Transcript Chapter 11 Latin America - International Studies: An

Chapter 11
Latin America
What is Latin America?
• Region that begins in the deserts of the USMexico border and stretches south to
Argentina and Chile. Spans Mexico’s Baja
Peninsula to the east coast of Brazil
• Westerners see it as a place with great
vacation destinations, dark hair people, drug
traffickers, and civil war
• It is a place of high importance to the U.S. but
often ignored for more prestigious political
partners
“Latin America”
• Latin America received this name from
Europeans during their colonization of the
Western Hemisphere
– It was a strategy used by the French to assert
influence in the region dominated by Spanish and
Portuguese
– France failed in its objective, but the name stuck
Which Territories Comprise Latin America?
• Three distinct geographies:
– South America
• Most recognizable piece of territory
– Middle America
– Islands of the Caribbean Sea
South America
• A huge landmass that emerges from a tiny land
bridge known as Panama
• Social scientists divide South America in to four
regions
– Southern Cone
• States that form the southern conical part of the continent
– Andean Nations
• Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela
– Brazil
– Small states of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana
South America
• Home to a diverse geographic landscape
– Deserts, mountains, lowlands
• The Amazon River
– World’s largest river by volume
– Accounts for 1/5 of the world’s freshwater
• Atacama Desert in Chile
– One of the world’s driest deserts
• Galapagos Islands
Middle America
• Much smaller than South America
• Also home to a diverse geographic landscape
– Mountains, highlands, fertile lowlands,
widespread coastal regions
• Slightly less understood than South America
Caribbean Islands
• Generally divided into two regions:
– Greater Antilles
• Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola
• Islands here are much larger than the Lesser Antilles
– Lesser Antilles
• Barbuda, Grenada, Trinidad, the Caymans, St. Lucia,
Dominica
• Area of concentrated ecological diversity
– Important place for species protection
Historical Sketch
• History of Latin America broken into two time
frames based on the voyage of Christopher
Columbus
– Pre-Columbian
• Westerners have little common knowledge of
indigenous populations during this era
– Post-Columbian
Pre-Columbian Civilizations
• Incas
– Machu Picchu
– Vast road and irrigation systems
• Aztecs
– Tenechtitlan
– Magnificent Pyramids
• Mayans
• Carib
Colonialism in Latin America
• The Iberian powers of Spain and Portugal
were equipped with technology superior to
that of the indigenous civilizations of Latin
America
– Conquering the civilizations did not take long
• By the 18th century the Iberians established
political, social, and economics systems that
still thrive today
Colonialism in Latin America
• By the 19th century, Iberian power in the
Americas was beginning to fade
– Their power in Europe was waning
– Other colonial powers were contesting for
American holdings
– Revolts led by colonist elites
• Latin America, except for the Caribbean, has
been largely independent since the 19th
century
Independent Latin America
• For the first 150 years of independence, Latin
America maintained patterns established
during the colonial era
– Caudillismo
– Unequal land distribution
– Racist social hierarchy
– Neo-colonial trade structure
Caudillismo
• Dominant political model during both colonial
and independent periods
– Monarch, president, governor had power in the
large cities
– Rich landowners, dubbed caudillos, filled the gap
between city rule and rural inhabitants
• During the 1980’s Latin America made
significant strides toward democracy, yet the
caudillo tradition remains in some regions
Unequal Land Distribution
• The caudillos controlled much of the land in Latin
America
• Peasant and church landholdings were seized by
political leaders and sold to government
supporters
– These people became plantation landowners and the
peasants which owned the land before it was seized
now worked for these people to farm the land
• These plantations later transformed into 20th
century corporate farms
Racist Social Hierarchy
• The social ladder in Latin America is rooted in its
history of European racism and slavery
• Indigenous and African populations occupy the
lowest branches of the social tree
– Few hold social office
– Most live under terrible conditions
• In some parts of the coastal mainland and the
Caribbean, people of African descent have begun
to share wealth and power with the whites
International Trading and Latin America
• Export-import strategy as set forth during
colonial times is still popular in Latin America
– Primary products sold to Europe and North
America
• Copper, coffee, bauxite, beef, wheat
– Import finished goods from Europe and North
America
• Appliances, finished textiles, automobiles
Economic Development in Latin
America
• Latin America is a region well-endowed with
resources and long period of independence, yet
poverty persists
• Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA)
– Dependency theory
• Global market place is an unfair trading ground
– Disagree with liberal economic theory
– Thought a new, non-free market system was needed
in Latin America
ISI
• Import-substitution industrialization (ISI)
– Sought to import expensive goods while exporting
cheap goods
– Minimize status as an agricultural and extractive
economy and develop ideas like the United States
and Europe
• In the beginning this was a success, but with a
dependency on imports and insufficient
domestic consumption this system failed
The Debt Crisis and the Lost Decade
• In the 1980’s Latin Americas debt climbed into
the hundreds of billions of dollars owed primarily
to banks in the U.S. and Europe
– Partly due to the results of ISI
– Government corruption played a large role in debt
accumulation
– Price of oil and the willingness of U.S. banks to lend
during inflationary times also played a role
• The Lost Decade known as the 1980’s resulted
from the economic downfalls of the 1970’s
– High inflation, rising interest rates, state industries
collapsed
Structural Adjustment and
Neoliberalism
• International financial institutions such as the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund,
and others suggested structural adjustment
programs (SAP’s), a neoliberal idea
– Acted as a shock therapy to balance national
budgets and reinsert Latin America into world
commerce
– Caused great hardship on the people of Latin
America
• Triple-digit inflation, high unemployment
The Challenge of Democracy
• Many countries in Latin America left the
caudillismo tradition behind after World War II
• Military dictatorship became a popular political
model in Latin America in the 1960’s and 1970’s
– Fear of communism and support from the U.S. had a
large influence on military takeover
• Military dictatorship came to an end by the mid1980’s
• Democratic rule is now observed in the region,
but not without some faults