IN-PERSON meetup on Noam Chomsky Day: U.S. & Latin America
Details
Noam Chomsky, who turns 97 today, has been a leading leftist critic of American foreign and domestic policy since the 1960s. Each year on his birthday, SFDebate has had a meetup for both fans and foes of Chomsky to discuss some of his recent public statements. Unfortunately, Chomsky had a stroke in mid-2023 and has not made any public statements or given any interviews since then.
So instead, we'll turn to what Chomsky has said or written in the past, and argue about how it holds up, or doesn't. Because of controversial U.S. interventions in Latin America that are happening right now, this Noam Chomsky Day we'll focus on what Chomsky has said and written about U.S. relations with Latin America. As the truism goes, you have to know the past to understand the present.
If you have time:
- Watch this free lecture by Chomsky from December 15, 2009, "History of US Rule in Latin America" (1 hour 15 minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKwJI9axblQ - Download and read or skim this free book from 1999, Latin America: From Colonization to Globalization (116 pages including endnotes):
https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/latin-america/Latin%20America.pdf
This book consists of a series of interviews with Chomsky conducted between 1989 and 1998.