From our weekend of family time at Posada Yasirendi on the Uruguay River, we went to Oberá for the following week. Here, I planned to meet with some small yerba mate producers but my main focus was to investigate the Movimiento Agronomo Misionero (MAM) in the 1970s. MAM was a group of small producers from Misiones who organized in an effort to obtain both improved economic terms yerba mate (and other agricultural goods) and better social benefits. They had some successes and then experienced significant persecution (some members were disappeared = killed, some tortured, and some imprisoned for years) during the Dirty War under the military dictatorships (1976-1983).
During my previous trip to Misiones, I had met with a MAM leader and I was counting on his help for this longer stay. I was very lucky. My contact was tremendously helpful. He put me in contact with numerous MAM members from the 1970s. They all were very generous with their time and their memories. In addition, I also got to learn about MAM today, the situation of small producers today, and the operations of some small cooperatives.
While I worked, the boys and Gramps stayed at our cabin just outside of Oberá. Cabañas las Termas was a comfortable place to stay. We had a spacious cabin with a largish kitchen/dining/living room, a bedroom downstairs, and a loft upstairs for Gramps. It had a television so the boys watched some TV during the day as a reward for being good and writing in their journals. The grounds included an outside sitting area, a swimming pool (the water was a bit cold for our tastes), and a trampoline.
During my previous trip to Misiones, I had met with a MAM leader and I was counting on his help for this longer stay. I was very lucky. My contact was tremendously helpful. He put me in contact with numerous MAM members from the 1970s. They all were very generous with their time and their memories. In addition, I also got to learn about MAM today, the situation of small producers today, and the operations of some small cooperatives.
While I worked, the boys and Gramps stayed at our cabin just outside of Oberá. Cabañas las Termas was a comfortable place to stay. We had a spacious cabin with a largish kitchen/dining/living room, a bedroom downstairs, and a loft upstairs for Gramps. It had a television so the boys watched some TV during the day as a reward for being good and writing in their journals. The grounds included an outside sitting area, a swimming pool (the water was a bit cold for our tastes), and a trampoline.
Thanks again to all of the people of MAM and others who met with me during the week that I was in Oberá!