WHesterN Hemisphere
Annette Hester's Blog
There are always two sides to a story. In this case, the story of Brenda Martin.
Summary:A Mexican student in the Ecuador jungle, a Canadian in a Mexican jail, and a Syrian-Canadian abducted in the dead of the night: all remind me that looking at the past is sure to provide insights into the present. It helps us separate the trees from the forest.
Vladimir Torres’ last blog article (http://www.igloo.org/americas/ecuadorbom)
about a Mexican student who, in all likelihood,
sincerely believed she was contributing to the
betterment of mankind, and ended up in the FARC jungle camp on the
night the Colombians raided it, took me back two decades, to the
case of two Canadians – Christine Lamont and David
Spencer. Theirs was a story that
spoke volumes of the eagerness and naivety of young people to take
up causes and “do the right thing,” of desperate
parents who will defend their children above all else, and of
governments being backed into a corner and having to defend the
indefensible. Their tale – told in detail by Canadian
journalist Isabel Vincent in her 1995 book,
See No Evil: The Strange Case of Christine
Lamont and David Spencer–began with
their supposedly innocent work in support of the
“left” in Nicaragua and moved, horrifyingly, to their
imprisonment in Brazil for their role in the kidnapping of
Brazilian industrialist, Abilio Diniz (1989). The pair proclaimed
their innocence and their parents, eager to free them from what
they characterized as subhuman treatment of Brazilian jails,
lobbied the Canadian and Brazilian governments relentlessly. It
took a decade to have the couple extradited, and soon after the
transfer to back to Canada, they were released. It was the
beginning of a tense and unhappy time in the relationship between
Brazil and Canada. However, to this day, if you talk to Brazilians
who were part of the story – either because they worked for
government and handled the file, or reported for the media, or were
lawyers involved in the case –
they shake their heads in disbelief. How could two
individuals derail the relationship between two countries in such a
drastic fashion?
I suggested some possible reasons in a chapter
on Brazil Canada relations I wrote for the series, Canada Among
Nations: “. . . it is clear there was an enormous gulf
in the Canadian and Brazilian perceptions of these young
idealists’ motivations and actions. For a typical Canadian,
who for years had heard about the plight of left-wing movements in
Central America – particularly in Nicaragua and El Salvador
– it was hard to imagine these two fresh-faced, middle-class
Canadians were anything but well-intentioned young activists. It
wasn’t until an explosion in a bunker in Managua, Nicaragua,
in 1993, which revealed a cache of documents linking the pair to
terrorist organizations, that Canadians could see what Brazilians
felt all along – these two individuals were criminals on a
misguided liberation campaign. Brazilians had just
achieved success after a decade-long campaign for democracy. By the
time Lamont and Spencer joined the “cause”, Brazil was
well on its way to free and fair elections. And by then, it was
preposterous to think that foreigners would be using criminal
activity in Brazil – the ransom demanded was $30 million US
– to finance liberation of the oppressed. Having secured a
peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy and, more
importantly, without help from Canada, Brazilians were angry with
their portrayal in the Canadian media as citizens of a third-world
backwater. The final straw was congress’s apparent
capitulation to Canadian diplomatic pressure. An interview by Isabel
Vincent in late 1993 with Brazilian journalist Boris Casoy captured
Brazilians’ outrage: “I was ashamed to be
Brazilian,” Casoy is quoted as saying. “It was a matter
of principle. The Brazilian congress [which ratified the
prisoners’ extradition treaty] was kneeling before Canada,
one of the world’s seven richest countries. I just
couldn’t stand by and watch our country be pushed around so
badly by an arrogant First World nation” (Ibid, 1995: 166).
The treaty did not receive final presidential approval, allowing
the Canadians to be sent home, until 1998, when then-prime minister
Jean Chretien engaged in some quiet diplomacy with Brazil’s
president Fernando Henrique Cardoso.”
Clearly, there are
direct lessons to be learned.
In the case of the Mexican student in Ecuador, it is
not likely the Mexican government is as gullible as the Canadian
government was at that time. This is a different time and place,
and there is little room for support of organizations that openly
support kidnappings, killings, drug dealing, etc…
But in the case of
Brenda Martin, the Canadian who is in a Mexican jail right now
awaiting the finalization of her legal proceedings, right and wrong
are not so easy to discern. She may very well be as innocent as she
claims to be, and the Mexican justice system is notoriously
inefficient; however, Mexico is a sovereign country and its
judiciary is supposed to be independent. Having the media and the
public embark on a Mexico-bashing exercise, fully believing the
innocence of this woman without full evidence, is bound to offend
Mexicans -and rightly so. For all that Canadians talk about our
values, and spreading them around the world, respect for others
should be first and foremost. Then we should add a bit of
humility…. as we too, have our failings. Remember Mr. Mahar?
If you forgot, just watch the new video release, Rendition…
After that, you won’t forget. I am certain of that.
2 Comments
Juanita Metzger
Annette, what then is the fate of Brenda Martin? To be caught in political and judicial limbo because Canada and Mexico don't know how to talk to each other?
Annette Hester
I have a feeling Canada and Mexico do talk -- and I do believe there are plenty of communication channels. What I am not sure about is the entire story about Ms. Martin. Some reports in the Mexican press point out that the excess delay came from changing lawyers and defense strategies several times. Perhaps is not all a failure of Mexico...That said, I don't blame her for using the media to get attention.... I am certain If I was (or anyone in my family) in the same situation I would use every tool -- fair or not -- to get myself out of a Mexican jail. But the tears over I can't take it anymore, the suggestion that Mexico is backwards in the application of justice, etc... and the imposition that the Canadian government do something immediately might not be the "fair and just" approach we are so proud of....the "world needs more Canada" rhetoric.... She is not in a judicial limbo... to the best of my knowledge, the process is moving ahead. In other words, can we accuse the Mexican justice system of being neglectful?