Latin America: Revolution and Reaction in to the 21st Century

Overall Trends in L.America

19th Century = Independence from Europe Rise of the Caudillos (dictators) and increasing

involvement by U.S. (economic)Early 20th Century = Hurt economies by WWI and Great

Depression strengthen caudillos Calls for revolution and change

Post war 20th Century= Caudillos overthrown but usually led to communist governments

leads to U.S. involvement to get rid of communism Return to dictators and then finally unstable republics

Mexico

PRI (Party of the Institutionalized Revolution) dominated politics for most of the 20th century but support shifted from peasants to all people and was eventually undone by corruption and lack of social improvement

Zapatistas uprising over key social issues like equal rights and land redistribution- government responded with repression and negotiation

2000 election of Vicente Fox ended PRI domination

NAFTA

NAFTA- North American Free Trade Agreement- increases trade by lowering barriers (tariffs

Same Problems- New World

Most leaders agreed that development and economic strength were keys to success but disagreed on how to achieve them

Post WWII world offered alternative, namely Marxism

Failure of political democratization, economic development, and social reforms led to radical solutions

Guatemala

Pop. mostly illiterate, poor health conditions1944 Juan Jose Arevalo- president- began reform

but came into conflict with United Fruit Company1951 Jacobo Arbenz- more radical leader who

wanted to nationalize industry and got help from the USSR

U.S. responds to Arbenz’s changes with economic and diplomatic restrictions

1954 U.S. invades Guatemala and replaces it with a U.S. – friendly regime

Cuban Revolution

High U.S. interest in Cuba- By 1950s 75% of Cuban imports were U.S.

1934-1944 Fulgencio Batista- authoritarian leader who had reform programs that were ineffective

July 26, 1953 Fidel Castro launched an unsuccessful attack on military barracks

Fled to Mexico and got help from Che Guevara

Castro Takes Power

1958 the “26th of July Movement”Castro’s changes- centralized

socialist economy, 1961 cut off ties with U.S. and turned toward Soviet Union

1961 Cuban Missile CrisisResults of revolution mixed-

social programs extensive but attempts to strengthen economy not as successful (return to sugar)

Search for Reform

Political stability to promote growth was one option but this was often a repressive political system

Liberation theology– Emerged within the church hierarchy– Combined Catholic theology and socialist

principles to improve conditions of the poor

Soldiers Take Power

As the L. American military became more professional, they began to see themselves as above the selfish interests of politicians

1960s military began to intervene directly: 1964 Brazilian military (with U.S. support) overthrew the elected president; 1966 Argentina; 1973 Chile- overthrew Salvador Allende

Once in power had new type of bureaucratic authoritarian rule (silenced critics. Dirty war in Argentina where many disappeared)

Working class hit hardest by gov. economic policies. Structural problems still existed- land ownership remained the same

All nationalistic leaders

Return to Democratic Rule

Mid-1980s military began to return gov. to civilian politicians partly because cold war was over and U.S. wouldn’t be so heavily involved and because they grew tired of the economic pressure and opponents

Huge debt from loans taken in the 1970sDrug trade

United States in Latin America

After WWI- U. S. emerged as dominant power in the hemisphere Private investments and loans from the U. S. were chief means of

influence Banana Republics Foreign intervention led to growing nationalist reaction Roosevelt- 1933 – Good Neighbor Policy – deal more fairly with L.

America and stop direct U. S. intervention- forgotten about during Cold War

Belief that economic dev. would eliminate popularity of radical forces

1961 Alliance for Progress- wanted to develop the region economically- but most said it only benefited the elites

Carter treaty to cede Panama control of the Panama Canal

Map of US involvement

Women in Latin America

After WWI still unequal and no suffrage until 1950s Slowly women began to organize and demand

change Before WWI women entered the workforce in

factories but salaries lower than men’s and they started to join anarchist, socialist, and other labor organizations

By mid-1990s position of women close to w. Europe and N. America- more than any other part of the world

Migration in Latin America

Cities grow as more and more people move to find work in cities

Economic hardships also push migration to the United States