latin america: revolution and reaction in to the 21 st century
TRANSCRIPT
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
Map of involvement
Mexico
PRI 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- 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
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 1953 Fidel Castro launched an unsuccessful attack on military barracks
Fled to Mexico and got help from Che Guevara 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 Crisis Results of revolution mixed- social programs extensive but
attempts to strengthen economy not as successful
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
Huge debt from loans taken in the 1970sDrug trade
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
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