There are neither bosses nor employees in this editorial team. They all work as reporters, editors, translators and designers. They don't charge any money for their work. There are almost no advertisers on the publication's pages and definitely no directory. The magazine is published every month and highlights the volunteer work of these young people in their 20s and 30s. It is a group of no more than 15 people, plus those who arrive, work together for a while and then leave. The editorial office is located in a building that was occupied in the eighties and now houses a few NGOs, a theater, a bookstore, a bar, a homeless shelter and whose walls are full of colorful, loving, rebellious street art. . It seems that this magazine, Latin America News, is the product of the improvised work of a restless and dreaming youth. If it weren't for the fact that this magazine has actually been published continuously, generation after generation, in the same form for 50 years and is an institution in Germany for specialist reports on Latin America.
Today it's Fred, Martin, Lya, Anna, Cassandra. It used to be other men and women who did the work. There are no photos of them. You hardly remember their faces anymore. Their names do not appear on bronze plaques. There was a time when texts did not even have an author's signature, from the perspective that it is not so important who writes, but rather what they report, the news itself. However, it is also true that in Latin America and Germany before the fall of the Wall in 1989 were times of persecution of ideas. Latin America celebrated its half century of existence this year.
It is no coincidence that 50 years have passed since the coup in Chile. The magazine, more of a black and white magazine the size of a comic strip, was born in June 1973 under the name Chile Nachricthten (Chile News). The founders noted that the laboratory of neoliberal politics of the Chicago School had established itself in the South American country. They saw the signs of a threat to democracy and, like bloodhounds, or rather like journalists tracking the news, they expected the coup against the democratic government of Salvador Allende. They documented it and reported on life under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship for several more years until they realized that Chile's political circumstances were part of a whole whose common denominator was the interventionism of the United States and the resulting establishment of military dictatorships , the perfect combination of authoritarian government and ultra-liberal economic policy. The military coup in Argentina in 1976 reinforced the belief that there needed to be a change in attitude and name. It would have been “Latin American News” from 1977.
Publication of the first edition of “Noticias de Chile”, June 1973. Latin America News
In one of its last issues, the magazine found a text by one of the founders, Urs Müller-Plantenberg. The author nostalgically remembered how everything had developed into more of a solidarity committee for Chile. Not too many years ago, the upheaval had taken place, the shock of May 1968, and the left-wing German youth wanted to help the Chileans in some way: publish articles, hold conferences, send them bicycles? They chose the first. The founders gathered in an idyllic house in Hesse, West Germany, and did not intend to publish a full-fledged magazine, but rather an informative brochure of a few pages, almost for internal use.
The first edition was published in June 1973, of which only 50 copies were printed. At first it was a bi-weekly publication. “Anyone who reads the texts of the first five editions of Noticias de Chile today will find that they make clear the inevitability of a right-wing coup in Chile.” That was not intentional, on the contrary. When discussing and writing, everyone was more or less optimistic that the situation could still be changed. It seemed too scandalous that the world dared to tolerate a coup against an elected government,” Müller-Plantenberg recalled.
Revolution in an editorial office
Pinochet's coup shocked the world and disrupted the dynamics of the disorganized Noticias newsroom. The small brochure met with great demand from readers. In November, 6,000 copies of 60 pages each were printed. Economic pressure increased. As did the political pressure from various communist organizations who wanted the magazine to become their organ for spreading propaganda. The young editors of Noticias resisted and defended their independence. That same year it became a monthly publication. Since then and to this day it has been financed by subscriptions (today it has 1,300 customers), but also, albeit to a lesser extent, by sales of the printed edition and donations. Swimming against the tide for half a century. Müller-Plantenberg therefore chose the title of his memorial column: “A little miracle every month.”
“Young people work in the editorial team today who were not yet born when the name Chile Nachrichten was already buried,” wrote the now 86-year-old founder. The current editorial office in the building occupied in the last century shares space with the Chile-Latin America Research and Documentation Center, which houses an extensive archive spanning five decades. The office has a few desktop computers, a meeting table and a kitchen. There are also shelves with old editions of the Prensa Latina (Cuba), Presencia Ecuménica (Venezuela) and Proceso (Mexico) agencies, as well as other important materials such as guerrilla communications, posters and cassettes. There are numerous books about Latin American socialism, struggles for independence, and American colonialism.
Many of the archival materials are in Spanish. Most staff also speak Spanish, some more fluently, others with difficulty. The majority also have a university degree in Latin America. The magazine does not pay the editors or the photographers, says Martin Schaefer, one of the oldest employees, with a hint of regret because, as he explains, it is not very socialist not to pay for the work done (but it is a consolation , likewise no one charges). Noticias publishes texts by Germans living in Latin American countries or by local authors that are later translated into German. In 50 years, the editors have interviewed presidents Lula Da Silva, Pepe Mujica, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Gustavo Pedro and Gabriel Boric, as well as revolutionary cultural and entertainment figures such as Manu Chao, Buenavista Social Club, Rubén Blades, Residente and Willie Colón. Eduardo Galeano himself once published a text on these pages (he also did not charge a fee).
The new news editorial team meets the zeitgeist. Since there is no link, that is, neither unique nor immutable, all nuances must be taken into account. For example, coverage of Daniel Ortega's government in Nicaragua has been criticized over time. It began as good news, the illusion of proletarian revolution, but it has morphed and now become a plea against the regime's abuses against dissidents.
An old edition of the 'Chile News'.Latin America News
“Our motto is: 'Critical, supportive, independent'.” We see ourselves as a space of a non-dogmatic left and tend to criticize all governments if there is something to criticize them for, regardless of whether they are right-wing or be called left-wing,” says Schaefer. “The magazine has a history, and in the past its political stance has been much more pronounced. I believe that today it represents a left-wing, environmentally conscious, feminist, indigenous and anti-racist position,” agrees Fred Schnatterer. “We feel connected to grassroots social movements. I don't know if we would call ourselves journalist activists. “We are guided by the professional standards of journalism, but the focus of the issues is on social movements,” replies Schaefer.
On the walls hangs a collage of the covers published over half a century of its existence. There are faces of influential figures, for better or worse, like Hugo Chávez and Carlos Salinas de Gortari, but above all there are photos of ordinary people, the Zapatistas, the Mapuches, the grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, workers, students, victims of human rights violations protesting on the street. In addition to reports and analyses, the magazine publishes art criticism and poetry. The final section of each issue attempts to give the reader a piece of good news, of which there is only one. The magazine itself is, it's the good news. Remember the founder's article, remember the miracle every month.
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