Latin America: Dependency to Neoliberalism

Current News and Weather Human Rights in Latin America Latin America in the Global Economy Coca Production Cochabamba Water War Social Indicators

For Next Class: Read Chapter 5 (pp. 192-205)

Romero

What were your reactions to watching the film Romero?

Military Dictatorships

The 1960s and 1970s in Latin America were characterized by coup d’etats and the rise of military dictatorships in the context of the cold war.

Brutal repression and widespread human rights abuses were “justified” as a mechanism to prevent the spread of communism.

Very dark period in Latin America, with thousands of “disappeared” persons whose remains to this day have still not been located.

Military Dictatorships

The 1960s and 1970s in Latin America were characterized by coup d’etats and the rise of military dictatorships in the context of the cold war.

Brutal repression and widespread human rights abuses were “justified” as a mechanism to prevent the spread of communism.

Very dark period in Latin America, with thousands of “disappeared” persons whose remains to this day have still not been located.

Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile, was removed in a brutal coup d’etat (with U.S. backing) on September 11, 1973, that resulted in his death and thousands of others.

General Agusto Pinochet seized power and unleashed a reign of terror that lasted 16 years.

The popular folk musician Victor Jara was also killed who started the New Song Movement in Latin America.

Archbishop Oscar Romero

Assassinated 24 March 1980 in El Salvador by the military government

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=oscar+romero+life+you+tube&FORM=VIRE6#view=detail&mid=A2035DCDDD005E4D9B55A2035DCDDD005E4D9B55

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Latin America in the Global Economy Figure 4.6.1

• Dependency Theory• Neoliberal Policies• Dollarization

Center of trade and finance

Figure 4.6.2Panama Canal

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Insurgencies and Drug Trafficking

Figure 4.34

Figure 4.33

Columbian National Police

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Coca Eradication and Alternative Development

Growth of Illicit Coca Production – tied to 1985 privatization of economy when 30,000 state employed miners lost their jobs and then migrated to a prime coca area in the Chapare

Alternative development programs sponsored by the U.S. have been a major failure

Forced eradication of coca and human rights violations were widely reported in the 1990s

Evo Morales emerged as the principal leader of the Cocaleros (coca farmers) and is now the president of Bolivia

Cochabamba’s War Over Water

December 1999 to April 2000 Origins of Water Crisis

• Drought (in association with El Niño)• Rural to urban migration, increased demands• Inefficient management

In the context of economic globalization, Aguas del Tunari, a subsidiary of Bechtel Co., bought the exclusive water rights

La Coordinadora – opposition group• Oscar Olivera – spokesperson

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Economic and Social Development• Middle-income countries

– Diversity among and within countries– Reduction of extreme poverty

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Development Strategies

• Pre-1980s– Economic diversification and urbanization– Mixed levels of industrialization– Debt and hyperinflation

• 1990s on– Neoliberal reforms

• Privatization• Direct foreign investment• Free trade

– Growth and income disparities

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Development Strategies

Informal SectorMaquiladoras

Primary Export Commodities

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Global Coffee Production• Latin America: 58 percent of the world’s

production– Fair trade and organic coffee

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The Energy Sector• Increased,

diversified, and cleaner energy sources– Oil exports– Natural gas– Biofuels

• Increased consumption

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Latin America in the Global Economy• Dependency theory• Foreign investment

and remittances• Panama Canal

expansion• Dollarization

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Social Development• Improved social

well-being– Conditional cash

transfer programs– Nongovernmental

organizations• Extreme variations

– Rural and urban– Regional– Race and gender

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The Status of Women

Women’s Role in Politics