uruguay: focus on mercedes camps
Mercedes Camps, a translator for REDES/Friends of the Earth Uruguay, talks about her country, neoliberalism and the struggles of women in Uruguay.
Mercedes Camps loves politics and independent films, but her real passion is raising awareness in her country and fighting the capitalist system which she considers oppressive and against her fellow people's interests. She became involved with REDES after working with the World Social Forum (WSF) as a volunteer translator. 
On neoliberalism
Mercedes studied philosophy and has always been interested in coming up with alternatives to the current neoliberal and capitalist system.
"I had always thought this is not the world most people chose to live in."
She works with the goal of raising awareness and letting people know about the resistance taking place against the neoliberal system around the world.
Mercedes says she wants to show people that "resistance is a form of struggle, that we don't have to accept the things we don't want for ourselves and our children, that there are alternatives."
Women and capitalism
"Neoliberalism is gender-biased. Women have always been the first ones to suffer from work flexibility and the poor working conditions as they have historically earned less than men."
Mercedes says that women continue to struggle for food sovereignty and other issues in Central America and other parts of the world. She says the Uruguayan government has done a positive thing for women by granting a pension fund to housewives in recognition for women who work at home, but that more needs to be done.
On Uruguay
Mercedes notes that Uruguay has a history of fighting oppressive models, a tradition that dates back to the goal pursued by the country's national hero, Artigas, of creating a united Latin America and resisting the imposition and invasion of foreign interests.
"We have a strong sense of solidarity and unity, that's what has kept us together over the years, what made us overcome dictatorships in the South and wars in Central America. People have a strong sense of what they're fighting for."
She hopes that people continue to fight for a sovereign country, where people can lead dignified lives without submitting to others.
