what that is. Amy on september 26, tens of thousands of people marched to mark the First Anniversary of the disappearance of 43 students from the aytozinapa Rural Teachers College in guerrero, mexico, to demand answers in the case. The students disappeared after coming under attack by local police. We recently had the mothers of jorge the students , Antonio Tizapa legideno and Cesar Manuel Gonzalez hernandez on the show. The mothers had attempted to meet with pope francis during his recent u. S. Visit, but were unsuccessful. I asked Hilda Hernandez rivera, mother of cesar, what support she had hoped to receive from the pope. I know that there are a lot have a lot of need and are requesting his support, our sonse looking for alive. Were looking for live people, we are not asking for any sort of material support. Imagine as a parent, the sort of anguish that we feel, wondering what is happening to our sons, whether they have been, whether they are sick. You know your children. Well, unfortunately, we could not be with the pope, but we and godt god sees all knows we are looking for our sons, and we hope that there will be a miracle and soon we will have them home. , youjuan Felipe Herrera wrote a poem about aytozinapa ,bout the missing 43 young men and it is in your latest book. Yes, i did. When i heard about this news and felted and so the students mobilizing in mexico city and throughout mexico, i was very sopired to write and i felt much that i had to pour it out n this it was a protest for our school, that is all, nothing more, nothing less. E were protesting that is all. We were surrounded by police and the cronies. They fired their guns, they burned as, dismembered us in trashbags they threw us come into the river yet we continue yet we march from here, from the bowels of mexico, this river that floods come all of the schools and all of the universities and all the floors of the emperors, palaces, we continue at 24 years of age, we make way through the massacre, here from where we were born and from where we died toward all the cities in the world toward all the students and teachers in the world, demonstrating in all the streets, sprung open, incandescent, no one knew it, no one saw it. We are leaving this summer, 43, for you, because there were 43 of us we are not disposable. Amy explain this book. This book . I have put together another book that after a year of writing it, just fell apart. It did not have what i really wanted in it. It wasnt speaking. I had words on paper. This one came about because i did put together it is an assemblage. I had written about things that were taking place. They were violence, terrible, that happened during the last two years. I had to write and responded those things. And hopefully, send these materials. Amy what does it mean to be poet laureate . What will you do . Image i have a national and international scope. What i want to do is invite everybody to speak, to say, to express themselves whatever they want to say, whatever is deep and meaningful to them and to enter it into the house of colors, which is on the website of a library of congress, so i can put out those words for everyone to see. So it is writing, speaking, and then taking it out once again into the publics eye. Amy your comments on donald trump st. Paul 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country should be deported . Well, you know, it is not a good thing. And this a good thing is just in general, for sure. It is not in general to bring about more division. From my experience, from the experience of the communities that i know and visit throughout the United States, we work very hard and we live and die in those fields. And we need support, resources, education, more Educational Resources and not those kinds of comments. Amy i want to thank you so much, juan Felipe Herrera, recently became the first latino u. S. Poet laureate. That does it for the show. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] annenberg media