latin america notes

8/7/2019 Latin America Notes

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Geopolitics of Latin America 2/9/2011 12:01:00 PM

How Latin America came to be

y Believed there was an affinity between people who spoke romancelanguages.

o Defined in those terms, Latin America would cover nearly allof South America and what we know as Central America.

There are a few countries who would be left outbecause they speak English or another language.

o Called Ibero America Means Spain and Portugal

o Spanish America Covers Central America and the West coast of South

America.

o Leaving Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic out ofthis chapter.

Howevero Middle America

Central America plus Mexicoo Mezzo America

Refers to the indigenous cultural zone. From the South of Mexico stretching all the way to

Northern Guatemala.

o Southern Cone Argentina, Chile, Uruguay

y Trading blockso Mercosur

Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and possiblyVenezuela.

Paraguay doesnt want that to happenGeopolitics

y South America is significantly East compared to the United Statesy Spain

o 1600s The Pope ruled that Spain could have the Western

Hemisphere and Portugal was given the Eastern

Hemisphere.


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o Maps of South America in the 1600s-1700s Over exaggerate how much territory they actually

controlled.

They ideally wanted these lands for Spaino Both Spain and Portugal were weakened, having both been

defeated by Napoleon.

Couldnt withstand independence movements from thecolonies of South and Central America.

o 1800s Mexico claimed a big piece of America

Defeated in the Spanish-American War Panama was part of Columbia

Interest in Panama to build the canaly The U.S. aided the Panamanians by bullying

Columbia.

y Gained independence and built the canal(maybe).

Argentina and Chile Killing Indian tribal groups in the late 1800s,

during the same time as the United States

government was fighting American Indians on the

Great Plains. Amazon wasnt controlled by anyone because they were

had to navigate.

Took decades for South American countries tocontrol this area.

Central Brazil was frontier land during the 1500s intothe 1700s.

Missionizing by the Jesuits in South America Paraguay was controlled by Jesuits, ruled as a

theocracy.

One of the most bilingual countries in the world War of the Pacific

Peru and Bolivia against Chiley Chile defeated them and annexed some of

their territory.


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y Wanted to control the deserto One of the driest places in the worldo Had lots of minerals

y U.S. thought about getting involved butrealized their Navy wasnt string enough towin.

y Bolivia became a landlocked state, lost theirroute to the sea.

o Have lots of natural gas but will notexport to Chile.

o Also lost territory to Brazil andParaguay.

Paraguay defeated them in theChaco War.

y Chaco regiono Has very wet and very dry seasons

Low population density Bad for agriculture

o Many thought it contained oil, but itdidnt have the amount of oil they

thought it did. It may not have oil.

War of the Triple Alliance Biggest post-independence war Huge casualties Paraguay fought against Uruguay, Argentina, and

Brazil (The Triple Alliance).

y Overwhelmed Paraguay with all of theirresources.

Estimated nearly 90% of the male population ofParaguay was killed in the war.

o Ecuador and Peru Wanted territory in the Amazon

Inhabited by Native people Peru is a larger country and eventually won the conflict. Lots of oil in this region Cenepa War (1995)


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Ecuador was given a small territory to fly theirflag and build a monument.

y National pride is very importanto Argentina and Chile

Disputes about which islands belonged to which country Beagle Conflict (1978)

Solved by papal mediation Argentina and Chile recognize each others

territory.

o Venezuela Claims Brittan unfairly took territory from them.

o Guatemala Claimed Belize

o Belize Colonized by Brittan late in the colonial game Never sure what to do with it Now independent

o Falkland/Malvinas Bounced back and forth between the Spanish, the

French, and the British

Falkland War Naval war Brittan won but lost a lot of ships in the war Military government of Argentina collapsed,

became a democracy.

Argentina still claims it There is believed to be a large amount of oil there

o Antarctica Nobody owns it Open for scientific research to all


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Geopolitics 2, Demographics, and Climate2/9/2011 12:01:00 PM

1978

y Most South American countries were military dictatorshipso Mexico, who remained democratic, was a one party state.

As was Paraguayo Evidence in Chile shows that one of their political movements

was backed by the United States.

Today

y Almost all South American countries are now democraticy After 2000, most Latin American countries became Left Wing

o Left Wing: Strongly egalitarian, suspicious/hostile to globalcapitalism

o Right Wing: Strongly authoritarian, econ policies that favoropen market capitalism, concerned on wealthy part of the

population, conservative in social issues.

o Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua are suspicious of the UnitedStates and global capitalism (left wing countries).

Still have market economieso Brazil, Argentina, Peru

Center Left Wing Helping them poor, improving education Want sound economic policies

o Mexico Center right, moderately conservative

o Honduras Military Coup in the 2000s

Then gave up power but people are suspicious tohow honest the government is operating.

y Bolivarian Alliance for the People ofOur Americaso Consists of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Cuba

Hugo Chavez is the spearhead of this movement Censored the media Thinks global economics is the work of the devil Hates the United States (or the North American

Empire).

Has access to funds because of large amounts ofoil exported by Venezuela


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Rafael Correa (Ecuador) Graduated from the University of Illinois Thought George Bush was probably the devil or

resembled Satin

Evo Morales (Bolivia) Led a labor group for the free picking of coca

y Coca is the main ingredient of cocaine (seethe article in CourseWork)

Full blooded Imara Indian Indigenous people are the majority in Bolivia Less of a threat than Hugo Chavez Bolivia has some economic problems

Fernando Lugo (Paraguay) *not for sure in the group* Major safe haven for fleeing Nazis after World War

II.

Was a Roman Catholic Bishop Had many children with women while he had his

vow of chastity.

y 80-90% of Paraguayan men were deadafter the War of the Triple Alliance, needed

to repopulate.

o Group that sets themselves against the United Statesy South American countries have the same government on paper as

the United States.

o Most of Latin America is considered partly freeo Democracy index shows that Panama is more democratic than

the United States.

Sweden is at the top Latin America is in the middle North Korea scored the lowest

Population

y Latin America is fairly sparse in populationo Much of South America is jungle

Parts of the Amazon are populated Manaus is the largest, has over 1 million people


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Concerned about their long central border whichis sparsely populated.

y Moved the capital from Rio de Janero toBrazilia to centralize their government.

y Wanted a better strategic capitaly Built a large amount of roads in the region

o Argentina Buenos Ares

Capital of Argentinay Population focus on that part of Argentina

o Columbia Highlands not the low lands that are more densely

populated.

A lot of the highlands are plateaus Fairly broad, large amount of fertile soil

y Left behind by volcanoesy Agriculturally productive

Many preferred the climate of the highlands Low lands

More malaria, other diseases Sparsely populated

o Venezuela Low lands are also sparsely populated

o Peru Mountains are highly populated

o Mexico South Central Mexico is highly populated

Core of the Aztec Empire A lot of volcanoes, good soil, temperate climate,

less diseases.

Mexico City One of the biggest cities in the world

Lowlands are not being populated Diseases arent as big of a problem as they used

to be.

o Central America


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El Salvador High population densities

Many immigrants leave these countries and head forMexico (which is more prosperous than the countries in

Central America) and the United States.

Climate

y Northern half of the continent is tropical and wetCentral Brazil

y Known as the Cerradoo Tropical, wet, and dry climate

Wet half in the summer, dry half in the wintero Was grassland and savannah 30 years agoo Soil was poor, no farmingo After large amounts of agricultural research they found a way

to make the soil productive.

o Have to add a lot of high tech agricultural preservatives andmachinery, takes a lot of capital.


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2/9/2011 12:01:00 PM

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