Memoria Chilena is a project under Chile’s DIBAM (Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos) to help gather book, photographs, music and other works which have helped form national identity.

A significant portion of the project is a collection of e-Books. Each month books are recommended in one of the 5 areas of focus, which include; First Person Accounts, Classics of Chilean Literature, Works on Contemporary Art Criticism, Music and Dance from the 1900, and works by Foreigners in Chile during the Era of the Republic. All works can be found in full text (all in Spanish). Many of the original works are housed in Chile’s National Library, and other organizations under the auspices of DIBAN. The project began in 2001 and is part of national celebrations to culminate with Chile’s bicentennial in 2010.

The collection can be searched through their OPAC, which allows users to narrow searches by author, title, subject, and by time period, as well as type of material. Browsing can also be conducted by geographical regions, which then highlight some of the most famous locals. To see an example of these entries, take a look at the entry for Gabriela Mistral.

This morning the New York Times had an article about two parallel art exhibits displaying art looted during WWII. The exhibit is a collaboration between France and Israel in aims at reconnecting these pieces with their original owners. Most of the art on display was either outright looted or forcefully “bought” by the Nazi, and so far has gone unclaimed, presumably because the original owners were likely killed in the Holocaust. The collections contain a number of “common” pieces, but also works from renown artist such as Cézanne, Manet, Degas, Chagall, Delacroix, and Monet among others.

Art and other cultural pieces are often looted during times of war and much has been written and discussed on the subject. Actually a couple semesters ago I attended a lecture by Patricia Kennedy Grimsted, a Harvard professor who has written extensively on collections held in Russian archives which previously belong to other nations. Her book, “Trophies of War and Empire: The Archival Heritage of Ukraine, World War II and the International Politics of Restitution” discusses the complexities of restitution and why countries loot other nations’ cultural treasures.

Fortunately there are efforts around the globe to stop this practice. The Lost Art Internet Database is a project from the Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste which is working to reconnect lost cultural property to its original owners. Looted Art is another such initiative, and while many of these efforts circle the Holocaust this is not a phenomenon seen exclusively around WWII, Chile recently returned a number of book taken from the Peruvian National Library about 100 years ago. And it’s not just armies who walk away with cultural property that belongs to others. Some of the largest and best endowed universities and museums around the world have gotten some of their material in such a matter. Egypt has been demanding the return of the Rosetta Stone for years, to name just one example (You can read about this from an article in the BBC). Unfortunately we are still seeing this practice in current times; the National Museum of Iraq was gravely looted during the USA invasion. (You can read about the Iraqi National Museum from an article in the Guardian.)

In a gesture of good faith, the Chilean government has returned close to 4,000 books that were plundered from the Peruvian National library back in 1881 during the War of the Pacific. Some of these books were written in French, Spanish, Greek and Latin, and date as far back as the 16th century. Some of the treasures returned include a hand written copy of “The History of Peru” by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, in 1617.

The return of these books is part of ongoing negotiations between the two countries which have had a number of problems over border disputes.

You can read more about this story from an article in the The International Herald Tribune, and from another article in The Santiago Times.

Argentina made history yesterday by electing their first woman president! Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wife of the current president Nestor Kirchner, and former senator for Buenos Aires won a solid 45% of the vote. She is considered to be center-left, and populist in her politics and is often seen as the new Eva Peron (Evita). Curiously this is the very position Eva Peron worked so hard for more than 50 years ago, but for which she was not allowed to officially run for. She took would have come to office while being married to the current president.

Fernández de Kirchner’s main issues while in office is likely to be the country’s economy. Argentina suffered a major economic crisis in the early 2000, from which it is still recovering. In her acceptance speech she also spoke about the impact women have in the country and who she hope to continue working with them.

Fernández de Kirchner will be joining the only other woman currently in office in Latin America, Michelle Bachelet of Chile. Hopefully these two women are some kind of proof that Latin American is leaving some of its machismo behind and moving in a new era.

You can read more about Mrs. Fernández de Kirchner from an article in the Guardian, or another article from the BBC. You can also visit her official site, or get her basic bio from Wikipedia.

Image from www.cristina.com.ar

Mexico seems to be paving the way for social reforms in Latin America. In January the country legalized same sex civil unions, and today they have legalized abortion in the first trimester (although this is only applicable to Mexico City); previously women could have a legal abortion only in case of rape or if her life was at risk. The vote was 46 to 19 with only one abstention and all of the “no” votes came from president Felipe Calderon’s political party.

Currently there are about 200,000 illegal abortions in Mexico, and yearly at least 1,500 women die because of poorly handled and unsanitary illegal procedures. This new law states that if a woman has an abortion after the first 12 weeks she risks going to jail for 6 months, the doctor risks between 1 - 3 years in jail, and women under the age of 18 still need parental consent.

In Latin America, only Cuba, Puerto Rico (technically USA territory) and Guyana also offer women the ability to have a legal abortion. Nicaragua, El Salvador and Chile ban the practice entirely.

Today, the NY Times, and the BBC and the Guardian, in the UK, all have articles on the subject.

You can learn more about women’s health issues in Latin America through Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (LACWHN).